CREATE REPLICATION GROUP

Creates a new replication group of specified objects in the system.

For more details see Introduction to replication and failover across multiple accounts.

This command can be used to:

  • Create a replication group in the source account to enable replication of specified objects to a target account in the same organization.

  • Create a secondary replication group in a target account as a replica of the primary replication group in the source account in the same organization.

See also:

ALTER REPLICATION GROUP , DROP REPLICATION GROUP , SHOW REPLICATION GROUPS

Syntax

CREATE REPLICATION GROUP [ IF NOT EXISTS ] <name>
    OBJECT_TYPES = <object_type> [ , <object_type> , ... ]
    [ ALLOWED_DATABASES = <db_name> [ , <db_name> , ... ] ]
    [ ALLOWED_SHARES = <share_name> [ , <share_name> , ... ] ]
    [ ALLOWED_INTEGRATION_TYPES = <integration_type_name> [ , <integration_type_name> , ... ] ]
    ALLOWED_ACCOUNTS = <org_name>.<target_account_name> [ , <org_name>.<target_account_name> , ... ]
    [ IGNORE EDITION CHECK ]
    [ REPLICATION_SCHEDULE = '{ <num> MINUTE | USING CRON <expr> <time_zone> }' ]
    [ [ WITH ] TAG ( <tag_name> = '<tag_value>' [ , <tag_name> = '<tag_value>' , ... ] ) ]
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Secondary Replication Group

CREATE REPLICATION GROUP [ IF NOT EXISTS ] <secondary_name>
    AS REPLICA OF <org_name>.<source_account_name>.<name>
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Parameters

name

Specifies the identifier for the replication group. The identifier must start with an alphabetic character and cannot contain spaces or special characters unless the identifier string is enclosed in double quotes (e.g. "My object"). Identifiers enclosed in double quotes are also case-sensitive.

For more details, see Identifier requirements.

OBJECT_TYPES = object_type [ , object_type , ... ]

Type(s) of objects for which you are enabling replication from the source account to the target account.

The following object types are supported:

ACCOUNT PARAMETERS:

Requires Business Critical Edition (or higher).

All account-level parameters. This includes account parameters and parameters that can be set for your account.

DATABASES:

Add database objects to the list of object types. If database objects are included in the list of specified object types, the ALLOWED_DATABASES parameter must be set.

INTEGRATIONS:

Requires Business Critical Edition (or higher).

Currently, only security, API, storage, external access [1], and certain types of notification integrations are supported. For details, see Integration replication.

If integration objects are included in the list of specified object types, the ALLOWED_INTEGRATION_TYPES parameter must be set.

NETWORK POLICIES:

Requires Business Critical Edition (or higher).

All network policies in the source account.

RESOURCE MONITORS:

Requires Business Critical Edition (or higher).

All resource monitors in the source account.

ROLES:

Requires Business Critical Edition (or higher).

All roles in the source account. Replicating roles implicitly includes all grants for object types included in the replication group. For example, if ROLES is the only object type that is replicated, then only hierarchies of roles (i.e. roles granted to other roles) are replicated to target accounts. If the USERS object type is also included, then role grants to users are also replicated.

SHARES:

Add share objects to the list of object types. If share objects are included in the list of specified object types, the ALLOWED_SHARES parameter must be set.

USERS:

Requires Business Critical Edition (or higher).

All users in the source account.

WAREHOUSES:

Requires Business Critical Edition (or higher).

All warehouses in the source account.

To modify the list of replicated object types to a specified target account, use ALTER REPLICATION GROUP to reset the list of object types.

ALLOWED_DATABASES = db_name [ , db_name , ... ]

Specifies the database or list of databases for which you are enabling replication from the source account to the target account. In order for you to set this parameter, the OBJECT_TYPES list must include DATABASES.

ALLOWED_SHARES = share_name [ , share_name , ... ]

Specifies the share or list of shares for which you are enabling replication from the source account to the target account. In order for you to set this parameter, the OBJECT_TYPES list must include SHARES.

ALLOWED_INTEGRATION_TYPES = integration_type_name [ , integration_type_name , ... ]

Requires Business Critical Edition (or higher).

Type(s) of integrations for which you are enabling replication from the source account to the target account.

This property requires that the OBJECT_TYPES list include INTEGRATIONS to set this parameter.

The following integration types are supported:

SECURITY INTEGRATIONS:

Specifies security integrations.

This property requires that the OBJECT_TYPES list include ROLES.

API INTEGRATIONS:

Specifies API integrations.

API integration replication requires additional set up after the API integration is replicated to the target account. For more information, see Updating the remote service for API integrations.

