Scan

Day 6: Registering Azure Synapse Analytics workspaces and scan in Microsoft Purview

Previously, we’ve talked about how Purview connect to ADLS and SQL Database, scan in Purview. Today, we focused on Azure Synapse Analytics with Purview.

A comprehensive data analytics solution can include many folders and files in a data lake, and multiple databases that each contain many tables, each with multiple fields. For a data analyst, finding and understanding the data assets associated with a Synapse Analytics workspace can present a significant challenge before any analysis or reporting can even begin.

As we know the Azure Synapse Analytics is a platform for cloud-scale analytics workloads that process data in multiple sources; including:

Relational databases in serverless and dedicated SQL pools
Files in Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2

Microsoft Purview can help in this scenario by cataloging the data assets in a data map, and enabling data stewards to add metadata, categorization, subject matter contact details, and other information that helps data analysts identify and understand data.

Before you scan Synapse workspace, you need Azure Synapse Analytics connects Purview account.

Azure Synapse Analytics connects to Purview account.

Synapse Studio > Manage > External connection > Microsoft Purview

after you click “apply” you will see:

Select “Purview account” tag

Successfully connected with Purview.

To validation, we check what we have in ADLS and SQL Database.

We have in ADLS and Azure SQL Database. There are one table called “dep” in the SQL Database, 3 files in the ADLS.

There is one table in SQL Database:

and there are 3 file related the key word “dep” in ADLS,

using Azure Storage Explore:

Let’s search “dep” the key from Synapse Studio.

Synapse Studio > from the dropdown > select “Purview” > type “dep”

We find out the objects related to the key words – “dep”

A table in SQL Database, 3 files in ADLS.

Great, we successfully connected to Purview.

choose either of them to view in detail

There are so many powerful and interesting functions regarding the “Searching”, “discovering”, we will talk about them late.

Now, let’s switch to Purview studio.

Register Synapse Analytics Workspace

Assuming you have created Collects, we directly jump into register Azure Synapse Analytics Workspace (ASA).

Purview Studio > Data Map > Data Source

After filling in above values, click “register”, you will this

After registering the sources where your data assets are stored, you can scan each source to catalog the assets it contains. You can scan each source interactively, and you can schedule period scans to keep the data map up to date.

You may or may not see this error or alerts:

Read:

“Failed to load serverless databases from Synapse workspace, please give the managed identity of the Microsoft Purview account permissions or apply the correct credential to enumerate serverless databases.”

If you see it, you need create a login account for purview account to connect Serverless SQL:

Create Serverless SQL database login account for Purview

— create a login for purview login to Serverless SQL database


create login [mainri-purview] from external provider;

Synapse Studio > Develop > SQL Script >
select: “connect to Built-in” and use database “master”

Grant purview login account Sysadmin privilege

Add managed identity to the storage account

Then, add managed identity to the storage account.

From Azure portal > storage account > Access Control (IAM)

Select Role assignments tag

Add role assignments

Give the “Storage Account Contributor” role

Then, select “Member” tag:

Select “Managed Identity”, fill in all properties, Find out the purview account

Now, the role assignments added.

If you have dedicated SQL pool, we need repeat these.

Create Serverless SQL database login account for Purview
Grant purview login account Sysadmin privilege

Let’s test the connection

From Purview studio > scan

we got failed alert.

“Failed to validate the resource expansion. Either the expandable resource has no resources or the Purview account’s MSI has not been assigned to the ‘Reader’ role on it.”

Go back to Synapse portal

Azure Portal > Synapse workspace > Access control (IAM) > Add role assignments

add “read” role

Add “managed Identity” member – Purview

Check Purview access,

we can see Mainri-purview assignments – mainri-asa-workspace has “read” role (my Synapse workspace named “mainri-asa-workspace”)

Go to Purview Studio test connection again.

Great! We successful connect to Synapse workspace.

We have gotten access to SQL; we’ve got access to storage account. we have add “read” role assignment to Purview

Alright, we are ready to go – scan.

Scan Synapse workspace

Select a scan rule set

If you like, you are able to add even more new scan rule set at this step.

For this demonstration, we select default scan rule set.

Set a scan trigger

We ca either scan once or schedule and recurring scan on schedule.

