How to migrate SQL Server to Azure: target, tools and steps

Which Azure target should you choose for SQL Server?

Azure gives you three places to run a SQL Server database. They run the same database engine but differ in how much of the old server comes with you.

• Azure SQL Database is a single managed database. You get no instance-level features such as SQL Server Agent.
• Azure SQL Managed Instance is a managed SQL Server instance. Microsoft looks after the engine, operating system and hardware.
• SQL Server on an Azure VM is a full SQL Server installation that you manage, as you do today.

On SQL Database and Managed Instance you still own the databases, logins, index and query tuning, auditing and security. Microsoft takes the engine, operating system and hardware.

Which option fits your situation?

Always check what your application vendor supports before anything else. Their support policy usually decides the target.

Which SQL Server versions can you migrate to each target?

Each target accepts a different range of source versions, and the range depends on the tool. These are Microsoft's published ranges.

Some details that catch people out:

• The Managed Instance link is one-way for SQL Server 2016 to 2019. From SQL Server 2022 you can also fail back to SQL Server, if the instance's update policy matches.
• The Azure Arc migration experience starts at SQL Server 2014. Arc's migration assessment also needs Windows Server 2016 or later, and doesn't support failover cluster instances.
• Azure Marketplace VM images cover SQL Server 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2025. To run an older version on a VM, you install it yourself.
• SQL Server 2012 and older can't use Azure Arc. Use Azure Migrate, or backup and restore.

How do you migrate SQL Server to Azure, step by step?

These steps use only the tools Microsoft recommends now.

1. Find every SQL Server instance

Older versions often hide inside third-party products. Two Microsoft tools find them:

• Azure Migrate discovers SQL Server 2008 and later on Windows through its appliance. It finds the database engine only, not Reporting, Integration or Analysis Services.
• Azure Arc is free to connect. Its SQL Server migration assessment is free for all editions and runs weekly.

2. Assess each database and pick a target

Azure Migrate's Azure SQL assessment recommends a target, a size and a monthly cost estimate. The Azure Arc assessment checks readiness for each target too. Its cost estimates are in US dollars for a US region, so don't use them for a UK budget. Then confirm the target against your application vendor's support.

3. Prepare Azure

Build the network, identity and security foundations first. Managed Instance has its own virtual network requirements, and the Managed Instance link needs a network connection from your SQL Server with the right ports open. Our landing zone page explains the foundations.

4. Move the data with the tool for your target

DMS in the portal can move the schema as well as the data to Azure SQL Database. The Azure Arc route to SQL Database is still in preview and offline only.

5. Move what lives outside the database

Logins, SQL Agent jobs, linked servers, Database Mail, alerts and replication sit outside the database, so plan them separately.

• The Managed Instance link doesn't copy logins or Agent jobs.
• DMS offline can move SQL logins and Agent jobs with T-SQL steps to Managed Instance.
• Azure SQL Database has no SQL Agent. Use elastic jobs, and replace Windows logins with Microsoft Entra.
• System databases can't be restored to Managed Instance. Script the instance-level objects instead.

6. Test, then cut over

With the Managed Instance link, Azure holds a read-only copy that you can test against, and you cut over when you're ready. Log Replay Service is different. The database can't be read until cut-over, and a single job runs for 30 days at most.

7. Tune and tidy up after go-live

• Apply Azure Hybrid Benefit where you're licensed. Switching causes no downtime.
• Check sizes against real use, then consider reservations for databases that run all the time.
• Patch SQL Server on VMs with Azure Update Manager. It installs cumulative updates. The older Automated Patching feature retires on 17 September 2027.
• Decommission the old servers before the 180-day Azure Hybrid Benefit allowance ends.

Can you migrate a SQL Server cluster to Azure?

Yes. Azure Migrate can lift and shift a failover cluster instance or an availability group to SQL Server on Azure VMs. On VMs, failover cluster instances can use Azure shared disks, Storage Spaces Direct or a premium file share. If you choose Managed Instance or SQL Database, you don't move the cluster at all, because high availability is built into both. Azure Arc's Managed Instance migration doesn't accept a failover cluster instance as the source.

