OneLake is a single, unified, logical data lake for Microsoft Fabric to store lakehouses, warehouses, KQL databases, and other items. Shortcuts are embedded references within OneLake that point to other files' store locations without moving the original data. The embedded reference makes it appear as though the files and folders are stored locally but in reality; they exist in another storage location. Shortcuts can be updated or removed from your items, but these changes don't affect the original data and its source.
In this article, you learn how to create a OneLake shortcut in a KQL database that points to internal Fabric or external sources. This kind of shortcut is later accessed for query in KQL querysets by using the external_table() function. Shortcuts created in a KQL database can't be renamed, and only one shortcut can be created at a time.
In addition to creating shortcuts from a KQL database, shortcuts can also be created from other Fabric items. These shortcuts also point to data stored in internal Fabric or external sources, but have different limitations and are accessed differently. For more information, see OneLake shortcuts.
Note
Use OneLake shortcuts when you want to infrequently run queries on historical data without partitioning or indexing the data.
If you want to run queries frequently and accelerate performance, import the data directly into your KQL database.
Select the tab that corresponds to the shortcut you'd like to create:
To access the data in your KQL database in other Microsoft Fabric experiences, see One logical copy.
Create shortcut
Note
The following flow shows how to create a shortcut that points to data in a Lakehouse in Fabric. Similarly, you can create shortcuts that point to Data Warehouses or other KQL databases.
Browse to an existing KQL database.
Select New > OneLake shortcut.
Select a source
Under Internal sources, select Microsoft OneLake.
Select the data source you want to connect to, and then select Next.
Expand Tables, and select a specific table to connect to.
Select Create.
Note
You can only connect to one subfolder or table per shortcut. To connect to more data, repeat these steps and create additional shortcuts.
Under External sources, select Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2.
Enter the Connection settings according to the following table:
Field
Description
Value
URL
The connection string for your delta container.
https://StorageAccountName.dfs.core.windows.net
Connection
Previously defined connections for the specified storage location appear in the drop-down. If no connections exist, create a new connection.
Create new connection.
Connection name
The Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 connection name.
A name for your connection.
Authentication kind
The authorization model. The supported models are: Organizational account, Account key, Shared Access Signature (SAS), Service principal, and Workspace Identity. For more information, see ADLS shortcuts.
Dependent on the authorization model. Once you select an authentication kind, fill in the required credentials.
Select Next.
Browse to the target location for the shortcut.
If you just used the storage account in the connection URL, all of your available containers appear in the left navigation view. If you specified a container in connection URL, only the specified container and its contents appear in the navigation view.
Navigate the storage account by selecting a folder or clicking on the expansion arrow next to a folder.
In this view, you can select one or more shortcut target locations. Choose target locations by clicking the checkbox next a folder in the left navigation view.
Select Next
The review page allows you to verify all of your selections. Here you can see each shortcut that will be created. In the action column, you can click the pencil icon to edit the shortcut name. You can click the trash can icon to delete shortcut.
The Identity and Access Management (IAM) secret key.
Your secret key.
Select Next.
Browse to the target location for the shortcut.
If you used the global endpoint in the connection URL, all of your available buckets appear in the left navigation view. If you used a bucket specific endpoint in the connection URL, only the specified bucket and its contents appear in the navigation view.
Navigate the storage account by selecting a folder or clicking on the expansion arrow next to a folder.
In this view, you can select one or more shortcut target locations. Choose target locations by clicking the checkbox next a folder in the left navigation view.
Select Next
The review page allows you to verify all of your selections. Here you can see each shortcut that will be created. In the action column, you can click the pencil icon to edit the shortcut name. You can click the trash can icon to delete shortcut.
Select Create.
The database refreshes automatically. The shortcut appears under Shortcuts in the Explorer pane.
The OneLake shortcut has been created. You can now query this data.
On the rightmost side of your database, select Explore your data. The window opens with a few example queries you can run to get an initial look at your data.
Replace the table name placeholder with external_table('Shortcut name').
Select Run or press Shift + Enter to run a selected query.
Data types mapping
Delta parquet to Eventhouse data types mapping
Delta primitive data types are mapped to Eventhouse scalar data types using the following rules. For more information on Eventhouse data types, see Scalar data types.
