Quickstart: Create a Hyperscale database in Azure SQL Database

Article
02/10/2025

In this quickstart, you create a logical server in Azure and a Hyperscale database in Azure SQL Database using the Azure portal, a PowerShell script, or an Azure CLI script, with the option to create one or more High Availability (HA) replicas. If you would like to use an existing logical server in Azure, you can also create a Hyperscale database using Transact-SQL.

Tip

Simplified pricing for SQL Database Hyperscale arrived in December 2023. Review the Hyperscale pricing blog for details.

Prerequisites

An active Azure subscription. If you don't have one, create a trial account.
The latest version of either Azure PowerShell or Azure CLI, if you would like to follow the quickstart programmatically. Alternately, you can complete the quickstart in the Azure portal.
An existing logical server in Azure is required if you would like to create a Hyperscale database with Transact-SQL. For this approach, you will need to run Transact-SQL via the Azure portal query editor, SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), Azure Data Studio, sqlcmd, or the client of your choice.

Permissions

To create databases via Transact-SQL: CREATE DATABASE permissions are necessary. To create a database a login must be either the server admin login (created when the Azure SQL Database logical server was provisioned), the Microsoft Entra admin of the server, a member of the dbmanager database role in master. For more information, see CREATE DATABASE.

To create databases via the Azure portal, PowerShell, Azure CLI, or REST API: Azure RBAC permissions are needed, specifically the Contributor, SQL DB Contributor, or SQL Server Contributor Azure RBAC role. For more information, see Azure RBAC built-in roles.

Create a Hyperscale database

This quickstart creates a single database in the Hyperscale service tier.

The Azure CLI code blocks in this section create a resource group, server, single database, and server-level IP firewall rule for access to the server. Make sure to record the generated resource group and server names, so you can manage these resources later.

If you don't have an Azure trail subscription, create a trial subscription before you begin.

Prepare your environment for the Azure CLI

If you prefer to run CLI reference commands locally, install the Azure CLI. If you're running on Windows or macOS, consider running Azure CLI in a Docker container. For more information, see How to run the Azure CLI in a Docker container.

If you're using a local installation, sign in to the Azure CLI by using the az login command. To finish the authentication process, follow the steps displayed in your terminal. For other sign-in options, see Sign in with the Azure CLI.
When you're prompted, install the Azure CLI extension on first use. For more information about extensions, see Use extensions with the Azure CLI.
Run az version to find the version and dependent libraries that are installed. To upgrade to the latest version, run az upgrade.

Use the following script to sign in using a different subscription, replacing <Subscription ID> with your Azure Subscription ID. If you don't have an Azure trail subscription, create a trial subscription before you begin.

subscription="<subscriptionId>" # add subscription here

az account set -s $subscription # ...or use 'az login'

For more information, see set active subscription or log in interactively.

Set parameter values

The following values are used in subsequent commands to create the database and required resources. Server names need to be globally unique across all of Azure so the $RANDOM function is used to create the server name.

Before running the sample code, change the location as appropriate for your environment. Replace 0.0.0.0 with the IP address range to match your specific environment. Use the public IP address of the computer you're using to restrict access to the server to only your IP address.

# <FullScript>
# Create a single database and configure a firewall rule
# <SetParameterValues>
# Variable block
let "randomIdentifier=$RANDOM*$RANDOM"
location="China East 2"
resourceGroup="msdocs-azuresql-rg-$randomIdentifier"
tag="create-and-configure-database"
server="msdocs-azuresql-server-$randomIdentifier"
database="msdocsazuresqldb$randomIdentifier"
login="azureuser"
password="Pa$$w0rD-$randomIdentifier"
# Specify appropriate IP address values for your environment
# to limit access to the SQL Database server
startIp=0.0.0.0

let "randomIdentifier=$RANDOM*$RANDOM"
location="China East 2"
resourceGroupName="myResourceGroup"
tag="create-and-configure-database"
serverName="mysqlserver-$randomIdentifier"
databaseName="mySampleDatabase"
login="azureuser"
password="<password>-$randomIdentifier"
# Specify appropriate IP address values for your environment
# to limit access to the SQL Database server
startIp=0.0.0.0
endIp=0.0.0.0

echo "Using resource group $resourceGroupName with login: $login, password: $password..."

