OSS external tables

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MaxCompute supports OSS external tables that map to Object Storage Service (OSS) directories. Use OSS external tables to read unstructured data from or write data to OSS.

Usage notes

  • OSS external tables do not support the cluster property.

  • The size of a single file cannot exceed 2 GB. You must split files that are larger than 2 GB.

  • MaxCompute and OSS must be in the same region.

Access methods

The following platforms support creating and using OSS external tables.

Method

Platform

MaxCompute SQL

Visualization

Prerequisites

  • You have created a MaxCompute project.

  • Prepare an OSS bucket and directory. Create a bucket and Manage directories.

    MaxCompute can automatically create OSS directories. If an SQL statement includes external tables and UDFs, a single SQL statement can read from or write to the external table and run the UDF. Manual directory creation is also supported.

    Because MaxCompute is deployed only in some regions, cross-region network connectivity can be an issue. Keep your bucket in the same region as your MaxCompute project.
  • Authorization

Create an OSS external table

  • Partitioned and non-partitioned tables:

    • Choose based on how your data files are stored in OSS. Use a partitioned table if files are in partitioned paths; otherwise, use a non-partitioned table.

    • OSS external tables support partition operations.

  • Network domain name: Use the classic network domain name for OSS. MaxCompute does not guarantee network connectivity for public network domain names.

  • An OSS external table only records the mapping to an OSS directory. Deleting an OSS external table does not delete the data files in the mapped OSS directory.

  • If an OSS data file is an archived object, you must first restore the object.

The CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE syntax varies by data file format. Match the syntax and parameters to your data format. Incorrect settings cause read and write failures.

Syntax

Create an external table using the built-in text data parser

Syntax

Data file format

Example

CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE [IF NOT EXISTS] <mc_oss_extable_name> 
(
<col_name> <data_type>,
...
)
[comment <table_comment>]
[partitioned BY (<col_name> <data_type>, ...)] 
stored BY '<StorageHandler>'  
WITH serdeproperties (
 ['<property_name>'='<property_value>',...]
) 
location '<oss_location>';

Supported data file formats for reading from or writing to OSS:

  • CSV

  • TSV

  • CSV and TSV files compressed with GZIP, SNAPPY, or LZO

Create an external table using a built-in open source data parser

Syntax

Data file format

Example

CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE [IF NOT EXISTS] <mc_oss_extable_name>
(
<col_name> <data_type>,
...
)
[comment <table_comment>]
[partitioned BY (<col_name> <data_type>, ...)]
[row format serde '<serde_class>'
  [WITH serdeproperties (
    ['<property_name>'='<property_value>',...])
  ]
]
stored AS <file_format> 
location '<oss_location>' 
[USING '<resource_name>']
[tblproperties ('<tbproperty_name>'='<tbproperty_value>',...)];

Supported data file formats for reading from or writing to OSS:

  • PARQUET

  • TEXTFILE

  • ORC

  • RCFILE

  • AVRO

  • JSON

  • SEQUENCEFILE

  • Hudi (only supports reading Hudi data generated by DLF)

  • PARQUET files compressed with ZSTD, SNAPPY, or GZIP

  • ORC files compressed with SNAPPY or ZLIB

  • TEXTFILE files compressed with GZIP, SNAPPY, or LZO

Create an external table using a custom parser

Syntax

Data file format

Example

CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE [IF NOT EXISTS] <mc_oss_extable_name> 
(
<col_name> <date_type>,
...
)
[comment <table_comment>]
[partitioned BY (<col_name> <data_type>, ...)] 
stored BY '<StorageHandler>' 
WITH serdeproperties (
 ['<property_name>'='<property_value>',...]
) 
location '<oss_location>' 
USING '<jar_name>';

Supported data file formats for reading from or writing to OSS: Data files in formats other than those listed above.

Parameters

The following parameters are common across all external table formats. For format-specific parameters, see the documentation for each format.

  • Basic syntax parameters

    Parameter

    Required

    Description

    mc_oss_extable_name

    Yes

    The name of the OSS external table to create.

    Table names are case-insensitive and cannot be force-converted to a specific case.

    col_name

    Yes

    The name of a column in the OSS external table.

    The schema of the external table must match the schema of the OSS data file. Otherwise, data cannot be read.

    data_type

    Yes

    The data type of a column in the OSS external table.

    Each column's data type must match the corresponding column in the OSS data file. Otherwise, data cannot be read.

    table_comment

    No

    The comment for the table. The comment must be a valid string of no more than 1,024 bytes. Otherwise, an error is reported.

    partitioned by (col_name data_type, ...)

    No

    If the data files in OSS are stored in a partitioned path, include this parameter to create a partitioned table.

    • col_name: The name of the partition key column.

    • data_type: The data type of the partition key column.

