Frequently Asked Questions

Workbench | Advanced

Installation

What are the requirements to install the Workbench Native App?

  • Installation requires 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?

Yes. Snowflake Native App listings allow multi-app installs with a maximum of ten application instances per listing per account. See Multi-app install for more information.

Which cloud platforms support the Workbench Native App?

Currently, AWS and Azure regions are supported. Google Cloud will be announced in the Snowflake SPCS docs. Contact your Snowflake representative for updates.

How much does the Workbench Native app cost?

The Native App incurs the following variable and fixed costs:

  1. Posit Workbench Advanced Tier license: An advanced license is required per account to use the Workbench Native App. See pricing for more information.

  2. Compute resources: Each application incurs a variable cost per compute pool used. A consumer has full control over the compute resources that the app requires, and may suspend or drop an application at any time. Snowflake has a wide variety of instance sizes ranging from 1 CPU, 6 GB to 124 CPU, 984 GB. For more information, see Snowflake Create Compute Pool documentation.

  3. Infrastructure costs: Each application incurs a minimal fixed infrastructure cost to install and use the native app. This includes resources such as the application warehouse and block volume for storage.

Security

Does my data leave Snowflake?

No. Data accessed within Workbench remains within Snowflake unless explicitly sent outside via egress. All egress is controlled by network rules detailed in the Snowflake Network Policies Guide.

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

The default is an open egress policy that can be restricted by modifying network rules. Refer to Changing the Egress Policy for more information.

Can I connect to external databases or resources exposed within my private network?

Yes. You can connect to external data using a variety of methods including:

  • Expose the external database or connection to the public internet. Ensure that your Workbench Native Application allows egress to the host:port of your data.

  • Use Snowflake’s Private Link and expose the given connection with the AWS VPC or Azure VNET.

  • Use a Snowflake connector or third-part connecter (e.g. Fivetran, etc) to move your data into a Snowflake database and then access it directly.

Is Multi-Factor Auth (MFA) supported?

Yes. Posit Workbench relies on your account’s existing authentication methods, including MFA, for ingress and OAuth integration.

Is FIDO2 Auth supported?

Snowflake Authentication does not support FIDO2. However, it supports various methods detailed in the Snowflake Authentication docs.

How does Workbench deal with disaster recovery?

The Posit Workbench Native Application uses SPCS, which currently has no disaster recovery story across regions. We know that Snowflake is aware of this issue and considering solutions. Currently our best advice would be to store sensitive data in Snowflake databases which are [protected]https://developers.snowflake.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Snowflake-High-Availability-for-Data-Apps-Whitepaper.pdf() and additionally push your code to git remote repositories.

Functionality

Which version of Workbench is installed?

The Workbench version matches the latest stable release pushed by Posit which is currently 2024.12.1 “Kousa Dogwood”. Refer to Posit Workbench Release Notes for more information.

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

The Workbench Native App installs 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 1.5.57
ODBC Posit Professional Drivers (Latest Version)
R packages chores, ellmer, DBI, devtools, dplyr, dbplyr, gander, 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?

Users can install R and Python packages via CRAN, PyPi, and Posit Package Manager, assuming internet access is configured via egress policies. Adding system dependencies requires contacting Posit support.

Which types of sessions support Snowflake Auth?

Only VS Code and RStudio Pro sessions support managed credentials. Ensure the OAuth integration step is complete.

Does the Native App automatically scale or suspend?

Scaling and suspension require manual intervention via the ACCOUNTADMIN role or the POSIT_ADMIN role. Use stored procedures like posit_workbench.app.workbench_stop() to suspend and posit_workbench.app.workbench_start() to resume. See stored procedures for available procedures.

Can I resize the Workbench Compute Pool for larger workloads?

Yes. Resizing is supported via stored procedure detailed in the administration docs. The Native App is currently limited to single-node deployments due to pending Snowflake feature requests. Snowflake has a wide variety of instance sizes ranging from 1 CPU, 6 GB to 124 CPU, 984 GB. For more information, see the Snowflake compute pools documentation.

Can I resize Workbench Storage?

No. Storage resizing is not currently supported. The Workbench Native App uses block storage for the user /home directory and database, detailed in the Snowflake Block Volume docs. Please contact Posit Support for assistance.

Integrating with other Posit Products

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

Not currently. However, you can access Public Posit Package Manager at https://packagemanager.posit.co/client/#/ from your Workbench Native App.

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

Ensure your Workbench Native App’s egress policy allows access to the Posit Connect and Package Manager URLs. Add <hostname of connect/package-manager>:443 to the allowed endpoints of your App. See documentation on changing the egress policy for guidance.

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