Monitoring the scan progress ….

Once the process done, we will see this:

Alright, we have done the Purview for scanning Azure Synapse Workspace. Now, we have those source in our Azure purview.

Next step: Day 7 – Day 7: Permission and Roles, Business Glossary and Collections Access Control in Purview

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions at William . chen @ mainri.ca

(remove all space from the email account 😊)

Day 5: Registering Azure SQL Database and Scan in Purview

In the previous article, we discussed Managed Identity, registering ADLS, and scanning it in Azure Purview. In this article, I will focus on scanning an Azure SQL Database, including how to register and scan it in Azure Purview. The process differs from that of ADLS. You will be required to provide Azure SQL Database credentials.

We will learn the best practice of storing the Azure SQL Database credentials in an Azure Key Vault and use that Key Vault in Purview.

Azure Key Vault provides a way to securely store credentials, secrets, and other keys, but your code must authenticate to Key Vault to retrieve them.

We must follow these steps to register and scan Azure SQL Database:

Grant your Azure Account access to Key Vault by adding a new access policy. We will have to grant all the secret permissions.
Grant Purview Managed identity access to Key Vault by adding a new access policy. Here we will have to grant Get and List permissions so purview can get(retrieve) and list down all the secrets.
Generate a Secret for SQL Admin in Azure Key Vault. This secret will be used to log in to Azure SQL DB.
Add SQL Credentials (created above) in Purview so we can use the same credential.
Register Azure SQL DB in Microsoft Purview.
Scan Azure SQL Database as a data source with Azure Key Vault Credentials.
Verify that Purview is able to see tables in the Azure SQL database.

Discover and govern Azure SQL Database in Microsoft Purview

This article outlines the process to register an Azure SQL database source in Microsoft Purview. It includes instructions to authenticate and interact with the SQL database.

When you’re scanning Azure SQL Database, Microsoft Purview supports extracting technical metadata from these sources:

Server
Database
Schemas
Tables, including columns
Views, including columns (with lineage extraction enabled, as part of scanning)
Stored procedures (with lineage extraction enabled)
Stored procedure runs (with lineage extraction enabled)

When you’re setting up a scan, you can further scope it after providing the database name by selecting tables and views as needed.

Update firewall settings.

If your database server has a firewall enabled, you need to update the firewall to allow access. Simply show you here.

Azure Portal > SQL Database > Set Server Firewall> Security > Networking

Check “Allow Azure services and resources to access this server”

Key Vault Set up

Create access policies

From Azure Portal > [ your key vault ] > Access Policies

Secret permissions

select all.

Principal

find out “[your purview]”.

Type your purview account to search. For me, I use “mainri-purview” as an example.

Click “next” … create

Create a Secrets

[your key vault] > Objects > Secrets

Generate a secret

We completed the Azure Key vault configuration.

It’s time for configuration of Purview for scanning SQL Database.

Configure authentication for a scan

Azure Purview > Management > Credentials

Manage Key vault connection

Add a new.

If you do not have linked service to your key vault, select “new” create a new one.

Fill in all values, click “Create” , Key-vault connection created.

Then, you will back to “new credential” screen.

Create Credential

Fill in all values, click “create”

Now, the credential created

Setup Scan

Did you remember we have created collections previously?

Go back: Data Map > Data Source >

Create a scan

Full screen

Pay attention here: Lineage extraction (preview)

I choose “off”.

To successfully turn on Lineage extraction, you must do the following:

Provide the db_owner role in Azure SQL Database for Microsoft Purview MSI
Run “create Master Key” in Azure SQL Database (only if not already exists)

Scope your scan

Check to see what Entity you want to scan.

Select a scan rule set.

At here, you are able to add new scan rule set if you like. For me I selected azure purview system default SQL data warehouse scan rule set.

Set a scan trigger

You can either schedule the scan or once. This is very straight forward.

Once the process is complete, you can view detail

Alright, we’ve done the scan SQL Database in Azure Purview.

Next step: Day 6 – R egistering Azure Synapse Analytics workspaces and scan in Microsoft Purview

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions at William . chen @ mainri.ca

(remove all space from the email account 😊)

Day 4: Registering ADLS Gen2 and Scan in Purview

Before we scan data sources in Azure Purview, we have to register data
resources that to be scanned.