    '<(tb)property_name>'='<(tb)property_value>'

    Yes

    Extended properties of the external table. See the format-specific documentation for details.

    oss_location

    Yes

    The OSS path where the data files are located. By default, all data files in this path are read.

    The format is oss://<oss_endpoint>/<Bucket name>/<OSS directory name>/.

    • oss_endpoint:

      • The OSS domain name. You must use the classic network endpoint provided by OSS, which contains -internal.

        Example: oss://oss-cn-beijing-internal.aliyuncs.com/xxx.

        OSS classic network domain names are listed in Regions and endpoints.

        Keep the OSS region where the data files are stored the same as the region of your MaxCompute project. If they are in different regions, network connectivity issues may occur.
      • If you do not specify an endpoint, the system uses the endpoint of the region where the current project is located.

        This method is not recommended because cross-region file storage may cause network connectivity issues.
    • Bucket name: The name of the OSS bucket. The bucket name must follow the oss_endpoint.

      Example: oss://oss-cn-beijing-internal.aliyuncs.com/your_bucket/path/.

      View bucket names in List buckets.

    • Directory name: The name of the OSS directory. Do not specify a file name after the directory.

      Example: oss://oss-cn-beijing-internal.aliyuncs.com/oss-mc-test/Demo1/.

      Incorrect examples:

       -- HTTP connections are not supported.
      http://oss-cn-shanghai-internal.aliyuncs.com/oss-mc-test/Demo1/
      -- HTTPS connections are not supported.               
      https://oss-cn-shanghai-internal.aliyuncs.com/oss-mc-test/Demo1/
      -- Incorrect connection address.            
      oss://oss-cn-shanghai-internal.aliyuncs.com/Demo1
      -- Do not specify a file name.                            
      oss://oss-cn-shanghai-internal.aliyuncs.com/oss-mc-test/Demo1/vehicle.csv
    • Permission specification (RamRole):

      • Explicitly specify (Recommended): Create a custom role, attach an access policy, and use its ARN. STS authorization.

      • Use Default (Not recommended): Use the ARN of the aliyunodpsdefaultrole role.

  • WITH serdeproperties attributes

    property_name

    Scenario

    property_value

    Default value

    odps.properties.rolearn

    Add this property when using STS authorization.

    Specify the ARN of the RAM role that has permissions to access OSS.

    Obtain the ARN from the role details in the RAM console. Example: acs:ram::xxxxxx:role/aliyunodpsdefaultrole.

Read data from OSS

Notes

  • After you create an OSS external table, you can read data from OSS through the external table. For supported data file types and creation syntax, see Syntax.

  • If an SQL statement involves complex data types, prepend set odps.sql.type.system.odps2=true; and submit them together. Data type versions.

  • For OSS external tables that map to open source data, set set odps.sql.hive.compatible=true; at the session level before reading data from OSS. Otherwise, an error is reported.

  • OSS has bandwidth limits. If read/write traffic exceeds the instance bandwidth limit in a short period, external table performance degrades. Limits and performance metrics.

Syntax

<select_statement> FROM <from_statement>;
  • select_statement: The SELECT clause, which queries the data to be inserted into the target table from the source table.

  • from_statement: The FROM clause, which specifies the data source, such as the name of the external table.

Non-partitioned data

Non-partitioned data

After you create a non-partitioned OSS external table, you can read data from OSS using one of the following methods:

  • Method 1 (Recommended): Import the open source format data from OSS into a MaxCompute internal table, and then read the data.

    Best for repeated calculations or high-performance scenarios. Create an internal table with the same schema as the external table, import the data, then run complex queries. Internal storage benefits from MaxCompute optimization. Sample command:

    CREATE TABLE <table_internal> LIKE <mc_oss_extable_name>;
    INSERT OVERWRITE TABLE <table_internal> SELECT * FROM <mc_oss_extable_name>;
  • Method 2: Read data directly from OSS, similar to operations on MaxCompute internal tables.

    Best for low-performance scenarios. Each query reads data directly from OSS rather than from internal storage.

Partitioned data

Partitioned data

MaxCompute performs a full scan of all data in the OSS directory, including subdirectories. For large datasets, this causes unnecessary I/O and increases processing time. Two solutions are available.

  • Method 1 (Recommended): Store data on OSS using a standard partitioned path or a custom partitioned path.

    Specify the partition and oss_location in the table creation statement. Standard partitioned paths are recommended.

  • Method 2: Plan multiple data storage paths.

    Create multiple external tables, each pointing to a subset of OSS data. This method is cumbersome and not recommended.

Standard partitioned path format

oss://<oss_endpoint>/<Bucket name>/<directory name>/<partitionKey1=value1>/<partitionKey2=value2>/...

