3.6. Problem: The HCatalog Daemon Metastore Smoke Test Fails

If the HCatalog smoke test fails, this is displayed in your console:

Metastore startup failed, see /var/log/hcatalog/hcat.err

Log into the HCatalog node in your cluster
Open /var/log/hcatalog/hcat.err or /var/log/hive/hive.log (one of the two will exist depending on the installation) with a text editor
In the file, see if there is a MySQL Unknown Host Exception like this:
```
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke (Method.java:597)
at org.apache.hadoop.util.Runjar.main (runjar.java:156)
Caused by: java.net.UnknownHostException:mysql.host.com
atjava.net.InetAddress.getAllByName(INetAddress.java:1157)
```
This exception can be thrown if you are using a previously existing MySQL instance and you have incorrectly identified the hostname during the installation process. When you do the reinstall, make sure this name is correct.
In the file, see if there is an ERROR Failed initializing database entry like this:
```
11/12/29 20:52:04 ERROR DataNucleus.Plugin: Bundle
org.eclipse.jdt.core required
11/12/29 20:52:04 ERROR DataStore.Schema: Failed initialising
database
```
This exception can be thrown if you are using a previously existing MySQL instance and you have incorrectly identified the username/password during the installation process. It can also occur when the user you specify does not have adequate privileges on the database. When you do the reinstall, make sure this username/password is correct and that the user has adequate privilege.
Restart the installation process.