What's new in Azure SQL Database?

  • Article

Applies to: Azure SQL Database

This article summarizes the documentation changes associated with new features and improvements in the recent releases of Azure SQL Database. For more information about Azure SQL Database, see What is Azure SQL Database?.

Note

Microsoft Entra ID was previously known as Azure Active Directory (Azure AD).

Preview

The following table lists the features of Azure SQL Database that are currently in preview.

Feature Details
Elastic queries The elastic queries feature allows for cross-database queries in Azure SQL Database.
Elastic transactions Elastic transactions allow you to execute transactions distributed among cloud databases in Azure SQL Database.
Fixed server roles To simplify permission management, Azure SQL Database provides a set of fixed server-level roles to help you manage the permissions on a logical server.
Hyperscale support for database and file shrink Database and file shrink commands are supported in preview for Azure SQL Database Hyperscale. For more information, see Shrink for Azure SQL Database Hyperscale.
Import and export using Private Link Leave Allow Access to Azure Services off when you import or export a database using a service-managed endpoint.
JSON native data type The new native json data type and new JSON aggregate functions are currently in preview. For more information, see JSON Type and aggregates preview.
JSON aggregate functions Two new json aggregate functions JSON_OBJECTAGG and JSON_ARRAYAGG enable construction of JSON objects or arrays based on an aggregate from SQL data. For more information, see JSON Type and aggregates preview.
License-free standby replica Save on licensing costs by configuring your secondary database replica for disaster recovery standby.
Microsoft Entra nonunique name support The CREATE USER Transact-SQL (T-SQL) syntax has been extended to include WITH OBJECT_ID to support creating Microsoft Entra logins and users in Azure SQL Database that have nonunique names.
Microsoft Entra server principals Create server principals (logins) for Microsoft Entra identities to use for authentication with Azure SQL Database.
Query editor in the Azure portal The query editor in the portal allows you to run queries against your Azure SQL Database directly from the Azure portal.
UNISTR (Transact-SQL) Azure SQL Database now supports the UNISTR T-SQL syntax for Unicode string literals. For more information, see UNISTR (Transact-SQL).
|| and ||= syntax support Azure SQL Database now supports || (String concatenation) and ||= (Compound assignment) Transact-SQL syntax.

General availability (GA)

The following table lists features of Azure SQL Database that have been made generally available (GA) within the last 12 months:

Feature GA Month Details
Lower auto-pause delay for serverless October 2024 Reduce costs by lowering the auto-pause delay for serverless compute in Azure SQL Database.
Hyperscale elastic pools September 2024 Manage and scale multiple Hyperscale databases in Azure SQL Database by using Hyperscale elastic pools.
Hyperscale elastic pool maintenance window support September 2024 You can configure a non-default maintenance window for a Hyperscale elastic pool. For more information, read Blog: Maintenance window support for Azure SQL Database Hyperscale elastic pools.
CURRENT_DATE Transact-SQL August 2024 A Transact-SQL (T-SQL) function that returns the current database system date as a date value, without the database time and time zone offset.
Maintenance window support for Hyperscale August 2024 Maintenance window support for Hyperscale databases is now generally available.
Automatic backups on secondary replicas August 2024 Mitigate the performance impact on your workload by taking automated backups from the non-readable secondary replica in the Business Critical service tier.
Database compatibility level 160 is now default June 2024 Database compatibility level 160 is now the default for new databases created in Azure SQL Database. For more information on this announcement, see General availability: Database compatibility level 160 in Azure SQL Database.
Hyperscale named replica zone redundant support June 2024 Zone redundancy support for Hyperscale named replicas is now generally available.
License-free standby replica May 2024 Save on licensing costs by configuring your secondary database replica for disaster recovery standby.
Elastic jobs April 2024 Elastic jobs, now generally available, are the SQL Server Agent replacement for Azure SQL Database. Elastic jobs support Microsoft Entra ID authentication, private endpoints, management via REST APIs, Azure Alerts, and more new features since public preview began.
Maintenance window advance notifications March 2024 Advance notifications are now generally available for databases configured to use a nondefault maintenance window.
Azure SQL triggers for Azure Functions March 2024 Azure Functions supports function triggers for Azure SQL Database.
Serverless Hyperscale February 2024 Automatically scale your Hyperscale databases up and down based on usage when using the serverless compute tier, now generally available.
Lower, simplified pricing for Azure SQL Database Hyperscale December 2023 Simplified pricing for Azure SQL Database Hyperscale has arrived! For pricing change details, see Azure SQL Database Hyperscale - lower, simplified pricing!.

Documentation changes

Learn about significant changes to the Azure SQL Database documentation. For previous years, see the What's new archive.