Create a resource group

Create a resource group with the az group create command. An Azure resource group is a logical container into which Azure resources are deployed and managed. The following example creates a resource group in the location specified for the location parameter in the prior step:

echo "Creating $resourceGroupName in $location..."
az group create --name $resourceGroupName --location "$location" --tag $tag

Create a server

Create a logical server with the az sql server create command.


echo "Creating $serverName in $location..."
az sql server create --name $serverName --resource-group $resourceGroupName --location "$location" --admin-user $login --admin-password $password

Configure a server-based firewall rule

Create a firewall rule with the az sql server firewall-rule create command.

echo "Configuring firewall..."
az sql server firewall-rule create --resource-group $resourceGroupName --server $serverName -n AllowYourIp --start-ip-address $startIp --end-ip-address $endIp

Create a single database

Create a database in the Hyperscale service tier with the az sql db create command.

When creating a Hyperscale database, carefully consider the setting for backup-storage-redundancy. Storage redundancy can only be specified during the database creation process for Hyperscale databases. You can choose locally redundant, zone-redundant, or geo-redundant storage. The selected storage redundancy option will be used for the lifetime of the database for both data storage redundancy and backup storage redundancy. Existing databases can migrate to different storage redundancy using database copy or point in time restore. Allowed values for the backup-storage-redundancy parameter are: Local, Zone, Geo. Unless explicitly specified, databases will be configured to use geo-redundant backup storage.

Run the following command to create a Hyperscale database populated with AdventureWorksLT sample data. The database uses standard-series (Gen5) hardware with 2 vCores. Geo-redundant backup storage is used for the database. The command also creates one High Availability (HA) replica.

az sql db create \
    --resource-group $resourceGroupName \
    --server $serverName \
    --name $databaseName \3
    --sample-name AdventureWorksLT \
    --edition Hyperscale \
    --compute-model Provisioned \
    --family Gen5 \
    --capacity 2 \
    --backup-storage-redundancy Geo \
    --ha-replicas 1

You can create a resource group, server, and single database using Azure PowerShell.

Set parameter values

The following values are used in subsequent commands to create the database and required resources. Server names need to be globally unique across all of Azure so the Get-Random cmdlet is used to create the server name.

   # Set variables for your server and database
   $resourceGroupName = "myResourceGroup"
   $location = "chinaeast2"
   $adminLogin = "azureuser"
   $password = "<password>-$(Get-Random)"
   $serverName = "mysqlserver-$(Get-Random)"
   $databaseName = "mySampleDatabase"

   # The ip address range that you want to allow to access your server
   $startIp = "0.0.0.0"
   $endIp = "0.0.0.0"

   # Show randomized variables
   Write-host "Resource group name is" $resourceGroupName
   Write-host "Server name is" $serverName
   Write-host "Password is" $password

Create resource group

Create an Azure resource group with New-AzResourceGroup. A resource group is a logical container into which Azure resources are deployed and managed.

   Write-host "Creating resource group..."
   $resourceGroup = New-AzResourceGroup -Name $resourceGroupName -Location $location -Tag @{Owner="SQLDB-Samples"}
   $resourceGroup

Create a server

Create a server with the New-AzSqlServer cmdlet.

  Write-host "Creating primary server..."
   $server = New-AzSqlServer -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName `
      -ServerName $serverName `
      -Location $location `
      -SqlAdministratorCredentials $(New-Object -TypeName System.Management.Automation.PSCredential `
      -ArgumentList $adminLogin, $(ConvertTo-SecureString -String $password -AsPlainText -Force))
   $server

Create a firewall rule

Create a server firewall rule with the New-AzSqlServerFirewallRule cmdlet.

   Write-host "Configuring server firewall rule..."
   $serverFirewallRule = New-AzSqlServerFirewallRule -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName `
      -ServerName $serverName `
      -FirewallRuleName "AllowedIPs" -StartIpAddress $startIp -EndIpAddress $endIp
   $serverFirewallRule

Create a single database

Create a single database with the New-AzSqlDatabase cmdlet.

When creating a Hyperscale database, carefully consider the setting for BackupStorageRedundancy. Storage redundancy can only be specified during the database creation process for Hyperscale databases. You can choose locally redundant, zone-redundant, or geo-redundant storage. The selected storage redundancy option will be used for the lifetime of the database for both data storage redundancy and backup storage redundancy. Existing databases can migrate to different storage redundancy using database copy or point in time restore. Allowed values for the BackupStorageRedundancy parameter are: Local, Zone, Geo. Unless explicitly specified, databases will be configured to use geo-redundant backup storage.

   Write-host "Creating a standard-series (Gen5) 2 vCore Hyperscale database..."
   $database = New-AzSqlDatabase  -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName `
      -ServerName $serverName `
      -DatabaseName $databaseName `
      -Edition Hyperscale `
      -ComputeModel Provisioned `
      -ComputeGeneration Gen5 `
      -VCore 2 `
      -MinimumCapacity 2 `
      -SampleName "AdventureWorksLT" `
      -BackupStorageRedundancy Geo `
      -HighAvailabilityReplicaCount 1
   $database

To create a Hyperscale database with Transact-SQL, you must first create or identify connection information for an existing logical server in Azure.

