After a data migration, we needed to decommission the old Azure SQL DBs, but we wanted to keep a copy in case we needed anything later. Enter exporting an Azure SQL DB to storage!
Exporting
It’s very easy. It’s as simple as having a storage account and then exporting the db to it in the portal. Note: you will want a cheap storage option as you may never be accessing this data. Start by navigating to your db, then click Export.
Fill out the fields, choosing your storage account and your authentication type.
After clicking OK, you will see the backup in your storage container. It’s a bacpac file.
Importing
Now, if you are like me you would like to know how to import your export back into Azure SQL. It’s as simple as importing it back into an Azure SQL server.
On the import page, you need to select the bacpac file, and choose some options for it.
Note: the export is really fast, but the import is a lot slower — at least that’s my experience with it.
Once the import is done, you will see the db in the list of dbs.
And it’s accessible in Azure Data Studio.
Really very easy to export and import with Azure SQL DB!
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