Example: A company stores daily log files in CSV format on OSS and processes the data daily using MaxCompute. The standard partitioned path for storing OSS data should be set as follows.

oss://oss-odps-test/log_data/year=2016/month=06/day=01/logfile
oss://oss-odps-test/log_data/year=2016/month=06/day=02/logfile
oss://oss-odps-test/log_data/year=2016/month=07/day=10/logfile
oss://oss-odps-test/log_data/year=2016/month=08/day=08/logfile
...

Custom partitioned path format

A custom partitioned path format contains only partition column values, not partition column names. Example:

oss://oss-odps-test/log_data_customized/2016/06/01/logfile
oss://oss-odps-test/log_data_customized/2016/06/02/logfile
oss://oss-odps-test/log_data_customized/2016/07/10/logfile
oss://oss-odps-test/log_data_customized/2016/08/08/logfile
...

If OSS data uses a non-standard partitioned path, you can bind subdirectories to partitions manually.

After creating the external table, use alter table ... add partition ... location ... to bind subdirectories to partitions. Example:

ALTER TABLE log_table_external ADD PARTITION (year = '2016', month = '06', day = '01')
location 'oss://oss-cn-hangzhou-internal.aliyuncs.com/bucket_name/oss-odps-test/log_data_customized/2016/06/01/';
ALTER TABLE log_table_external ADD PARTITION (year = '2016', month = '06', day = '02')
location 'oss://oss-cn-hangzhou-internal.aliyuncs.com/bucket_name/oss-odps-test/log_data_customized/2016/06/02/';
ALTER TABLE log_table_external ADD PARTITION (year = '2016', month = '07', day = '10')
location 'oss://oss-cn-hangzhou-internal.aliyuncs.com/bucket_name/oss-odps-test/log_data_customized/2016/07/10/';
ALTER TABLE log_table_external ADD PARTITION (year = '2016', month = '08', day = '08')
location 'oss://oss-cn-hangzhou-internal.aliyuncs.com/bucket_name/oss-odps-test/log_data_customized/2016/08/08/';

Query optimization

Dynamic statistics collection

Dynamic statistics collection

External data lacks pre-existing statistics, causing the query optimizer to use a conservative strategy with low efficiency. Dynamic statistics collection lets the optimizer collect table statistics during query execution to identify small tables, enabling Hash Join, optimized join order, fewer shuffles, and shorter execution pipelines.

The following parameters do not apply to Paimon, Hudi, or Delta Lake external tables.

SET odps.meta.exttable.stats.onlinecollect=true;
SELECT * FROM <tablename>;

External table split optimization

External table split optimization

Adjust the split size to control how much data each concurrent task processes.

  • If the data volume is large and split size is too small, excessive splits cause high parallelism and the instance spends most time waiting for resources.

  • If the data volume is small and split size is too large, too few splits cause insufficient concurrency and idle resources.

-- You can use either of the following parameters.

-- Unit: MiB. Default value: 256 MiB. Applies to internal or external tables.
SET odps.stage.mapper.split.size=<value>;
SELECT * FROM <tablename>;

-- Unit: MiB. Default value: 256 MiB. Applies only to external tables.
SET odps.sql.unstructured.data.split.size=<value>;
SELECT * FROM <tablename>;

DOP control

Control parallelism with DOP

You can set the odps.sql.split.dop parameter to adjust the degree of parallelism when you read data. This parameter has a higher priority than odps.sql.mapper.split.size.

  • If the dop value is greater than the number of files in the OSS directory, the actual concurrency may differ significantly from the configured dop value.

  • If the dop value is too small, it will not take effect. Use the odps.input.file.num.limit parameter to change the maximum number of files that a single instance can process.

Syntax

-- Syntax for the two-tier model: set odps.sql.split.dop={"project.table": xxx};
-- Syntax for the three-tier model: set odps.sql.split.dop={"project.schema.table": xxx};

SET odps.sql.split.dop={
  "project.schema.table1": xxx, 
  "project.schema.table2": yyy
};

SET odps.sql.common.table.planner.ext.hive.bridge=FALSE;

SELECT * FROM <your_table>;

Usage example

Issue and solution for DOP distortion caused by too many small files

MaxCompute limits a single instance to processing a maximum of 240 files. If an OSS external table directory contains 3,449 files, the minimum degree of parallelism will be 3,449 / 240 ≈ 15. If you set the DOP to a value less than 15, the setting is ignored.

To resolve this, set odps.input.file.num.limit to change the maximum number of files that a single instance can process.

SET odps.sql.split.dop = {"lakehouse47_3.tpch_1t_parquet_snappy.lineitem": 2};
SET odps.input.file.num.limit = 5000;

A single instance can process up to 5,000 OSS files. Because the number of files in the lineitem table is well below this limit, the actual degree of parallelism matches the configured DOP value.

Write data to OSS

MaxCompute can write data from internal tables or processed external tables to OSS. For limits, see Scope.

Syntax

INSERT {INTO|OVERWRITE} TABLE <table_name> PARTITION (<ptcol_name>[, <ptcol_name> ...]) 
<select_statement> FROM <from_statement>;

Parameter

Required

Description

table_name

Yes

The name of the external table to write to.

select_statement

Yes

The SELECT clause, which queries the data to be inserted into the target table from the source table. If the target table has only one level of dynamic partitions, the value of the last field in the SELECT clause is the dynamic partition value of the target table. The relationship between the values from the source table's SELECT and the output partition values is determined by the field order, not by the column names. If the field order of the source table is different from that of the target table, specify the fields in the select_statement in the order of the target table.

from_statement

Yes

The FROM clause, which indicates the data source. For example, the name of the internal table to read from.

To insert data into dynamic partitions, see Insert or overwrite data into dynamic partitions (DYNAMIC PARTITION).

Notes

  • If the INSERT OVERWRITE ... SELECT ... FROM ...; operation allocates 1,000 mappers on the source table from_tablename, 1,000 TSV or CSV files are generated.

  • You can control the number of generated files using configurations provided by MaxCompute.

    • If the outputter is in a mapper: Use odps.stage.mapper.split.size to control the number of concurrent mappers, which adjusts the number of generated files.

    • If the outputter is in a reducer or joiner: Use odps.stage.reducer.num and odps.stage.joiner.num respectively to adjust the number of generated files.

  • Risk of inconsistent writes: When you use an INSERT OVERWRITE statement on an OSS external table or use the UNLOAD command to export files to OSS, the data in the subdirectory of the specified OSS location or the location that corresponds to the partition is deleted before new data is written. If the location directory contains important data written directly to OSS by other external engines, that data is also deleted before the new data is written. Therefore, you must ensure that existing files in the location directory of the external table are backed up or that the UNLOAD directory is empty. For other risks of inconsistent writes, see Scope.

Write data to OSS using the OSS multipart upload feature

To write data to OSS in an open source format, create an external table with an open source data parser and enable the OSS multipart upload feature.

To enable the OSS multipart upload feature, set the following:

Scenario

Command

Set at the project level

Takes effect for the entire project.

setproject odps.sql.unstructured.oss.commit.mode =true;

Set at the session level

Takes effect only for the current task.

set odps.sql.unstructured.oss.commit.mode =true;

The default value of odps.sql.unstructured.oss.commit.mode is false. The two modes work as follows:

Value

Principle

false

Data is stored in a .odps folder under the LOCATION directory, with a .meta file for data consistency. The .odps content can only be correctly processed by MaxCompute. Other engines may fail to parse it.

true

MaxCompute uses the multipart upload feature to be compatible with other data processing engines. It uses a two-phase commit method to ensure data consistency, and there will be no .odps directory or .meta file.

Manage exported files

Parameters

Add a prefix, suffix, or extension to output data files using the following parameters.

property_name

Scenario

Description

property_value

Default value

odps.external.data.output.prefix

(Compatible with odps.external.data.prefix)

Add this property when you need to add a custom prefix to the output files.

  • Contains only digits, letters, and underscores (a-z, A-Z, 0-9, _).

  • Length is between 1 and 10 characters.

A combination of allowed characters, such as 'mc_'

None

odps.external.data.enable.extension

Add this property when you need to display the extension of the output files.

True indicates that the extension of the output file is displayed. False indicates that it is not displayed.

  • True

  • False

False

odps.external.data.output.suffix

Add this property when you need to add a custom suffix to the output files.

Contains only digits, letters, and underscores (a-z, A-Z, 0-9, _).

A combination of allowed characters, such as '_hangzhou'

None

odps.external.data.output.explicit.extension

Add this property when you need to add a custom extension to the output files.

  • Contains only digits, letters, and underscores (a-z, A-Z, 0-9, _).

  • Length is between 1 and 10 characters.

  • Has a higher priority than the odps.external.data.enable.extension parameter.

A combination of allowed characters, such as "jsonl"

None

Examples

  1. Set the custom prefix of the output OSS file to test06_. The DDL statement is as follows:

    CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE  <mc_oss_extable_name>
    (
      vehicleId INT,
      recordId INT,
      patientId INT,
      calls INT,
      locationLatitute DOUBLE,
      locationLongitude DOUBLE,
      recordTime STRING,
      direction STRING
    )
    ROW FORMAT SERDE 'org.apache.hive.hcatalog.data.JsonSerDe'
    WITH serdeproperties (
      'odps.properties.rolearn'='acs:ram::<uid>:role/aliyunodpsdefaultrole'
    ) 
    STORED AS textfile
    LOCATION 'oss://oss-cn-beijing-internal.aliyuncs.com/***/'
    TBLPROPERTIES (
    -- Set a custom prefix.
        'odps.external.data.output.prefix'='test06_') 
    ;
    
