Migrating a Database from an On-Premises SQL Server to an Azure SQL Managed Instance

You can migrate a SQL database from an on-premises SQL server to an Azure SQL managed instance. To perform the migration, you restore the SQL database to the Azure SQL managed instance.

Note:The proxy instance (specified by the Staging Server box in the SQL Restore Options window) must be the same version or a more recent version of SQL than the source instance.

Procedure

If the source database is protected by Transparent Data Encryption (TDE), migrate the certificate from the on-premises SQL server to both the on-premises proxy SQL server and the Azure SQL managed instance.
1. To migrate the certificate of a TDE-protected database to an on-premises proxy SQL server, physically copy the certificate (.cer) and private key (.pvk) files from the source server to the proxy server.
  
  For information about migrating the certificate to the Azure SQL managed instance, see Migrate certificate of TDE protected database to Azure SQL Database Managed Instance in the Microsoft documentation.
2. Create the master key and the certificate on the proxy server in the same way as is done for the destination server of a regular TDE restore.
  
  For more information about creating the master key and creating the certificate, see the Microsoft documentation CREATE MASTER KEY and CREATE CERTIFICATE.
From the navigation pane, go to Protect > Databases.

The Instances page appears.
In the row for the instance, click the action button , and then click Restore.

The Backup content dialog box appears.
Select the content to restore, and then click Restore.

The Restore options dialog box appears.
From the Destination server list, select the Azure SQL managed instance to restore the data to.
From the Proxy client list, select the access node to use for the restore.
In the Staging path on proxy client box, enter the location to stage the Azure BACPAC file in.

When you select the staging path, do one of the following so that the restore completes successfully:
- Enter a location that is on the destination server.
- Rename the database and the physical files.
  
  Note
  
  The location must have enough space for the backup data and the Azure BACPAC file.
To drop all existing connections to the database before the restore, select the Drop connections to database check box.
Click Submit.