Not getting an option to restore serverless Azure sql database in paired region

Question

Not getting an option to restore serverless Azure sql database in paired region

Ankit Dwivedi 0

I have a Azure SQL database (serverless Gen 5) in US west region. I am trying to restore this database from Geo redundant backups in US west central region but not getting an option to restore.

Pilladi Padma Sai Manisha 595 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-12-16T17:25:30.95+00:00

Hi Ankit Dwivedi,
Geo-restore for Azure SQL Database uses the most recent geo-replicated backups and is initiated by creating a new database, not from the existing database's "Restore" blade. Navigate to Create SQL Database in the Azure portal, go to the Additional settings tab, select Backup under "Use existing data," and choose the available geo-restore backup from your source database. This creates a new serverless database in your desired region (e.g., US West Central or any supported region) on any logical server in the same subscription, inheriting the serverless compute model if applicable.

Serverless Gen5 databases fully support geo-restore as long as geo-redundant backup storage (default RA-GRS) is enabled, which applies here since backups exist in the paired region. The process may take up to 12 hours with up to 1-hour RPO due to geo-replication lag, and you cannot restore directly to the existing database use point-in-time restore (PITR) on the source for same-server recovery instead.

To assist further or if the backup doesn't appear:
Confirm the backup storage redundancy (e.g., Geo-Redundant Storage) on the source database under Settings > Backup storage redundancy.

Share the source logical server name, database name, subscription ID, and any error messages or screenshots from the Create SQL Database backup selection in private message.

Is the target region/server in the same subscription? Are you using PowerShell/CLI (e.g., az sql db restore --from-geo-backup) or portal only?

Provide the database's backup retention period and last full backup timestamp from the source database's Overview > Backups section
I hope this helps you out! Let me know if you have any other questions or need further clarification.
Pilladi Padma Sai Manisha 595 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-12-17T18:46:44.0733333+00:00

Hi Ankit Dwivedi,
I hope you had a chance to review the information shared earlier, and I hope this information has been helpful! If you still have questions, please let us know what is needed in the comments so the question can be answered.

1 answer

Your answer

Pilladi Padma Sai Manisha 595 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-12-16T17:25:30.95+00:00

Hi Ankit Dwivedi,
Geo-restore for Azure SQL Database uses the most recent geo-replicated backups and is initiated by creating a new database, not from the existing database's "Restore" blade. Navigate to Create SQL Database in the Azure portal, go to the Additional settings tab, select Backup under "Use existing data," and choose the available geo-restore backup from your source database. This creates a new serverless database in your desired region (e.g., US West Central or any supported region) on any logical server in the same subscription, inheriting the serverless compute model if applicable.

Serverless Gen5 databases fully support geo-restore as long as geo-redundant backup storage (default RA-GRS) is enabled, which applies here since backups exist in the paired region. The process may take up to 12 hours with up to 1-hour RPO due to geo-replication lag, and you cannot restore directly to the existing database use point-in-time restore (PITR) on the source for same-server recovery instead.

To assist further or if the backup doesn't appear:
Confirm the backup storage redundancy (e.g., Geo-Redundant Storage) on the source database under Settings > Backup storage redundancy.

Share the source logical server name, database name, subscription ID, and any error messages or screenshots from the Create SQL Database backup selection in private message.

Is the target region/server in the same subscription? Are you using PowerShell/CLI (e.g., az sql db restore --from-geo-backup) or portal only?

Provide the database's backup retention period and last full backup timestamp from the source database's Overview > Backups section
I hope this helps you out! Let me know if you have any other questions or need further clarification.
Pilladi Padma Sai Manisha 595 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-12-17T18:46:44.0733333+00:00

Hi Ankit Dwivedi,
I hope you had a chance to review the information shared earlier, and I hope this information has been helpful! If you still have questions, please let us know what is needed in the comments so the question can be answered.

Answer 1

If you are not getting the option to restore your serverless Azure SQL database in the paired region (US West Central) from geo-redundant backups, there are a few things to consider:

Geo-Redundant Backup Configuration: Ensure that your Azure SQL database is configured with geo-redundant backup storage. Geo-restore is only available for databases that have this configuration enabled.
Region Availability: Geo-restore allows you to restore a database to any logical server in any Azure region from the most recent geo-replicated backups. However, if the backup is not available in the paired region, you will not see the option to restore.
Subscription Constraints: Ensure that the database you are trying to restore resides in the same subscription as the geo-redundant backups. Geo-restore is only available for databases within the same subscription.
Service Limitations: Check if there are any service limitations or outages in the Azure regions you are working with, as this could affect the availability of the restore option.

If all configurations are correct and you still do not see the option, you may want to reach out to Azure support for further assistance.

References:

Restore a database from a backup in Azure SQL Database

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Not getting an option to restore serverless Azure sql database in paired region

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