Share security and governance in Snowflake - Commands & Configuration

Introduction

Sharing data securely means controlling who can see and use your data. Governance helps you set rules so data is safe and used properly when shared.

When you want to share specific data with another team without giving full access to your database

When you need to control who can query or modify shared data

When you want to audit who accessed shared data for compliance

When you want to share data across different Snowflake accounts securely

When you want to enforce policies on shared data usage

Commands

Create a new share object to hold the data you want to share securely.

Terminal

CREATE SHARE my_share;

Expected Output

No output (command runs silently)

Allow the share to access the database you want to share data from.

Terminal

GRANT USAGE ON DATABASE my_database TO SHARE my_share;

Expected Output

No output (command runs silently)

Allow the share to read all tables in the specified schema.

Terminal

GRANT SELECT ON ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA my_database.public TO SHARE my_share;

Expected Output

No output (command runs silently)

Specify which Snowflake accounts can access the shared data.

Terminal

ALTER SHARE my_share ADD ACCOUNTS = ('account1', 'account2');

Expected Output

No output (command runs silently)

List all shares you have created to verify your share exists and is configured.

Terminal

SHOW SHARES;

Expected Output

name     database_name   owner   created_on

my_share my_database    SYSADMIN 2024-06-01 12:00:00

Key Concept

If you remember nothing else from this pattern, remember: create a share, grant access to data, and specify who can use the share to keep data secure.

Common Mistakes

Not granting USAGE on the database to the share

The share cannot access any data without database usage permission, so sharing fails silently.

Always grant USAGE on the database to the share before granting table access.

Forgetting to add target accounts to the share

No accounts can access the share if none are added, so data is not shared.

Use ALTER SHARE to add the correct Snowflake account names allowed to access the share.

Granting too many privileges like MODIFY or OWNERSHIP

This can expose data to unwanted changes and breaks governance rules.

Only grant SELECT and USAGE privileges needed for read-only sharing.

Summary

Create a share object to hold shared data.

Grant USAGE on the database and SELECT on tables to the share.

Add specific Snowflake accounts to the share for controlled access.

Verify shares with SHOW SHARES command.

Practice

1. What is the main purpose of a share in Snowflake?

easy

A. To safely share data without copying or moving it

B. To create a backup of data in another region

C. To encrypt data before storage

D. To delete data from multiple accounts

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the concept of a share

   A share in Snowflake allows data to be accessed by other accounts without physically moving or copying the data.

2. Step 2: Compare options with the concept

   The options describing encryption before storage, creating backups in another region, and deleting data from multiple accounts are unrelated to sharing data safely.

3. Final Answer:

   To safely share data without copying or moving it -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Share = Safe data access without moving [OK]

Hint: Shares let others see data without moving it [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking shares copy data to other accounts
• Confusing shares with backups
• Assuming shares encrypt data automatically

2. Which SQL command correctly grants usage on a share to a specific account in Snowflake?

easy

A. GRANT USAGE TO SHARE my_share ACCOUNT 'account_name';

B. GRANT SHARE ON USAGE my_share TO ACCOUNT 'account_name';

C. GRANT USAGE ON SHARE my_share TO ACCOUNT = 'account_name';

D. GRANT ACCOUNT USAGE ON SHARE my_share TO 'account_name';

Solution

1. Step 1: Recall correct GRANT syntax for shares

   The correct syntax is: GRANT USAGE ON SHARE <share_name> TO ACCOUNT = '<account_name>';

2. Step 2: Check each option's syntax

   Only GRANT USAGE ON SHARE my_share TO ACCOUNT = 'account_name'; matches the correct syntax. Others have incorrect order or missing keywords.

3. Final Answer:

   GRANT USAGE ON SHARE my_share TO ACCOUNT = 'account_name'; -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   GRANT USAGE ON SHARE ... TO ACCOUNT = ... [OK]

Hint: GRANT USAGE ON SHARE ... TO ACCOUNT = 'name' [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Swapping keywords order
• Omitting the equal sign after ACCOUNT
• Using incorrect object types in GRANT

3. Given the following SQL commands, what will be the result when account 'A' tries to query the shared table?

CREATE SHARE my_share;
GRANT USAGE ON DATABASE my_db TO SHARE my_share;
GRANT SELECT ON TABLE my_db.public.my_table TO SHARE my_share;
GRANT USAGE ON SHARE my_share TO ACCOUNT = 'A';

medium

A. Account 'A' cannot query because database usage is not granted

B. Account 'A' can query my_table successfully

C. Account 'A' cannot query because SELECT privilege is missing

D. Account 'A' cannot query because share usage is not granted

Solution

1. Step 1: Check granted privileges on share

   The share has USAGE on the database and SELECT on the table granted, and account 'A' has USAGE on the share.

2. Step 2: Confirm account 'A' can access shared data

   With these grants, account 'A' can query the shared table successfully.

3. Final Answer:

   Account 'A' can query my_table successfully -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Proper grants = Access allowed [OK]

Hint: Grant database usage, table select, and share usage to account [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Forgetting to grant USAGE on database to share
• Missing SELECT privilege on table
• Not granting USAGE on share to account

4. You receive an error when trying to grant SELECT on a table to a share: SQL compilation error: Insufficient privileges. What is the most likely cause?

medium

A. You forgot to create the database

B. The share does not exist

C. The account name is misspelled

D. You do not have OWNERSHIP privilege on the table

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand privilege requirements for granting SELECT to share

   Granting SELECT on a table to a share requires OWNERSHIP or appropriate privileges on that table.

2. Step 2: Analyze error cause

   Insufficient privileges error usually means the user lacks OWNERSHIP or necessary rights on the table.

3. Final Answer:

   You do not have OWNERSHIP privilege on the table -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   OWNERSHIP needed to grant SELECT to share [OK]

Hint: OWNERSHIP needed to grant privileges on objects [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming share existence causes privilege errors
• Confusing account name typos with privilege errors
• Ignoring ownership requirements

5. You want to share a subset of data securely with multiple external accounts but restrict access to only certain tables and columns. Which Snowflake feature combination should you use?

hard

A. Create a share with specific tables and use secure views to limit columns, then grant share usage to accounts

B. Create a share with all tables and rely on account-level access control

C. Copy data to each account and grant full access

D. Use database replication to share data and restrict columns via masking policies

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify how to limit tables and columns in shares

   Shares can include specific tables only. To restrict columns, secure views can be created exposing only allowed columns.

2. Step 2: Confirm how to share with multiple accounts securely

   Granting USAGE on the share to multiple accounts allows controlled access without copying data.

3. Final Answer:

   Create a share with specific tables and use secure views to limit columns, then grant share usage to accounts -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Shares + secure views = controlled multi-account access [OK]

Hint: Use secure views inside shares to limit columns [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Sharing all tables without column restrictions
• Copying data instead of sharing
• Using replication which is for disaster recovery, not sharing