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[Azure] Backup your SQL Server databases

  • September 11, 2018
  • 4 min read
Cloud and Virtualization Architect. Florent is specializing in public, hybrid, and private cloud technologies. He is a Microsoft MVP in Cloud and Datacenter Management and an MCSE in Private Cloud.
Cloud and Virtualization Architect. Florent is specializing in public, hybrid, and private cloud technologies. He is a Microsoft MVP in Cloud and Datacenter Management and an MCSE in Private Cloud.

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Microsoft released a few weeks ago a new feature, to backup your SQL Server databases, directly from Azure Backup. You’ll be able to find more information about prerequisites and limitations here : https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/backup/backup-azure-sql-database

Backup

To start, open your vault, and choose SQL Server in Azure VM instead of Virtual Machines. As you can see, because VMs are deployed manually and not through the marketplace, I need to do manually some actions. Select a VM that contains a SQL Server :

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An extension will be deployed on each VM, to access databases :

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An error message will appear, to give you the instruction to add sysadmin rights, on instances that you want to backup, to the account created during the installation of the extension, NT Service\AzureWLBackupPluginSvc:

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Error Code : UserErrorSQLNoSysadminMembership
Error Message : Azure Backup service creates a service account “NT Service\AzureWLBackupPluginSvc” for all operations and this account needs SQL sysadmin priviledge.
Recommended Action : Please provide SysAdmin privileges to AzureWLBackupPluginSvc.

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When it’s done, relaunch the scan of instances to discover databases :

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Databases have been discovered correctly :

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Click now on Configure Backup :

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And choose databases to backup :

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Choose a policy to backup logs :

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Our databases have been added to the backup successfully. Click on it to access them :

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Choose a database and start a Full backup :

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All full backups worked correctly :

https://i1.wp.com/cloudyjourney.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/AzureSQL12.png?ssl=1

 

Restore

To restore a database, go on the database that you want to restore, and click on Restore. You can create a new database based on the backup, et replace the current database :

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Select a restore point :

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And where to restore this database :

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Restore of the database is in progress :

https://i1.wp.com/cloudyjourney.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/AzureSQL16.png?ssl=1

The database has been restored correctly :

https://i0.wp.com/cloudyjourney.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/AzureSQL17.png?ssl=1

This new functionality is very interesting and is working smoothly for a preview. Adding of other databases types like Oracle, MySQL, PostGre, etc. could be very interesting.

 

Found Florent’s article helpful? Looking for a reliable, high-performance, and cost-effective shared storage solution for your production cluster?
Dmytro Malynka
Dmytro Malynka StarWind Virtual SAN Product Manager
We’ve got you covered! StarWind Virtual SAN (VSAN) is specifically designed to provide highly-available shared storage for Hyper-V, vSphere, and KVM clusters. With StarWind VSAN, simplicity is key: utilize the local disks of your hypervisor hosts and create shared HA storage for your VMs. Interested in learning more? Book a short StarWind VSAN demo now and see it in action!