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>  # Required: Azure subscription ID
AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=prod  # Required only if DefaultAzureCredential is used in production
AZURE_TENANT_ID=<tenant-id>  # For service principal auth (optional)
AZURE_CLIENT_ID=<client-id>  # For service principal auth (optional)
AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET=<client-secret>  # For service principal auth (optional)

Authentication

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

// Local dev: DefaultAzureCredential. Production: set AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=prod or AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=<specific_credential>
var credential = new DefaultAzureCredential(
    DefaultAzureCredential.DefaultEnvironmentVariableName
);
// Or use a specific credential directly in production:
// See https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/overview/azure/identity-readme?view=azure-dotnet#credential-classes
// var credential = new ManagedIdentityCredential();
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

Type	Purpose
ArmClient	Entry point for all ARM operations
SqlServerResource	Represents an Azure SQL server
SqlServerCollection	Collection for server CRUD
SqlDatabaseResource	Represents a SQL database
SqlDatabaseCollection	Collection for database CRUD
ElasticPoolResource	Represents an elastic pool
ElasticPoolCollection	Collection for elastic pool CRUD
SqlFirewallRuleResource	Represents a firewall rule
SqlFirewallRuleCollection	Collection for firewall rule CRUD
SqlServerData	Server creation/update payload
SqlDatabaseData	Database creation/update payload
ElasticPoolData	Elastic pool creation/update payload
SqlFirewallRuleData	Firewall rule creation/update payload
SqlSku	SKU configuration (tier, capacity)

Common SKUs

Database SKUs

SKU Name	Tier	Description
Basic	Basic	5 DTUs, 2 GB max
S0-S12	Standard	10-3000 DTUs
P1-P15	Premium	125-4000 DTUs
GP_Gen5_2	GeneralPurpose	vCore-based, 2 vCores
BC_Gen5_2	BusinessCritical	vCore-based, 2 vCores
HS_Gen5_2	Hyperscale	vCore-based, 2 vCores

Elastic Pool SKUs

SKU Name	Tier	Description
BasicPool	Basic	50-1600 eDTUs
StandardPool	Standard	50-3000 eDTUs
PremiumPool	Premium	125-4000 eDTUs
GP_Gen5_2	GeneralPurpose	vCore-based
BC_Gen5_2	BusinessCritical	vCore-based

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

File	When to Read
references/server-management.md	Server CRUD, admin credentials, Azure AD auth, networking
references/database-operations.md	Database CRUD, scaling, backup, restore, copy
references/elastic-pools.md	Pool management, adding/removing databases, scaling

Related SDKs

SDK	Purpose	Install
Microsoft.Data.SqlClient	Data plane (execute queries, stored procedures)	dotnet add package Microsoft.Data.SqlClient
Azure.ResourceManager.Sql	Management plane (this SDK)	dotnet add package Azure.ResourceManager.Sql
Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer	ORM for SQL Server	dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer