Unity Catalog Connector | OpenMetadata Data Governance

• Requirements
• Metadata Ingestion
  • Incremental Extraction
• Data Quality
• Lineage
• dbt Integration
• Troubleshooting

​

How to Run the Connector Externally

​

Requirements

​

Permission Requirement

​

Metadata and Profiling Permissions

GRANT USE CATALOG ON CATALOG <catalog_name> TO `<user>`;
GRANT USE SCHEMA ON SCHEMA <schema_name> TO `<user>`;
GRANT SELECT ON TABLE <table_name> TO `<user>`;

​

Usage

GRANT SELECT ON SYSTEM.QUERY.HISTORY TO `<user>`;
GRANT USE SCHEMA ON SCHEMA system.query TO `<user>`;

​

Lineage

GRANT SELECT ON system.access.table_lineage TO `<user>`;
GRANT SELECT ON system.access.column_lineage TO `<user>`;
GRANT USE SCHEMA ON SCHEMA system.access TO `<user>`;

GRANT SELECT ON system.information_schema.tables TO `<user>`;

​

Tags

GRANT SELECT ON <catalog_name>.information_schema.catalog_tags TO `<user>`;
GRANT SELECT ON <catalog_name>.information_schema.schema_tags TO `<user>`;
GRANT SELECT ON <catalog_name>.information_schema.table_tags TO `<user>`;
GRANT SELECT ON <catalog_name>.information_schema.column_tags TO `<user>`;

​

Metadata Ingestion

​

Step 1: Add New Service

1. Navigate to Settings > Services.
2. Click Add New Service.

​

Step 2: Select a Service and Connector

​

Step 3: Add Service Name and Description

• Enter a unique, descriptive Service Name. OpenMetadata identifies services by their service name. Enter a name that distinguishes this deployment from other Unity Catalog services you are ingesting metadata from.
• Optional: Enter a Description for the service.

​

Step 4: Configure Connection Options

​

Enter Connection Details

• Host and Port: Enter the fully qualified hostname and port number for your Databricks deployment in the Host and Port field.
• HTTP Path: Databricks compute resources URL.

• Personal Access Token: Provide the token generated from your Databricks workspace (User Settings > Developer > Access Tokens).
• Databricks OAuth: Provide the Service Principal Client ID and Client Secret created in your Databricks Account Console.
• Azure AD Setup: Provide the Azure Client ID, Azure Client Secret, and Azure Tenant ID from your Azure Active Directory Service Principal.

• connectionTimeout: The maximum amount of time (in seconds) to wait for a successful connection to the data source. If the connection attempt takes longer than this timeout period, an error is returned.
• Catalog: Catalog of the data source (for example, hive_metastore). This is an optional parameter, if you would like to restrict the metadata reading to a single catalog. When left blank, OpenMetadata attempts to scan all catalogs.
• Database Schema: Database schema of the data source. This is an optional parameter, if you would like to restrict the metadata reading to a single database schema. When left blank, OpenMetadata attempts to scan all database schemas.

​

Test Connection

​

Step 5: Configure Ingestion Options

​

How Filter Patterns Work

• Include: Add one or more comma-separated regular expressions. OpenMetadata ingests only assets whose names match at least one expression. Leave blank to include all assets.
• Exclude: Add one or more comma-separated regular expressions. OpenMetadata skips any asset whose name matches an expression. Leave blank to exclude nothing.

• contains: matches any name containing the value. For example, sales matches my_sales_data and sales_2024.
• starts with: matches names beginning with the value. For example, prod_ matches prod_db and prod_schema.
• ends with: matches names ending with the value. For example, _raw matches events_raw and logs_raw.
• is exactly: matches the exact name only. For example, analytics matches only analytics.
• matches regex: matches names using a regular expression. For example, ^prod_.*_v\d+$ matches prod_events_v1.

• Database: Controls which databases OpenMetadata ingests from the source.
• Schema: Controls which schemas within the ingested databases are included.
• Table: Controls which tables and views within the ingested schemas are included.

