What causes "SemanticException: unable to fetch table"?

Problem

Jobs are failing with the following error message: 

FAILED: SemanticException Unable to fetch table t1. Could not get table: Table not found: default.temptable 

In this example, t1 is an EMR-local (temporary) table that is reaped once the query finishes. 

Cause

The original query writer cannot always retrieve a temporary table's metadata, as a subsequent query can reuse the table name t1. Since failure depends on a future action, the result can appear random or intermittent to the user.

Solution

Use the default database as a local (i.e., temporary) table store, similar to Okera's localdb feature. This configuration keeps users from overwriting each other's intermediate table data and metadata. Add the following property to your /etc/hive/conf/hive-site.xml

property: `cerebro.local.dbs` 
value: `localdb, default`