Frequently Asked Questions

Workbench | Advanced

Installation

What are the requirements to install the Workbench Native App?

  • Installation must be done with a user with the ACCOUNTADMIN role on your Snowflake account.
  • A Posit advanced license file is required. Please reach out to sales@posit.co to obtain a license.

Can I install multiple copies of the Workbench Native App?

Unfortunately, Snowflake Native App listings can only be installed as an application once. Please reach out to your Snowflake representative to request more information on when this feature may become available.

Which cloud platforms support the Workbench Native App?

Currently only AWS regions are supported. Azure and Google Cloud will be announced at a later date and will be announced in the Snowflake SPCS docs. Please reach out to your Snowflake representative to request more information on when this feature may become available.

Security

Does my data leave Snowflake?

No! Your data never leaves Snowflake when it is accessed by users in Workbench. Data can, however, be sent outside of Snowflake by users if egress is configured. All egress is controlled via network rules and specific documentation can be found at the Snowflake Network Policies Guide.

What is the default egress policy for the Workbench Native Application?

The default egress policy for the native application is to allow 0.0.0.0:80 and 0.0.0.0:443 traffic. Please see changing the egress policy if you would like a more restrictive policy.

Is Multi-Factor Auth (MFA) supported?

Posit Workbench relies on the account’s existing authentication for ingress to the Native App and OAuth. If your account has MFA enabled, Workbench will use MFA.

Is FIDO2 Auth supported?

Snowflake Authentication does not support FIDO2 but does support a wide range of authentication methods outlined in their Snowflake Authentication docs.

Functionality

Which version of Workbench is installed?

Snowflake Native Applications allow Posit to push updates as new stable Workbench releases become available to customers. Please see Posit Workbench Release Notes for the latest published version. Our Snowflake Native App Workbench version number will match the latest version listed.

What else comes pre-installed within the Workbench Native App?

The Native Application was designed to have a tight integration with Snowflake. We have installed essential Snowflake packages for R, Python, and the command line:

Packages
Python All non-EOL python versions
System jq, nano, odbcinst, vim
R versions 4.3, 4.4
Quarto
Posit Pro ODBC Latest version
R packages DBI, dplyr, dbplyr, httpgd, languageserver, odbc, rmarkdown
Python packages pyodbc, snowflake, snowflake-cli-labs, snowflake-connector-python, snowflake-ingest, snowflake-ml-python, snowflake-snowpark-python, snowflake-sqlalchemy

How do I add additional packages or software?

As long as your Workbench App is configured to access the internet via its egress policy, users are able to install R and Python packages by reaching out to CRAN, PyPi, and Posit Package Manager.

Unfortunately, additional operating system and package dependencies are not able to be installed. If you’d like to request that a dependency be added to the App, please contact Posit support.

Which types of sessions support Snowflake Auth?

Currently VS Code and RStudio Pro sessions within the Snowflake Native App support managed credentials. See the user guide for instructions on using the managed credentials. Your administrator must have previously completed the OAuth integration step.

Does the Native App automatically scale or suspend?

Scaling and suspending the application must be done manually by the ACCOUNTADMIN role or with the Posit Workbench Native Application application role POSIT_ADMIN. See stored procedures for available procedures. Workbench can be suspended via the app.workbench_stop() stored procedure and resumed via app.workbench_start().

Can I resize the Workbench Compute Pool?

Currently the Workbench Native App is a single container and does not support launching sessions in individual services within SPCS compute pools. We are in the process of implementing a stored procedure to allow for easily changing the compute pool that workbench uses. This will be in the next Workbench release (2024.09). Snowflake has a wide variety of instance sizes ranging from 1 CPU, 6 GB to 124 CPU, 984 GB.

Can I resize Workbench Storage?

The Workbench Native App uses block storage for the user /home directory, with further details in the Snowflake Block Volume docs. Currently Snowflake block storage does not support resizing the volume. Please contact Posit Support if this becomes an an issue.

Integrating with other Posit Products

Can I run Posit Connect or Posit Package Manager as a Native App?

Currently Posit Connect and Posit Package Manager are not available as Native Applications. You are able to access Public Posit Package Manager at https://packagemanager.posit.co/client/#/ from your Workbench Native App given access is allowed in your network egress rules.

How do I connect to existing Posit Connect or Posit Package Manager?

Your Workbench Native App must be configured to have access to the Posit Connect and Package Manager URLs. This can be done in the application egress policy.

Back to top