Unity Catalog nor serverless automatically deployed/enabled by default on our new environment

Hi ,

Thanks for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A.

When deploying new Databricks workspaces, Unity Catalog and Serverless compute are not automatically enabled by default. These features require account level configuration through the databricks account console, which manages metastore linkage, identity federation and workspace assignment.

If your org does not have access to the account console (for ex: due to governance restrictions or subscription type), you will not be able to enable or configure UC or Serverless directly from the workspace UI. Both services depend on account level objects that must be created and assigned before workspaces can use them.

To resolve this:

1. Contact your azure subscription or databricks account admin to request access to the databricks account console (requires account owner privileges).
2. From the account console, create and configure a UC metastore, then assign it to the target workspace.

Enable Serverless SQL/Compute from the “Compute” settings within the Account Console, ensuring that your region supports it.

1. If you are using azure managed resource groups, confirm that necessary permissions are granted to the databricks managed identity to deploy serverless resources.

If access to the account console cannot be granted, raise a support ticket with Microsoft/Databricks to enable UC and Serverless at the account level. These configurations cannot be activated solely from within the workspace portal.

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