Apache Hive 3 end of life
Apache Hive 3 reached end of life on 8 October 2024, when the Hive community voted to declare the 3.x line EOL and said no further releases would be made. The final release was 3.1.3, from 8 April 2022. Hive 4.2.1, released on 24 August 2026, is current. Hive 3.1.3 bundles ZooKeeper 3.4.6.
- End of life
- 8 October 2024
- Released
- May 2018
- Final release
- 3.1.3
- Successor
- Hive 4.x (4.2.1 is current)
Date published by Apache Hive downloads and news page. We do not publish a lifecycle date we cannot source.
What actually stops on 8 October 2024
- Releases on the 3.x line. 3.1.3 was the last, and the 3.1.4 version in the Hive issue tracker never shipped.
- Security fixes for HiveServer2, the metastore and the libraries 3.1.3 bundles, including ZooKeeper 3.4.6.
- Follow-on fixes such as those in Hive 4.2.1, which addressed three security vulnerabilities in Metastore direct-SQL partition paths, HiveServer2 SAML bearer-token authentication and Avro SerDe schema URL handling. No Hive 3 release will follow it.
What actually breaks in the upgrade
Hive 4 expects Tez
The Hive project says that from Hive 4.x it encourages all users to move their workload to Tez. Jobs still running on the MapReduce engine need testing on Tez as part of the upgrade, not after it.
Find out what ZooKeeper does for you
Hive uses ZooKeeper for HiveServer2 service discovery and Active/Passive HA, for the delegation-token store and the LLAP registry, and for locks when the ZooKeeper lock manager is in use. Clusters on DbTxnManager keep locks in the metastore instead. Each of those settings decides which ZooKeeper clients move with the upgrade.
Cloudera's Hive 3 is a separate line
Cloudera on premises 7.3.2 still ships a Hive 3.1.3000 build, under Cloudera's own lifecycle. The Apache Hive 3 line ended in October 2024; the vendor build is a different product with a different support date.
Your options, costed honestly
Including the ones that do not involve buying anything from us.
| Option | What it is | Effort | Cost | Our view |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upgrade to Hive 4 | The supported Apache line, on Tez. | Weeks to quarters | Engineering time | The destination. Budget time for the execution engine and for every client that connects through HiveServer2. |
| Move to a vendor platform | Cloudera on premises ships its own Hive 3 build. | Quarters | Cloudera subscription plus migration effort | Only sensible when the rest of the platform is moving there too. |
| OSSeva extended support on Hive 3 | Patched Hive 3 builds and the ZooKeeper ensemble under them. | Drop-in | Subscription | Keeps Hive 3 patched while the Tez and Hive 4 work is planned. |
What OSSeva does for Apache Hive 3
OSSeva patches this line
OSSeva patches Apache Hive 3 now. Signed 3.1 builds carry backported fixes for HiveServer2 and the metastore, and the ZooKeeper Hive uses for discovery and locking is patched alongside it, on the Patch, Assure and Operate tiers.
Apache Hive extended supportWhat your auditor will say
Every system component that stores or processes cardholder data needs its applicable security patches. On a data platform that includes the ZooKeeper ensemble the cluster depends on, not only the query engines people see.
Auditors ask for evidence that production systems receive security fixes. A platform past its end of support fails that test unless another supplier ships the fixes and can show which CVEs they close.
Apache Hive 3: common questions
Is Apache Hive 3 end of life?
Yes. The Hive community declared the 3.x line end of life on 8 October 2024. Hive 2.x ended on 20 May 2024 and Hive 1.x on 11 April 2024.
What was the last Hive 3 release?
Hive 3.1.3, released on 8 April 2022. A 3.1.4 version exists in the issue tracker but was never released.
Does Hive need ZooKeeper?
For several common features. HiveServer2 service discovery and Active/Passive HA require it, and the ZooKeeper lock manager, delegation-token store and LLAP registry use it. Discovery and HA are off by default, and DbTxnManager keeps locks in the metastore instead.
Which Hive version is current?
Hive 4.2.1, released on 24 August 2026. It bundles ZooKeeper 3.8.4.
Still running Apache Hive 3?
Tell us the versions and the estate size. We will tell you honestly whether to upgrade or to buy cover — and we say 'upgrade' more often than you would expect.