How can I rename a column on an iceberg table in Athena?

Question

When I try to run the following query in Athena:

`ALTER TABLE my_iceberg_table ALTER COLUMN old_column_name TO new_column_name`

I get the following error:

`line 1:37: missing 'TO' at 'COLUMN'`

Based on the apache iceberg documentation this should be the correct syntax to rename the column: https://iceberg.apache.org/docs/latest/spark-ddl/#alter-table--rename-column
Furthermore when I run the same query through an external Starburst cluster it works, which further suggests that this should be the correct syntax. What is going wrong here?

Vincent · Answer

Hello, you can check [this page](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/athena/latest/ug/querying-iceberg-evolving-table-schema.html) section "ALTER TABLE CHANGE COLUMN" (Changes the name, type, order or comment of a column).

It looks like it would be:

`ALTER TABLE my_iceberg_table CHANGE COLUMN old_column_name new_column_name`

Kit - CostCenter · Answer

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/athena/latest/ug/querying-iceberg-evolving-table-schema.html#querying-iceberg-alter-table-change-column

You need to use `CHANGE` and include the same type for the rename.

```sql
ALTER TABLE  CHANGE   ;
```

I had to do this yesterday, it's dumb but it works.

DMM · Answer

none of the suggestions works

How can I rename a column on an iceberg table in Athena?

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