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This article shows how to view, update, and delete catalogs in Unity Catalog. A catalog contains schemas (databases), and a schema contains tables, views, volumes, models, and functions.
For more information about catalogs, see What are catalogs in Azure Databricks? and Create catalogs. To learn how to grant and revoke access to a catalog, see Unity Catalog privileges and securable objects.
To learn how to manage a foreign catalog, a Unity Catalog object that mirrors a database in an external data system, see Manage and work with foreign catalogs.
To view, update, or delete a catalog:
You must have a Unity Catalog metastore linked to the workspace where you perform the task.
The cluster that you use to run a notebook to manage a catalog must use a Unity Catalog-compliant access mode. See Access modes.
SQL warehouses always support Unity Catalog.
Required permissions differ by task and are provided in each section that follows.
Permission required: Users can see metadata for all catalogs that they own or on which they have been assigned the USE CATALOG
or BROWSE
permission.
To view information about a catalog, you can use Catalog Explorer or a SQL command.
Log in to a workspace that is linked to the metastore.
Click Catalog.
In the Catalog pane, find the catalog and click its name.
Some details are listed at the top of the page. Others can be viewed on the Schemas, Details, Permissions, and Workspaces tabs.
Run SHOW CATALOGS
in a notebook or the SQL query editor to list all catalogs in a metastore or those that match a regular expression.
Run the following SQL command to get details about a catalog. Items in brackets are optional. Replace the placeholder <catalog-name>
.
DESCRIBE CATALOG <catalog-name>;
Use CATALOG EXTENDED
to get full details.
For more information, see DESCRIBE CATALOG.
To update (or alter) a catalog, you can use Catalog Explorer or a SQL command.
Permissions required: Permissions required to update a catalog depend on the update:
MANAGE
and USE CATALOG
on the catalog.MANAGE
and USE CATALOG
on the catalog.MANAGE
or MODIFY
and USE CATALOG
on the catalog.MANAGE
and USE CATALOG
on the catalog.ALTER CATALOG
command in a notebook or the SQL query editor. See ALTER CATALOG.GRANT
or REVOKE
command. See GRANT and REVOKE.To delete (or drop) a catalog, you can use Catalog Explorer or a SQL command.
Permission required: Catalog owner or MANAGE
and USE CATALOG
on the catalog.
You must delete all schemas in the catalog except information_schema
before you can delete a catalog. This includes the auto-created default
schema.
Run the following SQL command in a notebook or Databricks SQL editor. Items in brackets are optional. Replace the placeholder <catalog-name>
.
For parameter descriptions, see DROP CATALOG.
If you use DROP CATALOG
without the CASCADE
option, you must delete all schemas in the catalog except information_schema
before you can delete the catalog. This includes the auto-created default
schema.
DROP CATALOG [ IF EXISTS ] <catalog-name> [ RESTRICT | CASCADE ]
For example, to delete a catalog named vaccine
and its schemas:
DROP CATALOG vaccine CASCADE
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