TIMEZONE Query Option (CDH 6.1 / Impala 3.1 or higher only)

The TIMEZONE query option defines the timezone used for conversions between UTC and the local time. If not set, Impala uses the system time zone where the Coordinator Impalad runs. As query options are not sent to the Coordinator immediately, the timezones are validated only when the query runs.

Impala takes the timezone into a consideration in the following cases:
  • When calling the NOW() function
  • When converting between Unix time and timestamp if the use_local_tz_for_unix_timestamp_conversions flag is TRUE
  • When reading Parquet timestamps written by Hive if the convert_legacy_hive_parquet_utc_timestamps flag is TRUE

Syntax:

SET TIMEZONE=time zone

time zone can be a canonical code or a time zone name defined in IANA Time Zone Database. The value is case-sensitive.

Leading/trailing quotes (') and double quotes (") are stripped.

If time zone is an empty string, the time zone for the query is set to the default time zone of the Impalad Coordinator.

If time zone is NULL or a space character, Impala returns an error when the query is executed.

Type: String

Default: The system time zone where the Coordinator Impalad runs

Examples: 
SET TIMEZONE=UTC;
SET TIMEZONE="Europe/Budapest";

Added in: CDH 6.1