prestodb/presto · error · PrestoException

NOT_SUPPORTED

NOT_SUPPORTED

Error message

Unexpected table present in Hive metastore: 

What it means

getTableHandle looks up tables in the Hive metastore; system tables (identified via getSourceTableNameFromSystemTable) must never be resolved as regular connector tables because permission checks (SystemTableAwareAccessControl.checkCanSelectFromTable) depend on them being routed separately. If such a table name is nonetheless present in the metastore, NOT_SUPPORTED is thrown.

Source

Thrown at presto-hive/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/hive/HiveMetadata.java:566

        if (database.isPresent()) {
            return getDatabaseProperties(database.get());
        }
        throw new SchemaNotFoundException(schemaName.getSchemaName());
    }

    @Override
    public HiveTableHandle getTableHandle(ConnectorSession session, SchemaTableName tableName)
    {
        requireNonNull(tableName, "tableName is null");
        MetastoreContext metastoreContext = getMetastoreContext(session);
        Optional<Table> table = metastore.getTable(metastoreContext, tableName.getSchemaName(), tableName.getTableName());
        if (!table.isPresent()) {
            return null;
        }

        if (getSourceTableNameFromSystemTable(tableName).isPresent()) {
            // We must not allow system table due to how permissions are checked in SystemTableAwareAccessControl.checkCanSelectFromTable()
            throw new PrestoException(NOT_SUPPORTED, "Unexpected table present in Hive metastore: " + tableName);
        }

        if (!isOfflineDataDebugModeEnabled(session)) {
            verifyOnline(tableName, Optional.empty(), getProtectMode(table.get()), table.get().getParameters());
        }

        return new HiveTableHandle(tableName.getSchemaName(), tableName.getTableName());
    }

    @Override
    public ConnectorTableHandle getTableHandleForStatisticsCollection(ConnectorSession session, SchemaTableName tableName, Map<String, Object> analyzeProperties)
    {
        HiveTableHandle handle = getTableHandle(session, tableName);
        if (handle == null) {
            return null;
        }
        Optional<List<List<String>>> partitionValuesList = getPartitionList(analyzeProperties);
        ConnectorTableMetadata tableMetadata = getTableMetadata(session, handle);

View on GitHub (pinned to 55bb57d202)

Solutions

1. Rename or drop the offending table from the Hive metastore so its name no longer collides with a system table name
2. Query the actual system table through the proper system schema instead of the base connector
3. Avoid creating Hive tables using reserved system-table naming patterns

Example fix

-- before: a metastore table named like a system table, e.g. "orders$partitions"
-- after
ALTER TABLE `orders$partitions` RENAME TO `orders_partitions_meta`;

if (getSourceTableNameFromSystemTable(tableName).isPresent()) {
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("Use the system catalog, not the hive catalog, for: " + tableName);
}

boolean isRegularHiveTable(SchemaTableName name) {
    return getSourceTableNameFromSystemTable(name).isEmpty();
}

try {
    // metadata/table handle lookup
} catch (PrestoException e) {
    if (e.getErrorCode().getCode() == StandardErrorCode.NOT_SUPPORTED.toErrorCode().getCode()) {
        // reroute to the proper system catalog/schema
    } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling getTableHandle (via handle/sourceTableHandle paths) with a SchemaTableName that matches a Hive system-table naming pattern and is actually present in the metastore.

Common situations: Users manually creating tables whose names collide with Presto's system table naming convention; migration/backup restores that recreated system-table-named entries; tooling that dumps and reimports metastore tables indiscriminately.

Understand the failure class

Background: Presto NOT_SUPPORTED error: what "not supported" means and how to fix it — this error's family across 3 libraries.

Related errors

• NOT_SUPPORTED
• NOT_SUPPORTED
• HIVE_INVALID_METADATA
• SCHEMA_NOT_EMPTY
• HIVE_UNSUPPORTED_ENCRYPTION_OPERATION

AI-assisted analysis of prestodb/presto@55bb57d202 (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3a093d5f5c934d48. Report an issue: GitHub.