Azure.ResourceManager.Sql (.NET)

Management plane SDK for provisioning and managing Azure SQL resources via Azure Resource Manager.

⚠️ Management vs Data Plane

• This SDK (Azure.ResourceManager.Sql): Create servers, databases, elastic pools, configure firewall rules, manage failover groups
• Data Plane SDK (Microsoft.Data.SqlClient): Execute queries, stored procedures, manage connections

Installation

dotnet add package Azure.ResourceManager.Sql
dotnet add package Azure.Identity

Current Versions: Stable v1.3.0, Preview v1.4.0-beta.3

Environment Variables

AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID=<your-subscription-id>
# For service principal auth (optional)
AZURE_TENANT_ID=<tenant-id>
AZURE_CLIENT_ID=<client-id>
AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET=<client-secret>

Authentication

using Azure.Identity;
using Azure.ResourceManager;
using Azure.ResourceManager.Sql;

// Always use DefaultAzureCredential
var credential = new DefaultAzureCredential();
var armClient = new ArmClient(credential);

// Get subscription
var subscriptionId = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID");
var subscription = armClient.GetSubscriptionResource(
    new ResourceIdentifier($"/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}"));

Resource Hierarchy

ArmClient
└── SubscriptionResource
    └── ResourceGroupResource
        └── SqlServerResource
            ├── SqlDatabaseResource
            ├── ElasticPoolResource
            │   └── ElasticPoolDatabaseResource
            ├── SqlFirewallRuleResource
            ├── FailoverGroupResource
            ├── ServerBlobAuditingPolicyResource
            ├── EncryptionProtectorResource
            └── VirtualNetworkRuleResource

Core Workflow

1. Create SQL Server

using Azure.ResourceManager.Sql;
using Azure.ResourceManager.Sql.Models;

// Get resource group
var resourceGroup = await subscription
    .GetResourceGroupAsync("my-resource-group");

// Define server
var serverData = new SqlServerData(AzureLocation.EastUS)
{
    AdministratorLogin = "sqladmin",
    AdministratorLoginPassword = "YourSecurePassword123!",
    Version = "12.0",
    MinimalTlsVersion = SqlMinimalTlsVersion.Tls1_2,
    PublicNetworkAccess = ServerNetworkAccessFlag.Enabled
};

// Create server (long-running operation)
var serverCollection = resourceGroup.Value.GetSqlServers();
var operation = await serverCollection.CreateOrUpdateAsync(
    WaitUntil.Completed,
    "my-sql-server",
    serverData);

SqlServerResource server = operation.Value;

2. Create SQL Database

var databaseData = new SqlDatabaseData(AzureLocation.EastUS)
{
    Sku = new SqlSku("S0") { Tier = "Standard" },
    MaxSizeBytes = 2L * 1024 * 1024 * 1024, // 2 GB
    Collation = "SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS",
    RequestedBackupStorageRedundancy = SqlBackupStorageRedundancy.Local
};

var databaseCollection = server.GetSqlDatabases();
var dbOperation = await databaseCollection.CreateOrUpdateAsync(
    WaitUntil.Completed,
    "my-database",
    databaseData);

SqlDatabaseResource database = dbOperation.Value;

3. Create Elastic Pool

var poolData = new ElasticPoolData(AzureLocation.EastUS)
{
    Sku = new SqlSku("StandardPool")
    {
        Tier = "Standard",
        Capacity = 100 // 100 eDTUs
    },
    PerDatabaseSettings = new ElasticPoolPerDatabaseSettings
    {
        MinCapacity = 0,
        MaxCapacity = 100
    }
};

var poolCollection = server.GetElasticPools();
var poolOperation = await poolCollection.CreateOrUpdateAsync(
    WaitUntil.Completed,
    "my-elastic-pool",
    poolData);

ElasticPoolResource pool = poolOperation.Value;