October 2024

Changes Details
Lower auto-pause delay for serverless Reduce costs by lowering the auto-pause delay for serverless compute in Azure SQL Database. For more information, see serverless compute tier.

September 2024

Changes Details
Hyperscale elastic pools GA Manage and scale multiple Hyperscale databases in Azure SQL Database by using Hyperscale elastic pools.
Hyperscale elastic pool maintenance window support You can configure a non-default maintenance window for a Hyperscale elastic pool. For more information, read Blog: Maintenance window support for Azure SQL Database Hyperscale elastic pools.

August 2024

Changes Details
Automatic backups on secondary replica GA Mitigate the performance impact on your workload by taking automated backups from a non-readable secondary replica in the Business Critical service tier. This feature is generally available. Review Automated backups on secondary replicas to learn more.
CURRENT_DATE Transact-SQL GA The CURRENT_DATE Transact-SQL (T-SQL) function returns the current database system date as a date value, without the database time and time zone offset. This function is now generally available. For more information, see CURRENT_DATE (Transact-SQL).
Maintenance window support for Hyperscale GA Maintenance window support for Hyperscale databases is now generally available.

July 2024

Changes Details
Hyperscale support for database and file shrink Database and file shrink commands are supported in preview for Azure SQL Database Hyperscale. For more information, see Shrink for Azure SQL Database Hyperscale.
TLS 1.0 and 1.1 retirement Azure has announced that support for older TLS versions (TLS 1.0, and 1.1) ends on August 31, 2025. To learn more about the impact to Azure SQL Database, review connectivity settings.

June 2024

Changes Details
Database compatibility level 160 is now default Database compatibility level 160 is now the default for new databases created in Azure SQL Database. For more information on this announcement, see General availability: Database compatibility level 160 in Azure SQL Database.
Hyperscale named replica zone redundant support Zone redundancy support for Hyperscale named replicas are now generally available. For more information, see Blog: Zone redundancy for Hyperscale named replicas.
UNISTR (preview) Azure SQL Database now supports the UNISTR. This syntax is currently in preview. For more information, see UNISTR (Transact-SQL).
|| and ||= string concatenation support Azure SQL Database now supports || and ||= compound assignment T-SQL syntax. This syntax is currently in preview. For more information, see || (String concatenation) and ||= (Compound assignment).

June 2024

Changes Details
TLS 1.3 support Azure SQL Database now supports connections encrypted with TLS 1.3. Review TLS 1.3 and Minimum TLS settings to learn more.

May 2024

Changes Details
JSON native data type The new native json data type and new JSON aggregate functions are currently in preview. For more information, see JSON Type and aggregates preview.
JSON aggregate functions Two new json aggregate functions JSON_OBJECTAGG and JSON_ARRAYAGG enable construction of JSON objects or arrays based on an aggregate from SQL data. For more information, see JSON Type and aggregates preview.
License-free standby replica GA Save on licensing costs by configuring your secondary database replica for disaster recovery standby. This feature is now generally available. Review License-free standby replica to learn more.

April 2024

Changes Details
Elastic jobs GA Elastic jobs, now generally available, are the SQL Server Agent replacement for Azure SQL Database. Elastic jobs support Microsoft Entra ID authentication, private endpoints, management via REST APIs, Azure Alerts, and more new features since public preview began.

March 2024

Changes Details
Advanced notifications for maintenance windows in Azure SQL Database GA Advance notifications for maintenance windows are now generally available for Azure SQL Database.
Hyperscale named replica zone redundant support preview Zone redundancy support for Hyperscale named replicas is now available in preview. For more information, see Blog: Zone redundancy for Hyperscale named replicas.
Azure SQL triggers for Azure Functions GA Azure Functions supports function triggers for Azure SQL Database. This feature is now generally available. Review Azure SQL triggers for Azure Functions to learn more.

February 2024

Changes Details
Serverless Hyperscale GA Automatically scale your Hyperscale databases up and down based on usage when using the Serverless Hyperscale tier, now generally available.
OBJECT_ID T-SQL syntax preview The CREATE USER Transact-SQL (T-SQL) syntax has been extended to include WITH OBJECT_ID to support creating Microsoft Entra logins and users in Azure SQL Database that have nonunique names. Using WITH OBJECT_ID to create users and logins in Azure SQL Database is currently in preview. To learn more, review Microsoft Entra nonunique name support.

January 2024

Changes Details
New tutorial: Develop a Kubernetes Application for Azure SQL Database A new tutorial is available to demonstrate how to develop a modern application using Python, Docker Containers, Kubernetes, and Azure SQL Database.

Archive

For previous updates, see the What's new archive.