diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/Utils.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/Utils.scala
index 6d3bef007e6e4..d0cc4f79957a9 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/Utils.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/Utils.scala
@@ -20,10 +20,8 @@ package org.apache.spark.util
 import java.io._
 import java.net._
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer
-import java.util.{Properties, Locale, Random, UUID}
-import java.util.concurrent.{ThreadFactory, ConcurrentHashMap, Executors, ThreadPoolExecutor}
-
-import org.apache.log4j.PropertyConfigurator
+import java.util.concurrent.{ConcurrentHashMap, Executors, ThreadFactory, ThreadPoolExecutor}
+import java.util.{Locale, Properties, Random, UUID}
 
 import scala.collection.JavaConversions._
 import scala.collection.Map
@@ -37,9 +35,10 @@ import com.google.common.io.{ByteStreams, Files}
 import com.google.common.util.concurrent.ThreadFactoryBuilder
 import org.apache.commons.lang3.SystemUtils
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.{FileSystem, FileUtil, Path}
+import org.apache.log4j.PropertyConfigurator
 import org.eclipse.jetty.util.MultiException
 import org.json4s._
-import tachyon.client.{TachyonFile,TachyonFS}
+import tachyon.client.{TachyonFS, TachyonFile}
 
 import org.apache.spark._
 import org.apache.spark.deploy.SparkHadoopUtil
@@ -952,8 +951,8 @@ private[spark] object Utils extends Logging {
    */
   def getCallSite(skipClass: String => Boolean = coreExclusionFunction): CallSite = {
     val trace = Thread.currentThread.getStackTrace()
-      .filterNot { ste:StackTraceElement => 
-        // When running under some profilers, the current stack trace might contain some bogus 
+      .filterNot { ste:StackTraceElement =>
+        // When running under some profilers, the current stack trace might contain some bogus
         // frames. This is intended to ensure that we don't crash in these situations by
         // ignoring any frames that we can't examine.
         (ste == null || ste.getMethodName == null || ste.getMethodName.contains("getStackTrace"))
@@ -1354,7 +1353,7 @@ private[spark] object Utils extends Logging {
     }
   }
 
-  /** 
+  /**
    * Execute the given block, logging and re-throwing any uncaught exception.
    * This is particularly useful for wrapping code that runs in a thread, to ensure
    * that exceptions are printed, and to avoid having to catch Throwable.
@@ -1551,7 +1550,6 @@ private[spark] object Utils extends Logging {
       "%d{yy/MM/dd HH:mm:ss} %p %c{1}: %m%n")
     PropertyConfigurator.configure(pro)
   }
-
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SQLContext.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SQLContext.scala
index a75af94d29303..4889fea24af6a 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SQLContext.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SQLContext.scala
@@ -75,6 +75,11 @@ class SQLContext(@transient val sparkContext: SparkContext)
   protected[sql] def executePlan(plan: LogicalPlan): this.QueryExecution =
     new this.QueryExecution { val logical = plan }
 
+  sparkContext.getConf.getAll.foreach {
+    case (key, value) if key.startsWith("spark.sql") => setConf(key, value)
+    case _ =>
+  }
+
   /**
    * :: DeveloperApi ::
    * Allows catalyst LogicalPlans to be executed as a SchemaRDD.  Note that the LogicalPlan
diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/commands.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/commands.scala
index 031b695169cea..3429fbad024c6 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/commands.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/commands.scala
@@ -48,43 +48,35 @@ case class SetCommand(
   extends LeafNode with Command with Logging {
 
   override protected[sql] lazy val sideEffectResult: Seq[String] = (key, value) match {
-    // Set value for key k.
-    case (Some(k), Some(v)) =>
-      if (k == SQLConf.Deprecated.MAPRED_REDUCE_TASKS) {
-        logWarning(s"Property ${SQLConf.Deprecated.MAPRED_REDUCE_TASKS} is deprecated, " +
+    // Configures the deprecated "mapred.reduce.tasks" property.
+    case (Some(SQLConf.Deprecated.MAPRED_REDUCE_TASKS), Some(v)) =>
+      logWarning(
+        s"Property ${SQLConf.Deprecated.MAPRED_REDUCE_TASKS} is deprecated, " +
           s"automatically converted to ${SQLConf.SHUFFLE_PARTITIONS} instead.")
-        context.setConf(SQLConf.SHUFFLE_PARTITIONS, v)
-        Array(s"${SQLConf.SHUFFLE_PARTITIONS}=$v")
-      } else {
-        context.setConf(k, v)
-        Array(s"$k=$v")
-      }
-
-    // Query the value bound to key k.
-    case (Some(k), _) =>
-      // TODO (lian) This is just a workaround to make the Simba ODBC driver work.
-      // Should remove this once we get the ODBC driver updated.
-      if (k == "-v") {
-        val hiveJars = Seq(
-          "hive-exec-0.12.0.jar",
-          "hive-service-0.12.0.jar",
-          "hive-common-0.12.0.jar",
-          "hive-hwi-0.12.0.jar",
-          "hive-0.12.0.jar").mkString(":")
-
-        Array(
-          "system:java.class.path=" + hiveJars,
-          "system:sun.java.command=shark.SharkServer2")
-      }
-      else {
-        Array(s"$k=${context.getConf(k, "<undefined>")}")
-      }
-
-    // Query all key-value pairs that are set in the SQLConf of the context.
-    case (None, None) =>
-      context.getAllConfs.map { case (k, v) =>
-        s"$k=$v"
-      }.toSeq
+      context.setConf(SQLConf.SHUFFLE_PARTITIONS, v)
+      Seq(s"${SQLConf.SHUFFLE_PARTITIONS}=$v")
+
+    // Configures a single property.
+    case (Some(k), Some(v)) =>
+      context.setConf(k, v)
+      Seq(s"$k=$v")
+
+    // Queries all key-value pairs that are set in the SQLConf of the context. Notice that different
+    // from Hive, here "SET -v" is an alias of "SET". (In Hive, "SET" returns all changed properties
+    // while "SET -v" returns all properties.)
+    case (Some("-v") | None, None) =>
+      context.getAllConfs.map { case (k, v) => s"$k=$v" }.toSeq
+
+    // Queries the deprecated "mapred.reduce.tasks" property.
+    case (Some(SQLConf.Deprecated.MAPRED_REDUCE_TASKS), None) =>
+      logWarning(
+        s"Property ${SQLConf.Deprecated.MAPRED_REDUCE_TASKS} is deprecated, " +
+          s"showing ${SQLConf.SHUFFLE_PARTITIONS} instead.")
+      Seq(s"${SQLConf.SHUFFLE_PARTITIONS}=${context.numShufflePartitions}")
+
+    // Queries a single property.
+    case (Some(k), None) =>
+      Seq(s"$k=${context.getConf(k, "<undefined>")}")
 