First, we will learn the concept of managed identity and how Azure purview uses it.

Second, we will learn the steps involved in registering ADLS Gen2.

Azure Purview Managed Identity

We will use Azure Purview Managed Identity that is an Azure resource feature found in Azure Active Directory (Azure AD). The managed identities for Azure resources feature is free and there’s no additional cost.

We can use the identity to authenticate to any service that supports Azure AD authentication, including Key Vault, without any credentials in your code. We will use Azure Purview Managed Identity.

Let’s register source data first.

We have to follow these steps to register and scan ADLS Gen 2 account:

Grant the Azure Purview Managed Identity access to ADLS Gen2 so purview can have access to it. Preview managed identity should have storage blob reader permission on ADLS Gen2
Scan ADLS Gen2 with the Purview Managed Identity registered in step 1

Register an Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 account

Azure Portal > ADLS > Access Control > Add role assignment

> storage BLOB Data

>Select managed Identities

>next > next > review + assign

Now, you can “check access”, Now, you can “check access”. It’s added/

Scan data resource

We have talked about creating collection previously, if you need please review “How Microsoft Purview works – Data Source, Rule Sets, and Classification“

now, it’s time for scanning. from Azure Purview Studio

Scope your scan

You will see “scope your scan”. Now we can see all my data and directory structure on ADLS appear.

Select scan rule set

We have talked the rile sets in last article. You are able to add even more new scan rule set at this step if you like, or use default Azure System default scan rule set.

Set a scan trigger

Click the continue, you can setup trigger to scan, either once or recurring.

We complete the scan configuration. We have chance to review the configuration if ok save and run the scan progress or back to change it.

You can see this by clicking “view detail”

You will see this once the scan progress completed.

Next step: Registering Azure SQL Database and Scan in Purview

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions at William . chen @ mainri.ca

(remove all space from the email account 😊)

Day 3: How Microsoft Purview works – Data Source, Rule Sets, and Classification

Purview provides a robust platform for organizations to govern their data effectively, ensuring data quality, compliance, and accessibility across the enterprise.

In this article, will not discuss creating Azure Purview account, services, open purview UI … etc. Although they are important, they are not having special than subscripting, creating, opening those things for other services in Azure environment. Simply sign in Azure portal, find out purview service, follow guide on the azure portal UI, I strongly believe you will not meet challenge.

Roughly says, Purview has two key steps:

Load data in the data map
Browse and search information in the data catalog

Load data in the data map

Connect to Data Sources: Administrators connect Microsoft Purview to various data sources within their organization, setting up scanning schedules.
Scan and Classify Data: Purview scans these sources, discovers data assets, and classifies them automatically or based on custom rules.

Browse and search information in the data catalog.

View and Manage Data Catalog: Users access the Purview data catalog to search for and manage data assets, using the business glossary to understand the data in context.
Track Lineage and Ensure Compliance: Data lineage is visualized to understand data flow, and governance policies are enforced to ensure data is handled correctly.
Leverage Insights for Decision-Making: The insights provided by Purview help data stewards, analysts, and business users make informed decisions based on governed, trusted data.

Of course, this is too general to let users understand and catch up in detail.

Load data in the data map

Purview Data Map is a unified map of your data assets and their relationships. It’s easier for you and your users to visualize and govern. It also houses the metadata that underpins the Microsoft Purview Data Catalog and Data Estate Insights. You can use it to govern your data estate in a way that makes the most sense for your business.

Map Data

The data map is the foundational platform for Microsoft Purview. The data map consists of:

Data assets.
Data lineage.
Data classifications.
Business context.

Customers create a knowledge graph of data that comes in from a range of sources. Microsoft Purview makes it easy to register and automatically scan and classify data at scale. Within a data map, you can identify the type of data source, along with other details around security and scanning.

The data map uses collections to organize these details.

