pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleException

It's not possible to save Class [" +…

Error message

It's not possible to save Class [" + element.getClass().getName() + "] to the repository

What it means

Thrown by PurRepository.saveRepositoryElement when the element's RepositoryObjectType is not one of the handled types (e.g. not a Job, Transformation, Database, Cluster Schema, Partition Schema, etc.). The switch statement hits its default case because this repository adapter does not support saving that class.

Solutions

Use the dedicated save method for the element type (e.g. saveJob, saveDatabaseMeta, saveCondition)
Verify the element's getRepositoryElementType() is a supported type before calling save()
If saving users/security elements, use the appropriate security service instead

Example fix

// before
repository.save(element, "comment", calendar, monitor); // element is a JobMeta
// after
repository.saveJob((JobMeta) element, "comment", calendar, monitor);

Defensive patterns

Strategy: type-guard

Validate before calling

RepositoryObjectType t = element.getRepositoryElementType();
boolean supported = t == RepositoryObjectType.TRANSFORMATION || t == RepositoryObjectType.JOB
  || t == RepositoryObjectType.DATABASE || t == RepositoryObjectType.CLUSTER_SCHEMA
  || t == RepositoryObjectType.PARTITION_SCHEMA;

Type guard

boolean isSupportedElement(RepositoryElementInterface el) {
  return el != null && el.getRepositoryElementType() != null && !el.getRepositoryElementType().isSecurity();
}

Try / catch

try {
  repository.save(element, comment, calendar, monitor);
} catch (KettleException e) {
  if (e.getMessage().contains("not possible to save Class")) {
    log.error("Unsupported element type for generic save; use type-specific API", e);
  }
}

Prevention

Use type-specific save methods (saveJob, saveTransformation, saveDatabaseMeta)
Never pass user/security elements to generic save()
Log element.getRepositoryElementType() when unsure

When it happens

Trigger: Calling PurRepository.save(element, versionComment, calendar, monitor) with an unsupported RepositoryElementInterface subtype whose type enum falls through the switch.

Common situations: Passing a custom RepositoryObject subclass; calling save() with elements like users/roles that must go through dedicated security APIs; version mismatches where new element types were added upstream but not to this adapter.

Understand the failure class

Background: UnsupportedOperationException and "is not supported" errors: when a library deliberately refuses a call — this error's family across 30 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/293038ae619052bb. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at plugins/pur/core/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/repository/pur/PurRepository.java:2199

          saveTrans( element, versionComment, versionDate );
          break;
        case JOB:
          saveJob( element, versionComment, versionDate );
          break;
        case DATABASE:
          saveDatabaseMeta( element, versionComment, versionDate );
          break;
        case SLAVE_SERVER:
          saveSlaveServer( element, versionComment, versionDate );
          break;
        case CLUSTER_SCHEMA:
          saveClusterSchema( element, versionComment, versionDate );
          break;
        case PARTITION_SCHEMA:
          savePartitionSchema( element, versionComment, versionDate );
          break;
        default:
          throw new KettleException(
            "It's not possible to save Class [" + element.getClass().getName() + "] to the repository" );
      }
    } catch ( Exception e ) {
      throw new KettleException( "Unable to save repository element [" + element + "]", e );
    }
  }

  private boolean isRenamed( final RepositoryElementInterface element, final RepositoryFile file )
    throws KettleException {
    if ( element.getObjectId() == null ) {
      return false; // never been saved
    }
    String filename = element.getName();
    switch ( element.getRepositoryElementType() ) {
      case TRANSFORMATION:
        filename += RepositoryObjectType.TRANSFORMATION.getExtension();
        break;
      case JOB:

View on GitHub (pinned to f3058517a1)