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Configure a Snowflake Integration

This page details how to configure the Snowflake integration using the legacy workflow. To configure the Snowflake integration and register data sources using the simplified workflow, see this how-to guide.

Snowflake resource names

Use uppercase for the names of the Snowflake resources you create below.

  1. Opt to configure private connectivity for Snowflake.
  2. Click the App Settings icon in the navigation panel.
  3. Click the Integrations tab.
  4. Click the +Add Native Integration button and select Snowflake from the dropdown menu.
  5. Complete the Host, Port, and Default Warehouse fields.
  6. Opt to check the Enable Project Workspace box. This will allow for managed write access within Snowflake. Note: Project workspaces still use Snowflake views, so the default role of the account used to create the data sources in the project must be added to the Excepted Roles List. This option is unavailable when table grants is enabled.
  7. Opt to check the Enable Impersonation box and customize the Impersonation Role to allow users to natively impersonate another user. You cannot edit this choice after you configure the integration.

  8. Snowflake query audit is enabled by default; you can disable it by clicking the Enable Native Query Audit checkbox.

    1. Configure the audit frequency by scrolling to Integrations Settings and find the Snowflake Audit Sync Schedule section.
    2. Enter how often, in hours, you want Immuta to ingest audit events from Snowflake as an integer between 1 and 24.
    3. Continue with your integration configuration.

Select your configuration method

Altering parameters in Snowflake at the account level may cause unexpected behavior of the Snowflake integration in Immuta

The QUOTED_IDENTIFIERS_IGNORE_CASE parameter must be set to false (the default setting in Snowflake) at the account level. Changing this value to true causes unexpected behavior of the Snowflake integration.

You have two options for configuring your Snowflake environment:

  • Automatic setup: Grant Immuta one-time use of credentials to automatically configure your Snowflake environment and the integration.
  • Manual setup: Run the Immuta script in your Snowflake environment yourself to configure your Snowflake environment and the integration.

Automatic setup

Immuta requires temporary, one-time use of credentials with specific permissions.

When performing an automated installation, Immuta requires temporary, one-time use of credentials with the following permissions:

  • CREATE DATABASE ON ACCOUNT WITH GRANT OPTION
  • CREATE ROLE ON ACCOUNT WITH GRANT OPTION
  • CREATE USER ON ACCOUNT WITH GRANT OPTION
  • MANAGE GRANTS ON ACCOUNT WITH GRANT OPTION
  • APPLY MASKING POLICY ON ACCOUNT WITH GRANT OPTION
  • APPLY ROW ACCESS POLICY ON ACCOUNT WITH GRANT OPTION

These permissions will be used to create and configure a new IMMUTA database within the specified Snowflake instance. The credentials are not stored or saved by Immuta, and Immuta doesn’t retain access to them after initial setup is complete.

You can create a new account for Immuta to use that has these permissions, or you can grant temporary use of a pre-existing account. By default, the pre-existing account with appropriate permissions is ACCOUNTADMIN. If you create a new account, it can be deleted after initial setup is complete.

Alternatively, you can create the IMMUTA database within the specified Snowflake instance manually using the manual setup option.

From the Select Authentication Method Dropdown, select one of the following authentication methods:

  • Username and Password: Complete the Username, Password, and Role fields.

  • Key Pair Authentication:

    1. Complete the Username field.
    2. When using a private key, enter the private key file password in the Additional Connection String Options. Use the following format: PRIV_KEY_FILE_PWD=<your_pw>
    3. Click Key Pair (Required), and upload a Snowflake key pair file.
    4. Complete the Role field.

Manual setup

Best practices: account creation

The account you create for Immuta should only be used for the integration and should not be used as the credentials for creating data sources in Immuta; doing so will cause issues. Instead, create a separate, dedicated READ-ONLY account for creating and registering data sources within Immuta.

