Create and manage servers and single databases in Azure SQL Database

You can create and manage servers and single databases in Azure SQL Database using the Azure portal, PowerShell, the Azure CLI, REST API, and Transact-SQL.

Note

Try Azure SQL Database free of charge and get 100,000 vCore seconds of serverless compute and 32 GB of storage every month.

Prerequisites

• An active Azure subscription. If you don't have one, create a free account.

Permissions

To create databases via Transact-SQL: CREATE DATABASE permissions are necessary. To create a database a login must be either the server admin login (created when the Azure SQL Database logical server was provisioned), the Microsoft Entra admin of the server, a member of the dbmanager database role in master. For more information, see CREATE DATABASE.

To create databases via the Azure portal, PowerShell, Azure CLI, or REST API: Azure RBAC permissions are needed, specifically the Contributor, SQL DB Contributor, or SQL Server Contributor Azure RBAC role. For more information, see Azure RBAC built-in roles.

The Azure portal

You can create the resource group for Azure SQL Database ahead of time or while creating the server itself.

Tip

For an Azure portal quickstart, see Quickstart: Create a single database.

Create a server

To create a server using the Azure portal, create a new server resource from Azure Marketplace. Alternatively, you can create the server when you deploy an Azure SQL Database.

Create a blank or sample database

To create a single Azure SQL Database using the Azure portal, choose the Azure SQL Database resource in Azure Marketplace. You can create the resource group and server ahead of time or while creating the single database itself. You can create a blank database or create a sample database based on Adventure Works LT.

Important

For information on selecting the pricing tier for your database, see DTU-based purchasing model and vCore-based purchasing model.

Manage an existing server

To manage an existing server, navigate to the server using several methods - such as from a specific database page, the SQL servers page, or the All resources page.

To manage an existing database, navigate to the SQL databases page and select the database you wish to manage. The following screenshot shows how to begin setting a server-level firewall for a database from the Overview page for a database.

Important

To configure performance properties for a database, see DTU-based purchasing model and vCore-based purchasing model.

PowerShell

Note

This article uses the Azure Az PowerShell module, which is the recommended PowerShell module for interacting with Azure. To get started with the Az PowerShell module, see Install Azure PowerShell. To learn how to migrate to the Az PowerShell module, see Migrate Azure PowerShell from AzureRM to Az.

Important

The PowerShell Azure Resource Manager (AzureRM) module was deprecated on February 29, 2024. All future development should use the Az.Sql module. Users are advised to migrate from AzureRM to the Az PowerShell module to ensure continued support and updates. The AzureRM module is no longer maintained or supported. The arguments for the commands in the Az PowerShell module and in the AzureRM modules are substantially identical. For more about their compatibility, see Introducing the new Az PowerShell module.

To create and manage servers, single and pooled databases, and server-level firewalls with Azure PowerShell, use the following PowerShell cmdlets. If you need to install or upgrade PowerShell, see Install Azure PowerShell module.

Tip

For PowerShell example scripts, see Use PowerShell to create a single database and configure a server-level firewall rule and Use PowerShell to monitor and scale a single database in Azure SQL Database.

Cmdlet	Description
New-AzSqlDatabase	Creates a database
Get-AzSqlDatabase	Gets one or more databases
Set-AzSqlDatabase	Sets properties for a database, or moves an existing database into an elastic pool
Remove-AzSqlDatabase	Removes a database
New-AzResourceGroup	Creates a resource group
New-AzSqlServer	Creates a server
Get-AzSqlServer	Returns information about servers
Set-AzSqlServer	Modifies properties of a server
Remove-AzSqlServer	Removes a server
New-AzSqlServerFirewallRule	Creates a server-level firewall rule
Get-AzSqlServerFirewallRule	Gets firewall rules for a server
Set-AzSqlServerFirewallRule	Modifies a firewall rule in a server
Remove-AzSqlServerFirewallRule	Deletes a firewall rule from a server.
New-AzSqlServerVirtualNetworkRule	Creates a virtual network rule, based on a subnet that is a Virtual Network service endpoint.

Azure CLI

To create and manage the servers, databases, and firewalls with Azure CLI, use the following Azure CLI commands. Use the Cloud Shell to run Azure CLI in your browser, or install it on macOS, Linux, or Windows. For creating and managing elastic pools, see Elastic pools.

Tip

For an Azure CLI quickstart, see Azure CLI samples for Azure SQL Database. For Azure CLI example scripts, see Create a single database and configure a firewall rule using the Azure CLI and Monitor and scale a single database in Azure SQL Database using the Azure CLI.