Collection

Collections are groups of items, such as data sources and assets, that are organized together in the Data Map. It is a way of grouping data assets into logical categories to simplify management and discovery of assets within the catalog. You also use collections to manage access to the metadata that’s available in the data map.

now, collections are created, looks like

Source data

Sourcing your data starts with a process where you register data sources. Microsoft Purview supports an array of data sources that span on-premises, multi-cloud, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) options. You register the various data sources so that Microsoft Purview is aware of them. The data remains in its location and isn’t migrated to any other platform.

Each type of data source you choose requires specific information to complete the registration.

Below is a small sample of available connectors in Microsoft Purview Data Catalog. See supported data sources and file types for an up-to-date list of supported data sources and connectors.

The same way creates another data source – AzureSQLDatabase that belongs to “analytics team”

Rule Sets

After we register our data sources, we will need to run a scan to access their metadata and browse the asset information.

Before you can scan the data sources, you’re required to enter the credentials for these sources. You can use Azure Key Vault to store the credentials for security and ease of access by your scan rules. The Microsoft Purview governance portal comes with existing system scan rule sets that you can select when you create a new scan rule. You can also specify a custom scan rule set.

A scan rule set is a container for grouping scan rules together to use the same rules repeatedly. A scan rule set lets you select file types for schema extraction and classification. It also lets you define new custom file types. You might create a default scan rule set for each of your data source types. Then you can use these scan rule sets by default for all scans within your company.

For example, you might want to scan only the .csv files in an Azure Data Lake Storage account. Or you might want to check your data only for credit card numbers rather than all the possible classifications. You might also want users with the right permissions to create other scan rule sets with different configurations based on business needs.

Once you have data sources registered in the Microsoft Purview governance portal and displayed in the data map, you can set up scanning. The scanning process can be triggered to run immediately or can be scheduled to run on a periodic basis to keep your Microsoft Purview account up to date.

Scanning assets is as simple as selecting New scan from the resource as displayed in the data map.

You’ll now need to configure your scan and assign the following details:

Assign a friendly name.
Define which integration runtime to use to perform the scan.
Create credentials to authenticate to your registered data sources.
Choose a collection to send scan results.

Once a scan is complete, you can refer to the scan details to view information about the number of scans completed, assets detected, assets classified, Scan information. It’s a good place to monitor scan progress, including success or failure.

Recap,

Purview Scan means:

Where to scan
Scan rule set
Type (Full, Increments)
Schedule

Scan Rule Set means:

What to scan (txt, json, parquet,,,,,)?
What to look for (classification rules)?
Specific to source type (ADLS, Database,,,,,)?
System defined ones
Custom

Classification

Metadata is used to help describe the data that’s being scanned and made available in the catalog. During the configuration of a scan set, you can specify classification rules to apply during the scan that also serve as metadata. The classification rules fall under five major categories:

Government: Attributes such as government identity cards, driver license numbers, and passport numbers.
Financial: Attributes such as bank account numbers or credit card numbers.
Personal: Personal information such as a person’s age, date of birth, email address, and phone number.
Security: Attributes like passwords that can be stored.
Miscellaneous: Attributes not included in the other categories.

You can use several system classifications to classify your data. These classifications align with the sensitive information types in the Microsoft Purview compliance portal. You can also create custom classifications to identify other important or sensitive information types in your data estate.

After you register a data source, you can enrich its metadata. With proper access, you can annotate a data source by providing descriptions, ratings, tags, glossary terms, identifying experts, or other metadata for requesting data-source access. This descriptive metadata supplements the structural metadata, such as column names and data types, that’s registered from the data source.

Discovering and understanding data sources and their use is the primary purpose of registering the sources. If you’re an enterprise user, you might need data for business intelligence, application development, data science, or any other task where the right data is required. You can use the data catalog discovery experience to quickly find data that matches your needs. You can evaluate the data for its fitness for the purpose and then open the data source in your tool of choice.

At the same time, you can contribute to the catalog by tagging, documenting, and annotating data sources that have already been registered. You can also register new data sources, which are then discovered, evaluated, and used by the community of catalog users.

In the following separate articles, I would like to use ADLS, Azure SQL Database and Azure Synapse Analytics as examples to step by step show you how to register and scan data source in Purview.

Next step: Day 4 – Registering ADLS Gen2 and Scan in Purview

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions at William . chen @ mainri.ca

(remove all space from the email account 😊)