What causes "throw new KettleException( e );" in pentaho/pentaho-kettle?

Correct the fileName entry so it resolves after variable substitution.

pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleException

throw new KettleException( e );

Error message

throw new KettleException( e );

What it means

GetFilesRowsCountMeta.exportResources() wraps any exception raised while rewriting the step's file names into repository-relative references during resource export into a bare KettleException. Export of the transformation's referenced files fails for this step.

Solutions

Correct the fileName entry so it resolves after variable substitution.
Ensure the VFS scheme/provider for each file is available.
Set all required environment variables before exporting.
Inspect the wrapped cause to identify the failing file at index i.

Example fix

// before
fileName[i] = "${INPUT_DIR}/rows.txt"; // INPUT_DIR unset -> getFileObject fails
// after
String resolved = space.environmentSubstitute("${INPUT_DIR}/rows.txt");
if (Utils.isEmpty(resolved) || resolved.contains("${")) { logError("Variable INPUT_DIR not set"); } else { fileName[i] = resolved; }

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

for (String f : meta.getFileName()) { String r = space.environmentSubstitute(f); if (Utils.isEmpty(r) || r.contains("${")) throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unresolved variable in: " + f); }

Try / catch

try { exported = transMeta.exportResources(...); } catch (KettleException e) { log.error("Export failed: " + e.getMessage(), e.getCause()); }

Prevention

Set all environment variables before exporting
Resolve and test each file path with KettleVFS first
Avoid illegal URI characters in file names
Export while referenced network locations are accessible

When it happens

Trigger: exportResources (public) runs during 'Export resources' when space.environmentSubstitute(fileName[i]) yields an invalid path or KettleVFS.getFileObject / nameResource throws (unresolvable VFS object, unsupported scheme).

Common situations: Exporting with unset environment variables producing malformed paths; filenames with illegal URI characters; network shares or SFTP targets unreachable during export.

Understand the failure class

Background: "File not found" and ENOENT errors: why libraries can't find a file that should exist — this error's family across 50 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3ea6b6f653d213b8. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/getfilesrowscount/GetFilesRowsCountMeta.java:689

  @Override
  public String exportResources( Bowl executionBowl, Bowl globalManagementBowl, VariableSpace space,
      Map<String, ResourceDefinition> definitions, ResourceNamingInterface namingInterface,
      Repository repository, IMetaStore metaStore ) throws KettleException {
    try {
      // The object that we're modifying here is a copy of the original!
      // So let's change the filename from relative to absolute by grabbing the file object...
      // In case the name of the file comes from previous steps, forget about this!
      //
      if ( !filefield ) {
        for ( int i = 0; i < fileName.length; i++ ) {
          FileObject fileObject = KettleVFS.getInstance( executionBowl )
            .getFileObject( space.environmentSubstitute( fileName[i] ), space );
          fileName[i] = namingInterface.nameResource( fileObject, space, Utils.isEmpty( fileMask[i] ) );
        }
      }
      return null;
    } catch ( Exception e ) {
      throw new KettleException( e );
    }
  }

  @Override
  public StepHelperInterface getStepHelperInterface() {
    return new GetFilesRowCountHelper( this );
  }

}

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