Connect to the master database using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), Azure Data Studio, or the client of your choice to run Transact-SQL commands (sqlcmd, etc.).

When creating a Hyperscale database, carefully consider the setting for BACKUP_STORAGE_REDUNDANCY. Storage redundancy can only be specified during the database creation process for Hyperscale databases. You can choose locally redundant, zone-redundant, or geo-redundant storage. The selected storage redundancy option will be used for the lifetime of the database for both data storage redundancy and backup storage redundancy. Existing databases can migrate to different storage redundancy using database copy or point in time restore. Allowed values for the BackupStorageRedundancy parameter are: LOCAL, ZONE, GEO. Unless explicitly specified, databases will be configured to use geo-redundant backup storage.

Run the following Transact-SQL command to create a new Hyperscale database with Gen 5 hardware, 2 vCores, and geo-redundant backup storage. You must specify both the edition and service objective in the CREATE DATABASE statement. Refer to the resource limits for a list of valid service objectives, such as HS_Gen5_2.

This example code creates an empty database. If you would like to create a database with sample data, use the Azure portal, Azure CLI, or PowerShell examples in this quickstart.

CREATE DATABASE [myHyperscaleDatabase] 
    (EDITION = 'Hyperscale', SERVICE_OBJECTIVE = 'HS_Gen5_2') WITH BACKUP_STORAGE_REDUNDANCY= 'LOCAL';
GO

Refer to CREATE DATABASE (Transact-SQL) for more parameters and options.

To add one or more High Availability (HA) replicas to your database, use the Compute and storage pane for the database in the Azure portal, the Set-AzSqlDatabase PowerShell command, or the az sql db update Azure CLI command.

Query the database

Once your database is created, you can use the Query editor (preview) in the Azure portal to connect to the database and query data. If you prefer, you can alternately query the database by connecting with Azure Data Studio, SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), or the client of your choice to run Transact-SQL commands (sqlcmd, etc.).

In the portal, search for and select SQL databases, and then select your database from the list.
On the page for your database, select Query editor (preview) in the left menu.
Enter your server admin login information, and select OK.

If you created your Hyperscale database from the AdventureWorksLT sample database, enter the following query in the Query editor pane.

SELECT TOP 20 pc.Name as CategoryName, p.name as ProductName
FROM SalesLT.ProductCategory pc
JOIN SalesLT.Product p
      ON pc.productcategoryid = p.productcategoryid;

If you created an empty database using the Transact-SQL sample code, enter another example query in the Query editor pane, such as the following:

CREATE TABLE dbo.TestTable(
    TestTableID int IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,
    TestTime datetime NOT NULL,
    TestMessage nvarchar(4000) NOT NULL,
 CONSTRAINT PK_TestTable_TestTableID PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED (TestTableID ASC)
) 
GO

ALTER TABLE dbo.TestTable ADD CONSTRAINT DF_TestTable_TestTime  DEFAULT (getdate()) FOR TestTime
GO

INSERT dbo.TestTable (TestMessage)
VALUES (N'This is a test');
GO

SELECT TestTableID, TestTime, TestMessage
FROM dbo.TestTable;
GO

Select Run, and then review the query results in the Results pane.
Close the Query editor page, and select OK when prompted to discard your unsaved edits.

Clean up resources

Keep the resource group, server, and single database to go on to the next steps, and learn how to connect and query your database with different methods.

When you're finished using these resources, you can delete the resource group you created, which will also delete the server and single database within it.

Use the following command to remove the resource group and all resources associated with it using the az group delete command - unless you have an ongoing need for these resources. Some of these resources might take a while to create, and to delete.

az group delete --name $resourceGroup

To delete the resource group and all its resources, run the following PowerShell cmdlet, using the name of your resource group:

Remove-AzResourceGroup -Name $resourceGroupName

This option deletes only the Hyperscale database. It doesn't remove any logical servers or resource groups that you might have created in addition to the database.

To delete a Hyperscale database with Transact-SQL, connect to the master database using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), Azure Data Studio, or the client of your choice to run Transact-SQL commands (sqlcmd, etc.).

Run the following Transact-SQL command to drop the database:

DROP DATABASE [myHyperscaleDatabase];
GO

Connect and query your database using different tools and languages:

Learn more about Hyperscale databases in the following articles: