From the Azure SQL Database container to Azure SQL Database: same code, local to cloud

Build and test against the local container, then deploy the same application code to Azure SQL Database in the cloud. Only the connection string changes. Nothing else.

This works because the local container is the Azure SQL Database engine, not the SQL Server image. SELECT SERVERPROPERTY('EngineEdition') returns 5 and SERVERPROPERTY('Edition') returns 'SQL Azure', the same as the cloud. So the SQL surface your code depends on is the same in both places.

Verified on 2026-09-05 against the container image sqldbpreview-dpgaeqhmgphzd4bk.azurecr.io/azure-sql/db-dev:latest, reporting EngineEdition 5, Edition SQL Azure, build 12.0.2000.8. All six executable checks behind this skill passed on the container: the engine identity, Msg 40508 for USE, Msg 40510 for BACKUP and RESTORE, a parameterised insert with OUTPUT inserted.id, the single-database model, and sqlcmd at /opt/mssql-tools18/bin/sqlcmd. That run measured the container only. The cloud half of the parity claim, and the Microsoft Entra ID and managed identity setup for it, was not exercised there, so validate against a real Azure SQL Database once before declaring readiness.

The one rule

Do not change application code between local and cloud. The application reads its connection string from a single environment variable, SQL_CONNECTION_STRING. Local development sets it to the container; cloud deployment sets it to the Azure SQL server. Same binaries, same queries, same schema.

If you find yourself editing queries, drivers, or schema to "make it work in Azure", stop: that is a bug. The only thing that legitimately differs is the connection string (and, with it, the auth method).

The single env var, two values

Standardize on SQL_CONNECTION_STRING. House style spells the keywords User Id= / Password= / Database= so every example matches. Uid= and Pwd= are documented SqlClient synonyms and work too. ODBC strings are a separate grammar and use Uid= / Pwd= as their own keywords.

Local (container, SA auth):

Server=localhost,1433;Database=appdb;User Id=sa;Password=$MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD;TrustServerCertificate=true

Cloud (Azure SQL Database, Microsoft Entra auth):

Server=your-server.database.windows.net,1433;Database=appdb;Authentication=Active Directory Default;Encrypt=true

Note what stays identical: Database=appdb, the table names, the parameterized SQL. Only Server, the auth fields, and TLS posture move.

Local SA auth vs cloud Entra auth (why, not just how)

Local: the container is provisioned with one bootstrap login, sa, set via the MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD environment variable. There is no identity provider required in front of a container on your laptop, so password auth over a trusted self-signed cert (TrustServerCertificate=true) is the pragmatic local default.

Microsoft Entra ID authentication does work on the container (configure with the MSSQL_AAD_* variables and a certificate mount; see the azuresql-db-container skill, references/entra-auth.md). Use it when you want closer local-to-cloud parity. Most local-to-cloud flows still start with SQL auth locally and switch only the connection string for Entra in the cloud.

Cloud: Azure SQL Database sits behind Microsoft Entra ID. Instead of shipping a password, the app presents a token from its Entra identity (a managed identity in production, your developer sign-in locally against the cloud). The driver acquires the token; you never put a secret in the connection string. TLS is real and enforced, so use Encrypt=true and drop TrustServerCertificate.

The application code does not branch on this. The driver reads the Authentication= keyword (or its absence) from the connection string and does the right thing. That is the whole point: auth is configuration, not code.

Open references/auth-local-vs-cloud.md when you are setting up the cloud side, since it carries the token flow and the per-stack auth setup.

Minimal load-bearing facts about the local container

Just enough to run the examples on a fresh container. For full detail see the azuresql-db-container skill.

• Image: sqldbpreview-dpgaeqhmgphzd4bk.azurecr.io/azure-sql/db-dev:latest (multi-architecture: linux/amd64 and linux/arm64). Private preview registry: run docker login sqldbpreview-dpgaeqhmgphzd4bk.azurecr.io first using the shared pull-only credentials provided to the Private Preview cohort (get them by signing up at https://aka.ms/sqldbcontainerpreview-signup; they may rotate). Registry and tag are provisional during Private Preview.
• The runtime selects the matching architecture. Use --platform linux/amd64 only to explicitly test x64 emulation.
• Required env: ACCEPT_EULA=Y and a complex MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD (8+ chars, upper/lower/digit/symbol). Engine listens on 1433.
• The engine does not auto-create databases. You must CREATE DATABASE appdb on a master connection before connecting with Database=appdb. The master connection is for provisioning only; do real work on appdb.
• BACKUP and RESTORE are refused in every session with Msg 40510, locally exactly as in the cloud. Backing the container up and restoring the file into Azure SQL Database is not a promotion path; move schema and data with SqlPackage (see the azuresql-db-import skill).
• Cross-database queries are refused locally as they are in the cloud, so an application that keeps every object in one user database passes locally for the same reason it will pass against the service.
• IDENTITY columns behave here as they do in the cloud. The examples below use INT IDENTITY PRIMARY KEY unchanged against both, which is one of the places a rewrite is usually and needlessly proposed.
• Avoid USE to switch databases. In a user-database session (the Azure-faithful context where you develop), USE returns Msg 40508, exactly as in Azure SQL Database in the cloud. A master connection is a provisioning session where the Azure statement filter is not enforced, so USE appears to work there, but master is for provisioning only, not application work. Always select the target database in the connection string (Database=appdb, or -d appdb for sqlcmd).

