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MicrosoftDocs/azure-sql-virtual-machines

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azure-sql-virtual-machines

Expert knowledge for SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines development including troubleshooting, best practices, decision making, architecture & design patterns, limits & quotas, security, configuration, integrations & coding patterns, and deployment. Use when planning SQL VM vs managed options, Always On/FCI, IaaS Agent, Key Vault/MI auth, or Blob Storage backups, and other SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines related development tasks. Not for Azure SQL Database (use azure-sql-database), Azure SQL Managed Instance (use azure-sql-managed-instance), Azure Virtual Machines (use azure-virtual-machines), Azure Data Science Virtual Machines (use azure-data-science-vm).

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Requires network access. Uses mcp_microsoftdocs:microsoft_docs_fetch or fetch_webpage to retrieve documentation.
generated_at:2026-06-21
generator:docs2skills/1.0.0
New
Saved Jun 26, 2026

SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines Skill

This skill provides expert guidance for SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines. Covers troubleshooting, best practices, decision making, architecture & design patterns, limits & quotas, security, configuration, integrations & coding patterns, and deployment. It combines local quick-reference content with remote documentation fetching capabilities.

How to Use This Skill

IMPORTANT for Agent: Use the Category Index below to locate relevant sections. For categories with line ranges (e.g., L35-L120), use read_file with the specified lines. For categories with file links (e.g., [security.md](security.md)), use read_file on the linked reference file

IMPORTANT for Agent: If metadata.generated_at is more than 3 months old, suggest the user pull the latest version from the repository. If mcp_microsoftdocs tools are not available, suggest the user install it: Installation Guide

This skill requires network access to fetch documentation content:

  • Preferred: Use mcp_microsoftdocs:microsoft_docs_fetch with query string from=learn-agent-skill. Returns Markdown.
  • Fallback: Use fetch_webpage with query string from=learn-agent-skill&accept=text/markdown. Returns Markdown.

Category Index

Category Lines Description
Troubleshooting L37-L53 Diagnosing and fixing Azure SQL and SQL Server on Azure VM issues: connectivity, performance, capacity, memory, I/O, geo-replication, and transaction log full errors.
Best Practices L54-L67 Best practices for SQL Server on Azure VMs: HA/DR clustering, DNN listeners, backup/restore, performance tuning, storage and VM sizing, baselines, and best practices assessments.
Decision Making L68-L82 Guidance for choosing Azure SQL options and pricing, comparing SQL VMs vs managed services, planning HADR, licensing, and migrating (Db2/Oracle/SQL 2014) to SQL Server on Azure VMs.
Architecture & Design Patterns L83-L91 High-level designs and patterns for SQL Server on Azure VMs: connectivity, Always On availability groups, failover cluster instances, and Windows Server Failover Clustering setup.
Limits & Quotas L92-L96 Info on Azure SQL capacity limits, DTU benchmark behavior, regional feature availability, and how to request quota increases for databases and managed instances
Security L97-L107 Securing SQL Server on Azure VMs: TLS/cert rotation, Azure Policy, Key Vault/EKM, managed identities, Entra auth, hardening guidance, and confidential VM deployment.
Configuration L108-L149 Configuring SQL Server on Azure VMs: clustering/FCI and AG setups, load balancers/listeners, storage and tempdb layout, backups, editions/versions, and SQL IaaS Agent management.
Integrations & Coding Patterns L150-L155 Backing up SQL Server on Azure VMs directly to Azure Blob Storage, including configurations that use managed identities instead of stored credentials.
Deployment L156-L171 Deploying and configuring SQL Server Always On availability groups and FCI on Azure VMs, including single/multi-subnet, cross-region, prerequisites, and migration of VMs and disks.