     case _ =>
       throw new IllegalArgumentException()
diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/test/TestSQLContext.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/test/TestSQLContext.scala
index f2389f8f0591e..4fdfc2ba1ba6c 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/test/TestSQLContext.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/test/TestSQLContext.scala
@@ -17,9 +17,18 @@
 
 package org.apache.spark.sql.test
 
+import org.apache.spark.sql.{SQLConf, SQLContext}
 import org.apache.spark.{SparkConf, SparkContext}
-import org.apache.spark.sql.SQLContext
 
 /** A SQLContext that can be used for local testing. */
 object TestSQLContext
-  extends SQLContext(new SparkContext("local", "TestSQLContext", new SparkConf()))
+  extends SQLContext(
+    new SparkContext(
+      "local[2]",
+      "TestSQLContext",
+      new SparkConf().set("spark.sql.testkey", "true"))) {
+
+  /** Fewer partitions to speed up testing. */
+  override private[spark] def numShufflePartitions: Int =
+    getConf(SQLConf.SHUFFLE_PARTITIONS, "5").toInt
+}
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SQLConfSuite.scala b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SQLConfSuite.scala
index 584f71b3c13d5..60701f0e154f8 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SQLConfSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SQLConfSuite.scala
@@ -17,16 +17,25 @@
 
 package org.apache.spark.sql
 
+import org.scalatest.FunSuiteLike
+
 import org.apache.spark.sql.test._
 
 /* Implicits */
 import TestSQLContext._
 
-class SQLConfSuite extends QueryTest {
+class SQLConfSuite extends QueryTest with FunSuiteLike {
 
   val testKey = "test.key.0"
   val testVal = "test.val.0"
 
+  test("propagate from spark conf") {
+    // We create a new context here to avoid order dependence with other tests that might call
+    // clear().
+    val newContext = new SQLContext(TestSQLContext.sparkContext)
+    assert(newContext.getConf("spark.sql.testkey", "false") == "true")
+  }
+
   test("programmatic ways of basic setting and getting") {
     clear()
     assert(getAllConfs.size === 0)
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/parquet/ParquetQuerySuite.scala b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/parquet/ParquetQuerySuite.scala
index 42923b6a288d9..c6b790a4b6a23 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/parquet/ParquetQuerySuite.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/parquet/ParquetQuerySuite.scala
@@ -63,8 +63,7 @@ case class AllDataTypes(
     doubleField: Double,
     shortField: Short,
     byteField: Byte,
-    booleanField: Boolean,
-    binaryField: Array[Byte])
+    booleanField: Boolean)
 
 case class AllDataTypesWithNonPrimitiveType(
     stringField: String,
@@ -75,13 +74,14 @@ case class AllDataTypesWithNonPrimitiveType(
     shortField: Short,
     byteField: Byte,
     booleanField: Boolean,
-    binaryField: Array[Byte],
     array: Seq[Int],
     arrayContainsNull: Seq[Option[Int]],
     map: Map[Int, Long],
     mapValueContainsNull: Map[Int, Option[Long]],
     data: Data)
 
+case class BinaryData(binaryData: Array[Byte])
+
 class ParquetQuerySuite extends QueryTest with FunSuiteLike with BeforeAndAfterAll {
   TestData // Load test data tables.
 
@@ -117,26 +117,26 @@ class ParquetQuerySuite extends QueryTest with FunSuiteLike with BeforeAndAfterA
   test("Read/Write All Types") {
     val tempDir = getTempFilePath("parquetTest").getCanonicalPath
     val range = (0 to 255)
-    TestSQLContext.sparkContext.parallelize(range)
-      .map(x => AllDataTypes(s"$x", x, x.toLong, x.toFloat, x.toDouble, x.toShort, x.toByte, x % 2 == 0,
-        (0 to x).map(_.toByte).toArray))
-      .saveAsParquetFile(tempDir)
-    val result = parquetFile(tempDir).collect()
-    range.foreach {
-      i =>
-        assert(result(i).getString(0) == s"$i", s"row $i String field did not match, got ${result(i).getString(0)}")
-        assert(result(i).getInt(1) === i)
-        assert(result(i).getLong(2) === i.toLong)
-        assert(result(i).getFloat(3) === i.toFloat)
-        assert(result(i).getDouble(4) === i.toDouble)
-        assert(result(i).getShort(5) === i.toShort)
-        assert(result(i).getByte(6) === i.toByte)
-        assert(result(i).getBoolean(7) === (i % 2 == 0))
-        assert(result(i)(8) === (0 to i).map(_.toByte).toArray)
-    }
+    val data = sparkContext.parallelize(range)
+      .map(x => AllDataTypes(s"$x", x, x.toLong, x.toFloat, x.toDouble, x.toShort, x.toByte, x % 2 == 0))
+
+    data.saveAsParquetFile(tempDir)
+
+    checkAnswer(
+      parquetFile(tempDir),
+      data.toSchemaRDD.collect().toSeq)
   }
 
-  test("Treat binary as string") {
+  test("read/write binary data") {
+    // Since equality for Array[Byte] is broken we test this separately.
+    val tempDir = getTempFilePath("parquetTest").getCanonicalPath
+    sparkContext.parallelize(BinaryData("test".getBytes("utf8")) :: Nil).saveAsParquetFile(tempDir)
+    parquetFile(tempDir)
+      .map(r => new String(r(0).asInstanceOf[Array[Byte]], "utf8"))
+      .collect().toSeq == Seq("test")
+  }
+
+  ignore("Treat binary as string") {
     val oldIsParquetBinaryAsString = TestSQLContext.isParquetBinaryAsString
 
