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Creates a new location object in your Firebolt account, which is a secure, reusable object that stores the connection details and credentials for Iceberg data sources. Instead of entering these details each time you run a query or create a table, you can use a location object. This document captures specific and examples for location objects for Iceberg. For a comprehensive guide to LOCATION objects, see LOCATION objects. For more on location objects syntax in general, see CREATE LOCATION. Iceberg locations currently support four catalog types: REST, FILE_BASED, DATABRICKS_UNITY (as syntactic sugar on top of REST), and AWS_GLUE. Each catalog accepts a different set of parameters and credentials. Topics:

​
Syntax

CREATE LOCATION [ IF NOT EXISTS ] <location_name> WITH
  SOURCE = ICEBERG
  CATALOG = { FILE_BASED | REST | DATABRICKS_UNITY | AWS_GLUE }
  CATALOG_OPTIONS = {
    -- FILE_BASED
    ( URL = '<file_based_catalog_url>' )
    |
    -- REST
    ( URL = '<rest_catalog_url>'
      WAREHOUSE = '<warehouse>'
      [ NAMESPACE = '<namespace>' ]
      [ TABLE = '<table_name>' ] )
    |
    -- DATABRICKS_UNITY
    ( WORKSPACE_INSTANCE = '<workspace_instance>'
      CATALOG = '<uc_catalog_name>'
      SCHEMA = '<uc_schema_name>'
      TABLE = '<uc_table_name>' )
    |
    -- AWS_GLUE
    ( URL = '<aws_glue_endpoint_url>'
      CATALOG_ID = '<catalog_id>'
      [ DATABASE = '<database_name>' ]
      [ TABLE = '<table_name>' ] )
  }
  CREDENTIALS = {
    -- AWS Authentication
    ( AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID = '<aws_access_key_id>'
      AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY = '<aws_secret_access_key>'
      [ AWS_SESSION_TOKEN = '<aws_session_token>' ] )
    |
    ( AWS_ROLE_ARN = '<aws_role_arn>'
      [ AWS_ROLE_EXTERNAL_ID = '<aws_role_external_id>' ] )
    |
    -- OAuth Authentication
    ( OAUTH_CLIENT_ID = '<oauth_client_id>'
      OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET = '<oauth_client_secret>'
      [ OAUTH_SCOPE = '<oauth_scope>' ]
      [ OAUTH_SERVER_URL = '<oauth_server_url>' ] )
    |
    ( BEARER_TOKEN = '<bearer_token>' )
  }
  [ DESCRIPTION = '<description>' ]

​
Parameters

​
Common Parameters

ParameterDescription
<location_name>A unique identifier for the location within your account.
SOURCEThe external data source type. Currently, CLOUD_STORAGE and ICEBERG are supported. Additionally, AMAZON_S3 is supported as an alias for CLOUD_STORAGE with an S3 URL. This should be ICEBERG for Iceberg locations.
DESCRIPTIONOptional metadata describing the location’s purpose.

​
Iceberg Parameters

ParameterDescription
CATALOGThe type of Iceberg catalog. Supported values: FILE_BASED, REST, DATABRICKS_UNITY, or AWS_GLUE.
CATALOG_OPTIONSConfiguration options specific to the chosen catalog type.
CREDENTIALSAuthentication credentials for accessing the Iceberg catalog. Depending on the type of catalog, either AWS or OAuth credentials are used.

​
AWS Authentication Parameters

Use AWS authentication parameters for FILE_BASED and AWS_GLUE catalogs.
ParameterDescription
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_IDYour AWS access key ID for key-based authentication.
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEYYour AWS secret access key for key-based authentication.
AWS_SESSION_TOKENOptional temporary session token for temporary credentials.
AWS_ROLE_ARNThe ARN of the IAM role to assume for role-based authentication.
AWS_ROLE_EXTERNAL_IDOptional external ID for role assumption.

​
OAuth Authentication Parameters

Use OAuth authentication parameters for REST or DATABRICKS_UNITY catalogs.
ParameterDescription
OAUTH_CLIENT_IDThe OAuth client ID for authentication.
OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRETThe OAuth client secret for authentication.
OAUTH_SCOPEOptional OAuth scope for authentication.
OAUTH_SERVER_URLOptional OAuth server URL for authentication.
BEARER_TOKENOAuth bearer token for authentication. Only supported for DATABRICKS_UNITY catalog.TEXT

​
Iceberg Catalog-Specific Parameters

FILE_BASED Catalog
ParameterDescription
URLThe URL for the file-based catalog. This must be a valid S3 URL.
REST Catalog
ParameterDescription
URLThe REST catalog URL.
WAREHOUSEThe warehouse identifier.
NAMESPACEThe namespace identifier.
TABLEThe table name.
DATABRICKS_UNITY Catalog
ParameterDescription
WORKSPACE_INSTANCEThe Databricks workspace instance.
CATALOGThe Unity Catalog name.
SCHEMAThe Unity Catalog schema name.
TABLEThe Unity Catalog table name.
AWS_GLUE Catalog
ParameterDescription
URLThe AWS Glue endpoint URL. Format: https://glue.<region>.amazonaws.com/iceberg
CATALOG_IDThe AWS Glue catalog ID. Must be the default catalog for your account. Nested and named catalogs are not currently supported.
DATABASEThe AWS Glue database name.
TABLEThe AWS Glue table name.

