BigLake Iceberg catalog with OLake Go
BigLake, also called Google Cloud Lakehouse, is the Iceberg REST (representational state transfer) catalog that BigQuery reads natively.
Short answer. To write Iceberg tables to BigLake, create an OLake Go destination with catalog_type: biglake, a Google Cloud Storage bucket for the data, and a service account JSON key. Each catalog namespace maps to a BigQuery dataset. Spark on Dataproc, Trino, Spark and DuckDB read the same catalog over REST with Google authentication.
Key takeaways
- OLake Go writes Iceberg tables to BigLake with a service account JSON key and keeps the data in Google Cloud Storage.
- Each catalog namespace maps to a BigQuery dataset, so BigQuery reads the tables with no extra registration.
- Spark on Dataproc, Trino, Spark and DuckDB read the same catalog over REST.
Last reviewed October 2026.
How OLake Go writes to BigLake
OLake Go uses change data capture (CDC) where the source has it. It writes data files to Google Cloud Storage and commits each table to BigLake. BigQuery sees the tables with no extra registration.
The nine BigQuery guides ran end to end on BigLake. The BigLake setup post and the REST catalog page cover the catalog side.
When to use it
- BigQuery or Dataproc will read the tables and the data lives in Google Cloud Storage.
- You want a managed catalog on Google Cloud.
When not to use it
- You need deletion vectors that BigQuery reads in production. They are a BigQuery preview feature.
- Snowflake is the main reader. It reads BigLake through a catalog integration that no guide here has tested.
What OLake Go needs
catalog_type:biglake- Authentication OLake Go offers: Service account JSON.
- Full destination reference: BigLake (Google Cloud Lakehouse) setup.
Engines that read BigLake (Google Cloud Lakehouse)
| Engine | Reads | How |
|---|---|---|
| Apache Spark | Yes | type=rest with Google auth |
| BigQuery | Yes | native: namespaces map to BigQuery datasets |
| DuckDB | Yes | ATTACH with a Google access token |
| Google Cloud Dataproc | Yes | REST catalog with Google auth |
| Snowflake | Yes | catalog integration (read-only) (Not yet tested on this site.) |
| Trino | Yes | REST catalog with Google auth |
Each engine row comes from that engine's vendor documentation. The dated sources are on the engine's page, linked in the first column.
Guides that use BigLake (Google Cloud Lakehouse)
- Postgres to BigQuery
- Oracle to BigQuery
- MongoDB to BigQuery
- MySQL to BigQuery
- Kafka to BigQuery
- MariaDB to BigQuery
- S3 to BigQuery
- DB2 to BigQuery
- SQL Server to BigQuery
Frequently asked questions
How does OLake Go authenticate to BigLake?
With a service account JSON key on the destination.
Do BigLake namespaces show up in BigQuery?
Yes. Each namespace maps to a BigQuery dataset.
Is there a tested guide on BigLake?
Yes. The nine BigQuery guides listed below ran on BigLake.