Troubleshooting

Topic URL
Resolve capacity errors when deploying Azure SQL resources https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/capacity-errors-troubleshoot?view=azuresql
Fix slow database import and export in Azure SQL https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/database-import-export-hang?view=azuresql
Troubleshoot and mitigate transient connectivity errors in Azure SQL https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/troubleshoot-common-connectivity-issues?view=azuresql
Troubleshoot Azure SQL and Fabric SQL connectivity errors https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/troubleshoot-common-errors-issues?view=azuresql
Troubleshoot geo-replication and redo lag in Azure SQL Database https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/troubleshoot-geo-replication-redo?view=azuresql
Investigate and fix memory issues in Azure SQL Database https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/troubleshoot-memory-errors-issues?view=azuresql
Diagnose and fix Azure SQL DB transaction log full errors https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/troubleshoot-transaction-log-errors-issues?view=azuresql-db
Resolve known issues in Azure SQL Managed Instance https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/managed-instance/doc-changes-updates-known-issues?view=azuresql
Resolve transaction log full errors in Azure SQL Managed Instance https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/managed-instance/troubleshoot-transaction-log-errors-issues?view=azuresql-mi
Resolve common SQL Server on Linux Azure VM issues https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/linux/frequently-asked-questions-faq?view=azuresql
Resolve common SQL Server on Azure VM issues https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/frequently-asked-questions-faq?view=azuresql
Troubleshoot SQL Server IaaS Agent extension issues on Azure VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/sql-agent-extension-troubleshoot-known-issues?view=azuresql
Diagnose I/O throttling for SQL Server on Azure VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/storage-performance-analysis?view=azuresql

Best Practices

Topic URL
Prepare for planned maintenance in Azure SQL https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/planned-maintenance?view=azuresql
Use SQL features with DNN listeners on Azure VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/availability-group-dnn-interoperability?view=azuresql
Apply backup and restore strategies for SQL Server on Azure VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/backup-restore?view=azuresql
Use SQL Server features with FCI DNN on Azure https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/failover-cluster-instance-dnn-interoperability?view=azuresql
Configure HADR clusters for SQL Server on Azure VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/hadr-cluster-best-practices?view=azuresql
Apply performance best-practice checklist for SQL Server on Azure VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/performance-guidelines-best-practices-checklist?view=azuresql
Collect performance baselines for SQL Server on Azure VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/performance-guidelines-best-practices-collect-baseline?view=azuresql
Optimize Azure SQL VM storage performance configuration https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/performance-guidelines-best-practices-storage?view=azuresql
Apply VM sizing performance best practices for SQL Server on Azure VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/performance-guidelines-best-practices-vm-size?view=azuresql
Run SQL best practices assessment for Azure SQL VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/sql-assessment-for-sql-vm?view=azuresql

Decision Making

Topic URL
Use Azure SQL decision tree to choose service https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/azure-sql-decision-tree?view=azuresql
Check Azure SQL Database feature availability by region https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/region-availability?view=azuresql
Check Azure SQL Managed Instance feature availability by region https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/managed-instance/region-availability?view=azuresql
Answer migration and modernization questions for Azure SQL https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/migration-guides/modernization?view=azuresql
Plan and execute Db2 to SQL on Azure VM migration https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/migration-guides/virtual-machines/db2-to-sql-on-azure-vm-guide?view=azuresql
Plan and execute Oracle to SQL on Azure VM migration https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/migration-guides/virtual-machines/oracle-to-sql-on-azure-vm-guide?view=azuresql
Use Modernization Advisor to compare SQL VM vs Managed Instance https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/modernization-advisor?view=azuresql
Choose HADR options for SQL Server on Azure VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/business-continuity-high-availability-disaster-recovery-hadr-overview?view=azuresql
Switch SQL Server VM licensing to Azure Hybrid Benefit https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/licensing-model-azure-hybrid-benefit-ahb-change?view=azuresql
Choose cost‑effective pricing for SQL Server on Azure VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/pricing-guidance?view=azuresql
Plan SQL Server 2014 end-of-support migration to Azure VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/sql-server-extend-end-of-support?view=azuresql

Architecture & Design Patterns

Topic URL
Understand connectivity architecture for Azure SQL Database https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/connectivity-architecture?view=azuresql
Apply SQL Server application patterns on Azure VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/application-patterns-development-strategies?view=azuresql
Design Always On availability groups for SQL Server on Azure VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/availability-group-overview?view=azuresql
Understand failover cluster instances for SQL Server on Azure VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/failover-cluster-instance-overview?view=azuresql
Use Windows Server Failover Clustering with SQL Server on Azure VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/hadr-windows-server-failover-cluster-overview?view=azuresql

Limits & Quotas

Topic URL
Understand DTU benchmark characteristics for Azure SQL https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/dtu-benchmark?view=azuresql

Security

Topic URL
Use built-in Azure Policy definitions for Azure SQL https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/policy-reference?view=azuresql
Prepare for Azure SQL TLS root certificate rotation https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/updates/ssl-root-certificate-expiring?view=azuresql
Configure Azure Key Vault integration for SQL Server VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/azure-key-vault-integration-configure?view=azuresql
Enable Microsoft Entra authentication for SQL Server VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/configure-azure-ad-authentication-for-sql-vm?view=azuresql
Use managed identities with SQL EKM and Key Vault https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/managed-identity-extensible-key-management?view=azuresql
Harden SQL Server on Azure VMs with security best practices https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/security-considerations-best-practices?view=azuresql
Deploy SQL Server to Azure confidential VMs securely https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/sql-vm-create-confidential-vm-how-to?view=azuresql

Configuration

Topic URL
Reference for Azure SQL Database monitoring metrics and logs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/monitoring-sql-database-azure-monitor-reference?view=azuresql
Reference for Azure SQL Managed Instance monitoring data https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/managed-instance/monitoring-sql-managed-instance-azure-monitor-reference?view=azuresql
Set up Always On AG with DH2i DxEnterprise on Azure https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/linux/dh2i-high-availability-tutorial?view=azuresql
Configure availability group listener for Linux SQL VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/linux/high-availability-listener-tutorial?view=azuresql
Configure RHEL cluster and fencing for SQL AG on Azure https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/linux/rhel-high-availability-fencing-tutorial?view=azuresql
Configure SLES cluster and STONITH for SQL AG on Azure https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/linux/sles-high-availability-fencing-tutorial?view=azuresql
Register Linux SQL Server VM with IaaS Agent extension https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/linux/sql-iaas-agent-extension-register-vm-linux?view=azuresql
Configure SQL IaaS Agent extension on Linux VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/linux/sql-server-iaas-agent-extension-linux?view=azuresql
Configure Ubuntu availability group for SQL on Azure VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/linux/ubuntu-high-availability-fencing-tutorial?view=azuresql
Create SQL Server on Azure VM with PowerShell https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/scripts/create-sql-vm-powershell?view=azuresql
Configure automated backups for SQL Server 2014 VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/automated-backup-sql-2014?view=azuresql
Configure automated backups for SQL Server 2016+ VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/automated-backup?view=azuresql
Configure DNN listener for SQL availability groups on VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/availability-group-distributed-network-name-dnn-listener-configure?view=azuresql
Configure AG listeners and load balancer via PowerShell https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/availability-group-listener-powershell-configure?view=azuresql
Configure load balancer and AG listener in Azure portal https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/availability-group-load-balancer-portal-configure?view=azuresql
Configure Azure Load Balancer for SQL AG VNN listener https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/availability-group-vnn-azure-load-balancer-configure?view=azuresql
Change SQL Server edition in-place on Azure VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/change-sql-server-edition?view=azuresql
Upgrade or downgrade SQL Server version in-place on Azure VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/change-sql-server-version?view=azuresql
Configure SQL Server on Azure VM deployment options https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/create-sql-vm-portal?view=azuresql
Provision SQL Server on Azure VMs with advanced PowerShell options https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/create-sql-vm-powershell?view=azuresql
Configure SQL Server on Azure Dedicated Host https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/dedicated-host?view=azuresql
Manually configure SQL FCI with Azure Elastic SAN https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/failover-cluster-instance-azure-elastic-san-manually-configure?view=azuresql
Manually configure SQL FCI with Azure shared disks https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/failover-cluster-instance-azure-shared-disks-manually-configure?view=azuresql
Configure distributed network name for SQL FCI on Azure https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/failover-cluster-instance-distributed-network-name-dnn-configure?view=azuresql
Create SQL failover cluster instance using premium file shares https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/failover-cluster-instance-premium-file-share-manually-configure?view=azuresql
Prepare Azure VMs for SQL failover cluster instances https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/failover-cluster-instance-prepare-vm?view=azuresql
Configure SQL FCI using Storage Spaces Direct on Azure VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/failover-cluster-instance-storage-spaces-direct-manually-configure?view=azuresql
Configure Azure Load Balancer for SQL FCI VNN https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/failover-cluster-instance-vnn-azure-load-balancer-configure?view=azuresql
Configure cluster quorum for SQL Server VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/hadr-cluster-quorum-configure-how-to?view=azuresql
Manage SQL Server on Azure VMs using the SQL virtual machines resource https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/manage-sql-vm-portal?view=azuresql
Enable automatic SQL IaaS Agent extension registration for all SQL VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/sql-agent-extension-automatic-registration-all-vms?view=azuresql
Manually register a SQL Server VM with the SQL IaaS Agent extension https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/sql-agent-extension-manually-register-single-vm?view=azuresql
Bulk register SQL Server VMs with the SQL IaaS Agent extension https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/sql-agent-extension-manually-register-vms-bulk?view=azuresql
Configure Azure Elastic SAN for SQL Server VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/storage-configuration-azure-elastic-san?view=azuresql
Configure storage layout for SQL Server on Azure VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/storage-configuration?view=azuresql
Configure tempdb on ephemeral storage for SQL Server VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/tempdb-ephemeral-storage?view=azuresql
Configure vCore customization for SQL Server on Azure VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/vm-vcore-customization-for-sql?view=azuresql
Configure connectivity options for SQL Server on Azure VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/ways-to-connect-to-sql?view=azuresql

