pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleException

Invalid argument number

Error message

Invalid argument number [{0}]

What it means

Import.parseIntArgument parses a CommandLineOption's argument as an int and throws KettleException "Invalid argument number [{0}]" (Import.Error.InvalidNumberArgument) when Integer.parseInt fails with NumberFormatException. It converts numeric CLI options (e.g. retry counts) into ints, validating user-supplied command line values.

Solutions

1. Pass a plain integer for the option, e.g. -retry=3.
2. Check shell variables feeding the option — echo them before running to confirm they hold digits only.
3. Quote/trim the argument to remove whitespace and stray characters.
4. Parse the option manually with your own try/catch to give a friendlier CLI error before calling main().

Example fix

// before
// command line: import.sh -retry=$RETRIES  (RETRIES="")
// after
// command line: import.sh -retry=${RETRIES:-3}

String raw = option.getArgument() != null ? option.getArgument().toString().trim() : null;
if (raw != null && !raw.matches("\\d+")) {
  throw new IllegalArgumentException("Option " + option.getOption() + " needs an integer, got: " + raw);
}

try {
  Import.main(args);
} catch (KettleException e) {
  if (e.getMessage() != null && e.getMessage().startsWith("Invalid argument number")) {
    log.error("Fix the numeric CLI option: " + e.getMessage());
  } else {
    throw e;
  }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Passing a non-numeric value to a numeric CLI option of the import command, e.g. -retry=abc; passing a number with stray characters, units ("5s"), or locale-formatted digits.

Common situations: Scripting the import with unquoted/interpolated variables that expand to empty or garbage values; copy-pasting options with trailing whitespace or hidden characters.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Invalid ... format", "must be in format X", "does not look like a ..." — invalid argument format errors across CLI tools and libraries — this error's family across 17 libraries.

Related errors

• A module with id ' ' is not defined.
• Bounds of this rule are not numeric: lowerBound=
• Caught a number format exception converting minimum length…
• Commit size must be an integer.
• Could not apply the given format on the number

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0aeee418302a08ec. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/imp/Import.java:462

  }

  /**
   * Parse an argument as an integer.
   *
   * @param option
   *          Command Line Option to parse argument of
   * @param def
   *          Default if the argument is not set
   * @return The parsed argument or the default if the argument was not specified
   * @throws KettleException
   *           Error parsing provided argument as an integer
   */
  protected static int parseIntArgument( final CommandLineOption option, final int def ) throws KettleException {
    if ( !Utils.isEmpty( option.getArgument() ) ) {
      try {
        return Integer.parseInt( option.getArgument().toString() );
      } catch ( NumberFormatException ex ) {
        throw new KettleException( BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "Import.Error.InvalidNumberArgument", option
          .getOption(), option.getArgument() ) );
      }
    }
    return def;
  }

  private static void exitJVM( int status ) {
    System.exit( status );
  }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to f3058517a1)