How to get started with Snowflake in Qlik Application Automation

Ionut_Dumitrascu — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 06:19:56 GMT

This article overviews the available blocks in the Snowflake connector in Qlik Application Automation. It will also cover some basic examples of retrieving data from a Snowflake database and creating a record in a database.

Connector overview

The Snowflake connector has the following blocks:

List Tables: returns a list of the tables from the connected database
List Records: returns a list of records from the specified table
Insert Record: create one record in the specified table
Upsert Record: create or update one record in the specified table
Insert Bulk: create multiple records in the specified table
Upsert Bulk: create or update multiple records in the specified table
Do Query: do a generic SQL query against the connected Snowflake database
Update Record by One Field: update a single record in the specified table
Delete Record: delete one record in the specified table
List Schemas: returns a list of schemas from the connected database

Authentication

To create a new connection to Snowflake, the following parameters are required:

account_name: your Snowflake account/tenant name. Type 'ABC' if your Snowflake URL is abc.snowflakecomputing.com.
Warning

Account names that include underscores can cause issues for certain features. For this reason, Snowflake also supports a version of the account name that substitutes the hyphen character (-) in place of the underscore character. For example, both of the following URLs are supported:

URL with underscores: https://acme-marketing_test_account.snowflakecomputing.com

URL with dashes: https://acme-marketing-test-account.snowflakecomputing.com

More details about the account name can be found in the below Snowflake documentation
- Account identifiers
- Connecting to Snowflake account
username: username for the user with remote access to the Snowflake database.
password: password used to authenticate the above username. If the key pair authentication method is being used, use this field to provide the decryption passphrase.
dbname: the name of the database you want to use for this connection. You'll need to create multiple connections to connect to multiple databases in the same automation.
warehouse: the name of the warehouse you want to use for this connection.
keyfile: an optional parameter that is used for the key pair authentication method. Only the encrypted version of the private key is supported as this method offers enhanced authentication security. You must generate a Privacy Enhanced Mail (.pem) file and copy the contents into this field. Use the password field to provide the private key passphrase for decryption. For more information about the key pair authentication method, see Creating a Snowflake Key Pair based connector for Application Automation and Key-pair authentication and key-pair rotation (docs.snowflake).
The password field is a required field when configuring a Snowflake connection in Qlik Automate. While Snowflake does permit the use of unencrypted private keys, which do not require a passphrase, Qlik's connector mandates the password field for both username and password authentication and key pair authentication with a password-protected keyfile.

If you have a keyfile without a passphrase, tools such as OpenSSL can be used to add one.

Example OpenSSL command to add a passphrase:
```
openssl pkcs8 -topk8 -in existing_key.p8 -out encrypted_key.p8
```
-in existing_key.p8: your current private key file
-out encrypted_key.p8: the output file for the encrypted key

You will be prompted to enter and confirm a new passphrase after running the command.

Examples

Insert a new record into a table

Add the Insert Record block from the Snowflake connector to your automation.
Configure the block to point to a table in the database you're currently connected to. You can use the do lookup function for this.
Run the automation. This will insert a new record in your Snowflake table.

Use the Do Query block to create a new table

The Do Query block can be used to perform actions in Snowflake that aren't supported by the other blocks.

Create a new automation
Search for the Snowflake connector in the Block library menu on the left side of the canvas, and find the Do Query block. Drag this block inside the automation. Highlight the Do Query block by clicking it and configure it in the Block configuration menu on the right side of the canvas.
Add your query to create a new table in the Query input field. Here is a query example that creates a table:

CREATE TABLE "MY_DATABASE"."PUBLIC"."TEST" (ID INT, "Description" varchar (100), "Serial" NUMBER, COST FLOAT, "Create_date" DATE, "Details" VARIANT);
Run the automation. This will create a new table with the specified structure within the selected database.

Upsert multiple records into a table

Add the Upsert Bulk block from the Snowflake connector to your automation.
Configure the block to point to a table in the database you're currently connected to. You can use the do lookup function for this.
The value of the Where key input parameter should be a unique identifier that is used to check the existing records and update them if needed.
The value of the Data input parameter should be Json List to pass multiple records as Json Objects, along with a unique identifier added as a key-value pair to the Json Object.

The information in this article is provided as-is and to be used at own discretion. Depending on tool(s) used, customization(s), and/or other factors ongoing support on the solution below may not be provided by Qlik Support.

Re: Snowflake - How to get started with Snowflake in Automations

estherl — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 03:32:51 GMT

Does the Snowflake connector in App Automation support other forms of authentication other than username and password? For example OAuth mechanism like we do for a data connection for Qlik app development? Thanks

Re: Snowflake - How to get started with Snowflake in Automations

Sonja_Bauernfeind — Thu, 08 Dec 2022 15:39:40 GMT

Hello @estherl I believe only username and password are currently supported, but let me check in with our experts!

All the best,
Sonja

Re: Snowflake - How to get started with Snowflake in Automations

Sonja_Bauernfeind — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 09:54:35 GMT

Hello @estherl

I can now confirm that only username and password are supported as of right now. However, expanding this is on our team's radar, though we do not currently have any guarantee on when that would be added.

All the best,
Sonja

Re: Snowflake - How to get started with Snowflake in Automations

estherl — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 19:16:34 GMT

Thanks @Sonja_Bauernfeind

Re: Snowflake - How to get started with Snowflake in Automations

Dalton_Ruer — Mon, 08 Apr 2024 12:21:46 GMT

Just in case this helps anyone else ... If your Snowflake URL happens to contain a location name along with your company name ... be sure to use that whole thing as your Account Name

{Your Name}.us-east-1

If your Snowflake URL is just {Your Name}.snowflakecomputing.com then you are good to go with just your Account name.

Re: How to get started with Snowflake in Qlik Application Automation

Qliksense_Admin — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 05:07:59 GMT

Hi ,

Our Snowflake URL is private trying to create connection but its not working.

How we can connect to private url

article How to get started with Snowflake in Qlik Application Automation in Official Support Articles

How to get started with Snowflake in Qlik Application Automation

Connector overview

Authentication

Examples

Insert a new record into a table

Use the Do Query block to create a new table

Upsert multiple records into a table

Re: Snowflake - How to get started with Snowflake in Automations

Re: Snowflake - How to get started with Snowflake in Automations

Re: Snowflake - How to get started with Snowflake in Automations

Re: Snowflake - How to get started with Snowflake in Automations

Re: Snowflake - How to get started with Snowflake in Automations

Re: How to get started with Snowflake in Qlik Application Automation