    -- Write data to the foreign table.
    INSERT INTO  <mc_oss_extable_name> VALUES (1,32,76,1,63.32106,-92.08174,'9/14/2014 0:10','NW');

    The following figure shows the generated file.

    image

  2. Set the custom suffix of the output OSS file to _beijing. The DDL statement is as follows:

    CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE <mc_oss_extable_name>
    (
      vehicleId INT,
      recordId INT,
      patientId INT,
      calls INT,
      locationLatitute DOUBLE,
      locationLongitude DOUBLE,
      recordTime STRING,
      direction STRING
    )
    ROW FORMAT SERDE 'org.apache.hive.hcatalog.data.JsonSerDe'
    WITH serdeproperties (
      'odps.properties.rolearn'='acs:ram::<uid>:role/aliyunodpsdefaultrole'
    ) 
    STORED AS textfile
    LOCATION 'oss://oss-cn-beijing-internal.aliyuncs.com/***/'
    TBLPROPERTIES (
    -- Set a custom suffix.
        'odps.external.data.output.suffix'='_beijing') 
    ;
    
    -- Write data to the foreign table.
    INSERT INTO <mc_oss_extable_name> VALUES (1,32,76,1,63.32106,-92.08174,'9/14/2014 0:10','NW');

    The following figure shows the generated file.

    image

  3. Automatically generate an extension for the output OSS file. The DDL statement is as follows:

    CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE <mc_oss_extable_name>
    (
      vehicleId INT,
      recordId INT,
      patientId INT,
      calls INT,
      locationLatitute DOUBLE,
      locationLongitude DOUBLE,
      recordTime STRING,
      direction STRING
    )
    ROW FORMAT SERDE 'org.apache.hive.hcatalog.data.JsonSerDe'
    WITH serdeproperties (
      'odps.properties.rolearn'='acs:ram::<uid>:role/aliyunodpsdefaultrole'
    ) 
    STORED AS textfile
    LOCATION 'oss://oss-cn-beijing-internal.aliyuncs.com/***/'
    TBLPROPERTIES (
    -- Automatically generate an extension.
        'odps.external.data.enable.extension'='true') 
    ;
    
    -- Write data to the foreign table.
    INSERT INTO <mc_oss_extable_name> VALUES (1,32,76,1,63.32106,-92.08174,'9/14/2014 0:10','NW');

    The following figure shows the generated file.

  4. Set the custom extension of the output OSS file to jsonl. The DDL statement is as follows:

    CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE <mc_oss_extable_name>
    (
      vehicleId INT,
      recordId INT,
      patientId INT,
      calls INT,
      locationLatitute DOUBLE,
      locationLongitude DOUBLE,
      recordTime STRING,
      direction STRING
    )
    ROW FORMAT SERDE 'org.apache.hive.hcatalog.data.JsonSerDe'
    WITH serdeproperties (
      'odps.properties.rolearn'='acs:ram::<uid>:role/aliyunodpsdefaultrole'
    ) 
    STORED AS textfile
    LOCATION 'oss://oss-cn-beijing-internal.aliyuncs.com/***/'
    TBLPROPERTIES (
    -- Set a custom extension.
       'odps.external.data.output.explicit.extension'='jsonl') 
    ;
    
    -- Write data to the foreign table.
    INSERT INTO <mc_oss_extable_name> VALUES (1,32,76,1,63.32106,-92.08174,'9/14/2014 0:10','NW');

    The following figure shows the generated file.

    image.png

  5. Set the prefix of the output OSS file to mc_, the suffix to _beijing, and the extension to jsonl. The DDL statement is as follows:

    CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE <mc_oss_extable_name>
    (
      vehicleId INT,
      recordId INT,
      patientId INT,
      calls INT,
      locationLatitute DOUBLE,
      locationLongitude DOUBLE,
      recordTime STRING,
      direction STRING
    )
    ROW FORMAT SERDE 'org.apache.hive.hcatalog.data.JsonSerDe'
    WITH serdeproperties (
      'odps.properties.rolearn'='acs:ram::<uid>:role/aliyunodpsdefaultrole'
    ) 
    STORED AS textfile
    LOCATION 'oss://oss-cn-beijing-internal.aliyuncs.com/***/'
    TBLPROPERTIES (
        -- Set a custom prefix.
        'odps.external.data.output.prefix'='mc_', 
        -- Set a custom suffix.
        'odps.external.data.output.suffix'='_beijing', 
        -- Set a custom extension.
        'odps.external.data.output.explicit.extension'='jsonl') 
    ;  
    
    -- Write data to the foreign table.
    INSERT INTO <mc_oss_extable_name> VALUES (1,32,76,1,63.32106,-92.08174,'9/14/2014 0:10','NW');

    The following figure shows the generated file.

    image.png

Write large files using dynamic partitions

Business scenario

Export calculation results from an ancestor table to OSS as partitions, writing them as large files (e.g., 4 GB). Configure the odps.adaptive.shuffle.desired.partition.size parameter (in MB) with dynamic partitions.

