Manual Backups for Azure SQL Database

Conventional database backup statements don't work in Azure SQL Database. A manual backup consists of exporting the database as a DACPAC (schema) or BACPAC (schema + data) and bcp (bulk copy program utility) out the data into CSV files.

Manual backups can be performed in the following ways:

• Exporting a BACPAC to your Azure storage account using the Azure portal
• Exporting a BACPAC to your Azure storage account using PowerShell
• Exporting a BACPAC using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
• Exporting a BACPAC or a DACPAC to an on-premises system using sqlpackage.exe

DACPAC and BACPAC

DACPAC stands for Data-Tier Application Package and contains the database schema in .xml format. A BACPAC is a DACPAC with data.

DAC is a database life cycle management tool that simplifies the development, deployment, and management of data tier elements supporting an application.

A BACPAC is generally used to move a database...