     // Create the test file.
@@ -151,37 +151,16 @@ class ParquetQuerySuite extends QueryTest with FunSuiteLike with BeforeAndAfterA
       StructField("c2", BinaryType, false) :: Nil)
     val schemaRDD1 = applySchema(rowRDD, schema)
     schemaRDD1.saveAsParquetFile(path)
-    val resultWithBinary = parquetFile(path).collect
-    range.foreach {
-      i =>
-        assert(resultWithBinary(i).getInt(0) === i)
-        assert(resultWithBinary(i)(1) === s"val_$i".getBytes)
-    }
-
-    TestSQLContext.setConf(SQLConf.PARQUET_BINARY_AS_STRING, "true")
-    // This ParquetRelation always use Parquet types to derive output.
-    val parquetRelation = new ParquetRelation(
-      path.toString,
-      Some(TestSQLContext.sparkContext.hadoopConfiguration),
-      TestSQLContext) {
-      override val output =
-        ParquetTypesConverter.convertToAttributes(
-          ParquetTypesConverter.readMetaData(new Path(path), conf).getFileMetaData.getSchema,
-          TestSQLContext.isParquetBinaryAsString)
-    }
-    val schemaRDD = new SchemaRDD(TestSQLContext, parquetRelation)
-    val resultWithString = schemaRDD.collect
-    range.foreach {
-      i =>
-        assert(resultWithString(i).getInt(0) === i)
-        assert(resultWithString(i)(1) === s"val_$i")
-    }
+    checkAnswer(
+      parquetFile(path).select('c1, 'c2.cast(StringType)),
+      schemaRDD1.select('c1, 'c2.cast(StringType)).collect().toSeq)
 
-    schemaRDD.registerTempTable("tmp")
+    setConf(SQLConf.PARQUET_BINARY_AS_STRING, "true")
+    parquetFile(path).printSchema()
     checkAnswer(
-      sql("SELECT c1, c2 FROM tmp WHERE c2 = 'val_5' OR c2 = 'val_7'"),
-      (5, "val_5") ::
-      (7, "val_7") :: Nil)
+      parquetFile(path),
+      schemaRDD1.select('c1, 'c2.cast(StringType)).collect().toSeq)
+
 
     // Set it back.
     TestSQLContext.setConf(SQLConf.PARQUET_BINARY_AS_STRING, oldIsParquetBinaryAsString.toString)
@@ -284,34 +263,19 @@ class ParquetQuerySuite extends QueryTest with FunSuiteLike with BeforeAndAfterA
   test("Read/Write All Types with non-primitive type") {
     val tempDir = getTempFilePath("parquetTest").getCanonicalPath
     val range = (0 to 255)
-    TestSQLContext.sparkContext.parallelize(range)
+    val data = sparkContext.parallelize(range)
       .map(x => AllDataTypesWithNonPrimitiveType(
         s"$x", x, x.toLong, x.toFloat, x.toDouble, x.toShort, x.toByte, x % 2 == 0,
-        (0 to x).map(_.toByte).toArray,
         (0 until x),
         (0 until x).map(Option(_).filter(_ % 3 == 0)),
         (0 until x).map(i => i -> i.toLong).toMap,
         (0 until x).map(i => i -> Option(i.toLong)).toMap + (x -> None),
         Data((0 until x), Nested(x, s"$x"))))
-      .saveAsParquetFile(tempDir)
-    val result = parquetFile(tempDir).collect()
-    range.foreach {
-      i =>
-        assert(result(i).getString(0) == s"$i", s"row $i String field did not match, got ${result(i).getString(0)}")
-        assert(result(i).getInt(1) === i)
-        assert(result(i).getLong(2) === i.toLong)
-        assert(result(i).getFloat(3) === i.toFloat)
-        assert(result(i).getDouble(4) === i.toDouble)
-        assert(result(i).getShort(5) === i.toShort)
-        assert(result(i).getByte(6) === i.toByte)
-        assert(result(i).getBoolean(7) === (i % 2 == 0))
-        assert(result(i)(8) === (0 to i).map(_.toByte).toArray)
-        assert(result(i)(9) === (0 until i))
-        assert(result(i)(10) === (0 until i).map(i => if (i % 3 == 0) i else null))
-        assert(result(i)(11) === (0 until i).map(i => i -> i.toLong).toMap)
-        assert(result(i)(12) === (0 until i).map(i => i -> i.toLong).toMap + (i -> null))
-        assert(result(i)(13) === new GenericRow(Array[Any]((0 until i), new GenericRow(Array[Any](i, s"$i")))))
-    }
+    data.saveAsParquetFile(tempDir)
+
+    checkAnswer(
+      parquetFile(tempDir),
+      data.toSchemaRDD.collect().toSeq)
   }
 
   test("self-join parquet files") {
@@ -408,23 +372,6 @@ class ParquetQuerySuite extends QueryTest with FunSuiteLike with BeforeAndAfterA
     }
   }
 
-  test("Saving case class RDD table to file and reading it back in") {
-    val file = getTempFilePath("parquet")
-    val path = file.toString
-    val rdd = TestSQLContext.sparkContext.parallelize((1 to 100))
-      .map(i => TestRDDEntry(i, s"val_$i"))
-    rdd.saveAsParquetFile(path)
-    val readFile = parquetFile(path)
-    readFile.registerTempTable("tmpx")
-    val rdd_copy = sql("SELECT * FROM tmpx").collect()
-    val rdd_orig = rdd.collect()
-    for(i <- 0 to 99) {
-      assert(rdd_copy(i).apply(0) === rdd_orig(i).key,   s"key error in line $i")
-      assert(rdd_copy(i).apply(1) === rdd_orig(i).value, s"value error in line $i")
-    }
-    Utils.deleteRecursively(file)
-  }
-
   test("Read a parquet file instead of a directory") {
     val file = getTempFilePath("parquet")
     val path = file.toString
@@ -457,32 +404,19 @@ class ParquetQuerySuite extends QueryTest with FunSuiteLike with BeforeAndAfterA
     sql("INSERT OVERWRITE INTO dest SELECT * FROM source").collect()
     val rdd_copy1 = sql("SELECT * FROM dest").collect()
     assert(rdd_copy1.size === 100)
-    assert(rdd_copy1(0).apply(0) === 1)
-    assert(rdd_copy1(0).apply(1) === "val_1")
-    // TODO: why does collecting break things? It seems InsertIntoParquet::execute() is
-    // executed twice otherwise?!
+
     sql("INSERT INTO dest SELECT * FROM source")
-    val rdd_copy2 = sql("SELECT * FROM dest").collect()
+    val rdd_copy2 = sql("SELECT * FROM dest").collect().sortBy(_.getInt(0))
     assert(rdd_copy2.size === 200)
-    assert(rdd_copy2(0).apply(0) === 1)
-    assert(rdd_copy2(0).apply(1) === "val_1")
-    assert(rdd_copy2(99).apply(0) === 100)
-    assert(rdd_copy2(99).apply(1) === "val_100")
-    assert(rdd_copy2(100).apply(0) === 1)
-    assert(rdd_copy2(100).apply(1) === "val_1")
     Utils.deleteRecursively(dirname)
   }
 
