---
title: "How to use key pair authentication with Snowflake"
slug: "how-to-use-key-pair-authentication-with-snowflake"
description: "Enhance your Snowflake security with key pair authentication. Learn to set up username, private key, and passphrase for secure database access."
updated: 2026-03-24T07:56:10Z
published: 2026-03-24T07:56:10Z
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.supermetrics.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How to use key pair authentication with Snowflake

Compared to the basic authentication using a username and password, the key pair authentication method offers an additional layer of security.

For the key pair authentication, you need to provide a username, private key and optional passphrase.

- **Username** is the username to the Snowflake instance you want to connect to. The corresponding public key must be assigned to this username. The corresponding user must have sufficient permissions for the database. Note that using the account admin role isn't recommended. Learn more about [Snowflake prerequisites and permissions](/v1/docs/about-snowflake-prerequisites).
- The **private key** is [generated according to the instructions in Snowflake documentation](https://docs.snowflake.com/en/user-guide/key-pair-auth). Copy the entire key, **including the start and end tags**, and paste it into the field. If the multiline value could not be copied, replace each new line character with a space character and copy the key as one huge line.
  - A private key with start and end tags looks like this. You need to copy the entire key, including the start and end tag.

```plaintext
-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----

MIIEv...

-----END PRIVATE KEY-----
```
  - An encrypted private key (if a password or passphrase was set when the private key was generated) with start and end tags looks like this. You need to copy the entire key, including the start and end tag.

```plaintext
-----BEGIN ENCRYPTED PRIVATE KEY-----

MIIE6T...

-----END ENCRYPTED PRIVATE KEY-----
```
- Optional **passphrase**. If the private key is encrypted, it has a passphrase. If the key doesn’t have a passphrase, leave the field blank.

Learn to generate the key pair (private and public key) and assign the key to a user with [instructions in Snowflake documentation](https://docs.snowflake.com/en/user-guide/key-pair-auth#configuring-key-pair-authentication).

## Instructions

1. On the [Supermetrics Hub](https://hub.supermetrics.com/), go to **Data warehousing** under **Manage**.
2. Click **New storage** and select Snowflake Data Warehouse.
3. [Fill in the connection details](/v1/docs/how-to-configure-a-snowflake-destination).
4. Under **Authentication method**, select the key pair authentication method.
5. Insert the username, private key, and private key passphrase, if applicable.
6. Click **Test** to test the connection to your destination. If the test is successful, click **Save** to store the destination.