CREATE CATALOG

Applies to: check marked yes Databricks SQL check marked yes Databricks Runtime 10.3 and above check marked yes Unity Catalog only

Creates a catalog with the specified name. If a catalog with the same name already exists, an exception is thrown.

Syntax 

CREATE CATALOG [ IF NOT EXISTS ] catalog_name
    [ USING SHARE provider_name . share_name ]
    [ MANAGED LOCATION 'location_path' ]
    [ COMMENT comment ]

Parameters

  • IF NOT EXISTS

    Creates a catalog with the given name if it does not exist. If a catalog with the same name already exists, nothing will happen.

  • catalog_name

    The name of the catalog to be created.

  • USING SHARE provider_name . share_name

    Optionally specifies that the catalog is based on a Delta Sharing share.

  • MANAGED LOCATION 'location_path'

    Optionally specifies the path to a managed storage location for the catalog that is different than the metastore’s root storage location. This path must be defined in an external location configuration, and you must have the CREATE MANAGED STORAGE privilege on the external location configuration. You can use the path that is defined in the external location configuration or a subpath (in other words, 's3://depts/finance' or 's3://depts/finance/product'). Supported in Databricks SQL or on clusters running Databricks Runtime 11.3 and above.

    See also Managed tables and Configure a storage bucket and IAM role in AWS.

  • comment

    An optional STRING literal. The description for the catalog.

Examples 

-- Create catalog `customer_cat`. This throws exception if catalog with name customer_cat
-- already exists.
> CREATE CATALOG customer_cat;

-- Create catalog `customer_cat` only if catalog with same name doesn't exist.
> CREATE CATALOG IF NOT EXISTS customer_cat;

-- Create catalog `customer_cat` only if catalog with same name doesn't exist, with a comment.
> CREATE CATALOG IF NOT EXISTS customer_cat COMMENT 'This is customer catalog';

-- Create a catalog from a Delta Sharing share.
> CREATE CATALOG customer_cat USING SHARE cdc.vaccinedata;

-- Create a catalog with a different managed storage location than the metastore's.
> CREATE CATALOG customer_cat MANAGED LOCATION 's3://depts/finance';