​
Examples

Simplify queries with views. You can wrap READ_ICEBERG calls in a view so that Iceberg tables can be queried like regular tables. See Simplifying queries with views for examples.

​
File-based catalog

Used to access Iceberg tables directly from S3. For file-based Iceberg catalogs, use AWS key-based or role-based authentication in CREDENTIALS. With access key and secret: 
CREATE LOCATION my_location
WITH 
  SOURCE = ICEBERG
  CATALOG = FILE_BASED
  CATALOG_OPTIONS = (
    URL = 's3://my-bucket/path/to/iceberg/table'
  )
  CREDENTIALS = ( AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID = '1231' AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY = '567' );

SELECT * FROM READ_ICEBERG(LOCATION => 'my_location') LIMIT 5;
With access key, secret, and session token: 
CREATE LOCATION my_location
WITH 
  SOURCE = ICEBERG
  CATALOG = FILE_BASED
  CATALOG_OPTIONS = (
    URL = 's3://my-bucket/path/to/iceberg/table'
  )
  CREDENTIALS = ( AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID = '1231' AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY = '567' AWS_SESSION_TOKEN = 'session-token' );

SELECT * FROM READ_ICEBERG(LOCATION => 'my_location') LIMIT 5;
With role: 
CREATE LOCATION my_location
WITH 
  SOURCE = ICEBERG
  CATALOG = FILE_BASED
  CATALOG_OPTIONS = (
    URL = 's3://my-bucket/path/to/iceberg/table'
  )
  CREDENTIALS = ( AWS_ROLE_ARN = 'arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/S3Access' );

SELECT * FROM READ_ICEBERG(LOCATION => 'my_location') LIMIT 5;
With role and external id: 
CREATE LOCATION my_location
WITH 
  SOURCE = ICEBERG
  CATALOG = FILE_BASED
  CATALOG_OPTIONS = (
    URL = 's3://my-bucket/path/to/iceberg/table'
  )
  CREDENTIALS = ( AWS_ROLE_ARN = 'arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/S3Access' AWS_ROLE_EXTERNAL_ID = 'my-external-id' );

SELECT * FROM READ_ICEBERG(LOCATION => 'my_location') LIMIT 5;

​
REST catalog

Used to access Iceberg in REST catalogs, that implement the Iceberg REST API spec. For generic REST Iceberg catalogs, use OAuth parameters for CREDENTIALS. 
CREATE LOCATION my_location
WITH 
  SOURCE = ICEBERG
  CATALOG = REST
  CATALOG_OPTIONS = (
    URL = 'https://my-iceberg-rest-catalog/api'
    WAREHOUSE  = 'my_warehouse'
    NAMESPACE = 'my_namespace'
    TABLE = 'my_table_name'
  )
  CREDENTIALS = (
    OAUTH_CLIENT_ID = '00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000'
    OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET = '1234'
    OAUTH_SCOPE = 'example_permission:all'
    -- OAUTH_SERVER_URL is only needed for REST catalogs that don't support the /v1/oauth/tokens endpoint. If /v1/oauth/tokens is supported, it can be omitted.
    OAUTH_SERVER_URL = 'https://my-iceberg-rest-catalog/example/token'
  );

SELECT * FROM READ_ICEBERG(LOCATION => 'my_location') LIMIT 5;

​
Databricks Unity Catalog

Used to access Iceberg tables in a Databricks Unity Catalog. Offered as syntactic sugar on top of CATALOG = REST, for users who may be more familiar with Databricks Unity Catalog terminology. For configuring Unity Catalog in your Databricks workspace, see Databricks - Set up and manage Unity Catalog. Note that you will need to enable credential vending in your Unity Catalog, see Databricks - Unity Catalog credential vending for external system access. For general information about reading Databricks tables from Iceberg clients, see Databricks - Read Databricks tables from Iceberg clients. For Databricks Unity Catalogs, use OAuth parameters for CREDENTIALS. 
CREATE LOCATION my_location
WITH 
  SOURCE = ICEBERG
  CATALOG = DATABRICKS_UNITY
  CATALOG_OPTIONS = (
    WORKSPACE_INSTANCE = '000-0000000000000.cloud.databricks.com'
    CATALOG  = 'my_uc_catalog_name'
    SCHEMA = 'my_uc_schema_name'
    TABLE = 'my_uc_table_name'
  )
  CREDENTIALS = (
    OAUTH_CLIENT_ID = '00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000'
    OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET = '1234'
    -- OAUTH_SCOPE and OAUTH_SERVER_URL are not needed
  );

