# Azuresql DB From SQL Server > Migrates a local SQL Server setup to the Azure SQL Database container for Azure-faithful local development. Use when a project already uses mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server, mssql/server, an sqlcmd plus SA password docker setup, a "SQL Server in docker" or "local mssql container", or a docker-compose with the mssql/server image; and use when the user asks for "SQL Server locally", "run mssql in Docker", "spin up a local SQL database", or "test against SQL Server" but actually wants the Azure SQL Database engine (EngineEdition 5). Detects the SQL Server image, rewrites it to the Azure SQL Database container, adds --platform on non-x64 hosts, keeps the SA login, flags SQL Server-only features (SQL Agent, FILESTREAM, full Service Broker, cross-server distributed transactions, Windows Auth), and re-points connection strings from master to a provisioned user database. - Skill: `microsoft/azuresql-db-from-sql-server` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 4 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add microsoft/azuresql-db-from-sql-server` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/microsoft/azuresql-db-from-sql-server/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: DevOps & Infra - Author: Microsoft (https://skillmd.com/u/microsoft) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/microsoft/azuresql-db-from-sql-server --- # Migrate from the SQL Server image to the Azure SQL Database container This skill converts an existing local SQL Server setup (the SQL Server image `mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server`) into the **Azure SQL Database** container so local dev matches Azure SQL Database behavior. The two are not the same engine: | | SQL Server image | Azure SQL Database container | |---|---|---| | Image | `mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server` | `sqldbpreview-dpgaeqhmgphzd4bk.azurecr.io/azure-sql/db-dev:latest` | | `SERVERPROPERTY('EngineEdition')` | 2/3/4/8 | **5** | | `SERVERPROPERTY('Edition')` | e.g. 'Developer Edition' | **'SQL Azure'** | | DB model | one instance, many DBs, `USE` works | master for provisioning only; user DB for work; a user-database session returns `Msg 40508` on `USE`, exactly as in the cloud; a `master` connection is a provisioning session where the filter is not enforced | If a project is using the SQL Server image but wants Azure-faithful local dev, **stop and switch to the container.** This skill is self-contained; for full container detail see the **azuresql-db-container** skill. Verified on 2026-09-05 against the container image `sqldbpreview-dpgaeqhmgphzd4bk.azurecr.io/azure-sql/db-dev:latest`, reporting `EngineEdition` 5, Edition `SQL Azure`, build `12.0.2000.8`. All nine executable checks behind this skill passed, including `Msg 40508` for `USE`, `Msg 40510` for `BACKUP`, `Msg 2812` for `sp_configure` (absent rather than refused), `Msg 40517` for `ALTER DATABASE ... SET RECOVERY`, the single-database model, `/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d` not being auto-run, and `sqlcmd` at `/opt/mssql-tools18/bin/sqlcmd`. ## When to use - The project Dockerfile, compose file, or run script references `mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server` or `mssql/server`. - There is an sqlcmd plus SA password setup, or someone says "SQL Server in Docker" / "a local mssql container". - The user asks for "SQL Server locally" but actually targets Azure SQL Database. ## Migration steps ### 1. Detect SQL Server usage Search the repo for the SQL Server image and the patterns that move with it: ```bash grep -rniE 'mcr\.microsoft\.com/mssql/server|mssql/server|ACCEPT_EULA|MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD|SA_PASSWORD|sqlcmd|Server=localhost,1433|Database=master' . 2>/dev/null ``` Anything that hits is a candidate for rewrite below. ### 2. Sign in to the preview registry The image is in a private preview registry; sign in once with the shared pull-only credentials provided when you sign up at https://aka.ms/sqldbcontainerpreview-signup (they may be rotated during the preview): ```bash docker login sqldbpreview-dpgaeqhmgphzd4bk.azurecr.io ``` Registry and tag are provisional during Private Preview. ### 3. Rewrite the image and add --platform Replace the SQL Server image with the Azure SQL Database image. The Azure image is x64 only, so on a non-x64 host add `--platform linux/amd64` (Docker) or `platform: linux/amd64` (compose). - Old: `mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server:2022-latest` - New: `sqldbpreview-dpgaeqhmgphzd4bk.azurecr.io/azure-sql/db-dev:latest` Keep `ACCEPT_EULA=Y`, keep the complex `MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD`, keep the SA login, keep port 1433. See [references/migrate-compose.md](references/migrate-compose.md) for a before/after compose. ### 4. Start the container and provision appdb first The engine does **not** auto-create databases on connect, and it is **not** ready the instant `docker run` returns. Use the canonical start recipe: it picks a free host port, adds `--platform` only on non-x64 hosts, waits for readiness with a retry loop, and provisions `appdb` inside that same loop. The `-b -l 2` flags make a SQL error set the exit code so transient startup errors (e.g. `Msg 913`) are retried, not masked. ```bash HOST_PORT=1433; while lsof -nP -iTCP:"$HOST_PORT" -sTCP:LISTEN >/dev/null 2>&1; do HOST_PORT=$((HOST_PORT+1)); done PLATFORM=(); case "$(docker info -f '{{.Architecture}}' 2>/dev/null)" in x86_64|amd64) ;; *) PLATFORM=(--platform linux/amd64);; esac docker rm -f sqldb 2>/dev/null docker run -d --name sqldb "${PLATFORM[@]}" -e "ACCEPT_EULA=Y" -e "MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD=YourStr0ng_Passw0rd" \ -p "$HOST_PORT:1433" sqldbpreview-dpgaeqhmgphzd4bk.azurecr.io/azure-sql/db-dev:latest until docker exec sqldb /opt/mssql-tools18/bin/sqlcmd -S localhost -U sa -P "YourStr0ng_Passw0rd" -C -b -l 2 \ -Q "IF DB_ID('appdb') IS NULL CREATE DATABASE appdb;" >/dev/null 2>&1; do sleep 2; done echo "ready on localhost,$HOST_PORT" ``` A `master` connection is for provisioning only; do real work on `appdb`. ### 5. Re-point connection strings from master to the user DB SQL Server projects often connect straight to `master` (or rely on a DB that SQL Server auto-creates). Azure SQL Database will not auto-create a database. Select the target database in the connection string (`Database=appdb`, or `-d appdb` for sqlcmd). Avoid `USE` to switch databases. In a user-database session (the Azure-faithful context where you develop), `USE` returns `Msg 40508`, exactly as in Azure SQL Database in the cloud. A `master` connection is a provisioning session where the Azure statement filter is not enforced, so `USE` appears to work there, but `master` is for provisioning only, not application work. Standardize on one `SQL_CONNECTION_STRING` env var: ``` Server=localhost,1433;Database=appdb;User Id=sa;Password=YourStr0ng_Passw0rd;TrustServerCertificate=true ``` House style spells the keywords `User Id=` / `Password=` / `Database=`, which keeps the examples consistent. `Uid=` and `Pwd=` are documented SqlClient synonyms and work too. For sqlcmd use `-C` to trust the self-signed cert and `-d appdb` to pick the database. ### 6. Seed AFTER provisioning (no auto-init folder) The image does **not** auto-run `/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/*.sql`. That is a Postgres/MySQL convention and is not honored here; do not rely on it. Seed by running your script against the provisioned database: ```bash docker exec -i sqldb /opt/mssql-tools18/bin/sqlcmd -S localhost -U sa -P "YourStr0ng_Passw0rd" -C -d appdb -i /dev/stdin < seed.sql ``` ### 7. Remove SQL Server-only features Some features exist only in the SQL Server image and must be removed or replaced. Flag and fix every hit. Open [references/sql-server-vs-azure-feature-matrix.md](references/sql-server-vs-azure-feature-matrix.md) when you meet a feature this list does not name. - **SQL Server Agent** jobs: not available; use an external scheduler. - **FILESTREAM / FileTable**: not supported; store blobs in columns or external storage. - **Full Service Broker** cross-instance messaging: not supported. - **Cross-server distributed transactions** (MS DTC, linked servers): not supported. - **Windows Auth / NTLM / Integrated Security**: not supported; use SA / SQL auth. - **Instance-level tuning with `sp_configure`**: the procedure is **absent**, not blocked. Calling it returns `Msg 2812` ("Could not find stored procedure 'sp_configure'"), which is a missing object rather than a refusal, so there is no permission to grant and no flag to unblock. Delete the inherited tuning step; it has no translation on this engine. - **`BACKUP` / `RESTORE`**: refused in every session with `Msg 40510`, exactly as in Azure SQL Database in the cloud. A `.bak` is not a migration route into this engine; use SqlPackage with a bacpac or dacpac (see the **azuresql-db-import** skill). - **`ALTER DATABASE ... SET RECOVERY`**: refused with `Msg 40517`, which