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Users Cannot See the Unity Catalog Metastore in Databricks

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Introduction

If users cannot see the Unity Catalog Metastore in Databricks, they might experience issues like:

  • No catalogs, schemas, or tables visible in Unity Catalog UI.
  • SHOW CATALOGS; returns an empty list.
  • Access denied when trying to use Unity Catalog.
  • Users cannot see Unity Catalog but administrators can.

๐Ÿšจ Possible causes:

  • The Metastore is not properly assigned to the workspace.
  • The user lacks permissions to access Unity Catalog.
  • Clusters and SQL Warehouses are not configured for Unity Catalog.
  • The workspace is using Hive Metastore instead of Unity Catalog.

This guide walks through step-by-step solutions to resolve these issues.


Step 1: Verify If Unity Catalog Metastore Is Assigned to the Workspace

Symptoms:

  • Users cannot see any catalogs in Unity Catalog.
  • Error: “No metastore configured for this workspace.”

Causes:

  • Unity Catalog Metastore has not been assigned to the workspace.
  • Wrong workspace ID was used when assigning the metastore.

Fix:

โœ… Check if the workspace has a Unity Catalog Metastore assigned:

SHOW METASTORES;

โœ… If no metastore is assigned, list available metastores:

databricks unity-catalog metastores list

โœ… Assign the metastore to your Databricks workspace:

databricks unity-catalog metastores assign --metastore-id <metastore-id> --workspace-id <workspace-id>

โœ… Confirm the assignment with:

SHOW METASTORES;

Step 2: Ensure the User Has Permission to View the Unity Catalog Metastore

Symptoms:

  • Admins can see Unity Catalog, but users cannot.
  • Error: “PERMISSION_DENIED: Cannot access Unity Catalog.”

Causes:

  • The user lacks privileges to access the Unity Catalog Metastore.
  • Unity Catalog permissions were not properly configured.

Fix:

โœ… Check Unity Catalog permissions for the user:

SHOW GRANTS ON METASTORE;

โœ… Grant Unity Catalog access to users or groups:

GRANT USE CATALOG ON METASTORE TO `user@example.com`;
GRANT CREATE CATALOG ON METASTORE TO `user@example.com`;

โœ… If using groups, assign permissions at the group level:

GRANT USE CATALOG ON METASTORE TO `engineering_team`;

โœ… Verify user permissions after granting access:

SHOW GRANTS ON METASTORE;

Step 3: Check If the User Can See Catalogs and Schemas

Symptoms:

  • Users cannot see catalogs, schemas, or tables inside Unity Catalog.
  • Running SHOW CATALOGS; returns an empty list.

Causes:

  • The user lacks permissions to view catalogs inside Unity Catalog.
  • No catalogs or schemas have been created yet.

Fix:

โœ… Check available catalogs:

SHOW CATALOGS;

โœ… Grant catalog access to users or groups:

GRANT USE CATALOG ON CATALOG my_catalog TO `user@example.com`;
GRANT CREATE SCHEMA ON CATALOG my_catalog TO `user@example.com`;

โœ… Check available schemas in a catalog:

SHOW SCHEMAS IN my_catalog;

โœ… Ensure the user can see tables:

GRANT SELECT ON TABLE my_catalog.my_schema.my_table TO `user@example.com`;

โœ… Confirm permissions by running:

SHOW GRANTS ON CATALOG my_catalog;

Step 4: Ensure Clusters and SQL Warehouses Support Unity Catalog

Symptoms:

  • Users cannot see Unity Catalog when connected to a cluster.
  • Error: “USE CATALOG command not recognized.”
  • SQL queries fail when referencing Unity Catalog tables.

Causes:

  • The Databricks cluster is not enabled for Unity Catalog.
  • The SQL Warehouse does not support Unity Catalog.

Fix:

โœ… Ensure the cluster is Unity Catalog-enabled:

  1. Go to Databricks UI โ†’ Clusters
  2. Edit the cluster โ†’ Advanced options โ†’ Enable Unity Catalog
  3. Restart the cluster after enabling Unity Catalog.

โœ… If using SQL Warehouses, ensure Unity Catalog is enabled:

  1. Go to Databricks UI โ†’ SQL Warehouses
  2. Edit the warehouse settings to support Unity Catalog.

โœ… Test if Unity Catalog is accessible from the cluster:

SHOW CATALOGS;

Step 5: Check If Unity Catalog Is Enabled for the Workspace

Symptoms:

  • Unity Catalog is missing from the Databricks UI.
  • Users and admins cannot see Unity Catalog.

Causes:

  • The workspace is using Hive Metastore instead of Unity Catalog.
  • Unity Catalog is not enabled for this Databricks workspace.

Fix:

โœ… Check if Unity Catalog is enabled for the workspace:

databricks workspace get-status

โœ… If Unity Catalog is not enabled, contact Databricks Support or your Cloud Admin.


Step 6: Ensure AWS IAM or Azure AD Permissions Are Set Correctly

Symptoms:

  • Unity Catalog is available, but users get permission errors when accessing data.
  • AWS S3 / Azure ADLS storage permissions issues.

Causes:

  • AWS IAM roles or Azure AD permissions are missing for Unity Catalog users.
  • Storage access is blocked due to incorrect policy settings.

Fix:

โœ… For AWS IAM Role Permissions, ensure Unity Catalog has access to Glue and S3:

{
  "Effect": "Allow",
  "Action": ["glue:Get*", "glue:Create*", "s3:GetObject", "s3:PutObject"],
  "Resource": "*"
}

โœ… Update IAM policy:

aws iam put-role-policy --role-name <your-role-name> --policy-name UnityCatalogAccess --policy-document file://policy.json

โœ… For Azure Storage and Key Vault, ensure proper access permissions:

az role assignment create --assignee <service-principal> --role "Storage Blob Data Contributor" --scope /subscriptions/<sub-id>/resourceGroups/<rg>/providers/Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/<storage-name>

Step 7: Restart Databricks Clusters & SQL Warehouses

Symptoms:

  • Permissions were granted, but users still cannot see Unity Catalog.
  • Tables and schemas appear missing after updates.

Fix:

โœ… Restart the affected Databricks clusters and SQL Warehouses.
โœ… Ensure users re-login to Databricks to refresh permissions.


Final Troubleshooting Checklist

โœ… Step 1: Verify Unity Catalog Metastore Assignment

SHOW METASTORES;
  • If no metastore is assigned, create and attach one.

โœ… Step 2: Grant Unity Catalog Access to Users

GRANT USE CATALOG ON METASTORE TO `user@example.com`;
  • Ensure users have the right permissions to see Unity Catalog.

โœ… Step 3: Check Catalog & Schema Access

SHOW CATALOGS;
GRANT USE CATALOG ON CATALOG my_catalog TO `user@example.com`;

โœ… Step 4: Ensure Clusters & Warehouses Support Unity Catalog

  • Restart clusters with Unity Catalog support enabled.

โœ… Step 5: Validate IAM and Storage Permissions (AWS / Azure)

  • Ensure S3 / ADLS storage permissions allow access to Unity Catalog.

Conclusion

If users cannot see Unity Catalog Metastore in Databricks, ensure:
โœ… A metastore is assigned to the workspace.
โœ… Users have the right permissions for Unity Catalog.
โœ… Clusters and SQL Warehouses support Unity Catalog.
โœ… AWS IAM / Azure AD permissions are correctly set up.

By following this guide, you can resolve access issues and ensure users can view and manage data in Unity Catalog.

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