Integrations & Coding Patterns

Topic URL
Back up SQL Server on Azure VMs to Azure Blob Storage https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/azure-storage-sql-server-backup-restore-use?view=azuresql
Back up SQL Server VM databases to Blob using managed identity https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/backup-restore-to-url-using-managed-identities?view=azuresql

Deployment

Topic URL
Deploy multi-subnet availability group using PowerShell/CLI https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/availability-group-az-commandline-configure-multi-subnet?view=azuresql
Deploy single-subnet availability group via PowerShell/CLI https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/availability-group-az-commandline-configure?view=azuresql
Configure domain-independent workgroup availability group https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/availability-group-clusterless-workgroup-configure?view=azuresql
Configure cross-region multi-subnet availability group https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/availability-group-manually-configure-multi-subnet-multiple-regions?view=azuresql
Configure cross-region availability group for SQL VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/availability-group-manually-configure-multiple-regions?view=azuresql
Prepare prerequisites for single-subnet availability groups https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/availability-group-manually-configure-prerequisites-tutorial-single-subnet?view=azuresql
Configure multi-subnet availability group on SQL VMs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/availability-group-manually-configure-tutorial-multi-subnet?view=azuresql
Configure single-subnet Always On availability group https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/availability-group-manually-configure-tutorial-single-subnet?view=azuresql
Migrate availability group from single to multi-subnet https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/availability-group-manually-migrate-multi-subnet?view=azuresql
Deploy availability group using Azure quickstart templates https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/availability-group-quickstart-template-configure?view=azuresql
Migrate SQL Server VMs to another Azure region https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/move-sql-vm-different-region?view=azuresql
Migrate SQL Server VM log disk to Azure Ultra Disk https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/storage-migrate-to-ultradisk?view=azuresql
Migrate SQL FCI to Azure VMs with Azure Migrate https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/data-migration/sql-server/virtual-machines/failover-cluster-instance-migrate
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