   test("Insert (appending) to same table via Scala API") {
-    // TODO: why does collecting break things? It seems InsertIntoParquet::execute() is
-    // executed twice otherwise?!
     sql("INSERT INTO testsource SELECT * FROM testsource")
     val double_rdd = sql("SELECT * FROM testsource").collect()
     assert(double_rdd != null)
     assert(double_rdd.size === 30)
-    for(i <- (0 to 14)) {
-      assert(double_rdd(i) === double_rdd(i+15), s"error: lines $i and ${i+15} to not match")
-    }
+
     // let's restore the original test data
     Utils.deleteRecursively(ParquetTestData.testDir)
     ParquetTestData.writeFile()
diff --git a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/HiveThriftServer2.scala b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/HiveThriftServer2.scala
index cadf7aaf42157..161f8c6199b08 100644
--- a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/HiveThriftServer2.scala
+++ b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/HiveThriftServer2.scala
@@ -17,11 +17,8 @@
 
 package org.apache.spark.sql.hive.thriftserver
 
-import scala.collection.JavaConversions._
-
 import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.conf.HiveConf
-import org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.session.SessionState
 import org.apache.hive.service.cli.thrift.ThriftBinaryCLIService
 import org.apache.hive.service.server.{HiveServer2, ServerOptionsProcessor}
 
@@ -38,24 +35,12 @@ private[hive] object HiveThriftServer2 extends Logging {
 
   def main(args: Array[String]) {
     val optionsProcessor = new ServerOptionsProcessor("HiveThriftServer2")
-
     if (!optionsProcessor.process(args)) {
       System.exit(-1)
     }
 
-    val ss = new SessionState(new HiveConf(classOf[SessionState]))
-
-    // Set all properties specified via command line.
-    val hiveConf: HiveConf = ss.getConf
-    hiveConf.getAllProperties.toSeq.sortBy(_._1).foreach { case (k, v) =>
-      logDebug(s"HiveConf var: $k=$v")
-    }
-
-    SessionState.start(ss)
-
     logInfo("Starting SparkContext")
     SparkSQLEnv.init()
-    SessionState.start(ss)
 
     Runtime.getRuntime.addShutdownHook(
       new Thread() {
@@ -67,7 +52,7 @@ private[hive] object HiveThriftServer2 extends Logging {
 
     try {
       val server = new HiveThriftServer2(SparkSQLEnv.hiveContext)
-      server.init(hiveConf)
+      server.init(SparkSQLEnv.hiveContext.hiveconf)
       server.start()
       logInfo("HiveThriftServer2 started")
     } catch {
diff --git a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/SparkSQLCLIService.scala b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/SparkSQLCLIService.scala
index 42cbf363b274f..94ec9978af85f 100644
--- a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/SparkSQLCLIService.scala
+++ b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/SparkSQLCLIService.scala
@@ -17,18 +17,18 @@
 
 package org.apache.spark.sql.hive.thriftserver
 
-import scala.collection.JavaConversions._
-
 import java.io.IOException
 import java.util.{List => JList}
 import javax.security.auth.login.LoginException
 
+import scala.collection.JavaConversions._
+
 import org.apache.commons.logging.Log
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.conf.HiveConf
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.shims.ShimLoader
 import org.apache.hive.service.Service.STATE
 import org.apache.hive.service.auth.HiveAuthFactory
-import org.apache.hive.service.cli.CLIService
+import org.apache.hive.service.cli._
 import org.apache.hive.service.{AbstractService, Service, ServiceException}
 
 import org.apache.spark.sql.hive.HiveContext
@@ -57,6 +57,15 @@ private[hive] class SparkSQLCLIService(hiveContext: HiveContext)
 
     initCompositeService(hiveConf)
   }
+
+  override def getInfo(sessionHandle: SessionHandle, getInfoType: GetInfoType): GetInfoValue = {
+    getInfoType match {
+      case GetInfoType.CLI_SERVER_NAME => new GetInfoValue("Spark SQL")
+      case GetInfoType.CLI_DBMS_NAME => new GetInfoValue("Spark SQL")
+      case GetInfoType.CLI_DBMS_VER => new GetInfoValue(hiveContext.sparkContext.version)
+      case _ => super.getInfo(sessionHandle, getInfoType)
+    }
+  }
 }
 
 private[thriftserver] trait ReflectedCompositeService { this: AbstractService =>
diff --git a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/SparkSQLEnv.scala b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/SparkSQLEnv.scala
index 582264eb59f83..e07402c56c5b9 100644
--- a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/SparkSQLEnv.scala
+++ b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/SparkSQLEnv.scala
@@ -17,12 +17,11 @@
 
 package org.apache.spark.sql.hive.thriftserver
 
-import org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.session.SessionState
+import scala.collection.JavaConversions._
 
-import org.apache.spark.scheduler.{SplitInfo, StatsReportListener}
-import org.apache.spark.Logging
+import org.apache.spark.scheduler.StatsReportListener
 import org.apache.spark.sql.hive.HiveContext
-import org.apache.spark.{SparkConf, SparkContext}
+import org.apache.spark.{Logging, SparkConf, SparkContext}
 
 /** A singleton object for the master program. The slaves should not access this. */
 private[hive] object SparkSQLEnv extends Logging {
@@ -33,14 +32,18 @@ private[hive] object SparkSQLEnv extends Logging {
 
   def init() {
     if (hiveContext == null) {
-      sparkContext = new SparkContext(new SparkConf()
-        .setAppName(s"SparkSQL::${java.net.InetAddress.getLocalHost.getHostName}"))
+      val sparkConf = new SparkConf()
+        .setAppName(s"SparkSQL::${java.net.InetAddress.getLocalHost.getHostName}")
+        .set("spark.sql.hive.version", "0.12.0")
+      sparkContext = new SparkContext(sparkConf)
 
       sparkContext.addSparkListener(new StatsReportListener())
+      hiveContext = new HiveContext(sparkContext)
 
