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

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

• Use WaitUntil.Completed for operations that must finish before proceeding

• Use WaitUntil.Started when you want to poll manually or run operations in parallel

• Always use DefaultAzureCredential — never hardcode passwords in production

• Handle RequestFailedException for ARM API errors

• Use CreateOrUpdateAsync for idempotent operations

• Navigate hierarchy via Get* methods (e.g., server.GetSqlDatabases() )

• Use elastic pools for cost optimization when managing multiple databases

• 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