pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleException

Unable to load job entry for type file exists from the…

Error message

Unable to load job entry for type file exists from the repository for id_jobentry=

What it means

Thrown by PaloCubeDelete.loadRep() when reading the entry's attributes from the repository raises a KettleException (wrapped as 'Unable to load job entry for type file exists from the repository for id_jobentry=<id>'). 'file exists' is a stale message; the failing entry is the Palo Delete cube entry.

Solutions

  1. Check the wrapped KettleException cause and repository health
  2. Verify the referenced database connection (id_database) still exists in the repository
  3. Recreate the job entry and resave its attributes
  4. Restore missing r_jobentry_attribute rows from backup

Example fix

// before: connection referenced by 'id_database' was deleted
// after: recreate the connection in the repository so id_database resolves, then reload the job
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

if ( rep.getJobEntryAttributeString( id_jobentry, "cubeName" ) == null ) {
  log.warn( "id_jobentry " + id_jobentry + " missing cubeName; check r_jobentry_attribute rows" );
}

Try / catch

try { entry.loadRep( rep, metaStore, id, databases, slaves ); } catch ( KettleException e ) { log.error( "Repository load failed for PaloCubeDelete id_jobentry=" + id, e ); throw e; }

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: loadRep called for an id_jobentry whose 'connection'/'id_database' or 'cubeName' attributes cannot be loaded via loadDatabaseMetaFromJobEntryAttribute or getStepAttributeString due to repository errors.

Common situations: Missing r_jobentry_attribute rows; broken id_database reference after connections were deleted; repository connectivity problems; schema mismatch after upgrade.

Understand the failure class

Background: Database query failed: Internal Server Error 500s wrapping SQL, Prisma, and connection failures — what to check first — this error's family across 16 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4431aae27fbea00c. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at plugins/palo/core/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/job/entries/palo/JobEntryCubeDelete/PaloCubeDelete.java:104

    try {
      super.loadXML( entrynode, databases, slaveServers );

      this.setDatabaseMeta( DatabaseMeta.findDatabase( databases, XMLHandler.getTagValue( entrynode, "connection" ) ) );
      this.setCubeName( XMLHandler.getTagValue( entrynode, "cubeName" ) );
    } catch ( KettleXMLException xe ) {
      throw new KettleXMLException( "Unable to load file exists job entry from XML node", xe );
    }
  }

  public void loadRep( Repository rep, IMetaStore metaStore, ObjectId id_jobentry, List<DatabaseMeta> databases,
      List<SlaveServer> slaveServers ) throws KettleException {
    try {
      this.databaseMeta =
          rep.loadDatabaseMetaFromJobEntryAttribute( id_jobentry, "connection", "id_database", databases );
      this.setCubeName( rep.getStepAttributeString( id_jobentry, "cubeName" ) );

    } catch ( KettleException dbe ) {
      throw new KettleException( "Unable to load job entry for type file exists from the repository for id_jobentry="
          + id_jobentry, dbe );
    }
  }

  public void saveRep( Repository rep, IMetaStore metaStore, ObjectId id_job ) throws KettleException {
    try {

      rep.saveDatabaseMetaJobEntryAttribute( id_job, getObjectId(), "connection", "id_database", databaseMeta );
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_job, getObjectId(), "cubeName", this.getCubeName() );

    } catch ( KettleDatabaseException dbe ) {
      throw new KettleException(
          "unable to save jobentry of type 'file exists' to the repository for id_job=" + id_job, dbe );
    }
  }

  public Result execute( Result prevResult, int nr ) throws KettleException {

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