pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleException

No slave server specified

Error message

No slave server specified

What it means

sendToSlaveServer() throws this KettleException when executionConfiguration.getRemoteServer() returns null, i.e. the caller requested remote/slated execution but never selected a slave (remote) server. The library cannot dispatch the job anywhere without a target Carte/Slave server.

Solutions

1. Set the remote server before calling sendToSlaveServer: executionConfiguration.setRemoteServer(slaveServer).
2. Load the slave server from the repository's cluster/slave schema instead of constructing it ad hoc.
3. If local execution was intended, do not mark the execution configuration as remote/executing on a server.
4. Verify slave registration so it appears in the available slave list to select.

Example fix

// before
JobExecutionConfiguration execCfg = new JobExecutionConfiguration();
execCfg.setExecutingRemotely(true); // remoteServer never set
Job.sendToSlaveServer(jobMeta, execCfg, repo, metaStore);
// after
SlaveServer remote = new SlaveServer("carte1", "carte1.example.com", "8080", "cluster", "cluster");
execCfg.setRemoteServer(remote);
execCfg.setExecutingRemotely(true);
Job.sendToSlaveServer(jobMeta, execCfg, repo, metaStore);

if (execCfg.isExecutingRemotely() && execCfg.getRemoteServer() == null) {
  throw new IllegalArgumentException("Remote server must be set for remote execution");
}

try {
  Job.sendToSlaveServer(jobMeta, execCfg, repo, metaStore);
} catch (KettleException e) {
  if (execCfg.getRemoteServer() == null) {
    throw new ConfigurationException("No slave server configured", e);
  }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling Job.sendToSlaveServer(jobMeta, executionConfiguration, repository, metaStore) while JobExecutionConfiguration.remoteServer is unset; enabling 'execute remotely' in a caller (e.g. Spoon/Kitchen) without picking a remote host.

Common situations: Programmatic execution configurations built by hand that skip setRemoteServer(); UI metadata lost after export/import; cluster/slated setup where the master has no registered slaves.

Understand the failure class

Background: "is required", "must be set", "missing required field": configuration validation errors across open-source libraries — this error's family across 36 libraries.

Related errors

• No slave server specified
• A connection of type PALO is expected
• A server socket allocation always has to accompanied by…
• AccessInput.Exception.CouldnotFindField
• AccessInput.Log.NoField

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/821ff19c669cdf50. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/job/Job.java:1721

   * @param jobMeta
   *          the job meta
   * @param executionConfiguration
   *          the execution configuration
   * @param repository
   *          the repository
   * @param metaStore
   *          the metaStore
   * @return the string
   * @throws KettleException
   *           the kettle exception
   */
  public static String sendToSlaveServer( JobMeta jobMeta, JobExecutionConfiguration executionConfiguration,
      Repository repository, IMetaStore metaStore ) throws KettleException {
    String carteObjectId;
    SlaveServer slaveServer = executionConfiguration.getRemoteServer();

    if ( slaveServer == null ) {
      throw new KettleException( BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "Job.Log.NoSlaveServerSpecified" ) );
    }
    if ( Utils.isEmpty( jobMeta.getName() ) ) {
      throw new KettleException( BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "Job.Log.UniqueJobName" ) );
    }

    // Align logging levels between execution configuration and remote server
    slaveServer.getLogChannel().setLogLevel( executionConfiguration.getLogLevel() );

    try {
      // Inject certain internal variables to make it more intuitive.
      //
      for ( String var : Const.INTERNAL_TRANS_VARIABLES ) {
        executionConfiguration.getVariables().put( var, jobMeta.getVariable( var ) );
      }
      for ( String var : Const.INTERNAL_JOB_VARIABLES ) {
        executionConfiguration.getVariables().put( var, jobMeta.getVariable( var ) );
      }

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