What causes "Database.Exception.UnableToRollbackToSavepoint" in pentaho/pentaho-kettle?

Create a fresh savepoint before each rollback-to-savepoint in retry loops

pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleDatabaseException

Database.Exception.UnableToRollbackToSavepoint

Error message

Database.Exception.UnableToRollbackToSavepoint

What it means

Thrown by Database.rollback(Savepoint) (Database.java:5115) when connection.rollback(savepoint) fails with a SQLException. Means the transaction could not be partially rolled back to the given savepoint — often the savepoint was already consumed or the transaction is dead.

Solutions

Create a fresh savepoint before each rollback-to-savepoint in retry loops
Confirm auto-commit is disabled for the whole transaction scope
If the connection is dead, do a full connection.rollback()/reconnect instead of partial rollback
Verify the Savepoint belongs to the current connection and transaction
Inspect the wrapped SQLException cause to distinguish connection loss from invalid savepoint

Example fix

// before
Savepoint sp = database.setSavepoint();
// retry loop reuses sp
database.rollback( sp ); // second time fails
// after
for ( int attempt = 0; attempt < retries; attempt++ ) {
  Savepoint sp = database.setSavepoint();
  try {
    doWork();
    database.releaseSavepoint( sp );
    break;
  } catch ( KettleDatabaseException e ) {
    database.rollback( sp );
  }
}

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

if ( database.getConnection().getAutoCommit() ) {
  throw new IllegalStateException( "Cannot rollback to savepoint with auto-commit on" );
}

Try / catch

try {
  database.rollback( savepoint );
} catch ( KettleDatabaseException e ) {
  log.error( "Rollback to savepoint failed; performing full rollback", e );
  database.rollback(); // full transaction rollback fallback
}

Prevention

Create a new savepoint before each retry attempt
Always keep auto-commit off in savepoint scopes
Fall back to full rollback on connection loss
Don't roll back to the same savepoint twice

When it happens

Trigger: Calling Database.rollback(savepoint) after commit, after a prior rollback to the same savepoint, on a connection with auto-commit on, or when the connection has been invalidated (network drop).

Common situations: Reusing a savepoint twice in retry logic (invalidated after first rollback); crash recovery paths rolling back on a dead connection; mixing commit and rollback-to-savepoint in the same flow.

Understand the failure class

Background: Database query failed: Internal Server Error 500s wrapping SQL, Prisma, and connection failures — what to check first — this error's family across 16 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/88d57509a982e40a. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at core/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/core/database/Database.java:5115

      throw new KettleDatabaseException( BaseMessages.getString(
        PKG, "Database.Exception.UnableToSetSavepointName", savePointName ), e );
    }
  }

  public void releaseSavepoint( Savepoint savepoint ) throws KettleDatabaseException {
    try {
      connection.releaseSavepoint( savepoint );
    } catch ( SQLException e ) {
      throw new KettleDatabaseException( BaseMessages.getString(
        PKG, "Database.Exception.UnableToReleaseSavepoint" ), e );
    }
  }

  public void rollback( Savepoint savepoint ) throws KettleDatabaseException {
    try {
      connection.rollback( savepoint );
    } catch ( SQLException e ) {
      throw new KettleDatabaseException( BaseMessages.getString(
        PKG, "Database.Exception.UnableToRollbackToSavepoint" ), e );
    }
  }

  public Object getParentObject() {
    return parentLoggingObject;
  }

  /**
   * Return primary key column names ...
   *
   * @param tablename
   * @throws KettleDatabaseException
   */
  public String[] getPrimaryKeyColumnNames( String tablename ) throws KettleDatabaseException {
    List<String> names = new ArrayList<>();
    ResultSet allkeys = null;
    try {

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