Azure SQL Server

Azure MS SQL Database is an intelligent, scalable, and relational database service built for the cloud. It can automate your database management and maintenance, including routine updates, backups, and security, enabling you to focus on working with your data.

You can ingest data from your Azure MS SQL database using Hevo Pipelines and replicate it to a Destination of your choice.

Prerequisites

• The MS SQL Server version is 2008 or higher.

• Hevo’s IP addresses are whitelisted.

• CHANGE TRACKING and ALTER DATABASE privileges are granted to the database user, if Pipeline Mode is Change Tracking or Table, and Query mode is Change Tracking.

• SELECT and VIEW CHANGE TRACKING privileges are granted to the database user.

• Database hostname and port number of the Source instance are available.

Perform the following steps to configure your Azure MS SQL Source:

Create a Geo-Replication Database (Optional)

Whitelist Hevo’s IP Addresses

You need to whitelist the Hevo IP addresses for your region to enable Hevo to connect to your Azure SQL database. You can do this by creating firewall rules in your Microsoft Azure database settings as follows:

1. Access your Azure MS SQL instance.

2. Under Resources, select the database you want to synchronize with Hevo.

   

3. In the right pane, click the Set server firewall tab to open the Firewall settings.

   

4. Create a firewall rule:

   1. Specify a Rule name.

   2. Specify Hevo’s IP addresses in the Start IP and End IP fields as per your region.

      Note: As Hevo has specific IP addresses and not a range, the value in Start IP and End IP fields is the same.

      

   3. Click Save.

   4. Repeat this step to add the IP address for each applicable Hevo region.

Enable Change Tracking

The Change Tracking mechanism captures changes made to a database. In order to enable, or disable change tracking, the database user must have the ALTER DATABASE privilege.

To enable change tracking, connect your Azure SQL Database in your SQL Client tool, and enter these commands:

• Enable change tracking at the database level:

  ALTER DATABASE [<database>]
  SET CHANGE_TRACKING = ON;
  

• Enable change tracking for each table you want to integrate:

  ALTER TABLE [<schema>].[<table>]
  ENABLE CHANGE_TRACKING;
  

Create a Database User and Grant Privileges

1. Create a database user (optional)

USE [<database>]; # <database> is the database name
CREATE USER hevo WITH PASSWORD = '<password>';

2. Grant privileges to the user

The database user specified in the Hevo Pipeline must have the following global privileges:

• SELECT

• VIEW CHANGE TRACKING (If Pipeline Mode is Change Tracking or Table, and Query mode is Change Tracking)

To assign these privileges, connect your Azure SQL Database in your SQL Client tool, and enter these commands:

• Grant SELECT privilege at the table and schema level:

  GRANT SELECT ON <schema_name>.<table_name> TO <username>;
  

• Grant VIEW CHANGE TRACKING privilege, if Pipeline Mode is Change Tracking or Table, and Query mode is Change Tracking:

  GRANT VIEW CHANGE TRACKING ON <schema_name>.<table_name> TO <username>;
  

Retrieve the Hostname and Port Number (Optional)

Specify Azure SQL Server Connection Settings

In the Configure your Azure SQL Server Source page, specify the following:

• Pipeline Name: A unique name for the Pipeline.

• SQL Server Host: SQL Server host’s IP address or DNS.

  The following table lists a few examples of SQL Server hosts:

  Variant	Host
  Amazon RDS MS SQL	ms-sql-server-1.xxxxx.rds.amazonaws.com
  Azure MS SQL	mssql.database.windows.net
  Generic MS SQL	10.123.10.001 or mssql.westeros.inc
  Google Cloud SQL Server	35.220.150.0

  Note: For URL-based hostnames, exclude the http:// or https:// part. For example, if the hostname URL is https://mssql.database.windows.net, enter mssql.database.windows.net.

• SQL Server Port: The port on which your SQL Server is listening for connections. Default value: 1433.

• SQL Server User: The read-only user who has the permissions to read tables in your database.

• SQL Server Password: The password for the read-only user.

• Select an Ingestion Mode: The desired mode by which you want to ingest data from the Source. The available Ingestion Modes are Change Tracking, Table, and Custom SQL. Read Ingestion Modes.

  For Ingestion mode as Table, read Object Settings for steps to configure the objects to be replicated.

• Database Name: The database that you wish to replicate.

• Schema Name: The schema that holds the tables to be replicated. Default value: dbo.

• Connect through SSH: Enable this option to connect to Hevo using an SSH tunnel, instead of directly connecting your SQL Server database host to Hevo. This provides an additional level of security to your database by not exposing your SQL Server setup to the public. Read Connecting Through SSH.

  If this option is disabled, you must whitelist Hevo’s IP addresses. Refer to the content for your SQL Server variant for steps to do this.

• Advanced Settings:

  • Include New Tables in the Pipeline: Applicable for all Ingestion modes except Custom SQL. If enabled, Hevo automatically ingests data from tables created after the Pipeline has been built. If disabled, the new tables are listed in the Pipeline Detailed View in Skipped state, and you can manually include the ones you want and load their historical data.

  You can change this setting later.

• Click TEST & CONTINUE to proceed for setting up the Destination.

Limitations

• Hevo does not support Azure CDC for replication.

• Hevo does not fetch Views from the Azure MS SQL database automatically. As a workaround, you can create individual Pipelines in Custom SQL mode to fetch each View. However, some limitations may arise based on the type of data synchronization, the query mode, or the number of Events. Contact Hevo Support for more details.

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