Microsoft Access/SQL Server Hosted on Azure - How to Distribute to End Users
I am wanting to use Microsoft Access to create various dashboards/forms for inventory management, PO requests, and maintenance. I feel confident in my abilities on the Microsoft Access development end. I guess what I’m looking for is advice on how to distribute the front-end program to our employees to be able to utilize – this is what I need help with.. The back end would be utilizing SQL server as the database hosted in Azure.
Details
Microsoft Access 365
Microsoft Azure (to host SQL Server)
Pricing Tier: General Purpose - Serverless: Gen5, 1 vCore
SSMS v19.0.2
~20 people would need to be able to use this, not all at one time. I would say at most 10 people would be using the Access front end at the same time.
I made a trial table & form to test out this process. I’ve successfully been able to set up Azure with my SQL database and make a connection with SSMS. I’ve also been able to link a table in Access to the SQL Server and successfully make changes both ways:
What I’m confused about doing and running into trouble with is how to build & distribute the front end of my Microsoft Access to users. I’ve looked up many tutorials and tried many examples. I’ve went into the VBA in Access to set up a digital signature. I then saved the document under “Package & Sign”, and a different one as “Make ACCDE”. I tried trialing the program out on a separate laptop that DOES NOT have Microsoft Suite or Microsoft 365 – I installed Access Runtime.
When I try to open the “Package/Sign” or the “ACCDE” file, it did not work. I had to install a certificate in the trust directory. After that, Access Runtime opened, but the screen was blank and did not show my form. Hopefully all of this makes sense, but basically, I need help in how to close the loop in distributing a final Access “App” to my end user so that it is connected to my SQL server on Azure.