Cross-Account Access to AWS Glue via Athena

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Configure cross-account access to a shared AWS Glue Data Catalog using Amazon Athena


Configure cross-account access to a shared AWS Glue data catalog using Amazon Athena.

When several teams or business divisions collaborate across distinct AWS accounts, data is typically dispersed, making holistic analysis more difficult. AWS Glue Data Catalog solves a portion of the problem by serving as a central metadata repository for datasets. But what if you want several AWS accounts to query data using Amazon Athena without duplicating catalogs?

This is where cross-account access to a common Glue Data Catalog comes in. By enabling cross-account access, several accounts can read (and even manage) a single centralized catalog, saving duplication, enhancing governance, and simplifying analytics.

Why Share a Glue Data Catalog across Accounts?

  • Centralized Metadata: Use a single source of truth for table definitions, schemas, and partitions.
  • Reduced maintenance: Avoid keeping distinct catalogs for each account.
  • Cost Optimization: Less duplication translates to fewer Glue crawlers and lower maintenance costs.
  • Governance and security: Follow consistent IAM policies, Lake Formation permissions, and data classification guidelines.
  • Faster Collaboration: Data teams from different accounts can query the same datasets instantaneously.

Step-by-Step Setup: 


1. Enable resource sharing with AWS RAM

Use AWS Resource Access Manager (RAM) to distribute the Data Catalog from the producer account (the account that owns the Glue Catalog) to one or more consumer accounts.

  1. Launch the AWS RAM console from the producer account.
  2. Create a new resource share.
  3. Select Glue Catalog as the resource type.
  4. Add the desired accounts or AWS Organizations OU.

2. Grant IAM and lake formation permissions.

  • Allow consumer accounts to access databases, tables, and columns from the producer account.
  • Use Lake Formation permissions if data access is controlled by it, or Glue resource-based policies otherwise.


3. Configure Athena within the Consumer Account.

  • Open Amazon Athena in your consumer account.
  • Make the shared Data Catalog the default catalog, or use catalog.database.table syntax to explicitly mention it in queries.

4. Test the setup.

Run a sample query from the consumer account to verify access. If you are experiencing permission issues, ensure that IAM roles, Lake Formation permissions, and RAM sharing are properly established.

Best Practices.

  • Use AWS Organizations: If your environment is part of AWS Organizations, share resources with the OU rather than individual accounts to simplify management.
  • Control Access Granularity: Grant just the permissions required (e.g., read-only for some accounts, full access for trusted accounts).
  • Enable Logging: Use AWS CloudTrail and Athena query logging to see who accessed the catalog and what searches were executed.
  • Keep the Catalog Clean: Run crawlers on a regular basis and update table metadata to avoid stale items, which cause query failures.
  • Secure S3 Buckets: Remember that Glue only distributes metadata, not data. Ensure that the underlying S3 data access policies allow cross-account reads.

Benefits After Implementation

Once configured, teams from different accounts may query the same data smoothly, improving collaboration, speeding up analytics, and enforcing a consistent data governance strategy. You'll also save time by using a single Glue Catalog instead of repeating schema definitions across several accounts.


FAQs

Q1: Does sharing the Glue Catalog include sharing the underlying data?

No. To enable cross-account data access, you must configure S3 bucket rules or Lake Formation permissions separately.

Q2: Can consumers change the shared Glue Catalog?

Only if you specifically provide write permission. Consumer accounts are automatically restricted to read-only access to shared catalogs.

Q3: Is there an additional cost for sharing the Glue Catalog?

There is no additional cost for sharing the catalog. You pay for typical Glue features like crawlers and metadata storage, as well as Athena query expenses.

Q4: Can I share select databases rather than the complete catalog?

Yes. Lake Formation allows you to share specific databases, tables, and columns.

Q5: What happens when the producer account deletes a table or database?

It will no longer be visible on customer accounts. To avoid breaking queries, ensure that schema updates are coordinated.

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