Folder metastore_db is created in any directory where I run Hive query. Is there any way to have only one metastore_db in a defined location and stop it from being created all over the places? Does it have anything to do with hive.metastore.local?
The property of interest here is javax.jdo.option.ConnectionURL. The default value of this property is jdbc:derby:;databaseName=metastore_db;create=true. This value specifies that you will be using embedded derby as your Hive metastore and the location of the metastore is metastore_db. Also the metastore will be created if it doesn't already exist.
Note that the location of the metastore (metastore_db) is a relative path. Therefore, it gets created where you launch Hive from. If you update this property (in your hive-site.xml) to be, say an absolute path to a location, the metastore will be used from that location.
I must warn you though that embedded derby metastore can only be accessed by one user at a time. Hive uses embedded derby by default to allow an out of the box experience and for ease of testing. For any practical system, I would recommend moving to standalone "real" database like MySQL or PostgreSQL. Instructions on how to do that are available here.
Since you use Embedded derby mode. To use single metastore_db location. you need to change following properties.
<property>
<name>javax.jdo.option.ConnectionURL</name>
<value>jdbc:derby:;databaseName=/<file-location>/metastore_db;create=true</value>
<description>JDBC connect string for a JDBC metastore</description>
</property>
I hope this will help you. For more details click here
来源：https://stackoverflow.com/questions/13624893/metastore-db-created-wherever-i-run-hive