  • Advantage: You can control the desired output file size by configuring the parameter value.

  • Disadvantage: The overall execution time is longer because writing large files reduces the degree of parallelism, which in turn increases the execution time.

Metric descriptions

-- The service.mode must be turned off.
SET odps.service.mode=off;

-- The dynamic partition capability must be enabled.
SET odps.sql.reshuffle.dynamicpt=true; 	

-- Set the desired data consumption for each reducer. Assume you want each file to be 4 GB.
SET odps.adaptive.shuffle.desired.partition.size=4096;	

Example

Write a JSON file of about 4 GB to OSS.

  1. Prepare the test data. Use the public dataset table bigdata_public_dataset.tpcds_1t.web_sales, which is about 30 GB. The data is stored in a compressed format on MaxCompute, so the size increases after export.

  2. Create a JSON external table.

    -- Sample table name: json_ext_web_sales
    CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE  json_ext_web_sales(
        c_int INT ,
        c_string STRING 
    )
    PARTITIONED BY (pt STRING)
    ROW FORMAT SERDE 'org.apache.hive.hcatalog.data.JsonSerDe'
    WITH serdeproperties (
      'odps.properties.rolearn'='acs:ram::<uid>:role/aliyunodpsdefaultrole'
    )
    STORED AS textfile
    LOCATION 'oss://oss-cn-hangzhou-internal.aliyuncs.com/oss-mc-test/demo-test/';
  3. Without setting any parameters, write the test table to the JSON external table in a dynamic partition format.

    -- The service.mode must be turned off.
    set odps.service.mode=off;
    
    -- Enable the Layer 3 syntax switch.
    SET odps.namespace.schema=true;
    
    -- Write to the JSON external table in a dynamic partition format.
    INSERT OVERWRITE json_ext_web_sales 
    PARTITION(pt) 
    SELECT CAST(ws_item_sk AS INT) AS c_int, 
           CAST(ws_bill_customer_sk AS string) AS c_string , 
          COALESCE(CONCAT(ws_bill_addr_sk %2, '_', ws_promo_sk %3),'null_pt') AS pt 
    FROM  bigdata_public_dataset.tpcds_1t.web_sales;

    The files stored on OSS are shown in the following figure:

    image

  4. Add the parameter odps.adaptive.shuffle.desired.partition.size for large file output and write the test table to the JSON external table in a dynamic partition format.

    -- The service.mode must be turned off.
    SET odps.service.mode=off;
    
    -- Enable the Layer 3 syntax switch.
    SET odps.namespace.schema=true;
    
    -- The dynamic partition capability must be enabled.
    SET odps.sql.reshuffle.dynamicpt=true; 	
    
    -- Set the desired data consumption for each reducer. Assume you want each file to be 4 GB.
    SET odps.adaptive.shuffle.desired.partition.size=4096;	
    
    -- Write to the JSON external table in a dynamic partition format.
    INSERT OVERWRITE json_ext_web_sales 
    PARTITION(pt) 
    SELECT CAST(ws_item_sk AS INT) AS c_int, 
           CAST(ws_bill_customer_sk AS string) AS c_string , 
          COALESCE(CONCAT(ws_bill_addr_sk %2, '_', ws_promo_sk %3),'null_pt') AS pt 
    FROM  bigdata_public_dataset.tpcds_1t.web_sales;

    The files stored on OSS are shown in the following figure:

    image

Partition operations on OSS external tables

OSS external tables support partition operations. Partition operations on OSS external tables and Partition operations on internal tables. The following table lists the supported operations.

Operation

Supported

Add partition

Yes

Modify partition update time

Yes

Modify partition value

No

Merge partitions

No

List partitions

Yes

View partition information

Yes

Drop partition

Yes

Truncate partition

No

Import from or export to OSS

  • LOAD command: Imports data from external storage, such as OSS, into a MaxCompute table or partition.

  • UNLOAD command: Exports data from a MaxCompute project to external storage, such as OSS, for use by other compute engines.

Appendix: Prepare sample data

  1. Prepare OSS directories

    The provided sample data information is as follows:

    • oss_endpoint: oss-cn-hangzhou-internal.aliyuncs.com, which is China (Hangzhou).

    • Bucket name: oss-mc-test.

    • Directory names: Demo1/, Demo2/, Demo3/, and SampleData/.

  2. Non-partitioned table data

    The file uploaded to the Demo1/ directory is vehicle.csv, which contains the following data. The Demo1/ directory is used to map to a non-partitioned table that is created with the built-in text data parser.

