prestodb/presto · error · PrestoException

NOT_SUPPORTED

NOT_SUPPORTED

Error message

ALTER MATERIALIZED VIEW ... SET PROPERTIES is not supported when legacy_materialized_views=true

What it means

This PrestoException(NOT_SUPPORTED) guards ALTER MATERIALIZED VIEW ... SET PROPERTIES when the session enables legacy materialized view semantics (legacy_materialized_views=true). Legacy materialized views do not support user-tunable properties, so the operation is refused. It is a feature-availability check, not a syntax or permission error.

Source

Thrown at presto-main-base/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/execution/SetPropertiesTask.java:71

    @Override
    public ListenableFuture<?> execute(SetProperties statement, TransactionManager transactionManager, Metadata metadata, AccessControl accessControl, Session session, List<Expression> parameters, WarningCollector warningCollector, String query)
    {
        QualifiedObjectName tableName = MetadataUtil.createQualifiedObjectName(session, statement, statement.getTableName(), metadata);
        Map<String, Expression> sqlProperties = mapFromProperties(statement.getProperties());

        if (statement.getType() == TABLE) {
            Map<String, Object> properties = metadata.getTablePropertyManager().getUserSpecifiedProperties(
                    getConnectorIdOrThrow(session, metadata, tableName.getCatalogName()),
                    tableName.getCatalogName(),
                    sqlProperties,
                    session,
                    metadata,
                    parameterExtractor(statement, parameters)).build();
            setTableProperties(statement, tableName, metadata, accessControl, session, properties);
        }
        else if (statement.getType() == MATERIALIZED_VIEW) {
            if (SystemSessionProperties.isLegacyMaterializedViews(session)) {
                throw new PrestoException(NOT_SUPPORTED, "ALTER MATERIALIZED VIEW ... SET PROPERTIES is not supported when legacy_materialized_views=true");
            }
            Map<String, Object> properties = metadata.getMaterializedViewPropertyManager().getUserSpecifiedProperties(
                    getConnectorIdOrThrow(session, metadata, tableName.getCatalogName()),
                    tableName.getCatalogName(),
                    sqlProperties,
                    session,
                    metadata,
                    parameterExtractor(statement, parameters)).build();
            setMaterializedViewProperties(statement, tableName, metadata, accessControl, session, properties);
        }
        else {
            throw new PrestoException(NOT_SUPPORTED, format("Unsupported target type: %s", statement.getType()));
        }

        return immediateFuture(null);
    }

    private void setTableProperties(SetProperties statement, QualifiedObjectName tableName, Metadata metadata, AccessControl accessControl, Session session, Map<String, Object> properties)

View on GitHub (pinned to 55bb57d202)

Solutions

  1. Disable the legacy flag for the session: SET SESSION legacy_materialized_views = false; then re-run the ALTER.
  2. Remove legacy_materialized_views=true from the cluster/catalog configuration if legacy semantics are no longer needed.
  3. Recreate the materialized view with the desired properties instead of altering it.

Example fix

-- before
ALTER MATERIALIZED VIEW mv SET PROPERTIES partitioned_by = ARRAY['day']
-- after
SET SESSION legacy_materialized_views = false;
ALTER MATERIALIZED VIEW mv SET PROPERTIES partitioned_by = ARRAY['day']
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

const rows = await run("SHOW SESSION LIKE 'legacy_materialized_views'");
if (rows.length && rows[0].Value === 'true') {
  await run("SET SESSION legacy_materialized_views = false");
}

Try / catch

try {
  await run("ALTER MATERIALIZED VIEW mv SET PROPERTIES ...");
} catch (e) {
  if (e.message.includes("legacy_materialized_views")) {
    await run("SET SESSION legacy_materialized_views = false");
    await run("ALTER MATERIALIZED VIEW mv SET PROPERTIES ...");
  } else throw e;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Running ALTER MATERIALIZED VIEW ... SET PROPERTIES ... while the session property legacy_materialized_views is set to true.

Common situations: Environments migrated from older Presto versions where legacy_materialized_views is enabled in config or at the session/catalog level; DBAs copying modern DDL scripts into a legacy-configured cluster.

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

AI-assisted analysis of prestodb/presto@55bb57d202 (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d834a3da288a5ae7. Report an issue: GitHub.