Create a Snowflake connection

You need to know the server and database name to create a Snowflake connection. You must have access credentials to access data stored on a Snowflake database. Once you have created a connection, you can select data from the available tables and then load that data into your app.

In Qlik Sense, you connect to a Snowflake database through the Add data dialog or the Data load editor.

Database properties

Database properties that can be configured
Database property	Description	Required
Direct Gateway	This field will only appear if you selected the "via Direct Access gateway" data connection. Select the data gateway through which you need to connect to your data source. Information noteUsers that need to leverage gateway-enabled data connections must have the Can Consume Data permission for the space with which the gateway is associated.	Yes
Server	The full hostname for the Snowflake account, not prefixed with http:// or https://	Yes
Port	The port on which the connector will listen for Snowflake communication.	Yes
Database	The default database to use for connection.	No
Schema	The default schema to use for connection. Default = public	No
Warehouse	Specifies the default warehouse to use for sessions initiated by the connector.	No
Role	Specifies the default role to use for the connection. The specified role should be the role assigned to the specified Snowflake user. Qlik Sense Enterprise SaaS Government noteThe option to select a role other than the default is not available in Qlik Cloud Government.	No

Authentication

There are different ways of authenticating a connection:

Username and password (the default setting)
OAuth
Key pairing (not available in Qlik Cloud Government)

Key pairing is not available with Qlik Cloud Government.

Username and password

Authentication properties that can be configured
Authentication property	Description	Required
Username and password	Select this drop-down option to authenticate via username and password.	Yes

OAuth

In Qlik Sense SaaS, authentication data can be stored in different places:

Username and password: The default setting. Authentication information is stored in Qlik Sense.
OAuth: User information will not be stored in Qlik Sense.

You need an authentication pin to authenticate via OAuth:

Do the following:

Under Authentication, select OAuth from the drop-down. New form fields appear.
Fill in all fields. Click the Authenticate button in the Credentials section under Account properties. A new window opens.
Copy the Authentication code. Go back to the connection creation dialog.
Under Complete authentication with the PIN provided by the source, paste the authentication pin. Click Verify.

When using OAuth authentication, if you edit any of the connection properties after a connection has been authenticated, you must explicitly re-authenticate. This re-authentication will not be initiated automatically. If you do not re-authenticate in this situation, the connection will stop working.

Authentication properties that can be configured
Authentication property	Description	Required
OAuth	Select this drop-down option to authenticate via OAuth.	Yes
OAuth Server (Authorize)	URL of the authorization server.	Yes
OAuth Server (Token)	URL of the token server.	Yes
Client Id	The client id when configuring the OAuth authorization server.	Yes
Client Secret	The client secret when configuring the OAuth authorization server. This needs to be inputted every time the connection needs to be re-authenticated.	Yes
Scope	If scope offers offline access, re-authentication is automatic.	No

Snowflake configuration for OAuth

Your Snowflake database must be configured to use OAuth. The process is described in Snowflake documentation:

Configure Snowflake OAuth for Custom Clients

Information noteProof Key for Code Exchange (PKCE), as recommended by Snowflake, is enabled.
External OAuth

When configuring the OAuth authorization server, the redirect_uri must be set to: https://connector.qlik.com/auth/oauth/v2.htm

Key pairing

Qlik Cloud Government does not support Snowflake key pairing.

Authentication properties that can be configured
Authentication property	Description	Required
Key Pair	Select this drop-down option to authenticate via key pairing	Yes

Snowflake configuration for key pairing

Your Snowflake database must be configured to use key pairing. The process is described in Snowflake documentation:

Configuring Key Pair Authentication

Account properties

Credentials

Credentials are used to prove that a user is allowed to access the data in a connection.

There are two types of credentials that can be used when making a connection in Qlik Sense SaaS. If you leave the User defined credentials check box deselected, then only one set of credentials will be used for the connection. These credentials belong to the connection and will be used by anyone who can access it. For example, if the connection is in a shared space, every user in the space will be able to use these credentials. This one-to-one mapping is the default setting.

If you select User defined credentials, then every user who wants to access this connection will need to input their own credentials before selecting tables or loading data. These credentials belong to a user, not a connection. User defined credentials can be saved and used in multiple connections of the same connector type.

In the Data load editor, you can click the Primary key underneath the connection to edit your credentials. In the hub or Data manager, you can edit credentials by right-clicking on the connection and selecting Edit Credentials.

See which authentication type applies on each connector's page.

Username and password

Account properties that can be configured
Account property	Description
User defined credentials	Select this check box if you want users that access this connection to have to input their own credentials. Deselect this check box if credentials can be shared with anyone who has access to this connection.
New credentials	Drop-down menu item that appears if User defined credentials is selected.
Existing credentials	Drop-down menu item that appears if User defined credentials is selected.
User	User name for the connection.
Password	Password for the connection.
Credentials name	Name given to a set of user defined credentials.

OAuth

Account properties that can be configured
Account property	Description
User defined credentials	Select this check box if you want users that access this connection to have to input their own credentials. Deselect this check box if credentials can be shared with anyone who has access to this connection.
New credentials	Drop-down menu item that appears if User defined credentials is selected.
Existing credentials	Drop-down menu item that appears if User defined credentials is selected.
Authenticate	Click this button to authenticate OAuth information inputted under Authentication section.
Credentials name	Name given to a set of user defined credentials.

Key pairing

Qlik Cloud Government does not support Snowflake key pairing.

Account properties that can be configured
Account property	Description
User defined credentials	Select this check box if you want users that access this connection to have to input their own credentials. Deselect this check box if credentials can be shared with anyone who has access to this connection.
New credentials	Drop-down menu item that appears if User defined credentials is selected.
Existing credentials	Drop-down menu item that appears if User defined credentials is selected.
User	The login name of the Snowflake user.
Private Key File Path	The file path to your private key.
Private Key File Password	The password to your private key.
Credentials name	Name given to a set of user defined credentials.

Miscellaneous properties

Miscellaneous properties that can be configured
Property	Description
Query timeout	Amount of time before a data load query times out. Can be set from 30 seconds to 65535 seconds (18 hours). Default = 600 seconds (10 minutes).

Load optimization settings

Load properties that can be configured
Property	Description	Required
Max String Length	Maximum length of string fields. This can be set from 256 to 16384 characters. The default value is 4096. Setting this value close to the maximum length may improve load times, as it limits the need to allocate unnecessary resources. If a string is longer than the set value, it will be truncated, and the exceeding characters will not be loaded.	No

Advanced options

This section is for advanced users who want to add their own custom connection parameters that are not displayed above.

Advanced options that can be configured
Property	Description	Required
Name	Name of the custom property. You can add additional properties by clicking the .	No
Value	Value of the property.	No

Name

Connection name options
Option	Description
Name	Name of the connection. The default name will be used if you do not enter a name.

When you connect to a Snowflake database with the Data load editor or the Edit Script dialog, Test Connection enables you to test the connection before you attempt to create it.

Did this page help you?

If you find any issues with this page or its content – a typo, a missing step, or a technical error – let us know how we can improve!

Leave your feedback here