pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleException

Unable to load job entry of type 'mail' from the repository…

Error message

Unable to load job entry of type 'mail' from the repository with idJobEntry=

What it means

JobEntryMail's repository load catches KettleDatabaseException while reading job entry attributes and rethrows as KettleException. The mail job entry metadata could not be loaded from the repository for the given idJobEntry.

Solutions

Check the chained KettleDatabaseException cause for the root SQL error.
Verify repository database connectivity and retry loading the job.
Re-save/re-import the job from a .kjb file copy if repository rows are inconsistent.
Clean up orphaned r_jobentry_attribute rows for the reported idJobEntry if needed.

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

if (rep == null || !rep.isConnected()) {
  throw new KettleException("Repository not connected; cannot load mail job entry.");
}

Try / catch

try { loadJobEntryFromRepo(idJobEntry); } catch (KettleException e) {
  logError("Repository load of mail job entry failed: " + e.getMessage(), e);
}

Prevention

Verify repository connectivity before batch job loads.
Avoid deleting job rows directly in the DB; use Spoon to delete so attributes are cleaned too.
Re-export jobs to files periodically as recovery copies.

When it happens

Trigger: loadRep reads embedded-image attributes from the repository and the DB read fails: connection dropped, missing r_jobentry_attribute rows, corrupted records.

Common situations: Repository DB connectivity issues; partially deleted job leaving orphaned/missing attributes; cross-repository id mismatch after export/import.

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/8670eee54866cb4c. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at plugins/mail-job/impl/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/job/entries/mail/JobEntryMail.java:488

        String typeCode = rep.getJobEntryAttributeString( idJobEntry, i, "file_type" );
        fileType[i] = ResultFile.getType( typeCode );
      }

      zipFiles = rep.getJobEntryAttributeBoolean( idJobEntry, TAG_ZIP_FILES );
      zipFilename = rep.getJobEntryAttributeString( idJobEntry, TAG_ZIP_NAME );
      replyToAddresses = rep.getJobEntryAttributeString( idJobEntry, TAG_REPLY_TO_ADDRESSES );

      // How many arguments?
      int imagesNr = rep.countNrJobEntryAttributes( idJobEntry, TAG_EMBEDDED_IMAGE );
      allocateImages( imagesNr );

      // Read them all...
      for ( int a = 0; a < imagesNr; a++ ) {
        embeddedimages[a] = rep.getJobEntryAttributeString( idJobEntry, a, TAG_EMBEDDED_IMAGE );
        contentids[a] = rep.getJobEntryAttributeString( idJobEntry, a, "contentid" );
      }
    } catch ( KettleDatabaseException dbe ) {
      throw new KettleException( "Unable to load job entry of type 'mail' from the repository with idJobEntry="
        + idJobEntry, dbe );
    }
  }

  @Override
  public void saveRep( Repository rep, IMetaStore metaStore, ObjectId id_job ) throws KettleException {
    try {
      rep.saveJobEntryAttribute( id_job, getObjectId(), TAG_SERVER, server );
      rep.saveJobEntryAttribute( id_job, getObjectId(), TAG_PORT, port );
      rep.saveJobEntryAttribute( id_job, getObjectId(), TAG_DESTINATION, destination );
      rep.saveJobEntryAttribute( id_job, getObjectId(), TAG_DESTINATION_CC, destinationCc );
      rep.saveJobEntryAttribute( id_job, getObjectId(), TAG_DESTINATION_BCC, destinationBCc );
      rep.saveJobEntryAttribute( id_job, getObjectId(), TAG_REPLYTO, replyAddress );
      rep.saveJobEntryAttribute( id_job, getObjectId(), TAG_REPLYTONAME, replyName );
      rep.saveJobEntryAttribute( id_job, getObjectId(), TAG_SUBJECT, subject );
      rep.saveJobEntryAttribute( id_job, getObjectId(), TAG_INCLUDE_DATE, includeDate );
      rep.saveJobEntryAttribute( id_job, getObjectId(), TAG_CONTACT_PERSON, contactPerson );
      rep.saveJobEntryAttribute( id_job, getObjectId(), TAG_CONTACT_PHONE, contactPhone );

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