-      hiveContext = new HiveContext(sparkContext) {
-        @transient override lazy val sessionState = SessionState.get()
-        @transient override lazy val hiveconf = sessionState.getConf
+      if (log.isDebugEnabled) {
+        hiveContext.hiveconf.getAllProperties.toSeq.sorted.foreach { case (k, v) =>
+          logDebug(s"HiveConf var: $k=$v")
+        }
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/CliSuite.scala b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/CliSuite.scala
index 3475c2c9db080..e8ffbc5b954d4 100644
--- a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/CliSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/CliSuite.scala
@@ -18,15 +18,13 @@
 
 package org.apache.spark.sql.hive.thriftserver
 
+import java.io._
+
 import scala.collection.mutable.ArrayBuffer
-import scala.concurrent.ExecutionContext.Implicits.global
 import scala.concurrent.duration._
-import scala.concurrent.{Await, Future, Promise}
+import scala.concurrent.{Await, Promise}
 import scala.sys.process.{Process, ProcessLogger}
 
-import java.io._
-import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger
-
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.conf.HiveConf.ConfVars
 import org.scalatest.{BeforeAndAfterAll, FunSuite}
 
@@ -53,17 +51,19 @@ class CliSuite extends FunSuite with BeforeAndAfterAll with Logging {
        """.stripMargin.split("\\s+").toSeq ++ extraArgs
     }
 
-    // AtomicInteger is needed because stderr and stdout of the forked process are handled in
-    // different threads.
-    val next = new AtomicInteger(0)
+    var next = 0
     val foundAllExpectedAnswers = Promise.apply[Unit]()
     val queryStream = new ByteArrayInputStream(queries.mkString("\n").getBytes)
     val buffer = new ArrayBuffer[String]()
+    val lock = new Object
 
-    def captureOutput(source: String)(line: String) {
+    def captureOutput(source: String)(line: String): Unit = lock.synchronized {
       buffer += s"$source> $line"
-      if (line.contains(expectedAnswers(next.get()))) {
-        if (next.incrementAndGet() == expectedAnswers.size) {
+      // If we haven't found all expected answers and another expected answer comes up...
+      if (next < expectedAnswers.size && line.startsWith(expectedAnswers(next))) {
+        next += 1
+        // If all expected answers have been found...
+        if (next == expectedAnswers.size) {
           foundAllExpectedAnswers.trySuccess(())
         }
       }
@@ -73,11 +73,6 @@ class CliSuite extends FunSuite with BeforeAndAfterAll with Logging {
     val process = (Process(command) #< queryStream).run(
       ProcessLogger(captureOutput("stdout"), captureOutput("stderr")))
 
-    Future {
-      val exitValue = process.exitValue()
-      logInfo(s"Spark SQL CLI process exit value: $exitValue")
-    }
-
     try {
       Await.result(foundAllExpectedAnswers.future, timeout)
     } catch { case cause: Throwable =>
@@ -88,14 +83,15 @@ class CliSuite extends FunSuite with BeforeAndAfterAll with Logging {
            |=======================
            |Spark SQL CLI command line: ${command.mkString(" ")}
            |
-           |Executed query ${next.get()} "${queries(next.get())}",
-           |But failed to capture expected output "${expectedAnswers(next.get())}" within $timeout.
+           |Executed query $next "${queries(next)}",
+           |But failed to capture expected output "${expectedAnswers(next)}" within $timeout.
            |
            |${buffer.mkString("\n")}
            |===========================
            |End CliSuite failure output
            |===========================
          """.stripMargin, cause)
+      throw cause
     } finally {
       warehousePath.delete()
       metastorePath.delete()
@@ -107,7 +103,7 @@ class CliSuite extends FunSuite with BeforeAndAfterAll with Logging {
     val dataFilePath =
       Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader.getResource("data/files/small_kv.txt")
 
-    runCliWithin(1.minute)(
+    runCliWithin(3.minute)(
       "CREATE TABLE hive_test(key INT, val STRING);"
         -> "OK",
       "SHOW TABLES;"
@@ -118,7 +114,7 @@ class CliSuite extends FunSuite with BeforeAndAfterAll with Logging {
         -> "Time taken: ",
       "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM hive_test;"
         -> "5",
-      "DROP TABLE hive_test"
+      "DROP TABLE hive_test;"
         -> "Time taken: "
     )
   }
diff --git a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/HiveThriftServer2Suite.scala b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/HiveThriftServer2Suite.scala
index 38977ff162097..08b4cc1c42c31 100644
--- a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/HiveThriftServer2Suite.scala
+++ b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/HiveThriftServer2Suite.scala
@@ -17,32 +17,39 @@
 
 package org.apache.spark.sql.hive.thriftserver
 
-import scala.collection.mutable.ArrayBuffer
-import scala.concurrent.ExecutionContext.Implicits.global
-import scala.concurrent.duration._
-import scala.concurrent.{Await, Future, Promise}
-import scala.sys.process.{Process, ProcessLogger}
-
 import java.io.File
 import java.net.ServerSocket
 import java.sql.{DriverManager, Statement}
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException
 
+import scala.collection.mutable.ArrayBuffer
+import scala.concurrent.duration._
+import scala.concurrent.{Await, Promise}
+import scala.sys.process.{Process, ProcessLogger}
+
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.conf.HiveConf.ConfVars
 import org.apache.hive.jdbc.HiveDriver
+import org.apache.hive.service.auth.PlainSaslHelper
+import org.apache.hive.service.cli.GetInfoType
+import org.apache.hive.service.cli.thrift.TCLIService.Client
+import org.apache.hive.service.cli.thrift._
+import org.apache.thrift.protocol.TBinaryProtocol
+import org.apache.thrift.transport.TSocket
 import org.scalatest.FunSuite
 
-import org.apache.spark.Logging
+import org.apache.spark.{SparkContext, Logging}
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util.getTempFilePath
 
