pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · InvocationTargetException

Error saving job

Error message

Error saving job

What it means

JobSaveProgressDialog wraps the repository save of a JobMeta inside an IRunnableWithProgress run on a ProgressMonitorDialog. If rep.save(jobMeta, ...) throws a KettleException, it is rethrown as an InvocationTargetException with the message 'Error saving job'. The dialog then surfaces the cause, so the real reason is always in the nested KettleException.

Solutions

  1. Inspect the InvocationTargetException's cause (KettleException) for the real repository error message.
  2. Verify the repository connection is alive (reconnect via rep.connect()) before retrying the save.
  3. Check that the target repository directory grants write permission to the logged-in user.
  4. Resolve name/version conflicts (rename the job or adjust the version comment) and retry.

Example fix

// before
rep.save( jobMeta, versionComment, new ProgressMonitorAdapter( monitor ) );
// after
if ( !rep.isConnected() ) {
  rep.connect( username, password );
}
rep.save( jobMeta, versionComment == null ? "" : versionComment, new ProgressMonitorAdapter( monitor ) );
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

if ( rep == null || !rep.isConnected() ) {
  throw new IllegalStateException( "Repository not connected before saving job" );
}
if ( jobMeta == null || jobMeta.getName() == null || jobMeta.getName().isEmpty() ) {
  throw new IllegalStateException( "Job must have a name before saving" );
}

Try / catch

try {
  new JobSaveProgressDialog( shell, rep, jobMeta, versionComment ).open();
} catch ( InvocationTargetException e ) {
  Throwable cause = e.getCause();
  logError( "Job save failed: " + cause.getMessage(), cause );
  MessageBox mb = new MessageBox( shell, SWT.ICON_ERROR );
  mb.setMessage( BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "JobLog.JobSaveFailed", cause.getMessage() ) );
  mb.open();
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Calling the dialog's open() when the repository save fails: repository connection dropped, user lacks write permission in the target directory, duplicate job name/version conflicts, or versionComment handling rejected by the repository.

Common situations: Saving to a disconnected repository after a network hiccup; saving into a read-only repository or a directory without write access; repository commit failure (e.g. database down); concurrent modification of the same job by another user.

Understand the failure class

Background: "failed to write file", "Could not save figure", "Error saving remote file" — file write failed: causes and fixes across languages and libraries — this error's family across 38 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/147f2fea308b674b. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at ui/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/ui/job/dialog/JobSaveProgressDialog.java:59

  /**
   * Creates a new dialog that will handle the wait while saving a job...
   */
  public JobSaveProgressDialog( Shell shell, Repository rep, JobMeta jobInfo, String versionComment ) {
    this.shell = shell;
    this.rep = rep;
    this.jobMeta = jobInfo;
    this.versionComment = versionComment;
  }

  public boolean open() {
    boolean retval = true;

    IRunnableWithProgress op = new IRunnableWithProgress() {
      public void run( IProgressMonitor monitor ) throws InvocationTargetException, InterruptedException {
        try {
          rep.save( jobMeta, versionComment, new ProgressMonitorAdapter( monitor ) );
        } catch ( KettleException e ) {
          throw new InvocationTargetException( e, "Error saving job" );
        }
      }
    };

    try {
      ProgressMonitorDialog pmd = new ProgressMonitorDialog( shell );
      pmd.run( true, true, op );
    } catch ( InvocationTargetException e ) {
      new ErrorDialog( shell, "Error saving job", "An error occured saving the job!", e );
      retval = false;
    } catch ( InterruptedException e ) {
      new ErrorDialog( shell, "Error saving job", "An error occured saving the job!", e );
      retval = false;
    }

    return retval;
  }
}

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