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   <h1 class="title topictitle1" id="ariaid-title1">Using the Impala Shell (impala-shell Command)</h1>


   <div class="body conbody">

     <p class="p">

       You can use the Impala shell tool (<code class="ph codeph">impala-shell</code>) to set up databases and tables, insert
       data, and issue queries. For ad hoc queries and exploration, you can submit SQL statements in an interactive
       session. To automate your work, you can specify command-line options to process a single statement or a
       script file. The <span class="keyword cmdname">impala-shell</span> interpreter accepts all the same SQL statements listed in
       <a class="xref" href="impala_langref_sql.html#langref_sql">Impala SQL Statements</a>, plus some shell-only commands that you can use for tuning
       performance and diagnosing problems.
     </p>


     <p class="p">
       The <code class="ph codeph">impala-shell</code> command fits into the familiar Unix toolchain:
     </p>


     <ul class="ul">
       <li class="li">
         The <code class="ph codeph">-q</code> option lets you issue a single query from the command line, without starting the
         interactive interpreter. You could use this option to run <code class="ph codeph">impala-shell</code> from inside a shell
         script or with the command invocation syntax from a Python, Perl, or other kind of script.
       </li>


       <li class="li">
         The <code class="ph codeph">-f</code> option lets you process a file containing multiple SQL statements,
         such as a set of reports or DDL statements to create a group of tables and views.
       </li>


       <li class="li">
         The <code class="ph codeph">--var</code> option lets you pass substitution variables to the statements that
         are executed by that <span class="keyword cmdname">impala-shell</span> session, for example the statements
         in a script file processed by the <code class="ph codeph">-f</code> option. You encode the substitution variable
         on the command line using the notation
         <code class="ph codeph">--var=<var class="keyword varname">variable_name</var>=<var class="keyword varname">value</var></code>.
         Within a SQL statement, you substitute the value by using the notation <code class="ph codeph">${var:<var class="keyword varname">variable_name</var>}</code>.
         This feature is available in <span class="keyword">Impala 2.5</span> and higher.
       </li>


       <li class="li">
         The <code class="ph codeph">-o</code> option lets you save query output to a file.
       </li>


       <li class="li">
         The <code class="ph codeph">-B</code> option turns off pretty-printing, so that you can produce comma-separated,
         tab-separated, or other delimited text files as output. (Use the <code class="ph codeph">--output_delimiter</code> option
         to choose the delimiter character; the default is the tab character.)
       </li>


       <li class="li">
         In non-interactive mode, query output is printed to <code class="ph codeph">stdout</code> or to the file specified by the
         <code class="ph codeph">-o</code> option, while incidental output is printed to <code class="ph codeph">stderr</code>, so that you can
         process just the query output as part of a Unix pipeline.
       </li>


       <li class="li">
         In interactive mode, <code class="ph codeph">impala-shell</code> uses the <code class="ph codeph">readline</code> facility to recall
         and edit previous commands.
       </li>

     </ul>


     <p class="p">
       For information on installing the Impala shell, see <a class="xref" href="impala_install.html#install">Installing Impala</a>.
     </p>


     <p class="p"> For information about establishing a connection to a coordinator Impala
       daemon through the <code class="ph codeph">impala-shell</code> command, see <a class="xref" href="impala_connecting.html#connecting">Connecting to Impala Daemon from impala-shell</a>. </p>


     <p class="p">
       For a list of the <code class="ph codeph">impala-shell</code> command-line options, see
       <a class="xref" href="impala_shell_options.html#shell_options">impala-shell Configuration Options</a>. For reference information about the
       <code class="ph codeph">impala-shell</code> interactive commands, see
       <a class="xref" href="impala_shell_commands.html#shell_commands">impala-shell Command Reference</a>.
     </p>


     <p class="p toc"></p>

   </div>

 <div class="related-links">
 <ul class="ullinks">
 <li class="link ulchildlink"><strong><a href="../topics/impala_shell_options.html">impala-shell Configuration Options</a></strong><br />
 </li>
 <li class="link ulchildlink"><strong><a href="../topics/impala_connecting.html">Connecting to Impala Daemon from impala-shell</a></strong><br />
 </li>
 <li class="link ulchildlink"><strong><a href="../topics/impala_shell_running_commands.html">Running Commands and SQL Statements in impala-shell</a></strong><br />
 </li>
 <li class="link ulchildlink"><strong><a href="../topics/impala_shell_commands.html">impala-shell Command Reference</a></strong><br />
 </li>
 </ul>

 <div class="familylinks">
 <div class="parentlink"><strong>Parent topic:</strong> <a class="link" href="../topics/impala_client.html">Impala Client Access</a></div>
 </div>
 </div></body>
 </html>
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	<title>Using the Impala Shell (impala-shell Command)</title>
	</head>
	<body id="impala_shell">