SELECT * FROM READ_ICEBERG(LOCATION => 'my_location') LIMIT 5;
If you’re using a PAT Databricks - Authenticate with Databricks personal access tokens (legacy), you can pass it via the BEARER_TOKEN parameter. 
CREATE LOCATION my_location
WITH 
  SOURCE = ICEBERG
  CATALOG = DATABRICKS_UNITY
  CATALOG_OPTIONS = (
    WORKSPACE_INSTANCE = '000-0000000000000.cloud.databricks.com'
    CATALOG  = 'my_uc_catalog_name'
    SCHEMA = 'my_uc_schema_name'
    TABLE = 'my_uc_table_name'
  )
  CREDENTIALS = (
    BEARER_TOKEN = '1234abcd'
    -- No OAUTH_ parameters are needed
  );

SELECT * FROM READ_ICEBERG(LOCATION => 'my_location') LIMIT 5;

​
Snowflake Open catalog (as a generic REST catalog)

Iceberg tables in Snowflake Open Catalog can currently be read by using a LOCATION with CATALOG = REST. For setting up a Snowflake Open Catalog in your account, see Snowflake - Snowflake Open Catalog overview. Note that you will need to enable credential vending for your Iceberg tables, see Snowflake - Use catalog-vended credentials for Apache Iceberg™ tables. For general information about reading Snowflake Open Catalog tables from Iceberg clients, see Snowflake - Checking your REST catalog configuration. For Snowflake Open catalogs, use OAuth parameters for CREDENTIALS. 
CREATE LOCATION my_location
WITH 
  SOURCE = ICEBERG
  CATALOG = REST
  CATALOG_OPTIONS = (
    URL = 'https://abc123.us-west-2.aws.myapi.com/polaris/api/catalog'
    WAREHOUSE  = 'my_warehouse'
    NAMESPACE = 'my_catalog_name'
    TABLE = 'my_table_name'
  )
  CREDENTIALS = (
    OAUTH_CLIENT_ID = '00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000'
    OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET = '1234'
    OAUTH_SCOPE = 'PRINCIPAL_ROLE:ALL'
    -- OAUTH_SERVER_URL is not needed
  );

SELECT * FROM READ_ICEBERG(LOCATION => 'my_location') LIMIT 5;

​
AWS Glue catalog

Used to access Iceberg tables in AWS Glue Data Catalog. With access key and secret: 
CREATE LOCATION my_location
WITH 
  SOURCE = ICEBERG
  CATALOG = AWS_GLUE
  CATALOG_OPTIONS = (
    URL = 'https://glue.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/iceberg'
    CATALOG_ID = '123456789123'
    DATABASE = 'my_database'
    TABLE = 'my_table'
  )
  CREDENTIALS = ( AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID = '1231' AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY = '567' );

SELECT * FROM READ_ICEBERG(LOCATION => 'my_location') LIMIT 5;
With role: 
CREATE LOCATION my_location
WITH 
  SOURCE = ICEBERG
  CATALOG = AWS_GLUE
  CATALOG_OPTIONS = (
    URL = 'https://glue.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/iceberg'
    CATALOG_ID = '123456789123'
    DATABASE = 'my_database'
    TABLE = 'my_table'
  )
  CREDENTIALS = ( AWS_ROLE_ARN = 'arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/GlueAccess' );

SELECT * FROM READ_ICEBERG(LOCATION => 'my_location') LIMIT 5;
Your IAM credentials must have the following permissions: 
{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Sid": "AllowGlueCatalogTableAccess",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": [
                "glue:GetCatalog",
                "glue:GetDatabase",
                "glue:GetDatabases",
                "glue:GetTable",
                "glue:GetTables"
            ],
            "Resource": [
                "arn:aws:glue:*:{catalog_id}:table/*/*",
                "arn:aws:glue:*:{catalog_id}:catalog",
                "arn:aws:glue:*:{catalog_id}:database/{database_name}"
            ]
        }
    ]
}
Your IAM credentials must also have permissions to access the underlying S3 storage. See Use AWS roles to access S3 for details. (Note that this may not be needed if you are using Lake Formation to manage access.) (Optional) Lake Formation If you use Lake Formation for access control, you’ll need to grant your IAM credentials permissions to Lake Formation, and register the underlying S3 location with Lake Formation: Your IAM credentials will need the GetDataAccess permission - see AWS Lake Formation: Underlying data access control. 
{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": "lakeformation:GetDataAccess",
            "Resource": "*"
        }
    ]
}
You’ll need to register your underlying S3 storage location with Lake Formation - see AWS Lake Formation: Adding an Amazon S3 location to your data lake. If you want Lake Formation to vend temporary credentials to access your underlying storage, you will need to configure Lake Formation to allow Firebolt’s external engine to access data in your S3 - see AWS Lake Formation: Application integration for full table access. If credential vending is enabled, it is recommended to not grant your IAM credentials access to your underlying S3 storage. This helps ensure that any storage access is using the vended credentials only.