09-28-2025 06:59 PM
Hi everyone,
I have successfully registered AWS S3 tables in unity catalog, but I would like to register S3-compatible as well.
But, to create an EXTERNAL LOCATION in unity catalog, it seems I must register a credential. But the only suported credential type for S3 is IAM Role ARN. Since S3-compatible systems don't have a role ARN, it appears unity catalog does not support S3-compatible external locations.
Is there another way to register S3-compatible tables in UC?
Thank you in advance for any guidance.
09-29-2025 11:31 PM
Hi @tabasco ,
And I can confirm. If you want to use S3 storage in UC the storage needs to support roleARN. I think you can still try to use S3-compatible storage in the old way - via mounts.
09-29-2025 12:59 AM
Hey @tabasco, did you check out the External Table documentation in the Databricks AWS docs?
External Location
https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/sql/language-manual/sql-ref-external-locations
Credentials
https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/sql/language-manual/sql-ref-storage-credentials
@tabasco it does appear that it's supporting an AWS IAM role. What would you be looking for instead?
All the best,
BS
09-29-2025 06:59 PM
Thank you for your kind response.
My point is that for S3-compatible storage, we can access objects with an S3 endpoint, access key, and secret key instead of using a roleARN.
But currently, it seems that only roleARN are supported for creating credentials.
Also, I did see a similar question before, but that was from two years ago, so I was just wondering if there have been any updates since there.
https://community.databricks.com/t5/administration-architecture/setup-unity-catalog-external-locatio...
09-29-2025 11:31 PM
Hi @tabasco ,
And I can confirm. If you want to use S3 storage in UC the storage needs to support roleARN. I think you can still try to use S3-compatible storage in the old way - via mounts.
09-29-2025 11:42 PM
Hi, @szymon_dybczak
Thank you for your kind reply.
It was very helpful for me.
Have a Good day !
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