pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleValueException

Unable to clone Internet Address

Error message

Unable to clone Internet Address

What it means

cloneValueData() duplicates the stored InetAddress via InetAddress.getByAddress(address bytes). If the JDK rejects the cloned byte array (malformed/unknown address family), the library wraps it in KettleValueException 'Unable to clone Internet Address'.

Solutions

  1. Ensure the value data is a standard java.net.InetAddress produced by the library's converters
  2. Catch KettleValueException around row cloning and log/replace the offending value
  3. Update the JDK if a known provider bug in getByAddress is the cause

Example fix

// before
Object copy = inetMeta.cloneValueData(row[ipIdx]);
// after
Object copy;
try { copy = inetMeta.cloneValueData(row[ipIdx]); }
catch (KettleValueException e) { copy = null; log.warn("Bad IP value dropped: " + e.getMessage()); }
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

Object d = row[ipIdx];
boolean ok = d instanceof InetAddress && ((InetAddress) d).getAddress().length > 0;

Type guard

boolean isPlainInetAddress(Object o){ return o != null && InetAddress.class.equals(o.getClass()) && o instanceof InetAddress a && a.getAddress().length > 0; }

Try / catch

try { copy = inetMeta.cloneValueData(v); } catch (KettleValueException e) { copy = null; log.warn(...); }

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Calling cloneValueData() (used when Kettle clones rows for row sets, join steps, and multi-target hops) on a value holding an InetAddress whose byte array is invalid for the default JVM provider — rare, usually from custom InetAddress subclasses or corrupted byte arrays.

Common situations: Row cloning in high-throughput transformations (Table Join, Split, sorted merge); exotic JDK network providers or unusual InetAddress implementations produced by custom user code.

Understand the failure class

Background: "This is a bug, please report it": internal invariant violations, unreachable panics, and SNH errors explained — this error's family across 47 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fd89476fab59ddcc. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at core/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/core/row/value/ValueMetaInternetAddress.java:453

        return convertBigNumberToInternetAddress( meta2.getBigNumber( data2 ) );
      case TYPE_INET:
        return ( (ValueMetaInternetAddress) meta2 ).getInternetAddress( data2 );
      default:
        throw new KettleValueException( meta2.toStringMeta() + " : can't be converted to an Internet Address" );
    }
  }

  @Override
  public Object cloneValueData( Object object ) throws KettleValueException {
    InetAddress inetAddress = getInternetAddress( object );
    if ( inetAddress == null ) {
      return null;
    }

    try {
      return InetAddress.getByAddress( inetAddress.getAddress() );
    } catch ( Exception e ) {
      throw new KettleValueException( "Unable to clone Internet Address", e );
    }
  }

  @Override
  public ValueMetaInterface getMetadataPreview( DatabaseMeta databaseMeta, ResultSet rs )
    throws KettleDatabaseException {

    try {
      if ( "INET".equalsIgnoreCase( rs.getString( "TYPE_NAME" ) ) ) {
        ValueMetaInterface vmi = super.getMetadataPreview( databaseMeta, rs );
        ValueMetaInterface valueMeta = new ValueMetaInternetAddress( name );
        valueMeta.setLength( vmi.getLength() );
        valueMeta.setOriginalColumnType( vmi.getOriginalColumnType() );
        valueMeta.setOriginalColumnTypeName( vmi.getOriginalColumnTypeName() );
        valueMeta.setOriginalNullable( vmi.getOriginalNullable() );
        valueMeta.setOriginalPrecision( vmi.getOriginalPrecision() );
        valueMeta.setOriginalScale( vmi.getOriginalScale() );
        valueMeta.setOriginalSigned( vmi.getOriginalSigned() );

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