pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleException

Repository not found:

Error message

Repository not found: 

What it means

connectToRepository looks up the repository by name in the loaded repositories metadata; findRepository returns null when no repository with that name is defined, and this KettleException (message plus repositoryName) is thrown. Called by getRepository when resolving pur:// URIs.

Solutions

1. Define a repository with that exact name in Kettle repository metadata (Tool > Repository > Connect) or repositories.xml
2. Match the repository name string exactly (case and whitespace) with what is configured
3. List available repositories (RepositoriesMeta) and correct the configured name
4. Package a repositories.xml with the environment (or use KETTLE_SHARED_HOME) so the name resolves

Example fix

// before
PurFileSystemConfig.getInstance(opts).setRepositoryName("pur Repo"); // trailing space
// after
PurFileSystemConfig.getInstance(opts).setRepositoryName("purRepo"); // exact name from repositories.xml

// Java — verify the name exists before mounting
RepositoriesMeta all = new RepositoriesMeta();
all.readData();
boolean exists = java.util.Arrays.stream( all.getRepositories() )
  .anyMatch( r -> r.getName().equals( repoName ) );
if ( !exists ) throw new IllegalStateException( "Repository not defined: " + repoName );

try {
  Repository repo = loader.getRepository( opts );
} catch ( KettleException e ) {
  if ( String.valueOf( e.getMessage() ).startsWith( "Repository not found: " ) ) {
    logError( "Define the repository in repositories.xml or fix the name" );
  }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: PurFileSystemConfig.getRepoName() returns a name that does not match any repository in repositoriesLoader's RepositoriesMeta — the name is misspelled, or repositories.xml has no such entry on this machine.

Common situations: Moving jobs between machines where the named repository isn't defined; case/whitespace mismatch in the repository name; repository defined only in another user's ~/.kettle/repositories.xml.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Not found" and "does not exist" errors: why "Task not found", "No such folder", and "Can't find" fire when a lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 14 libraries.

Related errors

• Invalid repository type
• Append file in repository is not possible
• ConnectionFileSystem.ExpectedConnectionNotFound
• Could not connect to repository: ...
• Could not execute specified in a repository since we're not…

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c7d9c7f9bfd246f1. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at plugins/repo-vfs/repo-vfs-pdi/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/repovfs/plugin/client/ClientRepositoryLoader.java:86

    }
    // there is no spoon
    log.debug( "Connecting to repository" );
    var repository = connectToRepository(
      cfg.getRepoName().orElseThrow( () -> new KettleException( "No repository name" ) ),
      cfg.getUser().orElseThrow( () -> new KettleException( "No user name" ) ),
      cfg.getPass().orElseThrow( () -> new KettleException( "No password" ) ) );
    if ( repository == null ) {
      throw new KettleException( "No repository" );
    }
    return repository;
  }

  private Repository connectToRepository( String repositoryName, String user, String password )
    throws KettleException {
    var repositories = repositoriesLoader.get();
    var repoMeta = repositories.findRepository( repositoryName );
    if ( repoMeta == null ) {
      throw new KettleException( "Repository not found: " + repositoryName );
    }
    var repo = PluginRegistry.getInstance().loadClass( RepositoryPluginType.class, repoMeta, Repository.class );
    repo.init( repoMeta );
    repo.connect( user, password );
    return repo;
  }


}

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