DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question
A company is using Amazon Athena to query data in an S3 bucket. Queries are failing with the error 'HIVE_PATH_ALREADY_EXISTS'. The data is partitioned by year, month, day. What is the MOST likely cause?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
A partition was manually added to the Glue Data Catalog that already exists
The error 'HIVE_PATH_ALREADY_EXISTS' occurs in Athena when attempting to add a partition (via ALTER TABLE ADD PARTITION or MSCK REPAIR TABLE) that already exists in the Glue Data Catalog. Option B (inconsistent data format) would cause schema mismatch errors like 'HIVE_PARTITION_SCHEMA_MISMATCH', not this error. Option C (empty S3 location) would not cause this error; queries might succeed but return no results. Option D (lack of s3:ListBucket permission) would cause permission errors like 'Access Denied'.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
A partition was manually added to the Glue Data Catalog that already exists
Why this is correct
Correct. The error indicates that the partition path is already registered in the Glue Data Catalog.
- ✗
The data format in the partition is inconsistent with the table schema
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Inconsistent data format would cause schema mismatch errors, not 'HIVE_PATH_ALREADY_EXISTS'.
- ✗
The S3 location for the partition is empty
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. An empty S3 location would result in no data found or partition not being created, but not this specific error.
- ✗
The IAM role used by Athena lacks s3:ListBucket permission on the bucket
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Missing s3:ListBucket permission would cause access denied errors, not this error.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
Go deeper
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DEA-C01 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the DEA-C01 exam.