    1,1,51,1,46.81006,-92.08174,9/14/2014 0:00,S
    1,2,13,1,46.81006,-92.08174,9/14/2014 0:00,NE
    1,3,48,1,46.81006,-92.08174,9/14/2014 0:00,NE
    1,4,30,1,46.81006,-92.08174,9/14/2014 0:00,W
    1,5,47,1,46.81006,-92.08174,9/14/2014 0:00,S
    1,6,9,1,46.81006,-92.08174,9/15/2014 0:00,S
    1,7,53,1,46.81006,-92.08174,9/15/2014 0:00,N
    1,8,63,1,46.81006,-92.08174,9/15/2014 0:00,SW
    1,9,4,1,46.81006,-92.08174,9/15/2014 0:00,NE
    1,10,31,1,46.81006,-92.08174,9/15/2014 0:00,N
  3. Partitioned table data

    The Demo2/ directory contains five subdirectories: direction=N/, direction=NE/, direction=S/, direction=SW/, and direction=W/. The uploaded files are vehicle1.csv, vehicle2.csv, vehicle3.csv, vehicle4.csv, and vehicle5.csv, respectively. These files contain the following data. The Demo2/ directory is used to map to a partitioned table that is created with the built-in text data parser.

    --vehicle1.csv
    1,7,53,1,46.81006,-92.08174,9/15/2014 0:00
    1,10,31,1,46.81006,-92.08174,9/15/2014 0:00
    
    --vehicle2.csv
    1,2,13,1,46.81006,-92.08174,9/14/2014 0:00
    1,3,48,1,46.81006,-92.08174,9/14/2014 0:00
    1,9,4,1,46.81006,-92.08174,9/15/2014 0:00
    
    --vehicle3.csv
    1,6,9,1,46.81006,-92.08174,9/15/2014 0:00
    1,5,47,1,46.81006,-92.08174,9/14/2014 0:00
    1,6,9,1,46.81006,-92.08174,9/15/2014 0:00
    
    --vehicle4.csv
    1,8,63,1,46.81006,-92.08174,9/15/2014 0:00
    
    --vehicle5.csv
    1,4,30,1,46.81006,-92.08174,9/14/2014 0:00
  4. Compressed data

    The file uploaded to the Demo3/ directory is vehicle.csv.gz. The file inside the compressed package is vehicle.csv, which has the same content as the file in the Demo1/ directory. It is used to map to an OSS external table with compression properties.

  5. Custom parser data

    The file uploaded to the SampleData/ directory is vehicle6.csv, which contains the following data. The SampleData/ directory is used to map to an OSS external table that is created with an open source data parser.

    1|1|51|1|46.81006|-92.08174|9/14/2014 0:00|S
    1|2|13|1|46.81006|-92.08174|9/14/2014 0:00|NE
    1|3|48|1|46.81006|-92.08174|9/14/2014 0:00|NE
    1|4|30|1|46.81006|-92.08174|9/14/2014 0:00|W
    1|5|47|1|46.81006|-92.08174|9/14/2014 0:00|S
    1|6|9|1|46.81006|-92.08174|9/14/2014 0:00|S
    1|7|53|1|46.81006|-92.08174|9/14/2014 0:00|N
    1|8|63|1|46.81006|-92.08174|9/14/2014 0:00|SW
    1|9|4|1|46.81006|-92.08174|9/14/2014 0:00|NE
    1|10|31|1|46.81006|-92.08174|9/14/2014 0:00|N

OSS external table FAQ

How do I resolve the "Inline data exceeds the maximum allowed size" error when processing OSS data using an external table?

  • Problem

    When processing OSS data, the error Inline data exceeds the maximum allowed size is reported.

  • Cause

    OSS Store has a size limit for each small file. An error is reported if a file exceeds 3 GB.

  • Solution

    Adjust the following two properties to control the data size each reducer writes to the external table, keeping files within the 3 GB limit.

    set odps.sql.mapper.split.size=256; # Adjusts the size of data read by each mapper, in MB.
    set odps.stage.reducer.num=100; # Adjusts the number of workers in the reduce stage.

How do I resolve a memory overflow error that occurs after I upload a UDF to access an OSS external table on MaxCompute, even though the UDF passed local tests?

  • Problem

    When accessing an OSS external table on MaxCompute, a UDF that passed local tests returns the following error after being uploaded.

    FAILED: ODPS-0123131:User defined function exception - Traceback:
    java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space        

    After setting the following parameters, the running time increases, but the error persists.

    set odps.stage.mapper.mem = 2048; 
    set odps.stage.mapper.jvm.mem = 4096;       
  • Cause

    There are too many object files in the external table, which causes excessive memory usage, and no partitions are set.

  • Solution

    • Use a smaller amount of data for the query.

    • Partition the object files to reduce memory usage.

How do I merge multiple small files into a single file using an OSS external table?

