Azure SQL Database Instance cross tenant migration

Hi Obaid Bhatti,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A and thank you for posting your questions here.

Before you begin migrating your Azure SQL Database, make sure you have the right permissions in both the source and destination tenants. You’ll need Owner or Contributor access at the subscription level in both tenants to make sure you can perform the migration smoothly.

I see you’ve been using the .bacpac file and Azure Data Studio, which are definitely valid tools. However, for cross-tenant migrations, there’s a more streamlined method I’d like to walk you through.

1. Using Azure Portal & BACPAC for Migration

One of the most common ways to migrate an Azure SQL Database from one tenant to another is by exporting the database to a BACPAC file in the source tenant and then importing it into the destination tenant.

Export the Database to a BACPAC File:

• In the source tenant, navigate to your Azure SQL Database instance in the Azure portal.
• Select the Export option to create a BACPAC file of the database.
• This BACPAC file will be stored in an Azure Blob Storage account, and you’ll need access to this storage from the destination tenant to continue.

Import the BACPAC File into the Destination Tenant:

• In the destination tenant, create a new Azure SQL Database instance.
• Then, go to the Import option in the portal and select the BACPAC file from the Blob Storage to bring the database over.

If your database is on the larger side (over 150 GB), you might hit the Azure Portal limitations for import. In that case, you can use SqlPackage, a command-line tool, to handle the import. Here’s an example of how you can use it:

SqlPackage /Action:Import /SourceFile:"C:\ExportHere.bacpac" /TargetConnectionString:"Server=tcp:<target>.database.windows.net;Initial Catalog=<dbname>;User ID=<user>;Password=<password>"

For more info on using SqlPackage, check out the official documentation here: https://video2.skills-academy.com/en-us/sql/tools/sqlpackage/sqlpackage?view=sql-server-ver16

2. Important Notes to Keep in Mind:

While BACPAC migration works great for transferring your database schema and data, it won’t move over logins or some server-level settings (like firewall rules). So, after the migration, you'll need to manually reconfigure things like user logins and any other database-level security settings in the destination tenant.

3. Post-Migration Checklist:

Once your database has been migrated, here’s what you should do next:

• Verify the Integrity of the database — check that the schema, data, and relationships have come over correctly.
• Update External Connections — make sure any apps or services that connect to your database are now pointing to the new instance.
• Set Up Monitoring & Alerts — configure any necessary monitoring or alerting for the new database in the destination tenant.

For a more detailed guide on importing databases, check out this official Microsoft Learn link: https://video2.skills-academy.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/database-import?view=azuresql&tabs=azure-powershell

I hope this information is helpful! If you still have questions or you come across issues, please let us know what is needed in the comments so this question can be answered.

Thanks for the follow up.

The export and import takes a long time. We are looking for minimum downtime as the SQL Server Database instance is live and in use. can we use Replica or sync with other database facility to synchronized the data between source tenant and target tenant. or anyother tool we can use to match the delta info between two