pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleException

Unable to save repository directory with path [

Error message

Unable to save repository directory with path [

What it means

Wrapper around the unified repository createFolder call in saveRepositoryDirectory: any failure creating the folder on the server is wrapped as "Unable to save repository directory with path [...]" with the cause chained; the write lock is always released in finally.

Solutions

  1. Check the chained cause; if it is a duplicate/conflict, pick a unique folder name or reuse the existing folder.
  2. Refresh the parent directory (findDirectory) to obtain a current ObjectId before saving.
  3. Verify the user has create-child permission on the parent folder.
  4. Retry the save after re-authenticating if the session expired.

Example fix

// before
repo.saveRepositoryDirectory(dir);
// after
RepositoryDirectoryInterface fresh = repo.findDirectory(getParentPath(dir.getPath())); dir.setParent(fresh); repo.saveRepositoryDirectory(dir);
Defensive patterns

Strategy: retry

Validate before calling

RepositoryDirectoryInterface fresh = repo.findDirectory(parentPath); if (fresh == null) throw new IllegalStateException("parent missing: " + parentPath);

Try / catch

try { repo.saveRepositoryDirectory(dir); } catch (KettleException e) { if (isConflict(e.getCause())) { dir.setName(uniqueName(dir.getName())); repo.saveRepositoryDirectory(dir); } else throw e; }

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: pur.createFolder fails — parent ObjectId missing/null unexpectedly, folder name invalid or already exists, user lacks create permission, or a server-side JCR error occurs while creating the folder.

Common situations: Duplicate folder name in the same parent; stale ObjectId on the parent after another client modified the tree; permission denied for non-admin users writing outside their home folder.

Understand the failure class

Background: "failed to write file", "Could not save figure", "Error saving remote file" — file write failed: causes and fixes across languages and libraries — this error's family across 38 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/602b1fbd74ad403f. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at plugins/pur/core/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/repository/pur/PurRepository.java:453

    }
  }

  @Override public void saveRepositoryDirectory( final RepositoryDirectoryInterface dir ) throws KettleException {
    // id of root dir is null--check for it
    if ( "/".equals( dir.getParent().getName() ) ) {
      throw new KettleException( BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "PurRepository.FailedDirectoryCreation.Message" ) );
    }

    readWriteLock.writeLock().lock();
    try {
      RepositoryFile
        newFolder =
        pur.createFolder( dir.getParent().getObjectId() != null ? dir.getParent().getObjectId().getId() : null,
          new RepositoryFile.Builder( dir.getName() ).folder( true ).build(), null );

      dir.setObjectId( new StringObjectId( newFolder.getId().toString() ) );
    } catch ( Exception e ) {
      throw new KettleException( "Unable to save repository directory with path [" + getPath( null, dir, null ) + "]",
        e );
    } finally {
      readWriteLock.writeLock().unlock();
    }
  }

  /**
   * Determine if "baseFolder" is the same as "folder" or if "folder" is a descendant of "baseFolder"
   *
   * @param folder
   *          Folder to test for similarity / ancestory; Must not be null
   * @param baseFolder
   *          Folder that may be the same or an ancestor; Must not be null
   * @return True if folder is a descendant of baseFolder or False if not; False if either folder or baseFolder are null
   */
  protected boolean isSameOrAncestorFolder( RepositoryFile folder, RepositoryFile baseFolder ) {
    // If either folder is null, return false. We cannot do a proper comparison
    if ( folder != null && baseFolder != null ) {

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