pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleException

Unable to save job entry of type 'xslt' to the repository…

Error message

Unable to save job entry of type 'xslt' to the repository for id_job=<id_job>

What it means

JobEntryXSLT.saveRep rethrows KettleException when writing the entry's attributes, including per-index output_property_name/output_property_value rows, to the repository fails with a KettleDatabaseException.

Solutions

Read the wrapped KettleDatabaseException for the SQL error
Check repository connectivity and disk space
Verify write privileges on the repository
Reduce or shorten output property names/values if column limits are hit

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Try / catch

try {
  entry.saveRep( rep, metaStore, id_job );
} catch ( KettleException e ) {
  logError( "Repository save failed for id_job=" + id_job + ": " + e.getCause(), e );
  throw e;
}

Prevention

Verify repository write privileges before saving
Watch for DB outages and retry transient failures
Keep output property names/values within column limits
Use a dedicated writable repository account

When it happens

Trigger: Saving a job with an XSLT entry where any rep.saveJobEntryAttribute call (including the output-property loop) throws KettleDatabaseException.

Common situations: Repository DB connection dropped during save; constraint or column-length violations; read-only repository user; very many output properties.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b2726c1815ba0739. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at plugins/xml/core/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/job/entries/xslt/JobEntryXSLT.java:289

    try {
      rep.saveJobEntryAttribute( id_job, getObjectId(), "xmlfilename", xmlfilename );
      rep.saveJobEntryAttribute( id_job, getObjectId(), "xslfilename", xslfilename );
      rep.saveJobEntryAttribute( id_job, getObjectId(), "outputfilename", outputfilename );
      rep.saveJobEntryAttribute( id_job, getObjectId(), "iffileexists", iffileexists );
      rep.saveJobEntryAttribute( id_job, getObjectId(), "addfiletoresult", addfiletoresult );
      rep.saveJobEntryAttribute( id_job, getObjectId(), "filenamesfromprevious", filenamesfromprevious );
      rep.saveJobEntryAttribute( id_job, getObjectId(), "xsltfactory", xsltfactory );

      for ( int i = 0; i < parameterName.length; i++ ) {
        rep.saveJobEntryAttribute( id_job, getObjectId(), i, "param_field", parameterField[i] );
        rep.saveJobEntryAttribute( id_job, getObjectId(), i, "param_name", parameterName[i] );
      }
      for ( int i = 0; i < outputPropertyName.length; i++ ) {
        rep.saveJobEntryAttribute( id_job, getObjectId(), i, "output_property_name", outputPropertyName[i] );
        rep.saveJobEntryAttribute( id_job, getObjectId(), i, "output_property_value", outputPropertyValue[i] );
      }
    } catch ( KettleDatabaseException dbe ) {
      throw new KettleException( "Unable to save job entry of type 'xslt' to the repository for id_job=" + id_job, dbe );
    }
  }

  public String getXSLTFactory() {
    return xsltfactory;
  }

  public void setXSLTFactory( String xsltfactoryin ) {
    xsltfactory = xsltfactoryin;
  }

  public String getRealxmlfilename() {
    return environmentSubstitute( getxmlFilename() );
  }

  public String getoutputfilename() {
    return environmentSubstitute( getoutputFilename() );
  }

View on GitHub (pinned to f3058517a1)