Databricks-GenAI-Assoc Governance Practice Question
Which THREE conditions must be met for a user to successfully create a new table in a Unity Catalog schema?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates forget the 'USAGE' privilege on the parent catalog and schema, incorrectly assuming that 'CREATE TABLE' permission on the schema is sufficient to perform the action.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The user must have the USAGE privilege on the catalog.
Creating a table in Unity Catalog involves a specific permission chain. The user must have USAGE on the catalog, USAGE on the schema, and the CREATE TABLE privilege on the schema. These requirements ensure that governance is maintained at every level of the hierarchy, preventing unauthorized data creation in sensitive or restricted namespaces within the organization's data architecture.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
The user must have the USAGE privilege on the catalog.
Why this is correct
Access to any object within a catalog starts with the USAGE privilege at the catalog level. Without this fundamental permission, a user cannot navigate into the catalog to access schemas or perform any operations like creating new tables, even if they have other schema-level permissions.
- ✓
The user must have the USAGE privilege on the schema.
Why this is correct
The USAGE privilege on a schema is mandatory for any interaction with objects contained within that schema. It acts as the gateway to the schema's contents, and without it, a user cannot perform DDL operations, including table creation, regardless of other privileges assigned to them.
- ✓
The user must have the CREATE TABLE privilege on the schema.
Why this is correct
Beyond simple navigation, the CREATE TABLE privilege on the schema specifically grants the user the right to define new table objects. This granular control is a core feature of Unity Catalog, allowing administrators to delegate table management responsibilities to specific users or groups securely.
- ✗
The user must have the MODIFY privilege on the catalog.
Why it's wrong here
The MODIFY privilege is not required at the catalog level to create a table within a schema. Privileges are checked hierarchically; as long as the user has the specific CREATE TABLE privilege on the schema, they do not need broader modification rights on the parent catalog.
- ✗
The user must have the OWNER role for the entire metastore.
Why it's wrong here
Owning the entire metastore is not required for creating tables. Unity Catalog is designed for distributed management where specific users are granted privileges on schemas. Requiring metastore ownership would violate the principle of least privilege and prevent effective delegation of data management duties.
About these practice questions
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Databricks exam blueprint
This Databricks-GenAI-Assoc practice question is part of Courseiva's free Databricks certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the Databricks-GenAI-Assoc exam.