Start the container and provision appdb (canonical recipe)

Run this once. It picks a free host port, lets the runtime select the matching architecture, waits for real readiness with a retry loop, and provisions appdb inside the retry loop. The -b -l 2 makes a transient startup error (for example Msg 913) set the exit code so the loop retries instead of masking it.

# Pick a free host port (works in bash and zsh).
HOST_PORT=1433; while lsof -nP -iTCP:"$HOST_PORT" -sTCP:LISTEN >/dev/null 2>&1; do HOST_PORT=$((HOST_PORT+1)); done
MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD="${MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD:-Aa1%$(openssl rand -hex 16)}"
docker rm -f sqldb 2>/dev/null
docker run -d --name sqldb -e "ACCEPT_EULA=Y" -e "MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD=$MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD" \
  -p "127.0.0.1:$HOST_PORT:1433" sqldbpreview-dpgaeqhmgphzd4bk.azurecr.io/azure-sql/db-dev:latest
until docker exec sqldb /opt/mssql-tools18/bin/sqlcmd -S localhost -U sa -P "$MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD" -C -b -l 2 \
  -Q "IF DB_ID('appdb') IS NULL CREATE DATABASE appdb;" >/dev/null 2>&1; do sleep 2; done
echo "ready on localhost,$HOST_PORT"

Then point the app at it, using the HOST_PORT the loop settled on:

export SQL_CONNECTION_STRING="Server=localhost,$HOST_PORT;Database=appdb;User Id=sa;Password=${MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD};TrustServerCertificate=true"

To run against the cloud later, change only this variable; do not touch the app.

What has been measured, and what is guidance

Be straight with the user about which half of this skill has evidence behind it.

The local half is measured. Every probe this skill carries runs against the container, and they cover the sentences the parity claim rests on: the engine reports EngineEdition 5 and Edition SQL Azure, USE returns Msg 40508, BACKUP returns Msg 40510, a cross-database query is refused, and the exact CRUD batch the examples below run returns the identity the examples read.

The cloud half is guidance. Nothing in this repository has ever run a probe against a logical server, so the cloud connection string, the Microsoft Entra token flow and the deployment checklist are written from the product's documentation and not from a run. That is deliberate rather than a gap waiting to be filled: the whole point of the container is that local development does not need a cloud database, so requiring one to validate this skill would contradict the skill. Say "this is the documented shape" rather than "this is verified" when the cloud side comes up.

Proof: same code, two stacks

Each example assumes appdb already exists (provisioned by the recipe above) and reads SQL_CONNECTION_STRING from the environment. It creates a table if needed and runs a parameterized CRUD transaction. Run it once with the local string, then again with the cloud string: identical code, identical result. The local run is the one this skill has evidence for; the cloud run is the one you are being told to expect.

Node (mssql)

// app.mjs  ->  node app.mjs  (ESM: use the .mjs extension, or set "type":"module" in package.json)
import sql from 'mssql';

const pool = await sql.connect(process.env.SQL_CONNECTION_STRING);
const tx = new sql.Transaction(pool);
await tx.begin();
try {
  const r = new sql.Request(tx);
  await r.query(`IF OBJECT_ID('dbo.todo') IS NULL
    CREATE TABLE dbo.todo (id INT IDENTITY PRIMARY KEY, title NVARCHAR(200), done BIT);`);
  // CREATE
  const ins = await new sql.Request(tx)
    .input('title', sql.NVarChar, 'ship local-to-cloud')
    .query('INSERT INTO dbo.todo(title, done) OUTPUT inserted.id VALUES (@title, 0);');
  const id = ins.recordset[0].id;
  // UPDATE
  await new sql.Request(tx)
    .input('id', sql.Int, id)
    .query('UPDATE dbo.todo SET done = 1 WHERE id = @id;');
  // READ
  const read = await new sql.Request(tx)
    .input('id', sql.Int, id)
    .query('SELECT id, title, done FROM dbo.todo WHERE id = @id;');
  console.log(read.recordset[0]);
  await tx.commit();
} catch (e) { await tx.rollback(); throw e; }
await pool.close();

