---
title: Export a database to a BACPAC file
titleSuffix: Azure SQL Database & Azure SQL Managed Instance
description: Export a database to a BACPAC file using the Azure portal or a CLI
services: sql-database
ms.service: sql-db-mi
ms.subservice: data-movement
author: LitKnd
ms.custom: sqldbrb=2
ms.author: kendralittle
ms.reviewer: mathoma
ms.date: 12/10/2021
ms.topic: how-to
---
# Export to a BACPAC file - Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance

[!INCLUDE[appliesto-sqldb-sqlmi](../includes/appliesto-sqldb-sqlmi.md)]

When you need to export a database for archiving or for moving to another platform, you can export the database schema and data to a [BACPAC](/sql/relational-databases/data-tier-applications/data-tier-applications#bacpac) file. A BACPAC file is a ZIP file with an extension of BACPAC containing the metadata and data from the database. A BACPAC file can be stored in Azure Blob storage or in local storage in an on-premises location and later imported back into [Azure SQL Database](sql-database-paas-overview.md), [Azure SQL Managed Instance](../managed-instance/sql-managed-instance-paas-overview.md), or a [SQL Server instance](/sql/database-engine/sql-server-database-engine-overview).

## Considerations

- For an export to be transactionally consistent, you must ensure either that no write activity is occurring during the export, or that you are exporting from a [transactionally consistent copy](database-copy.md) of your database.
- If you are exporting to blob storage, the maximum size of a BACPAC file is 200 GB. To archive a larger BACPAC file, export to local storage.
- Exporting a BACPAC file to Azure premium storage using the methods discussed in this article is not supported.
- Storage behind a firewall is currently not supported.
- Immutable storage is currently not supported.
- Storage file name or the input value for StorageURI should be fewer than 128 characters long and cannot end with '.' and cannot contain special characters like a space character or '<,>,*,%,&,:,\,/,?'.
- If the export operation exceeds 20 hours, it may be canceled. To increase performance during export, you can:

  - Temporarily increase your compute size.
  - Cease all read and write activity during the export.
  - Use a [clustered index](/sql/relational-databases/indexes/clustered-and-nonclustered-indexes-described) with non-null values on all large tables. Without clustered indexes, an export may fail if it takes longer than 6-12 hours. This is because the export service needs to complete a table scan to try to export entire table. A good way to determine if your tables are optimized for export is to run **DBCC SHOW_STATISTICS** and make sure that the *RANGE_HI_KEY* is not null and its value has good distribution. For details, see [DBCC SHOW_STATISTICS](/sql/t-sql/database-console-commands/dbcc-show-statistics-transact-sql).
- [Azure SQL Managed Instance](../managed-instance/sql-managed-instance-paas-overview.md) does not currently support exporting a database to a BACPAC file using the Azure portal or Azure PowerShell. To export a managed instance into a BACPAC file, use SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) or [SQLPackage](/sql/tools/sqlpackage).
- For databases in the [Hyperscale service tier](service-tier-hyperscale.md), BACPAC export/import from Azure portal, from PowerShell using [New-AzSqlDatabaseExport](/powershell/module/az.sql/new-azsqldatabaseexport) or [New-AzSqlDatabaseImport](/powershell/module/az.sql/new-azsqldatabaseimport), from Azure CLI using [az sql db export](/cli/azure/sql/db#az_sql_db_export) and [az sql db import](/cli/azure/sql/db#az_sql_db_import), and from [REST API](/rest/api/sql/) is not supported. BACPAC import/export for smaller Hyperscale databases (up to 200 GB) is supported using SSMS and [SQLPackage](/sql/tools/sqlpackage) version 18.4 and later. For larger databases, BACPAC export/import may take a long time, and may fail for various reasons.

> [!NOTE]
> BACPACs are not intended to be used for backup and restore operations. Azure automatically creates backups for every user database. For details, see [business continuity overview](business-continuity-high-availability-disaster-recover-hadr-overview.md) and [SQL Database backups](automated-backups-overview.md).

## The Azure portal

Exporting a BACPAC of a database from [Azure SQL Managed Instance](../managed-instance/sql-managed-instance-paas-overview.md) or from a database in the [Hyperscale service tier](service-tier-hyperscale.md) using the Azure portal is not currently supported. See [Considerations](#considerations).

> [!NOTE]
> Machines processing import/export requests submitted through the Azure portal or PowerShell need to store the BACPAC file as well as temporary files generated by the Data-Tier Application Framework (DacFX). The disk space required varies significantly among databases with the same size and can require disk space up to three times the size of the database. Machines running the import/export request only have 450GB local disk space. As a result, some requests may fail with the error `There is not enough space on the disk`. In this case, the workaround is to run sqlpackage.exe on a machine with enough local disk space. We encourage using [SQLPackage](#sqlpackage-utility) to import/export databases larger than 150GB to avoid this issue.

1. To export a database using the [Azure portal](https://portal.azure.com), open the page for your database and select **Export** on the toolbar.

   ![Screenshot that highlights the Export button.](./media/database-export/database-export1.png)

2. Specify the BACPAC filename, select an existing Azure storage account and container for the export, and then provide the appropriate credentials for access to the source database. A SQL **Server admin login** is needed here even if you are the Azure admin, as being an Azure admin does not equate to having admin permissions in Azure SQL Database or Azure SQL Managed Instance.