 /**
  * Tests for the HiveThriftServer2 using JDBC.
+ *
+ * NOTE: SPARK_PREPEND_CLASSES is explicitly disabled in this test suite. Assembly jar must be
+ * rebuilt after changing HiveThriftServer2 related code.
  */
 class HiveThriftServer2Suite extends FunSuite with Logging {
   Class.forName(classOf[HiveDriver].getCanonicalName)
 
-  private val listeningHost = "localhost"
-  private val listeningPort =  {
+  def randomListeningPort =  {
     // Let the system to choose a random available port to avoid collision with other parallel
     // builds.
     val socket = new ServerSocket(0)
@@ -51,61 +58,91 @@ class HiveThriftServer2Suite extends FunSuite with Logging {
     port
   }
 
-  private val warehousePath = getTempFilePath("warehouse")
-  private val metastorePath = getTempFilePath("metastore")
-  private val metastoreJdbcUri = s"jdbc:derby:;databaseName=$metastorePath;create=true"
+  def withJdbcStatement(serverStartTimeout: FiniteDuration = 1.minute)(f: Statement => Unit) {
+    val port = randomListeningPort
+
+    startThriftServer(port, serverStartTimeout) {
+      val jdbcUri = s"jdbc:hive2://${"localhost"}:$port/"
+      val user = System.getProperty("user.name")
+      val connection = DriverManager.getConnection(jdbcUri, user, "")
+      val statement = connection.createStatement()
 
-  def startThriftServerWithin(timeout: FiniteDuration = 30.seconds)(f: Statement => Unit) {
-    val serverScript = "../../sbin/start-thriftserver.sh".split("/").mkString(File.separator)
+      try {
+        f(statement)
+      } finally {
+        statement.close()
+        connection.close()
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  def withCLIServiceClient(
+      serverStartTimeout: FiniteDuration = 1.minute)(
+      f: ThriftCLIServiceClient => Unit) {
+    val port = randomListeningPort
+
+    startThriftServer(port) {
+      // Transport creation logics below mimics HiveConnection.createBinaryTransport
+      val rawTransport = new TSocket("localhost", port)
+      val user = System.getProperty("user.name")
+      val transport = PlainSaslHelper.getPlainTransport(user, "anonymous", rawTransport)
+      val protocol = new TBinaryProtocol(transport)
+      val client = new ThriftCLIServiceClient(new Client(protocol))
+
+      transport.open()
+
+      try {
+        f(client)
+      } finally {
+        transport.close()
+      }
+    }
+  }
 
+  def startThriftServer(
+      port: Int,
+      serverStartTimeout: FiniteDuration = 1.minute)(
+      f: => Unit) {
+    val startScript = "../../sbin/start-thriftserver.sh".split("/").mkString(File.separator)
+
+    val warehousePath = getTempFilePath("warehouse")
+    val metastorePath = getTempFilePath("metastore")
+    val metastoreJdbcUri = s"jdbc:derby:;databaseName=$metastorePath;create=true"
     val command =
-      s"""$serverScript
+      s"""$startScript
          |  --master local
          |  --hiveconf hive.root.logger=INFO,console
          |  --hiveconf ${ConfVars.METASTORECONNECTURLKEY}=$metastoreJdbcUri
          |  --hiveconf ${ConfVars.METASTOREWAREHOUSE}=$warehousePath
-         |  --hiveconf ${ConfVars.HIVE_SERVER2_THRIFT_BIND_HOST}=$listeningHost
-         |  --hiveconf ${ConfVars.HIVE_SERVER2_THRIFT_PORT}=$listeningPort
+         |  --hiveconf ${ConfVars.HIVE_SERVER2_THRIFT_BIND_HOST}=${"localhost"}
+         |  --hiveconf ${ConfVars.HIVE_SERVER2_THRIFT_PORT}=$port
        """.stripMargin.split("\\s+").toSeq
 
-    val serverStarted = Promise[Unit]()
+    val serverRunning = Promise[Unit]()
     val buffer = new ArrayBuffer[String]()
+    val lock = new Object
 
-    def captureOutput(source: String)(line: String) {
+    def captureOutput(source: String)(line: String): Unit = lock.synchronized {
       buffer += s"$source> $line"
       if (line.contains("ThriftBinaryCLIService listening on")) {
-        serverStarted.success(())
+        serverRunning.success(())
       }
     }
 
-    val process = Process(command).run(
-      ProcessLogger(captureOutput("stdout"), captureOutput("stderr")))
-
-    Future {
-      val exitValue = process.exitValue()
-      logInfo(s"Spark SQL Thrift server process exit value: $exitValue")
-    }
+    // Resets SPARK_TESTING to avoid loading Log4J configurations in testing class paths
+    val env = Seq("SPARK_TESTING" -> "0")
 
-    val jdbcUri = s"jdbc:hive2://$listeningHost:$listeningPort/"
-    val user = System.getProperty("user.name")
+    val process = Process(command, None, env: _*).run(
+      ProcessLogger(captureOutput("stdout"), captureOutput("stderr")))
 
     try {
-      Await.result(serverStarted.future, timeout)
-
-      val connection = DriverManager.getConnection(jdbcUri, user, "")
-      val statement = connection.createStatement()
-
-      try {
-        f(statement)
-      } finally {
-        statement.close()
-        connection.close()
-      }
+      Await.result(serverRunning.future, serverStartTimeout)
+      f
     } catch {
       case cause: Exception =>
         cause match {
           case _: TimeoutException =>
-            logError(s"Failed to start Hive Thrift server within $timeout", cause)
+            logError(s"Failed to start Hive Thrift server within $serverStartTimeout", cause)
           case _ =>
         }
         logError(
@@ -114,14 +151,15 @@ class HiveThriftServer2Suite extends FunSuite with Logging {
              |HiveThriftServer2Suite failure output
              |=====================================
              |HiveThriftServer2 command line: ${command.mkString(" ")}
-             |JDBC URI: $jdbcUri
-             |User: $user
+             |Binding port: $port
+             |System user: ${System.getProperty("user.name")}
              |
              |${buffer.mkString("\n")}
              |=========================================
              |End HiveThriftServer2Suite failure output
              |=========================================
            """.stripMargin, cause)
+        throw cause
     } finally {
       warehousePath.delete()
       metastorePath.delete()
@@ -130,14 +168,16 @@ class HiveThriftServer2Suite extends FunSuite with Logging {
   }
 
   test("Test JDBC query execution") {
-    startThriftServerWithin() { statement =>
+    withJdbcStatement() { statement =>
       val dataFilePath =
         Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader.getResource("data/files/small_kv.txt")
 