Cmdlet	Description
az sql db create	Creates a database
az sql db list	Lists all databases and data warehouses in a server, or all databases in an elastic pool
az sql db list-editions	Lists available service objectives and storage limits
az sql db list-usages	Returns database usages
az sql db show	Gets a database or data warehouse
az sql db update	Updates a database
az sql db delete	Removes a database
az group create	Creates a resource group
az sql server create	Creates a server
az sql server list	Lists servers
az sql server list-usages	Returns server usages
az sql server show	Gets a server
az sql server update	Updates a server
az sql server delete	Deletes a server
az sql server firewall-rule create	Creates a server firewall rule
az sql server firewall-rule list	Lists the firewall rules on a server
az sql server firewall-rule show	Shows the detail of a firewall rule
az sql server firewall-rule update	Updates a firewall rule
az sql server firewall-rule delete	Deletes a firewall rule

Transact-SQL (T-SQL)

To create and manage the servers, databases, and firewalls with Transact-SQL, use the following T-SQL commands. You can issue these commands using the Azure portal, SQL Server Management Studio, Visual Studio Code, or any other program that can connect to a server in SQL Database and pass Transact-SQL commands. For managing elastic pools, see Elastic pools help you manage and scale multiple databases in Azure SQL Database.

Tip

For a quickstart using SQL Server Management Studio on Microsoft Windows, see Quickstart: Use SSMS to connect to and query Azure SQL Database or Azure SQL Managed Instance. For a quickstart using Visual Studio Code on the macOS, Linux, or Windows, see Quickstart: Use Visual Studio Code to connect and query Azure SQL Database or Azure SQL Managed Instance.

Important

You can't create or delete a server using Transact-SQL.

Command	Description
CREATE DATABASE	Creates a new single database. You must be connected to the master database to create a new database.
ALTER DATABASE	Modifies a database or elastic pool.
DROP DATABASE	Deletes a database.
sys.database_service_objectives	Returns the edition (service tier), service objective (pricing tier), and elastic pool name, if any, for Azure SQL Database or a dedicated SQL pool in Azure Synapse Analytics. If logged on to the master database in a server in SQL Database, returns information on all databases. For Azure Synapse Analytics, you must be connected to the master database.
sys.dm_db_resource_stats	Returns CPU, IO, and memory consumption for a database in Azure SQL Database. One row exists for every 15 seconds, even if there's no activity in the database.
sys.resource_stats	Returns CPU usage and storage data for a database in Azure SQL Database. The data is collected and aggregated within five-minute intervals.
sys.database_connection_stats	Contains statistics for SQL Database connectivity events, providing an overview of database connection successes and failures.
sys.event_log	Returns successful Azure SQL Database connections and connection failures. You can use this information to track or troubleshoot your database activity with SQL Database.
sp_set_firewall_rule	Creates or updates the server-level firewall settings for your server. This stored procedure is only available in the master database to the server-level principal login. A server-level firewall rule can only be created using Transact-SQL after the first server-level firewall rule has been created by a user with Azure-level permissions
sys.firewall_rules	Returns information about the server-level firewall settings associated with your database in Azure SQL Database.
sp_delete_firewall_rule	Removes server-level firewall settings from your server. This stored procedure is only available in the master database to the server-level principal login.
sp_set_database_firewall_rule	Creates or updates the database-level firewall rules for your database in Azure SQL Database. Database firewall rules can be configured for the master database, and for user databases on SQL Database. Database firewall rules are useful when using contained database users.
sys.database_firewall_rules	Returns information about the database-level firewall settings associated with your database in Azure SQL Database.
sp_delete_database_firewall_rule	Removes database-level firewall setting from a database.

REST API

To create and manage the servers, databases, and firewalls, use these REST API requests.

Command	Description
Servers - Create or update	Creates or updates a new server.
Servers - Delete	Deletes a SQL server.
Servers - Get	Gets a server.
Servers - List	Returns a list of servers in a subscription.
Servers - List by resource group	Returns a list of servers in a resource group.
Servers - Update	Updates an existing server.
Databases - Create or update	Creates a new database or updates an existing database.
Databases - Delete	Deletes a database.
Databases - Get	Gets a database.
Databases - List by elastic pool	Returns a list of databases in an elastic pool.
Databases - List by server	Returns a list of databases in a server.
Databases - Update	Updates an existing database.
Firewall rules - Create or update	Creates or updates a firewall rule.
Firewall rules - Delete	Deletes a firewall rule.
Firewall rules - Get	Gets a firewall rule.
Firewall rules - List by server	Returns a list of firewall rules.

Related content

• Migrate to Azure SQL Database
• Features comparison: Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance