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Connecting to Azure SQL Database (AccessToSQL)

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To migrate Access databases to Azure SQL Database, you must connect to the target instance of Azure SQL Database. When you connect, SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) obtains metadata about all the databases in the instance of Azure SQL Database and displays database metadata in the Azure SQL Database Metadata Explorer. SSMA stores information about which instance of Azure SQL Database you are connected to, but doesn't store passwords.

Your connection to Azure SQL Database stays active until you close the project. When you reopen the project, you must reconnect to Azure SQL Database if you want an active connection to the server. You can work offline until you load database objects into Azure SQL Database and migrate data.

Metadata about the instance of Azure SQL Database isn't automatically synchronized. Instead, to update the metadata in Azure SQL Database Metadata Explorer, you must manually update the Azure SQL Database metadata. For more information, see the Synchronize Azure SQL Database metadata section in this article.

Required Azure SQL Database permissions

The account that is used to connect to Azure SQL Database requires different permissions depending on the actions that the account performs:

  • To convert Access objects to Transact-SQL syntax, to update metadata from Azure SQL Database, or to save converted syntax to scripts, the account must have permission to sign in to the instance of Azure SQL Database.

  • To load database objects into Azure SQL Database, the account must be a member of the db_ddladmin database role.

  • To migrate data to Azure SQL Database, the account must be a member of the db_owner database role.

Establish an Azure SQL Database connection

Before you convert Access database objects to Azure SQL Database syntax, you must establish a connection to the instance of Azure SQL Database where you want to migrate the Access database or databases.

When you define the connection properties, you also specify the database where objects and data will be migrated. You can customize this mapping at the Access schema level after you connect to Azure SQL Database. For more information, see Mapping Access databases to SQL Server schemas.

Important

Before you try to connect to Azure SQL Database, make sure that your IP address is allowed through the Azure SQL Database firewall.

To connect to Azure SQL Database:

  1. On the File menu, select Connect to SQL Azure (this option is enabled after the creation of a project).

    If you previously connected to Azure SQL Database, the command name is Reconnect to SQL Azure.

  2. In the connection dialog box, enter or select the server name of Azure SQL Database.

  3. Enter, select, or Browse the Database name.

  4. Enter or select Username.

  5. Enter the Password.

  6. SSMA recommends encrypted connection to Azure SQL Database.

  7. Select Connect.

If there are no databases in the Azure SQL Database, you can create the first database using Create Azure Database option that appears on the select of Browse button.

Synchronize Azure SQL Database metadata

Metadata about databases in Azure SQL Database isn't automatically updated. The metadata in Azure SQL Database Metadata Explorer is a snapshot of the metadata when you first connected to Azure SQL Database, or the last time that you manually updated metadata. You can manually update metadata for all databases, or for any single database or database object. To synchronize metadata:

  1. Make sure that you are connected to Azure SQL Database.

  2. In Azure SQL Database Metadata Explorer, select the check box next to the database or database schema that you want to update. For example, to update the metadata for all databases, select the box next to Databases.

  3. Right-click Databases, or the individual database or database schema, and then select Synchronize with Database.

Refresh Azure SQL Database metadata

If Azure SQL Database schemas change after you connect, you can refresh metadata from the server.

To refresh Azure SQL Database metadata:

  • In Azure SQL Database Metadata Explorer, right-click Databases, and then select Refresh from Database.

Reconnect to Azure SQL Database

Your connection to Azure SQL Database stays active until you close the project. When you reopen the project, you must reconnect to Azure SQL Database if you want an active connection to the server. You can work offline until you load database objects into Azure SQL Database and migrate data.

The procedure for reconnecting to Azure SQL Database is the same as the procedure for establishing a connection.

See also

Next steps

The next step in the migration depends on your project needs: