Hi @vziog,
I can see the earlier suggestion about using the kebab menu Rename didn't fully solve the problem. There are actually a few distinct concepts at play here, and understanding the difference is the key.
WHAT IS THE WORKSPACE CATALOG (HOUSE ICON)?
When your workspace was provisioned with Unity Catalog (especially workspaces created after November 2023), Databricks automatically creates a "workspace catalog" named after your workspace. This is the catalog with the house icon in Catalog Explorer. It is automatically bound to your workspace (only accessible from that specific workspace by default).
The house icon indicates this is the workspace catalog -- the catalog that was auto-provisioned with the workspace. This is a system-tracked designation.
Docs: https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/data-governance/unity-catalog/get-started.html
WHY THE UI "RENAME" DIDN'T WORK AS EXPECTED
The behavior you observed -- where Rename creates a NEW catalog with the new name while the old one shows an error -- is consistent with how catalog renaming works in Databricks. From the documentation on managing catalogs:
"To rename a catalog using SQL, you must create a new catalog and move all assets into the new catalog."
In other words, there is no true in-place rename for catalogs (neither in the UI nor via SQL). The UI Rename operation effectively creates a new catalog with the new name. The original workspace catalog designation (the house icon) stays associated with the original name, which is why you see the error.
Additionally, the ALTER CATALOG SQL command supports SET OWNER, SET TAGS, etc. but does NOT have a RENAME TO syntax.
Docs:
- Managing catalogs: https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/catalogs/manage-catalog
- ALTER CATALOG reference: https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/sql/language-manual/sql-ref-syntax-ddl-alter-catalog.html
THE "DEFAULT CATALOG" IS A SEPARATE SETTING
There is an important distinction between:
1. Workspace catalog (house icon) -- the auto-provisioned catalog, named after your workspace
2. Default catalog -- the catalog assumed when you don't specify a catalog name in queries
The default catalog is a workspace-level admin setting that can be changed:
1. Click your username (top-right) > Admin Settings
2. Go to the Advanced tab
3. Find "Default catalog for the workspace"
4. Enter the catalog name you want as the default
5. Click Save
6. Restart all SQL warehouses and clusters for the change to take effect
You can also override the default catalog at the cluster level using the Spark configuration:
spark.databricks.sql.initial.catalog.namespace <your_catalog_name>
And at the session level using:
USE CATALOG <your_catalog_name>;
The resolution order is: session setting > cluster Spark config > workspace default catalog setting.
Docs: https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/catalogs/default
HOW COULD THE HOUSE ICON CATALOG HAVE A DIFFERENT NAME THAN THE WORKSPACE?
You mentioned observing a case where the house-icon catalog had a different name from the workspace. This can happen because, as the documentation states, "a workspace admin can change its name, change its ownership, or even delete it." If a workspace admin successfully renamed or recreated the catalog before the current behavior, or if the workspace name was changed after provisioning, the names could diverge.
RECOMMENDED APPROACH
Unfortunately, there is no way to do a true in-place rename of the workspace catalog (the one with the house icon). If you need a different name, the recommended approach is:
1. Create a new catalog with the desired name
2. Move your schemas and tables to the new catalog (you can use CREATE SCHEMA ... CLONE or manual migration)
3. Update the workspace default catalog setting to point to the new catalog (Admin Settings > Advanced)
4. Bind the new catalog to your workspace if needed (for workspace isolation)
5. Optionally delete the old catalog once migration is complete
To answer your questions directly:
- Can you rename the workspace catalog? Not in-place, no. The UI "Rename" creates a new catalog.
- Workaround? Create a new catalog with the desired name and migrate assets.
- Can you customize the name during workspace creation? The auto-provisioned catalog always takes the workspace name initially, but you can change the default catalog setting afterward.
DOCUMENTATION REFERENCES
- Get started with Unity Catalog: https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/data-governance/unity-catalog/get-started.html
- Manage catalogs: https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/catalogs/manage-catalog
- Manage the default catalog: https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/catalogs/default
- ALTER CATALOG reference: https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/sql/language-manual/sql-ref-syntax-ddl-alter-catalog.html
- Catalog binding: https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/catalogs/binding
I hope this clears things up! Let me know if you have follow-up questions.
* This reply used an agent system I built to research and draft this response based on the wide set of documentation I have available and previous memory. I personally review the draft for any obvious issues and for monitoring system reliability and update it when I detect any drift, but there is still a small chance that something is inaccurate, especially if you are experimenting with brand new features.
