Amazon Athena and Apache Iceberg: OLake Go setup
Amazon Athena queries Apache Iceberg tables registered in the AWS Glue Data Catalog. There is no cluster to run.
Short answer. To query a replicated database in Athena, run OLake Go with AWS Glue as the Iceberg catalog and the data on Amazon S3. Athena sees the Glue databases directly. Add Athena as a target query engine on the job: Athena reads v2 equality and positional deletes but no v3 tables, so OLake Go never writes deletion vectors.
Key takeaways
- Athena reads the Iceberg tables OLake Go commits to AWS Glue, with no cluster to run.
- With Athena as a target query engine, OLake Go writes v2 equality or positional deletes, because Athena reads no v3 tables.
- The nine Redshift guides also query their Glue tables from Athena, so they show the full path.
Last reviewed October 2026.
How OLake Go gets data into Amazon Athena
OLake Go uses change data capture (CDC) where the source has it. It commits each sync to AWS Glue. Athena engine v3 reads those tables, and so do Redshift and Spark on EMR.
No guide ends in Athena yet. The nine Redshift guides query the same Glue tables from Athena, so they cover the full path. The Athena post shows a longer walkthrough.
When to use it
- You want serverless SQL over replicated tables on S3, billed per query.
- Redshift, EMR or Trino should read the same Glue tables.
When not to use it
- Another engine on the job reads only deletion vectors, such as Databricks under Unity Catalog. No delete format works for both engines.
- You use Amazon S3 Tables with upper-case table names. The Athena integration for S3 Tables takes lowercase names only.
Catalogs Amazon Athena reads
| Catalog | Amazon Athena reads | How |
|---|---|---|
| AWS Glue | Yes | native: Glue Data Catalog |
| Amazon S3 Tables | Yes | S3 Tables catalog integration (lowercase names only) |
Delete formats Amazon Athena reads
| Equality deletes (v2) | Positional deletes (v2) | Deletion vectors (v3) |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | Yes | No |
Athena reads Iceberg v2 tables with position and equality deletes. It cannot read v3 tables at all, so never pick deletion vectors. Set Amazon Athena as a target query engine on the OLake Go job and OLake Go picks a format it reads; with Amazon Athena as the only reader that is equality deletes (v2).
Sources: Athena: Query Apache Iceberg tables (checked 2026-10-12); S3: Working with Apache Iceberg v3 (checked 2026-10-12).
Tested guides for Amazon Athena
No guide ends in Amazon Athena yet.
Guides where Amazon Athena reads the same tables
These pages show Amazon Athena reading the same tables through the same catalog, in their cross-engine section. No second copy of the data is made.
- Postgres to Amazon Redshift
- Oracle to Amazon Redshift
- Kafka to Amazon Redshift
- MySQL to Amazon Redshift
- MongoDB to Amazon Redshift
- MariaDB to Amazon Redshift
- S3 to Amazon Redshift
- SQL Server to Amazon Redshift
- DB2 to Amazon Redshift
Frequently asked questions
Can Athena read Iceberg v3 tables?
No. Athena engine v3 reads Iceberg v2 tables with positional and equality deletes only, so never pick deletion vectors for tables Athena reads.
Which catalogs does Athena read?
The AWS Glue Data Catalog natively, and Amazon S3 Tables through its catalog integration.
Is there a tested guide with Athena?
Yes. The Redshift guides listed below also query the same Glue tables from Athena.