-      val queries = Seq(
-        "CREATE TABLE test(key INT, val STRING)",
-        s"LOAD DATA LOCAL INPATH '$dataFilePath' OVERWRITE INTO TABLE test",
-        "CACHE TABLE test")
+      val queries =
+        s"""SET spark.sql.shuffle.partitions=3;
+           |CREATE TABLE test(key INT, val STRING);
+           |LOAD DATA LOCAL INPATH '$dataFilePath' OVERWRITE INTO TABLE test;
+           |CACHE TABLE test;
+         """.stripMargin.split(";").map(_.trim).filter(_.nonEmpty)
 
       queries.foreach(statement.execute)
 
@@ -150,7 +190,7 @@ class HiveThriftServer2Suite extends FunSuite with Logging {
   }
 
   test("SPARK-3004 regression: result set containing NULL") {
-    startThriftServerWithin() { statement =>
+    withJdbcStatement() { statement =>
       val dataFilePath =
         Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader.getResource(
           "data/files/small_kv_with_null.txt")
@@ -173,4 +213,31 @@ class HiveThriftServer2Suite extends FunSuite with Logging {
       assert(!resultSet.next())
     }
   }
+
+  test("GetInfo Thrift API") {
+    withCLIServiceClient() { client =>
+      val user = System.getProperty("user.name")
+      val sessionHandle = client.openSession(user, "")
+
+      assertResult("Spark SQL", "Wrong GetInfo(CLI_DBMS_NAME) result") {
+        client.getInfo(sessionHandle, GetInfoType.CLI_DBMS_NAME).getStringValue
+      }
+
+      assertResult("Spark SQL", "Wrong GetInfo(CLI_SERVER_NAME) result") {
+        client.getInfo(sessionHandle, GetInfoType.CLI_SERVER_NAME).getStringValue
+      }
+
+      assertResult(SparkContext.SPARK_VERSION, "Spark version shouldn't be \"Unknown\"") {
+        client.getInfo(sessionHandle, GetInfoType.CLI_DBMS_VER).getStringValue
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  test("Checks Hive version") {
+    withJdbcStatement() { statement =>
+      val resultSet = statement.executeQuery("SET spark.sql.hive.version")
+      resultSet.next()
+      assert(resultSet.getString(1) === s"spark.sql.hive.version=0.12.0")
+    }
+  }
 }
diff --git a/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/HiveContext.scala b/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/HiveContext.scala
index d9b2bc7348ad2..b44a94c6aed9a 100644
--- a/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/HiveContext.scala
+++ b/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/HiveContext.scala
@@ -222,17 +222,29 @@ class HiveContext(sc: SparkContext) extends SQLContext(sc) {
   }
 
   /**
-   * SQLConf and HiveConf contracts: when the hive session is first initialized, params in
-   * HiveConf will get picked up by the SQLConf.  Additionally, any properties set by
-   * set() or a SET command inside sql() will be set in the SQLConf *as well as*
-   * in the HiveConf.
+   * SQLConf and HiveConf contracts:
+   *
+   * 1. reuse existing started SessionState if any
+   * 2. when the Hive session is first initialized, params in HiveConf will get picked up by the
+   *    SQLConf.  Additionally, any properties set by set() or a SET command inside sql() will be
+   *    set in the SQLConf *as well as* in the HiveConf.
    */
-  @transient protected[hive] lazy val hiveconf = new HiveConf(classOf[SessionState])
-  @transient protected[hive] lazy val sessionState = {
-    val ss = new SessionState(hiveconf)
-    setConf(hiveconf.getAllProperties)  // Have SQLConf pick up the initial set of HiveConf.
-    ss
-  }
+  @transient protected[hive] lazy val (hiveconf, sessionState) =
+    Option(SessionState.get())
+      .orElse {
+        val newState = new SessionState(new HiveConf(classOf[SessionState]))
+        // Only starts newly created `SessionState` instance.  Any existing `SessionState` instance
+        // returned by `SessionState.get()` must be the most recently started one.
+        SessionState.start(newState)
+        Some(newState)
+      }
+      .map { state =>
+        setConf(state.getConf.getAllProperties)
+        if (state.out == null) state.out = new PrintStream(outputBuffer, true, "UTF-8")
+        if (state.err == null) state.err = new PrintStream(outputBuffer, true, "UTF-8")
+        (state.getConf, state)
+      }
+      .get
 
   sessionState.err = new PrintStream(outputBuffer, true, "UTF-8")
   sessionState.out = new PrintStream(outputBuffer, true, "UTF-8")
@@ -290,6 +302,14 @@ class HiveContext(sc: SparkContext) extends SQLContext(sc) {
 
       SessionState.start(sessionState)
 
+      // Makes sure the session represented by the `sessionState` field is activated. This implies
+      // Spark SQL Hive support uses a single `SessionState` for all Hive operations and breaks
+      // session isolation under multi-user scenarios (i.e. HiveThriftServer2).
+      // TODO Fix session isolation
+      if (SessionState.get() != sessionState) {
+        SessionState.start(sessionState)
+      }
+
       proc match {
         case driver: Driver =>
           driver.init()
@@ -306,7 +326,9 @@ class HiveContext(sc: SparkContext) extends SQLContext(sc) {
           driver.destroy()
           results
         case _ =>
-          sessionState.out.println(tokens(0) + " " + cmd_1)
+          if (sessionState.out != null) {
+            sessionState.out.println(tokens(0) + " " + cmd_1)
+          }
           Seq(proc.run(cmd_1).getResponseCode.toString)
       }
     } catch {
diff --git a/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/TestHive.scala b/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/TestHive.scala
index 8bb2216b7b4f4..094e58e9863c8 100644
--- a/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/TestHive.scala
+++ b/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/TestHive.scala
@@ -35,12 +35,13 @@ import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.analysis._
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.plans.logical.{CacheCommand, LogicalPlan, NativeCommand}
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util._
 import org.apache.spark.sql.hive._
+import org.apache.spark.sql.SQLConf
 
