pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleException

Repository.LoadRepositoryDirectory.ErrorLoading.Exception

Error message

Repository.LoadRepositoryDirectory.ErrorLoading.Exception

What it means

This is a wrapper KettleException thrown by KettleDatabaseRepositoryDirectoryDelegate.loadRepositoryDirectory when any exception occurs while loading a directory's metadata and children from the database repository. The original exception is attached as the cause, so the real failure (SQL error, connection loss, corrupt row) is inside it. The library throws it to normalize all database failures during directory-tree reads into the Kettle exception hierarchy.

Solutions

Inspect e.getCause() for the real KettleDatabaseException/SQLException and fix that root cause first
Verify the directory ObjectId still exists (repository.getDirectoryIDs / directory tree refresh) before loading
Reconnect/reopen the repository connection and retry
Run repository connection tests and confirm the r_directory table exists and matches the installed schema version

Example fix

// before
RepositoryDirectory dir = repository.loadRepositoryDirectoryTree();
// after
try {
  RepositoryDirectory dir = repository.loadRepositoryDirectoryTree();
} catch ( KettleException e ) {
  log.error( "Directory load failed", e.getCause() ); // inspect cause, reconnect/retry
}

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

// pre-check: ensure the directory id resolves in a fresh tree
RepositoryDirectoryInterface tree = repository.loadRepositoryDirectoryTree();
if ( tree.findDirectory( dirId ) == null ) throw new IllegalStateException( "Directory no longer exists" );

Type guard

boolean directoryExists( Repository repo, ObjectId id ) {
  try { return repo.getDirectoryIDs( RepoDirectoryId.ROOT ).stream().anyMatch( id::equals ); }
  catch ( Exception e ) { return false; }
}

Try / catch

try {
  RepositoryDirectory dir = repository.loadRepositoryDirectoryTree();
} catch ( KettleException e ) {
  Throwable cause = e.getCause();
  // retry once after reconnect if cause is KettleDatabaseException
}

Prevention

Always inspect getCause() to find the real database error
Refresh the directory tree before operating on cached ObjectIds
Monitor repository DB connectivity; reconnect on failure
Keep repository schema upgraded to match the Kettle version

When it happens

Trigger: Calling loadRepositoryDirectory(id) / loadRepositoryDirectoryTree() / renameDirectory when the underlying repository.selectDirectory/getDirectoryIDs queries fail: invalid or nonexistent directory ObjectId, database connection dropped mid-query, schema mismatch, or corrupt r_directory rows.

Common situations: Repository database went down or connection timed out while browsing the directory tree; referencing a cached/stale ObjectId after another client deleted the directory; repository schema version mismatch after a Pentaho upgrade.

Understand the failure class

Background: Database query failed: Internal Server Error 500s wrapping SQL, Prisma, and connection failures — what to check first — this error's family across 16 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1bdf64c1d558be7c. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/repository/kdr/delegates/KettleDatabaseRepositoryDirectoryDelegate.java:129

      RowMetaAndData row = getDirectory( id_directory );
      if ( row != null ) {
        repositoryDirectory.setObjectId( id_directory );

        // Content?
        //
        repositoryDirectory.setName( row.getString( "DIRECTORY_NAME", null ) );

        // The sub-directories?
        //
        ObjectId[] subids = repository.getSubDirectoryIDs( repositoryDirectory.getObjectId() );
        for ( int i = 0; i < subids.length; i++ ) {
          RepositoryDirectory subdir = new RepositoryDirectory();
          loadRepositoryDirectory( subdir, subids[i] );
          repositoryDirectory.addSubdirectory( subdir );
        }
      }
    } catch ( Exception e ) {
      throw new KettleException( BaseMessages.getString(
        PKG, "Repository.LoadRepositoryDirectory.ErrorLoading.Exception" ), e );
    }
  }

  /*
   * public synchronized RepositoryDirectory refreshRepositoryDirectoryTree() throws KettleException { try {
   * RepositoryDirectory tree = new RepositoryDirectory(); loadRepositoryDirectory(tree, tree.getID());
   * repository.setDirectoryTree(tree); return tree; } catch (KettleException e) { repository.setDirectoryTree( new
   * RepositoryDirectory() ); throw new KettleException("Unable to read the directory tree from the repository!", e); }
   * }
   */

  private synchronized ObjectId insertDirectory( ObjectId id_directory_parent, RepositoryDirectoryInterface dir ) throws KettleException {
    ObjectId id = repository.connectionDelegate.getNextDirectoryID();

    String tablename = KettleDatabaseRepository.TABLE_R_DIRECTORY;
    RowMetaAndData table = new RowMetaAndData();
    table.addValue( new ValueMetaInteger(

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