SQL SERVER – Azure SQL Databases Backup Made Easy with SQLBackupAndFTP

Azure SQL database backup used to be a difficult task. Not any more. With SQLBackupAndFTP with Azure it became trivial. Here’s what you basically need to do:

Once  SQLBackupAndFTP with Azure  is installed, click at “Connect to SQL Server / Azure” button and specify connection properties for your Azure SQL Databases:

Then click “Run Now” to backup your Azure SQL Database(s):

Scheduling backups is also very simple – just check “Schedule this job on the main form” to run once daily or go to Advanced Settings for more options

Sounds simple? There are just a couple more things you need for this to work: you should know your Azure Server Name and Azure should allow your IP to connect. Let me explain how to do it.

How to find your Azure SQL Databases Server Name/Connection String

If you do not know a server name of Azure SQL Database, you can find this out on  Windows Azure Management site.  Sign in with your Microsoft account and click the “SQL DATABASES” menu item, then click your database name

Then click “Show connection strings” link in the bottom right corner:

You will see the connection strings for many platforms. Just copy to clipboard “Server” property value of “ADO.NET” connection like in the screenshot below:

And paste it into the “Server Name” field of the “Connect to SQL Server / Azure” window in SQLBackupAndFTP:

Allow your IP address to connect  to your Azure SQL Databases server

For SQLBackupAndFTP to connect to Azure SQL Database, you need to configure Azure’s firewall. Otherwise you will be getting the error: Cannot open [server] requested by the login. Client with IP address [ip-address] is not allowed to access to the server…

Login to Windows Azure Management site with your Microsoft account, click “SQL DATABASES” menu  item, then click your database:

Then click “Manage allowed IP addresses” link in the bottom right corner::

You will see a page where you can specify an allowed IP addresses for your databases:

On this page you can configure your firewall to allow the machine where SQLBackupAndFTP is running access to Azure. After adding the proper IP you should have no problem connecting to Azure.