 /* Implicit conversions */
 import scala.collection.JavaConversions._
 
 object TestHive
-  extends TestHiveContext(new SparkContext("local", "TestSQLContext", new SparkConf()))
+  extends TestHiveContext(new SparkContext("local[2]", "TestSQLContext", new SparkConf()))
 
 /**
  * A locally running test instance of Spark's Hive execution engine.
@@ -90,6 +91,10 @@ class TestHiveContext(sc: SparkContext) extends HiveContext(sc) {
   override def executePlan(plan: LogicalPlan): this.QueryExecution =
     new this.QueryExecution { val logical = plan }
 
+  /** Fewer partitions to speed up testing. */
+  override private[spark] def numShufflePartitions: Int =
+    getConf(SQLConf.SHUFFLE_PARTITIONS, "5").toInt
+
   /**
    * Returns the value of specified environmental variable as a [[java.io.File]] after checking
    * to ensure it exists
diff --git a/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/execution/HiveQuerySuite.scala b/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/execution/HiveQuerySuite.scala
index d2587431951b8..cdf984420782b 100644
--- a/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/execution/HiveQuerySuite.scala
+++ b/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/execution/HiveQuerySuite.scala
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ package org.apache.spark.sql.hive.execution
 
 import scala.util.Try
 
-import org.apache.spark.sql.{SchemaRDD, Row}
 import org.apache.spark.sql.hive._
 import org.apache.spark.sql.hive.test.TestHive
 import org.apache.spark.sql.hive.test.TestHive._
@@ -313,10 +312,10 @@ class HiveQuerySuite extends HiveComparisonTest {
     "SELECT srcalias.KEY, SRCALIAS.value FROM sRc SrCAlias WHERE SrCAlias.kEy < 15")
 
   test("case sensitivity: registered table") {
-    val testData: SchemaRDD =
+    val testData =
       TestHive.sparkContext.parallelize(
         TestData(1, "str1") ::
-        TestData(2, "str2") :: Nil)
+        TestData(2, "str2") :: Nil).toSchemaRDD
     testData.registerTempTable("REGisteredTABle")
 
     assertResult(Array(Array(2, "str2"))) {
@@ -327,7 +326,7 @@ class HiveQuerySuite extends HiveComparisonTest {
 
   def isExplanation(result: SchemaRDD) = {
     val explanation = result.select('plan).collect().map { case Row(plan: String) => plan }
-    explanation.exists(_ == "== Physical Plan ==")
+    explanation.contains("== Physical Plan ==")
   }
 
   test("SPARK-1704: Explain commands as a SchemaRDD") {
@@ -467,10 +466,10 @@ class HiveQuerySuite extends HiveComparisonTest {
     }
 
     // Describe a registered temporary table.
-    val testData: SchemaRDD =
+    val testData =
       TestHive.sparkContext.parallelize(
         TestData(1, "str1") ::
-        TestData(1, "str2") :: Nil)
+        TestData(1, "str2") :: Nil).toSchemaRDD
     testData.registerTempTable("test_describe_commands2")
 
     assertResult(
@@ -520,10 +519,15 @@ class HiveQuerySuite extends HiveComparisonTest {
     val testKey = "spark.sql.key.usedfortestonly"
     val testVal = "test.val.0"
     val nonexistentKey = "nonexistent"
-
+    val KV = "([^=]+)=([^=]*)".r
+    def collectResults(rdd: SchemaRDD): Set[(String, String)] =
+      rdd.collect().map {
+        case Row(key: String, value: String) => key -> value
+        case Row(KV(key, value)) => key -> value
+      }.toSet
     clear()
 
-    // "set" itself returns all config variables currently specified in SQLConf.
+    // "SET" itself returns all config variables currently specified in SQLConf.
     // TODO: Should we be listing the default here always? probably...
     assert(sql("SET").collect().size == 0)
 
@@ -532,46 +536,21 @@ class HiveQuerySuite extends HiveComparisonTest {
     }
 
     assert(hiveconf.get(testKey, "") == testVal)
-    assertResult(Array(s"$testKey=$testVal")) {
-      sql(s"SET $testKey=$testVal").collect().map(_.getString(0))
-    }
+    assertResult(Set(testKey -> testVal))(collectResults(sql("SET")))
+    assertResult(Set(testKey -> testVal))(collectResults(sql("SET -v")))
 
     sql(s"SET ${testKey + testKey}=${testVal + testVal}")
     assert(hiveconf.get(testKey + testKey, "") == testVal + testVal)
     assertResult(Array(s"$testKey=$testVal", s"${testKey + testKey}=${testVal + testVal}")) {
       sql(s"SET").collect().map(_.getString(0))
     }
-
-    // "set key"
-    assertResult(Array(s"$testKey=$testVal")) {
-      sql(s"SET $testKey").collect().map(_.getString(0))
-    }
-
-    assertResult(Array(s"$nonexistentKey=<undefined>")) {
-      sql(s"SET $nonexistentKey").collect().map(_.getString(0))
+    assertResult(Set(testKey -> testVal, (testKey + testKey) -> (testVal + testVal))) {
+      collectResults(sql("SET -v"))
     }
 
-    // Assert that sql() should have the same effects as sql() by repeating the above using sql().
-    clear()
-    assert(sql("SET").collect().size == 0)
-
-    assertResult(Array(s"$testKey=$testVal")) {
-      sql(s"SET $testKey=$testVal").collect().map(_.getString(0))
-    }
-
-    assert(hiveconf.get(testKey, "") == testVal)
-    assertResult(Array(s"$testKey=$testVal")) {
-      sql("SET").collect().map(_.getString(0))
-    }
-
-    sql(s"SET ${testKey + testKey}=${testVal + testVal}")
-    assert(hiveconf.get(testKey + testKey, "") == testVal + testVal)
-    assertResult(Array(s"$testKey=$testVal", s"${testKey + testKey}=${testVal + testVal}")) {
-      sql("SET").collect().map(_.getString(0))
-    }
-
-    assertResult(Array(s"$testKey=$testVal")) {
-      sql(s"SET $testKey").collect().map(_.getString(0))
+    // "SET key"
+    assertResult(Set(testKey -> testVal)) {
+      collectResults(sql(s"SET $testKey"))
     }
 
     assertResult(Array(s"$nonexistentKey=<undefined>")) {