Hive v0.13 use protobuf 2.5.0 while CDH4.* depends on protobuf v2.4.0a, so it requires a little hack to make Hive v0.13 working under CDH4.*. 1) prepare # install protobuf compiler 2.4.* : https://code.google.com/p/protobuf/ $protoc --version libprotoc 2.4.1