Check the Logview log to see if the last stage in the SQL execution plan is a reducer or a joiner.

  • If it is a reducer, run the statement set odps.stage.reducer.num=1;

  • If it is a joiner, run the statement set odps.stage.joiner.num=1;

How do I resolve the "Couldn't connect to server" error when reading from an OSS external table?

  • Problem

    When reading data from an OSS external table, the error ODPS-0123131:User defined function exception - common/io/oss/oss_client.cpp(95): OSSRequestException: req_id: , http status code: -998, error code: HttpIoError, message: Couldn't connect to server is reported.

  • Cause

    • Cause 1: When the OSS external table was created, a public endpoint was used for the oss_endpoint in the oss_location address, instead of an internal endpoint.

    • Cause 2: When the OSS external table was created, the endpoint of another region was used for the oss_endpoint in the oss_location address.

  • Solution

    • For Cause 1:

      Verify that the oss_endpoint in oss_location is an internal endpoint. If it is a public endpoint, change it to an internal endpoint. Parameters.

      For example, if a user in the Indonesia (Jakarta) region used the address oss://oss-ap-southeast-5.aliyuncs.com/<bucket>/.... to create an external table, it should be changed to the corresponding internal address oss://oss-ap-southeast-5-internal.aliyuncs.com/<bucket>/.....

    • For Cause 2:

      Verify that the oss_endpoint in oss_location matches the region you want to access. OSS classic network domain names are listed in Regions and endpoints.

How do I resolve the "Network is unreachable (connect failed)" error when creating an OSS external table?

  • Problem

    When creating an OSS external table, the error ODPS-0130071:[1,1] Semantic analysis exception - external table checking failure, error message: Cannot connect to the endpoint 'oss-cn-beijing.aliyuncs.com': Connect to bucket.oss-cn-beijing.aliyuncs.com:80 [bucket.oss-cn-beijing.aliyuncs.com] failed: Network is unreachable (connect failed) is reported.

  • Cause

    When the OSS external table was created, a public endpoint was used for the oss_endpoint in the oss_location address, instead of an internal endpoint.

  • Solution

    Verify that the oss_endpoint in oss_location is an internal endpoint. If it is a public endpoint, change it to an internal endpoint. Parameters.

    For example, if a user in the China (Beijing) region used the address oss://oss-cn-beijing.aliyuncs.com/<bucket>/.... to create an external table, it should be changed to the corresponding internal address oss://oss-cn-beijing-internal.aliyuncs.com/<bucket>/.....

How do I resolve slow SQL job execution on an OSS external table?

  • Slow reading of GZ compressed files in an OSS external table

    • Symptoms

      A user created an OSS external table with a data source of a 200 GB GZ compressed file in OSS. The data reading process is slow.

    • Cause

      The SQL processing speed is slow because too few mappers are executing the computation in the map stage.

    • Solution

      • For structured data, you can set the following parameter to adjust the amount of data read by a single mapper to speed up SQL execution.

        set odps.sql.mapper.split.size=256; # Adjusts the size of table data read by each mapper, in MB.       
      • For unstructured data, check whether there is only one OSS file in the OSS external table path. If there is only one, only one mapper can be generated because unstructured data in a compressed format cannot be split. This results in slow processing speed. We recommend that you split the large OSS file into smaller files in the corresponding external table path on OSS. This increases the number of mappers that are generated when the external table is read and improves the reading speed.

  • Slow search of MaxCompute external table data using an SDK

    • Symptoms

      Searching MaxCompute external table data using an SDK is slow.

    • Solution

      External tables only support full table scans, which is slow. Use a MaxCompute internal table instead.

How do I resolve the issue where old data is deleted but new data is not written when using the OSS multipart upload feature?

  • Problem

    In an insert overwrite scenario, if the job fails in extreme cases, the result may be inconsistent with expectations. The old data is deleted, but the new data is not written.

  • Cause

    The newly written data fails to be written to the target table due to a very low probability of a hardware failure or metadata update failure. The delete operation in OSS does not support rollback, so the deleted old data cannot be recovered.

  • Solution

    • If you are overwriting an OSS external table based on its old data, for example, insert overwrite table T select * from table T;, back up the OSS data in advance. If the job fails, you can then overwrite the OSS external table based on the backed-up old data.

    • If the insert overwrite job can be resubmitted, simply resubmit the job if it fails.

Solution for the "table not found" error when accessing an OSS external table from Spark

  • Problem

    When using Spark to access an OSS external table, the task fails with a "table not found" error.

  • Solution

    • Add the following parameters:

      • Enable external table configuration:spark.sql.catalog.odps.enableExternalTable=true;

      • Configure the region where OSS is located:spark.hadoop.odps.oss.region.default=cn-<region>

    • If the error persists after you add the above parameters, as shown below:

      image

      Recreate the OSS external table and then access it again.

References