PREHOOK: query: set role ADMIN PREHOOK: type: SHOW_ROLES POSTHOOK: query: set role ADMIN POSTHOOK: type: SHOW_ROLES PREHOOK: query: create role accounting PREHOOK: type: CREATEROLE POSTHOOK: query: create role accounting POSTHOOK: type: CREATEROLE PREHOOK: query: -- user does not belong to this role, so the show role grant should fail show role grant role accounting PREHOOK: type: SHOW_ROLE_GRANT FAILED: Execution Error, return code 1 from org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.exec.DDLTask. Error getting role grant information for user accounting: User : user1 is not allowed check privileges of a role it does not belong to : accounting. User has to belong to ADMIN role and have it as current role, for this action.