azsqlbcp 2026.10.26.50

azsqlbcp

Azure SQL Bulk Copy .NET global tool. Copy a table between two Azure SQL databases (optionally partitioned and parallel) using SqlBulkCopy and Microsoft Entra authentication.

Install

dotnet tool install -g azsqlbcp

Requires the .NET 10 runtime (or SDK).

Usage

azsqlbcp \
  --source-server <host> \
  --source-database <db> \
  --source-table <schema.table> \
  --target-server <host> \
  --target-database <db> \
  --target-table <schema.table> \
  --partition-column <bigintIdentityColumn>

Options

Examples

Partitioned parallel copy:

Requires a consistent source for the duration of the export (no inserts/updates/deletes in the copied id range while the job runs), otherwise partitions can miss or double-count rows.

azsqlbcp `
  --source-server prod.database.windows.net `
  --source-database SourceDb `
  --source-table dbo.MyTable `
  --target-server staging.database.windows.net `
  --target-database TargetDb `
  --target-table bak.MyTable_Copy `
  --partition-column Id `
  --source-read-only

Resumable copy with checkpoint (row-balanced partitions, 64 work units, 8 concurrent):

azsqlbcp `
  --source-server prod.database.windows.net `
  --source-database SourceDb `
  --source-table dbo.PeriodVolumes `
  --target-server staging.database.windows.net `
  --target-database TargetDb `
  --target-table bak.PeriodVolumes_Copy `
  --partition-column PeriodID `
  --partition-strategy row-balanced `
  --partitions 64 `
  --parallelism 8 `
  --checkpoint-file .\period-volumes.copy.json

Resume after failure (--batch-size / --parallelism may differ from the original run):

azsqlbcp `
  ... (same connection/table/partition args) `
  --checkpoint-file .\period-volumes.copy.json `
  --batch-size 250000 `
  --resume

Restart from scratch (truncate + new plan):

azsqlbcp `
  ... `
  --checkpoint-file .\period-volumes.copy.json `
  --force

Single stream (no partition column):

azsqlbcp `
  --source-server prod.database.windows.net `
  --source-database SourceDb `
  --source-table dbo.MyTable `
  --target-server staging.database.windows.net `
  --target-database TargetDb `
  --target-table bak.MyTable_Copy `
  --no-partition-column

What it does

1. Authenticates with Microsoft Entra ID via DefaultAzureCredential (token cached)
2. Truncates the target table (skipped on --resume)
3. Reads row count (and min/max of the partition column when partitioning)
4. Runs one or more parallel SqlBulkCopy streams with KeepIdentity and streaming
5. Shows Spectre progress (%, remaining, elapsed, rows/s)

Resumable mode

When --checkpoint-file is set:

• Partition boundaries and expected row counts are stored in the checkpoint (immutable plan)
• Each partition is copied idempotently: delete target slice → bulk copy → verify counts
• Transient network/SQL errors retry per partition with exponential backoff
• Completed partitions are skipped on --resume; pending/in-progress/failed partitions are deleted and re-copied
• By default --resume skips expensive COUNT reconciliation; pass --reconcile only if you need to recover partitions that finished verify but were not marked completed
• When change tracking is enabled on the source database and table, the checkpoint records CHANGE_TRACKING_CURRENT_VERSION() as a sync baseline for downstream incremental catch-up

Authentication

Uses DefaultAzureCredential (Azure CLI, Visual Studio, managed identity, etc.). Locally, az login is typically enough. The identity needs read on the source and truncate/insert on the target.

Permissions

• Source: SELECT (and preferably a Business Critical replica when using --source-read-only)
• Target: ALTER/TRUNCATE, INSERT, and DELETE (for resumable partition slices)

Icon

Package icon: Duplicate Spreadsheet Icon #7721123 by Miftakhul Rizky (Noun Project), royalty-free. See icon/LICENSE.md.

License

MIT