SnowPro Associate: Platform Question 306
Single answer● Use of Pre-signed URLsA data engineering team stores monthly CSV extracts in an internal named stage in Snowflake and needs to let an external auditor download one specific file for the next 24 hours without creating a Snowflake user for the auditor. The team wants the simplest approach that provides temporary, direct access to that staged file. Which action should they take?
- A
Generate a pre-signed URL for the staged file and send that URL to the auditor
- B
Create a secure view over the staged file and send the auditor the view definition
- C
Grant the auditor READ privilege on the internal stage so they can download the file without a Snowflake user
- D
Copy the file into a table and share the table through Secure Data Sharing
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
Pre-signed URLs in Snowflake are used to provide temporary access to files stored in stages, making them appropriate when an external party needs direct download access to a specific staged file without being provisioned as a Snowflake user. This is a practical solution for short-term sharing scenarios such as audits or vendor file retrieval. In contrast, secure views and Secure Data Sharing are for database object access, not direct staged file delivery. Likewise, stage privileges alone do not help a person who does not have a Snowflake identity. Snowflake documentation for staged file access and GET_PRESIGNED_URL describes this pattern and emphasizes its temporary, file-specific nature as a best practice for controlled external access.
- A. Correct.
Correct. A pre-signed URL is designed for temporary access to a specific file in a stage, allowing someone to download it without authenticating to Snowflake as a user. This fits the requirement to provide simple, time-limited access to one staged file for an external party.
- B. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Secure views are used to control how query results are exposed from database objects such as tables and views. They do not provide direct file download access to a file stored in a stage.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Granting privileges on a stage applies to Snowflake roles and users within Snowflake's access control model. An external auditor without a Snowflake user cannot use stage privileges alone to access the file.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Secure Data Sharing is intended for sharing database objects such as tables, secure views, and secure UDFs between Snowflake accounts. It is not the simplest or appropriate mechanism for temporary access to a single staged file.