4. Add Database to Elastic Pool

var databaseData = new SqlDatabaseData(AzureLocation.EastUS)
{
    ElasticPoolId = pool.Id
};

await databaseCollection.CreateOrUpdateAsync(
    WaitUntil.Completed,
    "pooled-database",
    databaseData);

5. Configure Firewall Rules

// Allow Azure services
var azureServicesRule = new SqlFirewallRuleData
{
    StartIPAddress = "0.0.0.0",
    EndIPAddress = "0.0.0.0"
};

var firewallCollection = server.GetSqlFirewallRules();
await firewallCollection.CreateOrUpdateAsync(
    WaitUntil.Completed,
    "AllowAzureServices",
    azureServicesRule);

// Allow specific IP range
var clientRule = new SqlFirewallRuleData
{
    StartIPAddress = "203.0.113.0",
    EndIPAddress = "203.0.113.255"
};

await firewallCollection.CreateOrUpdateAsync(
    WaitUntil.Completed,
    "AllowClientIPs",
    clientRule);

6. List Resources

// List all servers in subscription
await foreach (var srv in subscription.GetSqlServersAsync())
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Server: {srv.Data.Name} in {srv.Data.Location}");
}

// List databases in a server
await foreach (var db in server.GetSqlDatabases())
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Database: {db.Data.Name}, SKU: {db.Data.Sku?.Name}");
}

// List elastic pools
await foreach (var ep in server.GetElasticPools())
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Pool: {ep.Data.Name}, DTU: {ep.Data.Sku?.Capacity}");
}

7. Get Connection String

// Build connection string (server FQDN is predictable)
var serverFqdn = $"{server.Data.Name}.database.windows.net";
var connectionString = $"Server=tcp:{serverFqdn},1433;" +
    $"Initial Catalog={database.Data.Name};" +
    "Persist Security Info=False;" +
    $"User ID={server.Data.AdministratorLogin};" +
    "Password=<your-password>;" +
    "MultipleActiveResultSets=False;" +
    "Encrypt=True;" +
    "TrustServerCertificate=False;" +
    "Connection Timeout=30;";

Key Types Reference

ArmClient

SqlServerResource

SqlServerCollection

SqlDatabaseResource

SqlDatabaseCollection

ElasticPoolResource

ElasticPoolCollection

SqlFirewallRuleResource

SqlFirewallRuleCollection

SqlServerData

SqlDatabaseData

ElasticPoolData

SqlFirewallRuleData

SqlSku

Common SKUs

Database SKUs

Basic

S0

S12

P1

P15

GP_Gen5_2

BC_Gen5_2

HS_Gen5_2

Elastic Pool SKUs

BasicPool

StandardPool

PremiumPool

GP_Gen5_2

BC_Gen5_2

Best Practices

1. Use

   WaitUntil.Completed

   for operations that must finish before proceeding
2. Use

   WaitUntil.Started

   when you want to poll manually or run operations in parallel
3. Always use

   DefaultAzureCredential

   — never hardcode passwords in production
4. Handle

   RequestFailedException

   for ARM API errors
5. Use

   CreateOrUpdateAsync

   for idempotent operations
6. Navigate hierarchy via

   Get*

   methods (e.g.,

   server.GetSqlDatabases()

   )
7. Use elastic pools for cost optimization when managing multiple databases
8. Configure firewall rules before attempting connections

Error Handling

using Azure;

try
{
    var operation = await serverCollection.CreateOrUpdateAsync(
        WaitUntil.Completed, serverName, serverData);
}
catch (RequestFailedException ex) when (ex.Status == 409)
{
    Console.WriteLine("Server already exists");
}
catch (RequestFailedException ex) when (ex.Status == 400)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Invalid request: {ex.Message}");
}
catch (RequestFailedException ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"ARM Error: {ex.Status} - {ex.ErrorCode}: {ex.Message}");
}

Reference Files

Related SDKs

Microsoft.Data.SqlClient

dotnet add package Microsoft.Data.SqlClient

Azure.ResourceManager.Sql

dotnet add package Azure.ResourceManager.Sql

Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer

dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer