apache/seatunnel · error · DatabaseNotExistException

Database does not exist in catalog hive

Error message

Database ${databaseName} does not exist in catalog hive

What it means

Thrown by listTables() as a DatabaseNotExistException when databaseExists(databaseName) returns false before querying getAllTables(). It means the named database is absent from the Hive Metastore the catalog is connected to.

Solutions

1. List existing databases via listDatabases() or `SHOW DATABASES` in Hive and use an exact existing name.
2. Check that hive-conf-dir/metastore URI points to the cluster where the database actually exists.
3. Create the database (CREATE DATABASE) if it is genuinely missing.

Example fix

// before
List<String> tables = catalog.listTables("Prod_Sales");
// after: use exact lowercase name verified via listDatabases
List<String> dbs = catalog.listDatabases();
if (dbs.contains("prod_sales")) {
    List<String> tables = catalog.listTables("prod_sales");
}

if (!catalog.databaseExists(databaseName)) {
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("Database not found: " + databaseName);
}
List<String> tables = catalog.listTables(databaseName);

try {
    return catalog.listTables(db);
} catch (DatabaseNotExistException e) {
    return List.of(); // or surface a friendly message
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling listTables(databaseName) (or any flow that enumerates tables) with a database name that does not exist in HMS — typically a typo, wrong case, or a database that lives in a different metastore environment.

Common situations: Typo or case mismatch (Hive database names are usually lowercase); pointing the connector at a dev/test metastore while expecting prod databases; database was dropped between plan and execution.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Not found" and "does not exist" errors: why "Task not found", "No such folder", and "Can't find" fire when a lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 14 libraries.

Related errors

• Failed to create database
• Failed to drop database
• Failed to list databases
• Failed to list tables in database
• Failed to open Hive catalog

AI-assisted analysis of apache/seatunnel@cf67b549a7 (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2f157c783e44f5dc. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at seatunnel-connectors-v2/connector-hive/src/main/java/org/apache/seatunnel/connectors/seatunnel/hive/utils/HiveMetaStoreCatalog.java:595

    @Override
    public List<String> listDatabases() throws CatalogException {
        try {
            return getClient().getAllDatabases();
        } catch (TException e) {
            log.warn(
                    "listDatabases failed via getAllDatabases(), check HMS version compatibility: {}",
                    e.getMessage());
            throw new CatalogException("Failed to list databases", e);
        }
    }

    @Override
    public List<String> listTables(String databaseName)
            throws CatalogException, DatabaseNotExistException {
        try {
            if (!databaseExists(databaseName)) {
                throw new DatabaseNotExistException("hive", databaseName);
            }
            return getClient().getAllTables(databaseName);
        } catch (TException e) {
            throw new CatalogException("Failed to list tables in database: " + databaseName, e);
        }
    }

    @Override
    public boolean tableExists(TablePath tablePath) throws CatalogException {
        return tableExists(tablePath.getDatabaseName(), tablePath.getTableName());
    }

    @Override
    public CatalogTable getTable(TablePath tablePath)
            throws CatalogException, TableNotExistException {
        try {
            if (!tableExists(tablePath.getDatabaseName(), tablePath.getTableName())) {
                throw new TableNotExistException("hive", tablePath);

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