STORAGE INTEGRATIONS:

Specifies storage integrations.

EXTERNAL ACCESS INTEGRATIONS:

Specifies external access integrations.

For more information, see Replication of stored procedures and user-defined functions (UDFs).

Note

External access is not supported in the Azure Gov region.

NOTIFICATION INTEGRATIONS:

Specifies notification integrations.

Only some types of notification integrations are replicated. For details, see Integration replication.

ALLOWED_ACCOUNTS = org_name.target_account_name1 [ , org_name.target_account_name2 , ... ]

Specifies the target account or list of target accounts to which replication of specified objects from the source account is enabled.

org_name

Name of your Snowflake organization.

target_account_name

Target account to which you are enabling replication of the specified objects.

IGNORE EDITION CHECK

Allows replicating objects to accounts on lower editions in either of the following scenarios:

  • A primary replication group with only database and/or share objects is in a Business Critical (or higher) account but one or more accounts approved for replication are on lower editions. Business Critical Edition is intended for Snowflake accounts with extremely sensitive data.

  • A primary replication group with any object type is in a Business Critical (or higher) account and a signed business associate agreement is in place to store PHI data in the account per HIPAA and HITRUST regulations. However, no such agreement is in place for one or more of the accounts approved for replication, regardless if they are Business Critical (or higher) accounts.

Both scenarios are prohibited by default in an effort to help prevent account administrators for Business Critical (or higher) accounts from inadvertently replicating sensitive data to accounts on lower editions.

REPLICATION_SCHEDULE ...

Specifies the schedule for refreshing secondary replication groups.

  • USING CRON expr time_zone

    Specifies a cron expression and time zone for the secondary group refresh. Supports a subset of standard cron utility syntax.

    For a list of time zones, see the list of tz database time zones (in Wikipedia).

    The cron expression consists of the following fields:

    # __________ minute (0-59)
    # | ________ hour (0-23)
    # | | ______ day of month (1-31, or L)
    # | | | ____ month (1-12, JAN-DEC)
    # | | | | __ day of week (0-6, SUN-SAT, or L)
    # | | | | |
    # | | | | |
      * * * * *
    

    The following special characters are supported:

    *

    Wildcard. Specifies any occurrence of the field.

    L

    Stands for “last”. When used in the day-of-week field, it allows you to specify constructs such as “the last Friday” (“5L”) of a given month. In the day-of-month field, it specifies the last day of the month.

    /n

    Indicates the nth instance of a given unit of time. Each quanta of time is computed independently. For example, if 4/3 is specified in the month field, then the refresh is scheduled for April, July and October (i.e. every 3 months, starting with the 4th month of the year). The same schedule is maintained in subsequent years. That is, the refresh is not scheduled to run in January (3 months after the October run).

    Note

    • The cron expression currently evaluates against the specified time zone only. Altering the TIMEZONE parameter value for the account (or setting the value at the user or session level) does not change the time zone for the refresh.

    • The cron expression defines all valid run times for the refresh. Snowflake attempts to refresh secondary groups based on this schedule; however, any valid run time is skipped if a previous run has not completed before the next valid run time starts.

    • When both a specific day of month and day of week are included in the cron expression, then the refresh is scheduled on days satisfying either the day of month or day of week. For example, SCHEDULE = 'USING CRON 0 0 10-20 * TUE,THU UTC' schedules a refresh at 0AM on any 10th to 20th day of the month and also on any Tuesday or Thursday outside of those dates.

  • num MINUTE

    Specifies an interval (in minutes) of wait time between refreshes. Accepts positive integers only.

    Also supports num M syntax.

    To avoid ambiguity, a base interval time is set:

    • When the object is created (using CREATE <object>) or

    • When a different interval is set (using ALTER <object> … SET REPLICATION_SCHEDULE)

    The base interval time starts the interval counter from the current clock time. For example, if an INTERVAL value of 10 is set and the scheduled refresh is enabled at 9:03 AM, then the refresh runs at 9:13 AM, 9:23 AM, and so on. Note that we make a best effort to ensure absolute precision, but only guarantee that refreshes do not execute before their set interval occurs (e.g. in the current example, the refresh could first run at 9:14 AM, but will definitely not run at 9:12 AM).

    Note

    The maximum supported value is 11520 (8 days). If the replication schedule has a greater num MINUTE value, the refresh operation never runs.

TAG ( tag_name = 'tag_value' [ , tag_name = 'tag_value' , ... ] )

Specifies the tag name and the tag string value.

The tag value is always a string, and the maximum number of characters for the tag value is 256.

For information about specifying tags in a statement, see Tag quotas for objects and columns.

