Extract Data-tier Application Wizard F1 Help
Use this wizard to extract a data-tier application (DAC) from an existing SQL Server database. The extraction process creates a DAC package file that contains the definitions of the database objects and their related instance-level elements. For example, a DAC package file contains all database tables, stored procedures, views, users, along with the logins that map to the database users.
If the Extract a Data-tier Application Wizard is run against a database that was deployed from a DAC, the wizard only extracts the definitions of the objects in the database, and does not reference the DAC registered in msdb (master in SQL Azure) The Extract a Data-tier Application Wizard also does not register a DAC definition. For more information about registering a DAC, see How to: Register a Database As a DAC.
Note Extracting a DAC requires at least ALTER ANY LOGIN and database scope VIEW DEFINITION permissions, as well as SELECT permissions on sys.sql_expression_dependencies. Extracting a DAC can be done by members of the securityadmin fixed server role who are also members of the database_owner fixed database role in the database from which the DAC is extracted. Members of the sysadmin fixed server role or the built-in SQL Server system administrator account named sa can also extract a DAC.
You can extract a DAC from a database residing in an instance of SQL Server 2008 R2, SQL Azure, SQL Server 2008, SQL Server 2005, and SQL Server 2000.
You can learn more about each page of the wizard in the following topics.