apache/iceberg · error · RuntimeException

Interrupted in call to getDatabase(name)

Error message

Interrupted in call to getDatabase(name) <namespace> in Hive Metastore

What it means

Thrown by HiveCatalog.alterHiveDataBase when the thread is interrupted while waiting for a Hive Metastore client via the connection pool. The handler re-interrupts the current thread (restoring the interrupt flag) before throwing, so interruption is not swallowed. It means the caller (or an executor shutting down) cancelled the operation.

Solutions

1. Find and remove the code that interrupts the thread (executor shutdown, timeout framework) or don't run catalog ops in interruptible contexts.
2. If intentional cancellation, treat this as expected and stop further catalog work.
3. Re-run the operation in a fresh, non-interrupted thread after confirming shutdown is not in progress.

if (Thread.currentThread().isInterrupted()) {
  throw new IllegalStateException("Thread already interrupted; skipping catalog update");
}

try {
  catalog.setProperties(ns, props);
} catch (RuntimeException e) {
  if (e.getCause() instanceof InterruptedException) { /* treat as cancellation, stop work */ }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling setProperties/removeProperties while the calling thread's interrupt flag is set or the interrupt arrives while clients.run(client -> client.getDatabase(...)) is acquiring/waiting for a pooled HMS client.

Common situations: Task cancelled by an executor/pool shutdown; Spark/Flink job cancellation propagating interrupts; query timeouts that interrupt worker threads.

Understand the failure class

Background: Request timed out: what client-side request timeouts mean across libraries (Request timed out, TIMED_OUT, APITimeoutError) — this error's family across 39 libraries.

Related errors

• Interrupted during commit
• Cannot rename to . Namespace does not exist
• Failed to create namespace
• Failed to list namespace under namespace
• Interrupted during isHeld

AI-assisted analysis of apache/iceberg@86d9c8fc54 (2026-09-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c4596c5ebab2c95b. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at hive-metastore/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/HiveCatalog.java:686

  private void alterHiveDataBase(Namespace namespace, Database database) {
    try {
      clients.run(
          client -> {
            client.alterDatabase(namespace.level(0), database);
            return null;
          });

    } catch (NoSuchObjectException | UnknownDBException e) {
      throw new NoSuchNamespaceException(e, "Namespace does not exist: %s", namespace);

    } catch (TException e) {
      throw new RuntimeException(
          "Failed to list namespace under namespace: " + namespace + " in Hive Metastore", e);

    } catch (InterruptedException e) {
      Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
      throw new RuntimeException(
          "Interrupted in call to getDatabase(name) " + namespace + " in Hive Metastore", e);
    }
  }

  @Override
  public Map<String, String> loadNamespaceMetadata(Namespace namespace) {
    if (!isValidateNamespace(namespace)) {
      throw new NoSuchNamespaceException("Namespace does not exist: %s", namespace);
    }

    try {
      Database database = clients.run(client -> client.getDatabase(namespace.level(0)));
      Map<String, String> metadata = convertToMetadata(database);
      LOG.debug("Loaded metadata for namespace {} found {}", namespace, metadata.keySet());
      return metadata;

    } catch (NoSuchObjectException | UnknownDBException e) {
      throw new NoSuchNamespaceException(e, "Namespace does not exist: %s", namespace);

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