pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleException

Kitchen.Error.InvalidNumberArgument

Error message

Kitchen.Error.InvalidNumberArgument

What it means

Thrown by Kitchen.parseIntArgument when the value passed to a numeric command-line option (e.g. -maxloglines, -maxlogtimeout) cannot be parsed as an integer. The message comes from the Kitchen messages bundle and includes the option name and the offending value.

Solutions

1. Pass an integer value: -maxloglines:1000
2. Check shell variables used to build the argument are set and numeric
3. Quote arguments properly so spaces/colons do not split the value
4. Omit the option to use the default

Example fix

// before
kitchen.sh -file:job.kjb -maxloglines:${UNSET_VAR}
// after
kitchen.sh -file:job.kjb -maxloglines:5000

String v = System.getProperty("maxloglines");
if (v != null && !v.matches("-?\\d+")) throw new IllegalArgumentException("-maxloglines must be an integer, got: " + v);

static boolean isInteger(String s) { return s != null && s.matches("-?\\d+"); }

try {
  kitchen.main(args);
} catch (KettleException e) {
  if (e.getMessage() != null && e.getMessage().contains("InvalidNumberArgument")) {
    System.err.println("Usage: kitchen -file:job.kjb -maxloglines:<int>");
  }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running kitchen.sh/kitchen.bat with a non-numeric value for -maxloglines or -maxlogtimeout, e.g. `kitchen -file:job.kjb -maxloglines:abc`.

Common situations: Typo in command line; quoting issues causing a truncated or concatenated value; scripts passing empty or placeholder variables like ${MAX_LOGS} that were never set.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Unknown argument", "Invalid value", and "must be one of": invalid CLI argument errors explained — this error's family across 35 libraries.

Related errors

• Invalid argument number
• Unable to limit dirs because importer

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c754f8cd9c98183e. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/kitchen/Kitchen.java:362

      maxLogTimeout = Const.toInt( EnvUtil.getSystemProperty( Const.KETTLE_MAX_LOG_TIMEOUT_IN_MINUTES ), 1440 );
    }
    KettleLogStore.init( maxLogLines, maxLogTimeout );
  }

  /**
   * 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, "Kitchen.Error.InvalidNumberArgument", option
          .getOption(), option.getArgument() ) );
      }
    }
    return def;
  }

  private static NamedParams getPluginNamedParam( LogChannelInterface log ) {
    NamedParams newNamedParams = new NamedParamsDefault();
    try {
      for ( CommandLineOptionProvider provider : PluginServiceLoader.loadServices( CommandLineOptionProvider.class ) ) {
        newNamedParams = provider.getAdditionalCommandlineOptions( log );
      }
    } catch ( KettlePluginException e ) {
      System.out.println( "Exception getting the named parameters" + e.toString() );
    }
    return newNamedParams;
  }

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