SQL on Azure - IFI Techsolutions

Migrate Access Database to Azure SQL Database

IFI Tech Expert — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 05:51:16 +0000

Author: Prashant Pawar, Cloud Engineer.

In the digital era nowadays, a good database is crucial to any company or organization. This is because the database stores all the pertinent details about the company. Microsoft Access is a relational database. A relational database is a collection of data items organized as a set of tables. Access offers the functionality of a database and the programming capabilities to create easy to navigate screens (forms). It helps you analyze large amounts of information and manage data efficiently.

But there are certain limitations in Access database that’s why in this post, we are going to see how to migrate Microsoft Access database to Azure SQL database.

Why migrate from MS Access database to Azure SQL database?

There are few limitations of Access database:

MS Access is not available over the internet.
MS Access is not suitable for team use.
MS Access is suitable only for small databases.
SQL for MS Access is not as robust as MS SQL Server.
MS Access ties you to Microsoft Windows.

Advantages of Azure SQL database over Access database:

Enhanced scalability and performance improvement
Reliable and Highly Available
Security
Available over the internet.
Robust structured query language.

So now we know the need to migrate from MS Access database to Azure SQL database, we will see how to migrate it. For the migration process we need to install SSMA for Access, Access database engine and SQL server native client on our machine.

Create a new SSMA Project. After you create the project, you can set project options, including conversion options, migration options, and data type mappings.

Add Access database files to the project.

You can add individual files, including files that you find on the computer or network.

Connect to the target instance of SQL Azure.

To customize the mapping between one or more Access databases and SQL Azure schemas, map the source and target databases.

Optionally, you can create an assessment report to determine whether the Access database objects can be successfully converted to SQL Azure.

Convert Access database objects to SQL Azure object definitions.
Load the converted database objects into SQL Azure.

You can load the database objects into SQL Azure by using SSMA, or you can save Transact-SQL scripts.

Migrate Access data into SQL Server.

If you want your Access applications to use the data in SQL Server or SQL Azure, use link the Access tables to the SQL Server tables.

For linking database, you need to click on External Data and then click on from Azure database. To create a link you need to click on link to the data source option.

Create a file DSN to connect to a Azure SQL Database. Select SQL Native Client foe creating data source name.

Test the created DSN.

After creating DSN, you can connect Access DB with Azure SQL Database. Login into the SQL Server using Login ID and password.

Select databases which you want to link with Azure SQL.

Below is the database which is successfully linked using SQL Native Client.

So, by following this process we can migrate Access database to Azure SQL database.

The post Migrate Access Database to Azure SQL Database first appeared on IFI Techsolutions.

Data Migration Assistant

IFI Tech Expert — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 12:27:04 +0000

Have you ever been in a situation where migration became an issue for you? I was in a fix whether how one should migrate only the schema part, In such cases one can use the tool known as Data Migration Assistant. The Data Migration Assistant (DMA) helps you upgrade to a modern data platform by detecting compatibility issues that can impact database functionality in your new version of SQL Server or Azure SQL Database. DMA is usually used for one time migration. With the help of DMA one can migrate both schema and data or only schema part or data part.

For migration the source can be any one of these:

SQL server
AWS RDS for sql server

And the destination can be any of these:

Azure SQL database
SQL server
Azure SQL database managed instance
SQL server on virtual machines.

Following are the supported source and target versions:

Source

SQL Server 2005
SQL Server 2008
SQL Server 2008 R2
SQL Server 2012
SQL Server 2014
SQL Server 2016
SQL Server 2017 on Windows

Targets

SQL Server 2012
SQL Server 2014
SQL Server 2016
SQL Server 2017 on Windows and Linux
Azure SQL Database
Azure SQL Database Managed Instance
SQL server running on an Azure Virtual Machine

In DMA assessment and migration can be performed. Assessment is carried out in order to find the compatibility issues in a database. The migration blockers are solved for further migration process.

To run an assessment, you have to be a member of the SQL Server sysadmin role.

Migrating SQL Server on-premises to Azure SQL Database by using the Data Migration Assistant.

Create a new migration project

On the left pane, select New (+), and then select the Migration project type.
Set the source type to SQL Server and the target server type to Azure SQL Database.
Select Create.

Specify the source server and database

For the source, under Connect to source server, in the Server name text box, enter the name of the source SQL Server instance.
Select the Authentication type supported by the source SQL Server instance.

3. Select Connect.

4. Select a single source database to migrate to Azure SQL Database

5. Select next

Specify the target server and database

For the target, under Connect

For the target, under Connect to target server, in the Server name text box, enter the name of the Azure SQL Database instance.
Select the Authentication type supported by the target Azure SQL Database instance.

3. Select Connect.

4. Select a single target database to which to migrate.

5. Click next

Select schema objects

Select the schema objects from the source database that you want to migrate to Azure SQL Database.

2. Select General SQL script. Review the generated script

3. Review the generated script.

Deploy schema

Select Deploy schema
Review the results of the schema deployment.
Select Migrate data to initiate the data migration process
Select the tables with the data you want to migrate.

5. Select Start data migration
The final screen shows the overall status.

Interested in Microsoft Azure, Let’s CONNECT!

The post Data Migration Assistant first appeared on IFI Techsolutions.

