Configuring External Locations for COPY INTO in Unity Catalog
Short answer
C Configure an external location that uses a storage credential to grant the COPY INTO command access to the ADLS Gen2 path.
Question
You have a CSV file stored in an Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 container.
You plan to ingest the data into an existing table by running the following SQL statement.
COPY INTO Customer
FROM ‘abfss:// [email protected] /data/customer’
FILEFORMAT = CSV
You need to ensure that the statement can access the data in the container.
What should you configure?
Key Takeaways
This question tests the Unity Catalog requirement for accessing external cloud storage paths via direct URIs, which mandates an external location rather than a volume or table.
To access an ADLS Gen2 path using the COPY INTO SQL command in a Unity Catalog workspace, you must configure an external location backed by a storage credential.
Common mistake: Choosing a volume (Option D) is incorrect because the script explicitly uses an abfss:// cloud path, which requires an external location, whereas volumes use Unity Catalog path references.
Expert Analysis
Unity Catalog Path Governance
In an Azure Databricks workspace enabled for Unity Catalog, all access to external cloud storage paths (like the abfss:// URI in the COPY INTO statement) must be explicitly governed. Unity Catalog achieves this by binding a cloud storage path to a storage credential using an external location. Without this object, the workspace cannot authenticate or authorize the COPY INTO command to read from the ADLS Gen2 container, resulting in a permission error.
Evaluating the Options
Option C correctly identifies the required configuration. An external location encapsulates the storage credential (which holds the actual authentication mechanism, like a service principal or managed identity) and defines the root path it covers. The user running the command must also be granted the READ_FILES privilege on this external location. Option A is incorrect because the Customer table is the target of the ingestion, not the source; configuring it as an external table does not authorize the read from the abfss:// path. Option D (a volume) is a trap; while volumes govern non-tabular data, they use a Unity Catalog-specific path format (e.g., /Volumes/catalog/schema/volume_name/...). Because the provided SQL explicitly uses an abfss:// cloud path, a volume does not apply here. Option B is irrelevant to SQL access control. As one comment notes, the script is already given and uses a direct path, so it strictly requires an external location for access.
Data Path Trace
- The
COPY INTOstatement is submitted with a directabfss://source path. - Unity Catalog intercepts the request and looks for an external location that encompasses the requested path.
- The external location resolves to a storage credential, which provides the authentication to ADLS Gen2.
- Unity Catalog verifies the user's privileges on the external location.
- Access is granted, and the
COPY INTOcommand reads the CSV files from the container.
Official Reference
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/databricks/sql/language-manual/sql-ref-external-locations
This link opens the official vendor documentation in a new tab.
Exam Strategy
When a question provides a SQL statement with a direct cloud storage path (like abfss:// or gs://), check if Unity Catalog is enabled. If it is, direct paths are governed by external locations, not volumes. Match the path type to the governance object.
Community Votes
100% of anonymous learners picked answer C. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.
Discussion 1 contributions
Compiled from public community threads and reader submissions, lightly edited for clarity. Handles and vote tallies are shown as recorded, and comments reflect the views of individual contributors.
From public community threads 1
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mtc9 👍 1 Answered CC, all of the other solutions could access stodage in different ways, but the script is already given and it needs access to storage
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