pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleException

Unable to insert new version log record into

Error message

Unable to insert new version log record into {schemaTable}

What it means

During repository creation the helper inserts the initial version-log row into R_VERSION using a prepared INSERT; any KettleException from that statement is wrapped as 'Unable to insert new version log record into <schemaTable>'. Without this row the repository version stamp is missing.

Solutions

1. Check if R_VERSION already has a row; skip version seeding or delete the duplicate first.
2. Verify R_VERSION has exactly the 5 expected columns of the current Pentaho version.
3. Grant INSERT privilege on the repository schema to the connecting user.
4. Inspect the wrapped KettleException for the exact JDBC error.

Example fix

// before
repo.connect(...); // re-seeds R_VERSION, duplicate key
// after
if (!database.checkTableExists(TABLE_R_VERSION) || database.getOneRow("SELECT * FROM " + TABLE_R_VERSION) == null) {
  repo.connect(...); // safe to create/seed
}

// skip seeding when R_VERSION already populated
if (database.checkTableExists(KettleDatabaseRepository.TABLE_R_VERSION)
    && database.getOneRow("SELECT * FROM " + KettleDatabaseRepository.TABLE_R_VERSION) != null) {
  return; // version already seeded
}

try {
  repo.createRepositorySchema(monitor, false);
} catch (KettleException e) {
  if (e.getMessage().contains("R_VERSION")) {
    // handle duplicate/seed conflict
  }
}

When it happens

Trigger: createRepositorySchema() (or its test callers) executes INSERT INTO R_VERSION VALUES(?,?,?,?,?) and the database rejects it — e.g. table exists with different column count, duplicate key from a prior install, or insert privileges missing.

Common situations: Re-running repository creation on an existing schema where R_VERSION is already populated; table created manually with a wrong column layout; user lacking INSERT privileges.

Related errors

• Error inserting 'unknown' row in dimension [
• No fields in row, can't insert!
• TransDependency.Exception.UnableToSaveTransformationDepency
• TransHopMeta.Exception.UnableToSaveTransformationHopInfo
• Unable to prepare dimension insert :

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/42b28cfd47352941. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/repository/kdr/KettleDatabaseRepositoryCreationHelper.java:227

      } else {
        nextId = new LongObjectId( 1L );
      }
      Object[] data =
        new Object[] {
          nextId.longValue(),
          Long.valueOf( KettleDatabaseRepositoryConnectionDelegate.REQUIRED_MAJOR_VERSION ),
          Long.valueOf( KettleDatabaseRepositoryConnectionDelegate.REQUIRED_MINOR_VERSION ), new Date(),
          Boolean.valueOf( upgrade ), };
      if ( dryrun ) {
        sql = database.getSQLOutput( null, KettleDatabaseRepository.TABLE_R_VERSION, table, data, null );
        statements.add( sql );
      } else {
        database.execStatement( "INSERT INTO "
          + databaseMeta.getQuotedSchemaTableCombination( null, KettleDatabaseRepository.TABLE_R_VERSION )
          + " VALUES(?, ?, ?, ?, ?)", table, data );
      }
    } catch ( KettleException e ) {
      throw new KettleException( "Unable to insert new version log record into " + schemaTable, e );
    }

    // ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    // R_DATABASE_TYPE
    //
    // Create table...
    //
    boolean ok_database_type = true;
    table = new RowMeta();
    tablename = KettleDatabaseRepository.TABLE_R_DATABASE_TYPE;
    schemaTable = databaseMeta.getQuotedSchemaTableCombination( null, tablename );
    if ( monitor != null ) {
      monitor.subTask( "Checking table " + schemaTable );
    }
    table.addValueMeta( new ValueMetaInteger(
      KettleDatabaseRepository.FIELD_DATABASE_TYPE_ID_DATABASE_TYPE, KEY, 0 ) );
    table.addValueMeta( new ValueMetaString(
      KettleDatabaseRepository.FIELD_DATABASE_TYPE_CODE,

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