POST_START

Granting Controlled Execute Access to a Governance Function

I recently had the task of granting controlled access to a governance function within our Unity Catalog setup. The goal was to ensure that only specific teams could execute a function called region_filter while maintaining strict access controls. I needed to follow a precise process to grant execute access to the data_analysts group while verifying the permissions afterward.

Understanding the Function

I started by examining the function production.security.region_filter to understand its structure and the data it processes. This was important to ensure that I was granting access to the right function and to confirm its metadata.

DESCRIBE FUNCTION EXTENDED production.security.region_filter;

<

col_name	data_type	comment
customer_id	bigint	customer identifier
customer_name	string	customer display name
region	string	sales region

I noticed that the function returns customer details along with their sales region. This function is likely used to filter data based on region, which is a key part of our data governance strategy.

Granting Execute Access

Next, I needed to grant the EXECUTE privilege on the region_filter function to the data_analysts group. This would allow them to use the function in their queries while ensuring that other teams couldn’t access it.

GRANT EXECUTE ON FUNCTION production.security.region_filter TO `data_analysts`;

I verified that the grant was applied successfully, and I made a note that this change would take effect immediately for the data_analysts group.

Verifying the Permissions

To ensure that the access was granted correctly, I ran the SHOW GRANTS command on the function. This step was critical to confirm that the data_analysts group now had the EXECUTE privilege and that other groups, such as data_engineers, were still allowed access as part of the existing governance model.

SHOW GRANTS ON FUNCTION production.security.region_filter;

principal	actionType	objectType
data_analysts	EXECUTE	FUNCTION
data_engineers	EXECUTE	FUNCTION

I reviewed the output and confirmed that the data_analysts group was now listed with the EXECUTE permission. This meant they could now use the function in their queries, while the rest of the team had access as defined in the catalog.

Conclusion

By following these steps, I was able to grant controlled access to the region_filter function in Unity Catalog. This process ensured that the data_analysts group had the necessary permissions to use the function without exposing it to other groups. It reinforced the importance of granular access control in maintaining data governance and security within our organization.