pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · IdNotFoundException

Unable to get ID for job [name]

Error message

Unable to get ID for job [name]

What it means

Repository lookup failure in PurRepository.getJobId: resolving the object id for the named job in the given directory failed. The IdNotFoundException carries the job name, directory path, and type so callers can distinguish missing jobs from other repository errors.

Solutions

1. Verify the job name and directory path (list the directory with getJobNames(directory, false)).
2. Use repository directory objects from loadRepositoryDirectory/getRepositoryDirectory instead of hand-built paths.
3. Handle IdNotFoundException explicitly to distinguish 'not found' from infrastructure errors.
4. Search the whole repository (getJobNames with root dir) if the location is uncertain.

Example fix

// before
ObjectId id = repository.getJobId("ETL_Job", dir); // NPE / IdNotFound if missing
// after
ObjectId id;
try {
  id = repository.getJobId("ETL_Job", dir);
} catch (IdNotFoundException e) {
  id = null; // job absent; create or report to user
}

// pre-check existence
String[] existing = repository.getJobNames(dir == null ? rootDir : dir, false);
boolean present = Arrays.asList(existing).contains(name);

boolean jobPresent = (String n, RepositoryDirectoryInterface d) -> d != null && Arrays.asList(repository.getJobNames(d, false)).contains(n);

try { id = repository.getJobId(name, dir); } catch (IdNotFoundException e) { log.warn("job not found: " + e.getMessage()); id = null; }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling getJobId(name, directory) when no job file with that exact name exists in the given repository directory (or the directory is null/invalid), or the listing/lookup call itself fails.

Common situations: Hardcoded job paths broken after renames/moves; case-sensitivity mismatch on job names; passing null directory expecting root; saving to a different folder than the lookup expects.

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

• AutoDoc.Exception.RepositoryDirectoryNotFound
• Error saving job
• JobMeta.Exception.CanNotFindJob
• Unable to get all job names
• AbsSecurityProvider.ERROR_0002_UNABLE_TO_ACCESS_IS_ALLOWED

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/af8364c2448a96ad. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at plugins/pur/core/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/repository/pur/PurRepository.java:1552

    // implemented by RepositoryProxy
    throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
  }

  @Override
  public boolean getJobEntryAttributeBoolean( ObjectId arg0, int arg1, String arg2, boolean arg3 )
    throws KettleException {
    // implemented by RepositoryProxy
    throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
  }

  @Override
  public ObjectId getJobId( final String name, final RepositoryDirectoryInterface repositoryDirectory )
    throws KettleException {
    try {
      return getObjectId( name, repositoryDirectory, RepositoryObjectType.JOB, false );
    } catch ( Exception e ) {
      String path = repositoryDirectory != null ? repositoryDirectory.toString() : "null";
      throw new IdNotFoundException( "Unable to get ID for job [" + name + "]", e, name, path,
        RepositoryObjectType.JOB );
    }
  }

  @Override
  public String[] getJobNames( ObjectId idDirectory, boolean includeDeleted ) throws KettleException {
    try {
      List<RepositoryFile> children = getAllFilesOfType( idDirectory, RepositoryObjectType.JOB, includeDeleted );
      List<String> names = new ArrayList<String>();
      for ( RepositoryFile file : children ) {
        names.add( file.getTitle() );
      }
      return names.toArray( new String[ 0 ] );
    } catch ( Exception e ) {
      throw new KettleException( "Unable to get all job names", e );
    }
  }

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