Secondary Replication Group Parameters

secondary_name

Specifies the identifier for the secondary replication group. The identifier must start with an alphabetic character and cannot contain spaces or special characters unless the identifier string is enclosed in double quotes (e.g. "My object"). Identifiers enclosed in double quotes are also case-sensitive. For more details, see Identifier requirements.

The identifiers for the secondary replication group (secondary_name) and primary replication group (name) can be, but are not required to be, identical.

AS REPLICA OF org_name.source_account_name.name

Specifies the identifier of the primary replication group from which to create a secondary replication group.

org_name

Name of your Snowflake organization.

source_account_name

Source account from which you are enabling replication of the specified objects.

name

Identifier for the primary replication group in the source account.

Access control requirements

A role used to execute this SQL command must have the following privileges at a minimum:

Privilege

Object

Notes

CREATE REPLICATION GROUP

Account

Only the ACCOUNTADMIN role has this privilege by default. The privilege can be granted to additional roles as needed.

MONITOR

Database

To add a database to a replication group, the active role must have the MONITOR privilege on the database.

OWNERSHIP

Share

To add a share to a replication group, the active role must have the OWNERSHIP privilege on the share.

For instructions on creating a custom role with a specified set of privileges, see Creating custom roles.

For general information about roles and privilege grants for performing SQL actions on securable objects, see Overview of Access Control.

Usage notes

  • Identifiers for failover groups and replication groups in an account must be unique.

  • A database can only be added to one replication or failover group.

  • Inbound shares (shares from providers) cannot be added to a replication or failover group.

  • To retrieve the set of accounts in your organization that are enabled for replication, use SHOW REPLICATION ACCOUNTS.

  • To retrieve the list of replication and failover groups in your organization, use SHOW REPLICATION GROUPS. The allowed_accounts column lists all target accounts enabled for object replication from a source account.

  • If there are account objects (e.g. users or roles) in a target account that you do not want to drop during replication, use the SYSTEM$LINK_ACCOUNT_OBJECTS_BY_NAME system function to apply a global identifier to objects created by means other than replication. For more information, see Apply Global IDs to Objects Created by Scripts in Target Accounts before you create a replication group.

  • Automatically scheduled refresh operations are executed using the role with the OWNERSHIP privilege on the group. If a scheduled refresh operation fails due to insufficient privileges, grant the required privileges to the role with the OWNERSHIP privilege on the group.

  • If you create a replication or failover group with a tag or modify a replication or failover group by setting a tag on it, tag lineage does not apply to any objects that you specify in the replication or failover group.

    Tag lineage is only applicable to objects with a parent-child relationship, such database, schema, and table. There are no child objects of replication or failover groups.

  • You cannot set a tag or modify a tag on a secondary replication or failover group because these objects are read only.

  • When you refresh a secondary replication or failover group, any tags that are set on the primary group are then set on the secondary group.

  • Regarding metadata:

    Attention

    Customers should ensure that no personal data (other than for a User object), sensitive data, export-controlled data, or other regulated data is entered as metadata when using the Snowflake service. For more information, see Metadata fields in Snowflake.

Examples

Replicate a single database

Executed on the source account

Create a replication group named myrg in the source account to enable replication of database db1 from the source account to the myaccount2 account. Set the replication schedule to refresh the database every 10 minutes:

CREATE REPLICATION GROUP myrg
    OBJECT_TYPES = DATABASES
    ALLOWED_DATABASES = db1
    ALLOWED_ACCOUNTS = myorg.myaccount2
    REPLICATION_SCHEDULE = '10 MINUTE';
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Executed on target account

Create a replication group in the target account as a replica of the replication group myrg in the source account:

CREATE REPLICATION GROUP myrg
    AS REPLICA OF myorg.myaccount1.myrg;
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Replicate a database and share objects

Executed on source account

Create a replication group named myrg in the source account to enable replication of database db1, and share s1 from the source account to the myaccount2 account. Set the replication schedule to refresh automatically every 10 minutes:

CREATE REPLICATION GROUP myrg
    OBJECT_TYPES = DATABASES, SHARES
    ALLOWED_DATABASES = db1
    ALLOWED_SHARES = s1
    ALLOWED_ACCOUNTS = myorg.myaccount2
    REPLICATION_SCHEDULE = '10 MINUTE';
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Executed on target account

Create a replication group in the target account as a replica of the replication group myrg in the source account:

CREATE REPLICATION GROUP myrg
    AS REPLICA OF myorg.myaccount1.myrg;
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Replicate account objects

For examples of multiple database and account object replication, see the examples for CREATE FAILOVER GROUP.