    ![Database export](./media/database-export/database-export2.png)

3. Select **OK**.

4. To monitor the progress of the export operation, open the page for the server containing the database being exported. Under **Data management**, select **Import/Export history**.

## SQLPackage utility

We recommend the use of the SQLPackage utility for scale and performance in most production environments. You can run multiple sqlpackage.exe commands in parallel for subsets of tables to speed up import/export operations.

To export a database in SQL Database using the [SQLPackage](/sql/tools/sqlpackage) command-line utility, see [Export parameters and properties](/sql/tools/sqlpackage#export-parameters-and-properties). The SQLPackage utility ships with the latest versions of [SQL Server Management Studio](/sql/ssms/download-sql-server-management-studio-ssms) and [SQL Server Data Tools for Visual Studio](/sql/ssdt/download-sql-server-data-tools-ssdt), or you can download the latest version of [SQLPackage](/sql/tools/sqlpackage/sqlpackage-download) directly from the Microsoft download center.

This example shows how to export a database using sqlpackage.exe with Active Directory Universal Authentication:

```cmd
sqlpackage.exe /a:Export /tf:testExport.BACPAC /scs:"Data Source=apptestserver.database.windows.net;Initial Catalog=MyDB;" /ua:True /tid:"apptest.onmicrosoft.com"
```

## SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)

The newest versions of SQL Server Management Studio provide a wizard to export a database in Azure SQL Database or a SQL Managed Instance database to a BACPAC file. See the [Export a Data-tier Application](/sql/relational-databases/data-tier-applications/export-a-data-tier-application).

## PowerShell

Exporting a BACPAC of a database from [Azure SQL Managed Instance](../managed-instance/sql-managed-instance-paas-overview.md) or from a database in the [Hyperscale service tier](service-tier-hyperscale.md) using PowerShell is not currently supported. See [Considerations](#considerations).

Use the [New-AzSqlDatabaseExport](/powershell/module/az.sql/new-azsqldatabaseexport) cmdlet to submit an export database request to the Azure SQL Database service. Depending on the size of your database, the export operation may take some time to complete.

```powershell
$exportRequest = New-AzSqlDatabaseExport -ResourceGroupName $ResourceGroupName -ServerName $ServerName `
  -DatabaseName $DatabaseName -StorageKeytype $StorageKeytype -StorageKey $StorageKey -StorageUri $BacpacUri `
  -AdministratorLogin $creds.UserName -AdministratorLoginPassword $creds.Password
```

To check the status of the export request, use the [Get-AzSqlDatabaseImportExportStatus](/powershell/module/az.sql/get-azsqldatabaseimportexportstatus) cmdlet. Running this cmdlet immediately after the request usually returns **Status: InProgress**. When you see **Status: Succeeded** the export is complete.

```powershell
$exportStatus = Get-AzSqlDatabaseImportExportStatus -OperationStatusLink $exportRequest.OperationStatusLink
[Console]::Write("Exporting")
while ($exportStatus.Status -eq "InProgress")
{
    Start-Sleep -s 10
    $exportStatus = Get-AzSqlDatabaseImportExportStatus -OperationStatusLink $exportRequest.OperationStatusLink
    [Console]::Write(".")
}
[Console]::WriteLine("")
$exportStatus
```
## Cancel the export request

Use the [Database Operations - Cancel API](/rest/api/sql/databaseoperations/cancel)
or the PowerShell [Stop-AzSqlDatabaseActivity command](/powershell/module/az.sql/Stop-AzSqlDatabaseActivity) to cancel an export request. Here is an example PowerShell command:

```cmd
Stop-AzSqlDatabaseActivity -ResourceGroupName $ResourceGroupName -ServerName $ServerName -DatabaseName $DatabaseName -OperationId $Operation.OperationId
```

## Next steps

- To learn about long-term backup retention of a single database and pooled databases as an alternative to exporting a database for archive purposes, see [Long-term backup retention](long-term-retention-overview.md). You can use SQL Agent jobs to schedule [copy-only database backups](/sql/relational-databases/backup-restore/copy-only-backups-sql-server) as an alternative to long-term backup retention.
- To learn about importing a BACPAC to a SQL Server database, see [Import a BACPAC to a SQL Server database](/sql/relational-databases/data-tier-applications/import-a-BACPAC-file-to-create-a-new-user-database).
- To learn about exporting a BACPAC from a SQL Server database, see [Export a Data-tier Application](/sql/relational-databases/data-tier-applications/export-a-data-tier-application)
- To learn about using the Data Migration Service to migrate a database, see [Migrate from SQL Server to Azure SQL Database offline using DMS](../../dms/tutorial-sql-server-to-azure-sql.md).
- If you are exporting from SQL Server as a prelude to migration to Azure SQL Database, see [Migrate a SQL Server database to Azure SQL Database](migrate-to-database-from-sql-server.md).
- To learn how to manage and share storage keys and shared access signatures securely, see [Azure Storage Security Guide](../../storage/blobs/security-recommendations.md).