What causes "The function call moveFile throw an error : " in pentaho/pentaho-kettle?

Create the target directory first in the script: new java.io.File(dstDir).mkdirs().

The function call moveFile throw an error :

Error message

The function call moveFile throw an error :

What it means

moveFile(source, target) moves a file on disk. This error wraps any java.io.IOException raised while performing the move, e.g. missing target directory, cross-filesystem move failure, or I/O problems, and appends the exception text. Note a source file that simply does not exists produces a different message ('file to move [...] can not be found!').

Solutions

Create the target directory first in the script: new java.io.File(dstDir).mkdirs().
Verify permissions on source and target paths for the user running Pentaho.
Close any steps/streams holding the file open before moving (especially on Windows).
Fall back to copy+delete if rename fails across filesystems, or use the File Management/Move Files step instead of JS.
Read the appended e.toString() in the message to identify the exact OS-level cause.

Example fix

// before
moveFile('/data/in/file.csv', '/data/out/file.csv'); // /data/out may not exist
// after
new java.io.File('/data/out').mkdirs();
moveFile('/data/in/file.csv', '/data/out/file.csv');

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

var srcF = new java.io.File(src), dstF = new java.io.File(dst);
if (srcF.exists() && dstF.getParentFile() != null) dstF.getParentFile().mkdirs();

Type guard

function canMove(s, d) { return typeof s === 'string' && typeof d === 'string' && new java.io.File(s).exists(); }

Try / catch

try { moveFile(src, dst); } catch (e) { Logger.LogError('moveFile IO error: ' + e.message); /* fallback copy+delete */ }

Prevention

Create target directories before moving
Ensure no other step/process holds the file open (esp. Windows)
Check OS permissions for the Pentaho runtime user
Read the appended IOException text for the exact OS cause

When it happens

Trigger: moveFile(src, dst) where dst's parent directory does not exist, dst is locked/open by another process, permissions deny the move, or the underlying File.renameTo/copy fails with an IOException.

Common situations: Target directory not created before the step runs; file still held open by a previous step on Windows; NFS/Windows cross-drive moves; permission differences between the Kettle user and file owner.

Understand the failure class

Background: "failed to write file", "Could not save figure", "Error saving remote file" — file write failed: causes and fixes across languages and libraries — this error's family across 38 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b6b2ce515e42feb5. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/scriptvalues_mod/ScriptValuesAddedFunctions.java:2591

            // Source file exists...
            if ( fileSource.getType() == FileType.FILE ) {
              // Great..source is a file ...
              boolean overwrite = false;
              if ( !ArgList[1].equals( null ) ) {
                overwrite = Context.toBoolean( ArgList[2] );
              }
              boolean destinationExists = fileDestination.exists();
              // Let's move the file...
              if ( ( destinationExists && overwrite ) || !destinationExists ) {
                fileSource.moveTo( fileDestination );
              }

            }
          } else {
            Context.reportRuntimeError( "file to move [" + Context.toString( ArgList[0] ) + "] can not be found!" );
          }
        } catch ( IOException e ) {
          throw Context.reportRuntimeError( "The function call moveFile throw an error : " + e.toString() );
        } finally {
          if ( fileSource != null ) {
            try {
              fileSource.close();
            } catch ( Exception e ) {
              // Ignore errors
            }
          }
          if ( fileDestination != null ) {
            try {
              fileDestination.close();
            } catch ( Exception e ) {
              // Ignore errors
            }
          }
        }

      } else {

View on GitHub (pinned to f3058517a1)