Snowflake

This section describes ALTR’s capabilities for managing Snowflake data sources. ALTR must be connected to a data source in order to enforce data access governance and advanced data protection on sensitive data.

Caution

In order to connect a data source to ALTR, you must have access to a service user that has the appropriate privileges to access the database and enforce security policies. ALTR strongly recommends running the stored procedure to update the service user’s privileges before connecting a new data source, even if you think the privileges are already properly configured.

Before you can connect tags and columns to ALTR so policy can be applied, connect your data source.

To connect a Snowflake data source:

1. Select Data ConfigurationData Sources in the Navigation menu.
2. Click Add Data Source .
3. For the Snowflake connection type, click Select .
4. Enter a Display Name . This is a user-friendly name to identify the data source.
5. Select a Service User . If your ALTR account was created from Snowflake Partner Connect, select PC_ALTR_USER .
6. Enter your Database Name exactly as it appears in Snowflake.
7. (Optional) Click Advanced Settings to set advanced settings for this data source. ALTR does not recommend users change any of these settings without consulting ALTR Support.
   1. Max Data Connection— This field is not used. The default values is 5.
   2. Warehouse— If present, ALTR will attempt to use this warehouse when connecting to Snowflake. If this value is not supplied, ALTR will use the Service User’s default warehouse.
   3. Role— This is the Snowflake role. If present, ALTR will attempt to use this role when connecting to Snowflake. If this value is not supplied, ALTR will use the Service User’s default role.
8. Click Next .
9. Click Connect Data Source .

Check the data source connection if you suspect there’s an issue with the connection, such as if you received errors or the data source has changed.

To check the data source connection:

1. Select Data ConfigurationData Sources in the Navigation menu.
2. Click the data source that you want to test the connection.
3. Click the Connection Details tab.
4. Click Check Connection .

Remove a Snowflake data source from ALTR if your service user is having problems or some other issue has occurred with the data source.

Note

If there are columns connected to your data source, you must disconnect the columns before you can remove the data source. Refer to Disconnecting Columns for more information.

To remove a data source:

1. Select Data ConfigurationData Sources in the Navigation menu.
2. Select the data source you wish to disconnect.
3. Click Remove Data Source . The process to remove a data source can take up to several minutes to complete.

Force Remove Data Source

Danger

Before force removing a data source, consult ALTR Support . Force removing data sources clears the integration memory from your data source connection. Be aware that if you choose to do this, artifacts, such as the masking policy and schema objects, might still be left in Snowflake.

Force remove a data source if you are unable to remove a data source as expected. This action ignores any errors encountered during the removal process. Use great caution with this feature because it cannot be undone.

To force remove a data source:

1. Ensure all columns have been disconnected from ALTR. Learn more .
2. Ensure there are no active row policies on the data source. Learn more .
3. Select the data source you wish to remove.
4. Click Remove Data Source .
5. Click the Trouble Removing? link; a modal displays to confirm.
6. Click Force Remove Data Source button; a modal displays to confirm.
7. Click Yes, Force Remove Data Source .
8. Review your source system and clear out any remnants, which could limit storage or pose security risks from ongoing API call requests.