• Scan Mode: You can choose between the following scan modes:
  • Scan all: Ingests every asset of that type the connector can access. This is the default.
  • Only specific: Enables include rules so only assets matching at least one rule are ingested.
• Exclude system toggle: Use this toggle to automatically filter out system-reserved names defined by the connector, for example, Exclude system databases for the Databases section.
• Always exclude: Add permanent exclusion rules (shown in red). Assets matching these rules are never ingested, regardless of include rules.
• Preview: Shows a real-time summary of what will be in scope based on your current rules.
• Include rules (available only in Only specific mode): Click + Add to define a rule. Added rules appear as chips; an asset is included if it matches any rule.

​

Step 6: Create & Deploy

​

Configure Metadata Agent and Schedule Ingestion

1. Navigate to Settings > Services and select the service type.
2. Click the service you have added.
3. Select the Agents tab and click Add Agent > Metadata. For some services, the dropdown is not available and clicking Add Agent takes you directly to the agent configuration page.
4. On the Configure Ingestion page, do the following and click Next.
   • Name this Ingestion: Enter a unique recognizable name for this ingestion pipeline.
   • Agent Setup: Configure core parameters for metadata extraction. The following fields are available:

     Field	Default	Description
     Default Owner	—	Owner applied to all entities when no specific level owner is configured. Accepts a user or team name/email.
     Service Owner	—	Owner assigned to the service entity.
     Database Owner	—	Owner assigned to all ingested databases. Accepts a single owner or a per-database name mapping.
     Database Schema Owner	—	Owner assigned to all ingested schemas. Accepts a single owner or a per-schema name mapping.
     Table Owner	—	Owner assigned to all ingested tables. Accepts a single owner or a per-table name mapping.
     Enable Inheritance	On	When on, child entities inherit the owner from their parent when they have no owner configured.
     Query Log Duration	1	Number of days to look back in query logs when processing stored procedure results.
     Query Parsing Timeout Limit	300	Timeout in seconds for parsing a single query.
     Number of Threads	1	Number of threads to use for parallel table ingestion.
     Incremental Extraction	Off	When enabled, subsequent runs only extract entities changed since the last successful run.
     Successful Pipeline Run Lookback Days	7	Number of days to search back for a prior successful run to use as a baseline for incremental extraction.
     Safety Margin Days	1	Additional days added to the baseline timestamp as a buffer for incremental extraction.
     JSON Schema Sample Size	10	Number of rows sampled to infer JSON column schema. Only applies when Extract JSON Schema is enabled in Advanced Config.

     
   • Filter Patterns: Apply include or exclude rules to scope which databases, schemas, tables, and stored procedures this agent ingests. For more information about various filter options, see Step 6: Configure Ingestion Options.
   • Scope & Behaviour: Control how the agent handles metadata during ingestion. Toggle each option on or off based on your needs:

     Toggle	Default	Description
     Include Tables	On	Ingest table metadata from the source. Turn off to skip tables entirely.
     Include Tags	On	Ingest tags from the source.
     Include Stored Procedures	On	Ingest stored procedure metadata.
     Include DDL Statements	Off	Ingest DDL statements alongside table metadata.
     Include Owners	Off	Assign owners to ingested entities when the source owner’s email matches a user in OpenMetadata. Does not overwrite an existing owner.
     Include Custom Properties	Off	Ingest connector-specific custom properties onto entities.
     Mark Deleted Tables	On	Soft-delete tables in OpenMetadata when they are removed from the source. Applies only within the currently ingested schema.
     Mark Deleted Stored Procedures	On	Soft-delete stored procedures in OpenMetadata when they are removed from the source.
     Mark Deleted Schemas	Off	Soft-delete schemas and all their child assets when removed from the source.
     Mark Deleted Databases	Off	Soft-delete databases and all their child assets when removed from the source.
     Override Metadata	Off	When on, source values overwrite existing descriptions, tags, owners, and display names in OpenMetadata. When off, OpenMetadata only updates fields that have no existing value.
     Enable Debug Log	Off	Sets the ingestion log level to DEBUG. Useful for troubleshooting.

     Available toggles vary by connector. Stored procedure options only appear for connectors that support stored procedures.
     
   • Advanced Config: Optional connector-specific settings such as Include Views and Extract JSON Schema.
5. On the Schedule Interval page, set when the agent runs:
   • Schedule: Choose a preset interval (Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly) or enter a custom cron expression.
   • On-Demand: No automatic schedule; trigger the agent manually when needed.
   
6. Click Add to deploy the agent.

​

Related