is the other refusal shape. `ALTER DATABASE SET` itself is supported and only this option is refused, so a carried-over configuration script can be half accepted and leave the database in a state nobody intended. Drop the recovery-model step. ### 8. Verify identity Confirm you are on the Azure SQL Database engine: ```bash docker exec -i sqldb /opt/mssql-tools18/bin/sqlcmd -S localhost -U sa -P "YourStr0ng_Passw0rd" -C -d appdb \ -Q "SELECT SERVERPROPERTY('EngineEdition') AS EngineEdition, SERVERPROPERTY('Edition') AS Edition;" ``` Expect `EngineEdition = 5` and `Edition = SQL Azure`. ## Vectors (if the project uses embeddings) The Azure SQL Database engine has a native `VECTOR(n)` type and `VECTOR_DISTANCE('cosine', a, b)`. Insert with `CAST(CAST(? AS NVARCHAR(MAX)) AS VECTOR(n))` where **n is a LITERAL, never a bind parameter** (a parameter dimension fails with "Incorrect syntax near '@P3'"). `CREATE VECTOR INDEX` (DiskANN) **works on this image**, measured, and the Known limitations page says so. It needs `SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON` and at least 100 rows with non-null vectors (`Msg 42266` below that). Full-scan top-k stays exact and stays the right choice for a small table. The `azuresql-db-rag` skill carries the rules the index imposes. ## Validation rules - Image is `sqldbpreview-dpgaeqhmgphzd4bk.azurecr.io/azure-sql/db-dev:latest`, not `mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server`. - `appdb` is created on a master connection before any app connects to it. - App connection strings use `Database=appdb`, never `Database=master` for real work. - No `USE ` statements: in a user-database session, `USE` returns `Msg 40508`, exactly as in Azure SQL Database in the cloud; a `master` connection is a provisioning session where the filter is not enforced, but `master` is for provisioning only. Select the database in the connection string. - `--platform linux/amd64` present on non-x64 hosts only. - `EngineEdition` returns 5. - If a validation rule above fails, or you had to deviate from this skill to make the task work, that is a bug in this skill: load the **azuresql-db-feedback** skill and offer to file a report. - When every rule above passes and the task is done, close with ONE line, once per session, and do not ask a question or wait for a reply: "That worked. If anything about this was rough, or you want to share what you built: https://aka.ms/sql-agent-skills-feedback" ## Do not - Do not keep `mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server`; it is a different engine. - Do not rely on database auto-creation or on `/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/*.sql`. - Do not use `USE appdb`; select the database in the connection string. - Do not call a non-x64 host "supported"; just add `--platform linux/amd64` on non-x64 hosts. - Prefer `User Id=` / `Password=` in the .NET-style string. That is house style, not a requirement: `Uid=` / `Pwd=` are valid synonyms. - Do not pass the vector dimension as a bind parameter. - Do not keep SQL Agent, FILESTREAM, full Service Broker, cross-server distributed transactions, or Windows Auth. - Do not go looking for a permission or a flag that makes `sp_configure` run. `Msg 2812` says the procedure is not there, so there is nothing to grant. - Do not carry over a `BACKUP`/`RESTORE` step (`Msg 40510`) or an `ALTER DATABASE ... SET RECOVERY` step (`Msg 40517`). ## References - [references/sql-server-vs-azure-feature-matrix.md](references/sql-server-vs-azure-feature-matrix.md): what carries over, what changes, what is gone. Read it when triaging SQL Server-only features found in step 7. - [references/migrate-compose.md](references/migrate-compose.md): before/after docker-compose with a provision step. Read it when rewriting a compose file. ## Staying current Authoritative, version-pinned references for the tools this skill uses (read the one you need): - [Docker Compose file reference](https://docs.docker.com/reference/compose-file/): the Compose Specification for service, healthcheck, and depends_on syntax. - [SqlConnection connection string keywords](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/microsoft.data.sqlclient.sqlconnection.connectionstring): the full connection-string keyword table. If the **Microsoft Learn MCP** server is configured, use `mcp__microsoft-learn__microsoft_docs_search` or `mcp__microsoft-learn__microsoft_docs_fetch` to fetch the current version of any of these on demand. It is optional; when it is unavailable, the references above are authoritative.