Required privileges

The specified role used to run the bootstrap needs to have the following privileges:

  • CREATE DATABASE ON ACCOUNT WITH GRANT OPTION
  • CREATE ROLE ON ACCOUNT WITH GRANT OPTION
  • CREATE USER ON ACCOUNT WITH GRANT OPTION
  • MANAGE GRANTS ON ACCOUNT WITH GRANT OPTION
  • APPLY MASKING POLICY ON ACCOUNT WITH GRANT OPTION
  • APPLY ROW ACCESS POLICY ON ACCOUNT WITH GRANT OPTION

It will create a user called IMMUTA_SYSTEM_ACCOUNT, and grant the following privileges to that user:

  • APPLY MASKING POLICY ON ACCOUNT
  • APPLY ROW ACCESS POLICY ON ACCOUNT
  • Additional grants associated with the IMMUTA database

Run the script

  1. Select Manual.

  2. Use the Dropdown Menu to select your Authentication Method:

    • Username and password: Enter the Username and Password and set them in the bootstrap script for the Immuta system account credentials.
    • Key pair authentication: Upload the Key Pair file and when using a private key, enter the private key file password in the Additional Connection String Options. Use the following format: PRIV_KEY_FILE_PWD=<your_pw>

    • Snowflake External OAuth:

      1. Create a security integration for your Snowflake External OAuth. Note that if you have an existing security integration, then the Immuta system role must be added to the existing EXTERNAL_OAUTH_ALLOWED_ROLES_LIST. The Immuta system role will be the Immuta database provided above with _SYSTEM. If you used the default database name it will be IMMUTA_SYSTEM.
      2. Fill out the Token Endpoint. This is where the generated token is sent.
      3. Fill out the Client ID. This is the subject of the generated token.

      4. Select the method Immuta will use to obtain an access token:

        Certificate

        1. Keep the Use Certificate checkbox enabled.
        2. Opt to fill out the Resource field with a URI of the resource where the requested token will be used.
        3. Enter the x509 Certificate Thumbprint. This identifies the corresponding key to the token and is often abbreviated as x5t or is called sub (Subject).
        4. Upload the PEM Certificate, which is the client certificate that is used to sign the authorization request.

        Client secret

        1. Uncheck the Use Certificate checkbox.
        2. Enter the Scope (string). The scope limits the operations and roles allowed in Snowflake by the access token. See the OAuth 2.0 documentation for details about scopes.
        3. Enter the Client Secret (string). Immuta uses this secret to authenticate with the authorization server when it requests a token.

  3. In the Setup section, click bootstrap script to download the script. Then, fill out the appropriate fields and run the bootstrap script in Snowflake.

    Warning: different accounts

    The account used to enable the integration must be different from the account used to create data sources in Immuta. Otherwise, workspace views won't be generated properly.

Select available warehouses (optional)

If you enabled a Snowflake workspace, select Warehouses from the dropdown menu that will be available to project owners when creating native Snowflake workspaces. Select from a list of all the warehouses available to the privileged account entered above. Note that any warehouse accessible by the PUBLIC role does not need to be explicitly added.

Select excepted roles and users

Enter the Excepted Roles/User List. Each role or username (both case-sensitive) in this list should be separated by a comma.

Excepted roles/users will have no policies applied to queries.

Any user with the username or acting under the role in this list will have no policies applied to them when querying Immuta protected Snowflake tables in Snowflake. Therefore, this list should be used for service or system accounts and the default role of the account used to create the data sources in the Immuta projects (if you have Snowflake workspace enabled).

Save the configuration

Click Save.

Opt to enable Snowflake tag ingestion

To allow Immuta to automatically import table and column tags from Snowflake, enable Snowflake tag ingestion in the external catalog section of the Immuta app settings page.

Snowflake user authentication

To configure Snowflake tag ingestion, which syncs Snowflake tags into Immuta, you must provide a Snowflake user who has, at minimum, the ability to set the following privileges:

  • GRANT IMPORTED PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE snowflake
  • GRANT APPLY TAG ON ACCOUNT
  1. Navigate to the App Settings page.
  2. Scroll to 2 External Catalogs, and click Add Catalog.
  3. Enter a Display Name and select Snowflake from the dropdown menu.
  4. Enter the Account.
  5. Enter the Authentication information: Username, Password, Port, Default Warehouse, and Role.
  6. Opt to enter the Proxy Host, Proxy Port, and Encrypted Key File Passphrase.
  7. Opt to Upload Certificates.
  8. Click the Test Connection button.
  9. Click the Test Data Source Link.
  10. Once both tests are successful, click Save.