Is it possible to import the catalogs, databases, and tables from the existing cluster into Amoro for management?

[HwiLu]

I have a data lake cluster using Iceberg and Paimon. Is it possible to manage the existing tables in the cluster using Amoro? It seems that the official website doesn't provide related documentation.

[zhoujinsong]

Yes.

What you need to do is create an external catalog to help Amoro explore your existing tables.
You can find related information here: https://amoro.apache.org/docs/latest/managing-catalogs/

[zhoujinsong]

BTW, if you are using version 0.6.1 or an earlier version, you may need to create separate catalogs for Iceberg and Paimon tables.
If you are using the 0.7.0-SNAPSHOT (master branch), you can try to create one catalog for both Iceberg and Paimon tables.

[HwiLu]

I have a question: @zhoujinsong
Will the new catalog I create affect the existing catalogs? For example, if I create a catalog named catalog_ex and I already have a catalog named catalog_spark, can the new catalog_ex read the databases under catalog_spark? If it can, will optimizing catalog_ex affect applications that use the previous catalog, catalog_spark, to read data from the data lake?

I don’t quite understand how catalogs work. I thought they were just directories. Why can a newly created catalog read databases under an old catalog?

If you're willing to explain, I would greatly appreciate it.