pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleException

Unable to create directory with path [

Error message

Unable to create directory with path [

What it means

Generic wrapper in PurRepository.createRepositoryDirectory: any exception while walking/creating the path segments under the validated parent is wrapped in a KettleException "Unable to create directory with path [...]" with the original cause chained.

Solutions

1. Read e.getCause() to identify whether it is an access-control or connectivity issue.
2. Verify write (create) permission on the target parent folder.
3. Retry after confirming the folder does not already exist (name conflict).
4. Re-authenticate to the repository if the session expired.

Example fix

// before
repo.createRepositoryDirectory(parent, dir);
// after
try { repo.createRepositoryDirectory(parent, dir); } catch (KettleException e) { logger.warn("create failed for {} : {}", path, e.getCause()); }

if (parent == null) throw new IllegalArgumentException("parent directory required"); if (!hasCreatePermission(user, parent.getPath())) throw new SecurityException("no create permission on " + parent.getPath());

try { repo.createRepositoryDirectory(parent, dir); } catch (KettleException e) { log.warn("mkdir {} failed: {}", path, e.getCause()); if (isNameConflict(e.getCause())) reuseExisting(path); }

When it happens

Trigger: createRepositoryDirectory throws from the underlying pur (unified repository) client — e.g. permission denied on the parent folder, name conflicts, JCR session errors, or a failure in findDirectory/refreshing children while creating a multi-segment path.

Common situations: User lacks write permission on /public or another user's /home; network/session failure to the BA Server; concurrent creation of the same folder by two clients.

Understand the failure class

Background: mkdir permission denied (EACCES): failed to create directory errors explained — this error's family across 32 libraries.

Related errors

• PurRepository.FailedDirectoryCreation.Message
• PurRepository.invalidRepositoryDirectory
• Unable to delete directory with path [
• Unable to get list of object names from directory [
• Unable to save repository directory with path [

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/764a61316e1e8817. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at plugins/pur/core/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/repository/pur/PurRepository.java:434

      String[] path = Const.splitPath( directoryPath, RepositoryDirectory.DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR );

      RepositoryDirectoryInterface follow = parentDirectory;

      for ( int level = 0; level < path.length; level++ ) {
        RepositoryDirectoryInterface child = follow.findChild( path[level] );
        if ( child == null ) {
          // create this one
          child = new RepositoryDirectory( follow, path[level] );
          saveRepositoryDirectory( child );
          // link this with the parent directory
          follow.addSubdirectory( child );
        }

        follow = child;
      }
      return follow;
    } catch ( Exception e ) {
      throw new KettleException( "Unable to create directory with path [" + directoryPath + "]", e );
    }
  }

  @Override public void saveRepositoryDirectory( final RepositoryDirectoryInterface dir ) throws KettleException {
    // id of root dir is null--check for it
    if ( "/".equals( dir.getParent().getName() ) ) {
      throw new KettleException( BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "PurRepository.FailedDirectoryCreation.Message" ) );
    }

    readWriteLock.writeLock().lock();
    try {
      RepositoryFile
        newFolder =
        pur.createFolder( dir.getParent().getObjectId() != null ? dir.getParent().getObjectId().getId() : null,
          new RepositoryFile.Builder( dir.getName() ).folder( true ).build(), null );

      dir.setObjectId( new StringObjectId( newFolder.getId().toString() ) );
    } catch ( Exception e ) {

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