Which migration tools has Microsoft retired?

Many guides still walk through tools that are gone. If you're following one, use this table.

What drives the cost of SQL Server in Azure?

There's no single price, because the bill depends on your choices. These are the main levers.

Can you reuse your SQL Server licences?

Yes, through Azure Hybrid Benefit, if your licences have Software Assurance or are subscriptions.

• Managed Instance and SQL Database: one Enterprise core licence covers four vCores in General Purpose or one in Business Critical. One Standard core licence covers one vCore in General Purpose.
• SQL Server on a VM: Standard and Enterprise core licences qualify. Server and CAL licences with Software Assurance can move under licence mobility, but don't get the other Azure Hybrid Benefit rights.
• During the move, you have 180 days to use the same licence both on-premises and in Azure.

How do you price your own setup?

Use Microsoft's pricing pages for Azure SQL Database and Managed Instance. For a VM, use the Windows VM pricing page and choose the SQL Server edition under OS/Software, or use the Azure pricing calculator. Set the currency to GBP and the region to UK South or UK West. Our Azure migration cost guide explains the rest of the bill. Microsoft's Frontier Accelerate for Azure programme, which lists SQL Server migrations and has an offer for databases, may also fund part of an eligible project.

When does support end for each SQL Server version?

Dates are the last day of support, from Microsoft Lifecycle.

What this means for a migration:

• Azure SQL Database and Managed Instance don't need ESUs. Arc ESU charges stop automatically when you migrate to Azure SQL.
• SQL Server 2016 on an Azure VM still needs paid ESUs until you upgrade it. Microsoft no longer makes them free for 2016 in Azure.
• On-premises ESUs come through Azure Arc. You need Software Assurance, a SQL Server subscription, or pay-as-you-go licensing through Arc.

Running SQL Server 2016 now? Read SQL Server 2016 end of support: what to do now.

Can Sage 200 move to Azure SQL?

Sage 200 Professional runs on Microsoft SQL Server. Sage's compatibility checker lists SQL Server 2022 and 2025 for the newest release it shows (2026 R1). But Sage 200 isn't only a database. It also has a server tier and a Windows client, and Sage doesn't support running the suite over a VPN.

So keep the whole Sage 200 stack together. Run the Sage 200 server and SQL Server on Azure VMs, and give users access through Azure Virtual Desktop or Remote Desktop. Sage's virtual infrastructure policy supports VMs that meet its system requirements, and expects the partner to be certified for the set-up.

Managed Instance isn't the route. We found no Sage documentation for it, and Sage's prerequisites include Mixed Mode authentication and, for Business Intelligence, Analysis Services on the same machine. Managed Instance doesn't support Windows logins or Analysis Services.

Sage also runs two cloud routes of its own: Sage 200 Standard, and Sage 200 Professional through Sage Partner Cloud, which an accredited Sage partner runs. Both lack some Professional features, such as CRM and Business Intelligence, so check Sage's comparison first.

Sage 50 Accounts is different. It keeps company data in its own data files, so hosting it is a desktop question, not a database migration. Our page on hosting Sage in Azure covers Sage 50 and Sage 200.

When is Azure the wrong answer?

Moving isn't always right. Consider staying put when:

• Your application vendor doesn't support Azure. Moving anyway risks losing vendor support.
• The hardware is new and only the version is out of date. An in-place upgrade to SQL Server 2022 or 2025 may be enough.
• The application must stay on-premises. Keep the database next to the application that uses it.
• You need time. ESUs through Azure Arc can cover SQL Server 2014 and 2016 while you plan. They're a paid bridge, not a fix.

What should you do next?

1. List every SQL Server instance, its version, edition and the application that uses it.
2. Check vendor support for each application against Managed Instance and newer SQL Server versions.
3. Run an assessment in Azure Migrate or Azure Arc to find blockers and a recommended target.
4. Pick a target and route per database, using the tables above.
5. Price your setup with Microsoft's UK pricing pages or the calculator.

We migrate SQL Server into Azure, and we support SQL Server on Azure and on-premises. See SQL Server migration to Azure and SQL Server support, or get a free assessment to find the right target for each of your databases.