Stores a long-lived credential so code can call cloud services that aren't storage, like Key Vault or Azure Event Hubs. It is a Unity Catalog securable used through the ACCESS privilege; for storage paths, use a storage credential.
Also called Unity Catalog service credential.
Read more: Microsoft Learn
In the Ultra Transcenders books
Each book explains Service credential in context, with comparison tables and the common traps.
Terms in this definition
- General-purpose v1
The older storage account kind (
Storage), which lacks access tiers, Archive and premium file shares and retires on 13 October 2026. Converting to ZRS requires first upgrading to GPv2, a one-way change. - LIKE
Compares strings with a pattern that can contain the % and _ wildcards. Because it only understands character patterns, searching big volumes of text this way is much slower than using full-text search.
- Access policies
Older permission model for Key Vault, now superseded by the Azure RBAC model.
- Azure Event Hubs
Azure service for ingesting telemetry at high volume over HTTPS or AMQP; diagnostic settings can send data to it.
- Unity Catalog
Azure Databricks' governance solution covering both data and AI in one place, with centralised permissions, auditing, data discovery and lineage.
- Storage credential
Wraps a long-lived credential, often an Access Connector's managed identity, that external locations use to reach ADLS. It is a Unity Catalog securable, and
CREATE STORAGE CREDENTIALis needed to make one.
Related terms
- Amazon MSK
Kafka operated for you by AWS. Databricks signs in using IAM or, from Runtime 16.1 onwards, a Unity Catalog service credential.