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Publication date: March 6, 2023

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Description

While executing on a column used in a partial index, all DML statements referencing the table fail with an error during the delete-only phase of the ALTER, which can last several hours for large tables. This includes , , , , and statements. This problem exists in all versions of CockroachDB since the introduction of partial indexes in .

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Statement

This is resolved in CockroachDB by a fix that disallows dropping columns that are referenced by a partial index. This fix has been applied to maintenance releases of CockroachDB and ).

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Mitigation

Users can avoid the issue by dropping any partial indexes using the column before dropping the column. Users of CockroachDB through and through are encouraged to upgrade to , , or a later version.

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Impact

When executing ALTER TABLE DROP COLUMN of a column used in a partial index, all DML statements referencing the table fail with an error during the delete-only phase. DML statements not referencing the table are not affected. Questions about any technical alert can be directed to our support team.