.NET (Microsoft.Data.SqlClient)

// Program.cs  ->  dotnet run   (uses Microsoft.Data.SqlClient)
using Microsoft.Data.SqlClient;

var cs = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("SQL_CONNECTION_STRING");
using var conn = new SqlConnection(cs);
conn.Open();
using var tx = conn.BeginTransaction();
try {
    new SqlCommand(@"IF OBJECT_ID('dbo.todo') IS NULL
        CREATE TABLE dbo.todo (id INT IDENTITY PRIMARY KEY, title NVARCHAR(200), done BIT);",
        conn, tx).ExecuteNonQuery();
    // CREATE
    var ins = new SqlCommand(
        "INSERT INTO dbo.todo(title, done) OUTPUT inserted.id VALUES (@title, 0);", conn, tx);
    ins.Parameters.AddWithValue("@title", "ship local-to-cloud");
    int id = (int)ins.ExecuteScalar();
    // UPDATE
    var upd = new SqlCommand("UPDATE dbo.todo SET done = 1 WHERE id = @id;", conn, tx);
    upd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@id", id);
    upd.ExecuteNonQuery();
    // READ
    var sel = new SqlCommand("SELECT id, title, done FROM dbo.todo WHERE id = @id;", conn, tx);
    sel.Parameters.AddWithValue("@id", id);
    using var r = sel.ExecuteReader();
    while (r.Read()) Console.WriteLine($"{r["id"]} {r["title"]} {r["done"]}");
    tx.Commit();
} catch { tx.Rollback(); throw; }

Python (pyodbc) reference

Open references/auth-local-vs-cloud.md when your stack is Python, or when you are ready to deploy, because a third stack and the deployment checklist live there rather than here.

Validation rules

• appdb must exist before the app connects. Provision it on master first (the recipe does this). The engine never auto-creates it.
• The app reads exactly one connection variable, SQL_CONNECTION_STRING.
• Local string uses SA auth + TrustServerCertificate=true; cloud string uses Authentication=Active Directory Default + Encrypt=true.
• The .NET-style string spells the keywords User Id= / Password= / Database= as house style. Uid= / Pwd= are valid synonyms, so they are not a failure. An ODBC string keeps ODBC's own Uid= / Pwd=.
• Switching environments changes the connection string only. The diff to app code between local and cloud is zero lines.
• The cloud half of every rule above is guidance rather than something this skill has run. Do not report it to the user as verified.
• If a validation rule above fails, or you had to deviate from this skill to make the task work, that is a bug in this skill: load the azuresql-db-feedback skill and offer to file a report.
• When every rule above passes and the task is done, close with ONE line, once per session, and do not ask a question or wait for a reply: "That worked. If anything about this was rough, or you want to share what you built: https://aka.ms/sql-agent-skills-feedback"

Do not

• Do not use the SQL Server image mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server. If you were about to, stop and use the image above; this is the Azure SQL engine.
• Do not connect to Database=appdb before creating it on master.
• Do not use USE appdb to switch databases; a user-database session returns Msg 40508, exactly as in Azure SQL Database in the cloud. Select the target database in the connection string (Database=appdb, or -d appdb for sqlcmd).
• Do not put a password or secret in the cloud connection string; use Entra auth and let the driver fetch a token.
• Do not branch app logic on environment; keep auth in configuration.
• Do not add a platform override to normal runs; use one only to explicitly test emulation.

References

• references/auth-local-vs-cloud.md: why local SA auth and cloud Microsoft Entra auth differ, the token flow, per-stack auth setup, the Python (pyodbc) example, and the deployment checklist. Read it when wiring the cloud connection string or promoting an app to Azure.

Staying current

Authoritative, version-pinned references for the tools this skill uses (read the one you need):

• Connect and query Azure SQL Database: per-language quickstarts, connection info, TLS, and drivers for the cloud service.
• SqlConnection connection string keywords: the full connection-string keyword table.

If the Microsoft Learn MCP server is configured, use mcp__microsoft-learn__microsoft_docs_search or mcp__microsoft-learn__microsoft_docs_fetch to fetch the current version of any of these on demand. It is optional; when it is unavailable, the references above are authoritative.