---
title: "Database"
sidebarTitle: "Database"
description: "ATTACH DATABASE: bind a database to a storage location."
icon: database
keywords: ["attach database", "database", "sql", "ddl"]
availability:
  embedded: unavailable
  enterprise: available
---

A database is the catalog's top-level container: it holds
[namespaces](/sql/ddl/namespace), which hold tables, views and other objects.
`ATTACH DATABASE` binds a name to a storage location so its objects become
reachable.

## ATTACH DATABASE {#attach}

```sql
ATTACH DATABASE analytics WITH (location = 'analytics')
ATTACH DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS analytics WITH (location = 'analytics')
```

`location` is the only supported option, and the only way to say where a
database lives: a relative subdirectory, never an absolute path or a URI.

<Warning>
An absolute path (`/tmp/db`), an `s3://` or `file://` URI, a Windows path
(`C:/db`), a `..` segment, an empty string and a doubled slash (`sub//db`)
are all refused.
</Warning>

`IF NOT EXISTS` makes the statement a no-op rather than an error when the
database is already attached.

<Note>
A quoted name reaches characters a bare identifier cannot, such as
`` ATTACH DATABASE "team/search" WITH (location = 'team-search') ``.
</Note>

## What to read next {#next}

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Namespace" icon="folder-tree" href="/sql/ddl/namespace">
    CREATE SCHEMA inside an attached database.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Table" icon="table" href="/sql/ddl/table">
    Creating tables once a database and namespace exist.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>