Get Started with the Management Portal for SQL Database

Before you begin, note the following prerequisites:

• To manage databases and data-tier applications with the Management Portal for SQL Database, you must have a Windows Azure Subscription and a SQL Database server. For more information about how to get started with Windows Azure and SQL Database, see the Windows Azure Platform Management Portal.
  
  
• You must update firewall rules for the logical server to include the IP address of the client computer that runs the Management Portal for SQL Database. For information about updating firewall rules, see How to: Configure the Windows Azure SQL Database Firewall.
  
  
• For information about managing security for SQL Database, see Managing Databases and Logins in Windows Azure SQL Database.
  
  
• For information about managing pop-ups, see Internet Explorer Pop-up Blocker: frequently asked questions.
  
  

To create a database, including creating a database by deploying a data-tier application, you must be a member of the dbmanager role or assigned CREATE DATABASE permissions. To drop a database, you must be a member of the dbmanager role or assigned DROP DATABASE permissions.

This section describes how to logon to the Management Portal for SQL Database, connect to a SQL Database, and work with Transact-SQL queries.

1. Navigate to the Windows Azure Platform Management Portal. Click the Log on to Portal button on the right-hand side of the page to launch the logon dialog.
   
   
2. Log on to the Windows Azure Platform Management Portal with your Windows Live ID credentials.
   
   
3. In the left-hand navigation pane, expand the list of Subscriptions, and then expand a subscription to expose the list of servers for that subscription.
   
   
4. Click on a server name to specify the server to manage. The Manage button in the server ribbon at the top of the screen will become enabled.
   
   
5. Click Manage in the server ribbon. This will launch the logon dialog for the Management Portal for SQL Database in a separate browser tab or window. If the portal does not launch, you may need to turn off pop-up blockers for the site. For information about managing pop-ups, see Internet Explorer Pop-up Blocker: frequently asked questions.
   
   
6. To logon to the portal, enter your username and password, and then click Log on.
   
   
7. To connect to a database, click on the Select a Database link at the top of the left-hand pane or, on the Overview page, click the Databases tile. Clicking on the Databases tile will launch a set of database tiles in the main work space. Note the “ServerName\Databases” breadcrumb trail in the upper left section of the page. The breadcrumb trail will expand as you drill down through portal features, and it will also allow you to skip back to previously viewed portal features.
   
   You can also launch operations directly from the ribbon, or by clicking on the tiles on the Overview page, including:
   
   
   1. New database
      
      
   2. New query
      
      
   3. Design a new database
      
      
   4. Deploy a data-tier application
      
      
8. Once you click on the Databases tile on the Overview page and the database tiles are displayed, click on a database tile to select it as the database to connect to. Use the scroll bar, if necessary, to scroll to the database to connect to. You can also display a list view of databases by clicking the List icon in the upper right of the main work space to toggle to a list view. To toggle back to tile view, click on the Tile icon. Once you have selected the database to connect to, click Summary or Design inside the database tile to connect to the database.
   
   
9. Once connected, note that the bread crumb trail will add the database name: “ServerName\Databases\DatabaseName\.” You can easily navigate back to the view of databases by clicking the “Databases” link in the bread crumb trail. To navigate back to the Overview page, click the server name in the bread crumb trail, or click Overview in the left-hand navigation pane. Note that once connected to a database, the database name will be added to the My Work task list at the top of the left-hand navigation pane. After an item is added to the My Work task list, you can easily return to it by clicking the task name. The task list is maintained while you work in the portal, but it is emptied after you log off of your session.
   
   
10. To create a new query, click the New Query button in the ribbon. You can run the query or save it to a local directory.
    
    
11. To open an existing query, click on the Open button on the ribbon, and then navigate to the .sql query file.
    
    
12. Once query results are returned to the portal, you can view a graphical display of the following query workflow parameters. You can also view a grid display or tree view of the workflow by clicking the toggle buttons at the upper right-hand side of the Query Plan details pane. Use the Query/Query Plan toggle at the upper left to toggle between Query view and Query Plan view.
    
    
    1. Logical operation
       
       
    2. Physical operation
       
       
    3. Estimated CPU cost
       
       
    4. Estimated I/O cost
       
       
    5. Average row size (Bytes)
       
       
    6. Estimated rows
       
       
    7. Estimated rebinds
       
       
    8. Estimated rewinds
       
       
    9. Object
       
       
13. To launch database design view, select the database name from the list view or display of database tiles, and then click Design to connect to the database and launch the database design work space.
    
    

For more information about managing security for SQL Database, see Managing Databases and Logins in Windows Azure SQL Database.

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