Data Migration Service – Part 2

IFI Tech Expert — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 12:13:03 +0000

Offline Migration

Migration Steps (SQL Server to Azure SQL Database)

Prerequisites:

Create a Vnet for DMS
Vnet’s nsg should not block communication ports 443, 53, 9354, 445, 12000
Configure your windows firewall
open port 1433
If you’re running multiple named SQL Server instances using dynamic ports, you may wish to enable the SQL Browser Service and allow access to UDP port 1434 through your firewalls so that the Azure Database Migration Service can connect to a named instance on your source server.
Create a server-level firewall rule for the Azure SQL Database server. Provide the subnet range of the VNET used for DMS
Ensure that the credentials used to connect to source SQL Server instance have control server permissions.
Ensure that the credentials used to connect to target Azure SQL Database instance have CONTROL DATABASE permission on the target Azure SQL databases.
The source SQL Server version must be SQL Server 2005 and above.
Database(s) must be in either Bulk-logged or Full recovery mode and take their full, transactional log backup.
If any of the tables don’t have a primary key, enable Change Data Capture (CDC) on the database and specific table(s).
The LOB tables must have primary key.

Migration steps

In DMA assessment and migration can be performed. Assessment is carried out in order to find the compatibility issues in a database. The migration blockers are solved for further migration process. To run an assessment, you have to be a member of the SQL Server sysadmin role

Migrate the sample schema

In the Data Migration Assistant, select the New (+) icon, and then under Project type, select Migration.
Specify a project name, in the Source server type text box, select SQL Server, and then in the Target server type text box, select Azure SQL Database.
Under Migration Scope, select Schema only.
Select Create to create the project.
In the Data Migration Assistant, specify the source connection details for your SQL Server, select Connect, and then select the database
Select Next, under Connect to target server, specify the target connection details for the Azure SQL Database, select Connect, and then select your database you had pre-provisioned in Azure SQL Database .
Select Next to advance to the Select objects screen, on which you can specify the schema objects in your database that need to be deployed to Azure SQL Database.
By default, all objects are selected .
Select Generate SQL Script to create the SQL scripts, and then review the scripts for any errors.
Select Deploy schema to deploy the schema to Azure SQL Database, and then after the schema is deployed, check the target server for any anomalies.

Post Migrating Sample Schema

Step 1

Select new migration project. For Offline migration, premium pricing tier should can be choosen. It is not compulsory to select premium tier but in future if one wishes to perform online migration then premium tier is needed.
Select create and run activity.

Step 2

Specify source and target details.

Step 3

Map to target databases screen, map the source and the target database for migration.
If the target database contains the same database name as the source database, the Azure Database Migration Service selects the target database by default.

Step 4

Select Save, on the Select tables screen, expand the table listing, and then review the list of affected fields.

The Azure Database Migration Service auto selects all the empty source tables that exist on the target Azure SQL Database instance. If you want to remigrate tables that already include data, you need to explicitly select the tables on this blade

Step 5

on the Migration summary screen, in the Activity name text box, specify a name for the migration activity, and then review the summary to ensure that the source and target details match what you previously specified. Select run migration.
Run the migration

Run the Migration.

Select Run migration.

The migration activity window appears, and the Status of the activity is Pending.

Monitor the Migration

On the migration activity screen, select Refresh to update the display until the Status of the migration shows as Completed.
After the migration completes, select Download report to get a report listing the details associated with the migration process.
Verify the target database(s) on the target Azure SQL Database server

Interested in Microsoft Azure, Let’s CONNECT!

The post Data Migration Service – Part 2 first appeared on IFI Techsolutions.

Data Migration Service – Part 1

IFI Tech Expert — Mon, 27 Jan 2020 13:42:59 +0000

Online migration

Migration Steps (SQL Server to Azure SQL Database)

Prerequisites:

Create a Vnet for DMS
Vnet’s nsg should not block communication ports 443, 53, 9354, 445, 12000
Configure your windows firewall
open port 1433
If you’re running multiple named SQL Server instances using dynamic ports, you may wish to enable the SQL Browser Service and allow access to UDP port 1434 through your firewalls so that the Azure Database Migration Service can connect to a named instance on your source server.
Create a server-level firewall rule for the Azure SQL Database server. Provide the subnet range of the VNET used for DMS
Ensure that the credentials used to connect to source SQL Server instance have control server permissions.
Ensure that the credentials used to connect to target Azure SQL Database instance have CONTROL DATABASE permission on the target Azure SQL databases.
The source SQL Server version must be SQL Server 2005 and above.
Database(s) must be in either Bulk-logged or Full recovery mode and take their full, transactional log backup.
If any of the tables don’t have a primary key, enable Change Data Capture (CDC) on the database and specific table(s).
The LOB tables must have primary key.

Migration steps

Post Assessment Steps

Step 1

Select new migration project. For online migration, premium pricing tier should be choosed.
Select create and run activity.

Step 2

Specify source and target details.

Step 3

Map to target databases screen, map the source and the target database for migration.
If the target database contains the same database name as the source database, the Azure Database Migration Service selects the target database by default.

Step 4

Select Save, on the Select tables screen, expand the table listing, and then review the list of affected fields.

Step 5

on the Migration summary screen, in the Activity name text box, specify a name for the migration activity, and then review the summary to ensure that the source and target details match what you previously specified. Select run migration.
Run the migration

Monitor the Migration

Step 1

On the migration activity screen, select Refresh to update the display until the Status of the migration shows as Running.
Click on a specific database to get to the migration status for Full data load and Incremental data sync operations.

Perform Migration Cutover

Step 1

When you’re ready to complete the database migration, select Start Cutover.
Make sure to stop all the incoming transactions to the source database; wait until the Pending changes counter shows 0.

Step 2

Select Confirm, and the select Apply. When the database migration status shows Completed, connect your applications to the new target Azure SQL Database

Interested in Microsoft Azure, Let’s CONNECT!

The post Data Migration Service – Part 1 first appeared on IFI Techsolutions.