	<h1 class="title topictitle1" id="ariaid-title1">Using the Impala Shell (impala-shell Command)</h1>




	<div class="body conbody">

	<p class="p">

	You can use the Impala shell tool (<code class="ph codeph">impala-shell</code>) to set up databases and tables, insert
	data, and issue queries. For ad hoc queries and exploration, you can submit SQL statements in an interactive
	session. To automate your work, you can specify command-line options to process a single statement or a
	script file. The <span class="keyword cmdname">impala-shell</span> interpreter accepts all the same SQL statements listed in
	<a class="xref" href="impala_langref_sql.html#langref_sql">Impala SQL Statements</a>, plus some shell-only commands that you can use for tuning
	performance and diagnosing problems.
	</p>


	<p class="p">
	The <code class="ph codeph">impala-shell</code> command fits into the familiar Unix toolchain:
	</p>


	<ul class="ul">
	<li class="li">
	The <code class="ph codeph">-q</code> option lets you issue a single query from the command line, without starting the
	interactive interpreter. You could use this option to run <code class="ph codeph">impala-shell</code> from inside a shell
	script or with the command invocation syntax from a Python, Perl, or other kind of script.
	</li>


	<li class="li">
	The <code class="ph codeph">-f</code> option lets you process a file containing multiple SQL statements,
	such as a set of reports or DDL statements to create a group of tables and views.
	</li>


	<li class="li">
	The <code class="ph codeph">--var</code> option lets you pass substitution variables to the statements that
	are executed by that <span class="keyword cmdname">impala-shell</span> session, for example the statements
	in a script file processed by the <code class="ph codeph">-f</code> option. You encode the substitution variable
	on the command line using the notation
	<code class="ph codeph">--var=<var class="keyword varname">variable_name</var>=<var class="keyword varname">value</var></code>.
	Within a SQL statement, you substitute the value by using the notation <code class="ph codeph">${var:<var class="keyword varname">variable_name</var>}</code>.
	This feature is available in <span class="keyword">Impala 2.5</span> and higher.
	</li>


	<li class="li">
	The <code class="ph codeph">-o</code> option lets you save query output to a file.
	</li>


	<li class="li">
	The <code class="ph codeph">-B</code> option turns off pretty-printing, so that you can produce comma-separated,
	tab-separated, or other delimited text files as output. (Use the <code class="ph codeph">--output_delimiter</code> option
	to choose the delimiter character; the default is the tab character.)
	</li>


	<li class="li">
	In non-interactive mode, query output is printed to <code class="ph codeph">stdout</code> or to the file specified by the
	<code class="ph codeph">-o</code> option, while incidental output is printed to <code class="ph codeph">stderr</code>, so that you can
	process just the query output as part of a Unix pipeline.
	</li>


	<li class="li">
	In interactive mode, <code class="ph codeph">impala-shell</code> uses the <code class="ph codeph">readline</code> facility to recall
	and edit previous commands.
	</li>

	</ul>


	<p class="p">
	For information on installing the Impala shell, see <a class="xref" href="impala_install.html#install">Installing Impala</a>.
	</p>


	<p class="p"> For information about establishing a connection to a coordinator Impala
	daemon through the <code class="ph codeph">impala-shell</code> command, see <a class="xref" href="impala_connecting.html#connecting">Connecting to Impala Daemon from impala-shell</a>. </p>


	<p class="p">
	For a list of the <code class="ph codeph">impala-shell</code> command-line options, see
	<a class="xref" href="impala_shell_options.html#shell_options">impala-shell Configuration Options</a>. For reference information about the
	<code class="ph codeph">impala-shell</code> interactive commands, see
	<a class="xref" href="impala_shell_commands.html#shell_commands">impala-shell Command Reference</a>.
	</p>


	<p class="p toc"></p>

	</div>

	<div class="related-links">
	<ul class="ullinks">
	<li class="link ulchildlink"><strong><a href="../topics/impala_shell_options.html">impala-shell Configuration Options</a></strong><br />
	</li>
	<li class="link ulchildlink"><strong><a href="../topics/impala_connecting.html">Connecting to Impala Daemon from impala-shell</a></strong><br />
	</li>
	<li class="link ulchildlink"><strong><a href="../topics/impala_shell_running_commands.html">Running Commands and SQL Statements in impala-shell</a></strong><br />
	</li>
	<li class="link ulchildlink"><strong><a href="../topics/impala_shell_commands.html">impala-shell Command Reference</a></strong><br />
	</li>
	</ul>

	<div class="familylinks">
	<div class="parentlink"><strong>Parent topic:</strong> <a class="link" href="../topics/impala_client.html">Impala Client Access</a></div>
	</div>
	</div></body>
	</html>