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SqlPackage Export parameters and properties

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The SqlPackage Export action exports a connected database to a BACPAC file (.bacpac). By default, data for all tables will be included in the .bacpac file. Optionally, you can specify only a subset of tables for which to export data. The Export action is part of the database portability functionality of SqlPackage.

Note

While Microsoft Entra ID is the new name for Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), to prevent disrupting existing environments, Azure AD still remains in some hardcoded elements such as UI fields, connection providers, error codes, and cmdlets. In this article, the two names are interchangeable.

Note

SqlPackage export performs best for databases under 200GB. For larger databases, you may want to optimize the operation using properties available in this article and tips in Troubleshooting with SqlPackage or alternatively achieve database portability through data in parquet files.

Command-line syntax

SqlPackage initiates the actions specified using the parameters, properties, and SQLCMD variables specified on the command line.

SqlPackage /Action:Export {parameters} {properties}

Required parameters

The Export action requires a TargetFile parameter to specify the name and location of the .bacpac file to be created. This location must be writable by the user running the command and the containing folder must exist.

The Export action also requires a database source to be specified, either through a combination of:

  • SourceServerName and SourceDatabaseName parameters, or
  • SourceConnectionString parameter.

Examples

# example export from Azure SQL Database using SQL authentication and a connection string
SqlPackage /Action:Export /TargetFile:"C:\AdventureWorksLT.bacpac" \
    /SourceConnectionString:"Server=tcp:{yourserver}.database.windows.net,1433;Initial Catalog=AdventureWorksLT;Persist Security Info=False;User ID=sqladmin;Password={your_password};MultipleActiveResultSets=False;Encrypt=True;TrustServerCertificate=False;Connection Timeout=30;"

# example export using short form parameter names, skips schema validation
SqlPackage /a:Export /ssn:"{yourserver}.database.windows.net,1433" /sdn:"AdventureWorksLT" /su:"sqladmin" \
    /sp:"{your_password}" /tf:"C:\AdventureWorksLT.bacpac" /p:VerifyExtraction=False

# example export using Microsoft Entra managed identity
SqlPackage /Action:Export /TargetFile:"C:\AdventureWorksLT.bacpac" \
    /SourceConnectionString:"Server=tcp:{yourserver}.database.windows.net,1433;Initial Catalog=AdventureWorksLT;Authentication=Active Directory Managed Identity;MultipleActiveResultSets=False;Encrypt=True;TrustServerCertificate=False;Connection Timeout=30;"

# example export connecting using Microsoft Entra username and password
SqlPackage /Action:Export /TargetFile:"C:\AdventureWorksLT.bacpac" \
    /SourceConnectionString:"Server=tcp:{yourserver}.database.windows.net,1433;Initial Catalog=AdventureWorksLT;Authentication=Active Directory Password;MultipleActiveResultSets=False;Encrypt=True;TrustServerCertificate=False;Connection Timeout=30;User ID={yourusername};Password={yourpassword}"

# example export connecting using Microsoft Entra universal authentication
SqlPackage /Action:Export /TargetFile:"C:\AdventureWorksLT.bacpac" /UniversalAuthentication:True \
    /SourceConnectionString:"Server=tcp:{yourserver}.database.windows.net,1433;Initial Catalog=AdventureWorksLT;MultipleActiveResultSets=False;Encrypt=True;TrustServerCertificate=False;Connection Timeout=30;"

Parameters for the Export action

Parameter Short Form Value Description
/AccessToken: /at: {string} Specifies the token-based authentication access token to use when connect to the target database.
/Action: /a: Export Specifies the action to be performed.
/AzureCloudConfig: /acc: {string} Specifies the custom endpoints for connecting to Microsoft Entra ID in the format: AzureActiveDirectoryAuthority={value};DatabaseServicePrincipalName={value}" .
/Diagnostics: /d: {True|False} Specifies whether diagnostic logging is output to the console. Defaults to False.
/DiagnosticsFile: /df: {string} Specifies a file to store diagnostic logs.
/MaxParallelism: /mp: {int} Specifies the degree of parallelism for concurrent operations running against a database. The default value is 8.
/OverwriteFiles: /of: {True|False} Specifies if SqlPackage should overwrite existing files. Specifying false causes SqlPackage to abort action if an existing file is encountered. Default value is True.
/Properties: /p: {PropertyName}={Value} Specifies a name value pair for an action-specific property;{PropertyName}={Value}.
/Quiet: /q: {True|False} Specifies whether detailed feedback is suppressed. Defaults to False.
/SourceConnectionString: /scs: {string} Specifies a valid SQL Server/Azure connection string to the source database. If this parameter is specified, it shall be used exclusively of all other source parameters.
/SourceDatabaseName: /sdn: {string} Defines the name of the source database.
/SourceEncryptConnection: /sec: {Optional|Mandatory|Strict|True|False} Specifies if SQL encryption should be used for the source database connection. Default value is True.
/SourceHostNameInCertificate: /shnic: {string} Specifies value that is used to validate the source SQL Server TLS/SSL certificate when the communication layer is encrypted by using TLS.
/SourcePassword: /sp: {string} For SQL Server Auth scenarios, defines the password to use to access the source database.
/SourceServerName: /ssn: {string} Defines the name of the server hosting the source database.
/SourceTimeout: /st: {int} Specifies the timeout for establishing a connection to the source database in seconds.
/SourceTrustServerCertificate: /stsc: {True|False} Specifies whether to use TLS to encrypt the source database connection and bypass walking the certificate chain to validate trust. Default value is False.
/SourceUser: /su: {string} For SQL Server Auth scenarios, defines the SQL Server user to use to access the source database.
/TargetFile: /tf: {string} Specifies a target file (that is, a .dacpac file) to be used as the target of action instead of a database. If this parameter is used, no other target parameter shall be valid. This parameter shall be invalid for actions that only support database targets.
/TenantId: /tid: {string} Represents the Microsoft Entra tenant ID or domain name. This option is required to support guest or imported Microsoft Entra users as well as Microsoft accounts such as outlook.com, hotmail.com, or live.com. If this parameter is omitted, the default tenant ID for Microsoft Entra ID will be used, assuming that the authenticated user is a native user for this tenant. However, in this case any guest or imported users and/or Microsoft accounts hosted in this Microsoft Entra ID are not supported and the operation will fail.
For more information, see Universal authentication with SQL Database and Azure Synapse Analytics (SSMS support for MFA).
/ThreadMaxStackSize: /tmss: {int} Specifies the maximum size in megabytes for the thread running the SqlPackage action. This option should only be used when encountering stack overflow exceptions that occur when parsing very large Transact-SQL statements.
/UniversalAuthentication: /ua: {True|False} Specifies if universal authentication should be used. When set to True, the interactive authentication protocol is activated supporting MFA. This option can also be used for Microsoft Entra authentication without MFA, using an interactive protocol requiring the user to enter their username and password or integrated authentication (Windows credentials). When /UniversalAuthentication is set to True, no Microsoft Entra authentication can be specified in SourceConnectionString (/scs). When /UniversalAuthentication is set to False, Microsoft Entra authentication must be specified in SourceConnectionString (/scs).
For more information, see Universal authentication with SQL Database and Azure Synapse Analytics (SSMS support for MFA).

Properties specific to the Export action

Property Value Description
/p: CommandTimeout=(INT32 '60') Specifies the command timeout in seconds when executing queries against SQL Server.
/p: CompressionOption=({Normal|Maximum|Fast|SuperFast|NotCompressed} 'Normal') Specifies the type of compression.
/p: DatabaseLockTimeout=(INT32 '60') Specifies the database lock timeout in seconds when executing queries against SQLServer. Use -1 to wait indefinitely.
/p: HashObjectNamesInLogs=(BOOLEAN 'False') Specifies whether to replace all object names in logs with a random hash value.
/p: IgnoreIndexesStatisticsOnEnclaveEnabledColumns=(BOOLEAN 'False') Specifies whether indexes or statistics on columns encrypted using randomized encryption and enclave-enabled column encryption keys should be ignored (not included in the generated bacpac). By default (false) any index or a statistic on a column encrypted using randomized encryption and an enclave-enabled column encryption key will block the export action.
/p: LongRunningCommandTimeout=(INT32 '0') Specifies the long running command timeout in seconds when executing queries against SQL Server. Use 0 to wait indefinitely.
/p: Storage=({File|Memory}) Specifies the type of backing storage for the schema model used during extraction. 'Memory' is default for .NET Core version of SqlPackage. 'File' is only available and default for .NET Framework version of SqlPackage.
/p: TableData=(STRING) Indicates the table from which data will be extracted. Specify the table name with or without the brackets surrounding the name parts in the following format: schema_name.table_identifier. This property may be specified multiple times to indicate multiple options.
/p: TargetEngineVersion=({Default|Latest|V11|V12} 'Latest') This property is deprecated and use is not recommended. Specifies the version the target engine for Azure SQL Database is expected to be.
/p: TempDirectoryForTableData=(STRING) Specifies an alternative temporary directory used to buffer table data before being written to the package file. The space required in this location may be large and is relative to the full size of the database.
/p: VerifyExtraction=(BOOLEAN 'True') Specifies whether the extracted schema model should be verified. If set to true, schema validation rules are run on the dacpac or bacpac.
/p: VerifyFullTextDocumentTypesSupported=(BOOLEAN 'False') Specifies whether the supported full-text document types for Microsoft Azure SQL Database v12 should be verified.

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