Announcing retirement of Microsoft Data Migration Assistant (DMA) Tool
Announcement As part of our ongoing commitment to deliver streamlined and modern migration solutions, Microsoft regularly evaluates its tools and services to ensure they meet evolving customer needs. In line with this effort, we are announcing the retirement of the Microsoft Data Migration Assistant (DMA) tool, effective July 16, 2025. After this date, the DMA tool will no longer be available for download from the Microsoft Download Center. Important Dates Announcement date: June 16, 2025 Retirement date: July 16, 2025 Alternative Options for Migration and Assessment As DMA reaches the end of its lifecycle, customers are encouraged to leverage alternative tools and features for assessment and data migration. Below, we outline the alternatives: Upgrade to higher version of SQL Server If you are seeking to upgrade to higher versions of SQL Server you can now use the new Migration component integrated into SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). For detailed steps please see documentation for version upgrade using SSMS here: https://learn.microsoft.com/ssms/migrate-sql-server-component Migration to Azure SQL If you relied on DMA for assessments and migration to Azure SQL you have several options: SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc (Assessments) In addition to all the core benefits of enabling Azure Arc, SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc also provides automatic migration assessments that are continuously updated on a weekly schedule by default. See more details of the continuous Migration Assessment in SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc here : https://learn.microsoft.com/sql/sql-server/azure-arc/migration-assessment Azure Database Migration Service (DMS) automation using Azure Powershell and Azure CLI You can use the datamigration module in Azure PowerShell and Azure CLI to perform assessments and migration. The ability to script and automate enables migration factory pattern approaches. See the documentation for automating assessments and migrations here : https://learn.microsoft.com/ azure/dms/migration-dms-powershell-cli. You can also find more information and sample scripts here: https://github.com/Azure-Samples/data-migration-sql Azure Portal Azure Migrate (Assessments) For large scale assessments such as datacenter exit scenarios, the Azure Migrate provides SQL Assessment at scale. Deploying the Azure Migrate appliance facilitates discovery, assessment, and business case evaluation at large scale for not just SQL Server but many other workloads as well. Learn more about SQL assessments in Azure Migrate here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/migrate/how-to-create-azure-sql-assessment Azure Database Migration Service (Migration) For SQL Server migration to Azure SQL offerings, you can use the Azure Database Migration Service (DMS). This service supports migration to all Azure SQL offerings. For example, see how you can migrate to Azure SQL DB using DMS portal here : https://learn.microsoft.com/data-migration/sql-server/database/database-migration-service?tabs=portal. Additional Information Azure Data Studio is on the deprecation path and we are building the replacement assessment and migration experiences in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) 1 . Till then, for smaller scale scenarios, you can continue to use the Azure SQL Migration extension in Azure Data Studio (ADS) for assessment and migration to Azure SQL. Learn more about Azure SQL Assessment and Migration in Azure Data Studio here: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure-data-studio/extensions/azure-sql-migration-extension For more details and detailed migration guides, refer to the Azure SQL Migration Guide here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/data-migration/sql-server/overview Next Steps We encourage you to begin transitioning to alternative migration tools and solutions well ahead of the DMA tool's retirement date (July 16, 2025). This will ensure smooth continuity in your migration and assessment workflows. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation during this transition. Disclaimer The information provided in this announcement is for general informational purposes only and reflects Microsoft’s current plans as of the announcement date. All product features, timelines, and retirement schedules are subject to change without notice. Users are responsible for verifying the accuracy of product capabilities and ensuring that all migration activities are conducted in accordance with applicable technical documentation and licensing terms. Microsoft does not guarantee the performance or availability of any third-party tools or scripts referenced herein. For the most up-to-date guidance, please refer to official Microsoft documentation and support channels. References Version upgrade assessment in SSMS: https://learn.microsoft.com/ssms/migrate-sql-server-component General Availability of SQL Server Migration Component in SSMS: General Availability of SQL Server Migration Component in SSMS 21 | Microsoft Community Hub Azure SQL Assessment and Migration in ADS: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure-data-studio/extensions/azure-sql-migration-extension Continuous Migration Assessment in SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc: https://learn.microsoft.com/sql/sql-server/azure-arc/migration-assessment Automate assessment and migration using datamigration modules: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/migrate/how-to-create-azure-sql-assessment Sample scripts for Azure SQL Assessment and Migration using Azure Powershell and CLI: https://github.com/Azure-Samples/data-migration-sql SQL Assessment in Azure Migrate: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/migrate/how-to-create-azure-sql-assessment Migration to Azure SQL Database using Azure Database Migration Service Portal: https://learn.microsoft.com/data-migration/sql-server/database/database-migration-service?tabs=portal Azure SQL Migration Guide: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/data-migration/sql-server/overviewOrb - A tool to run Live Site using Azure Data Explorer
Orb (Object-based Resource Browser) is a tool used by several internal Azure engineering and support teams to run Live Site for their services – I’m happy to announce that this tool is now available on GitHub. Orb enables you to reduce the time to investigate Live Site issues in your services by providing the ability to rapidly browse through information, based on an object hierarchy. Object hierarchies are user-defined and backed by Azure Data Explorer (ADX) queries - ADX integration allows rapidly searching for objects and discovering hierarchies dynamically based on event logs from your services. Internal Azure services use Orb to map the layout of Azure data centers and cross-service interactions. For example, a user Virtual Machine (VM) is mapped to a host server. A host server is further mapped to a rack, network switch and so forth. This post provides more information on how our internal services emit these event logs. Orb also allows streamlined access and discovery of common resources like queries, dashboards, web links and scripts across different teams. Within a large organization, it’s easy for these resources to get fragmented on different team specific wiki pages and notebooks. With Orb, the entire organization can have a shared and consistent view of these resources. The resources are organized by Object – think of Objects as directories and resources as files in a directory. In a file system, you’d have directories linked together by metadata stored on disk – in Orb, directories or Objects are linked together dynamically based on ADX queries (or PowerShell scripts). When a resource under an object is clicked, all necessary context about the object is injected into the resource. For example, if you click a saved web link for a VM object and the URL contains a VM Id, the VM Id is automatically injected into the query. If there were more object properties in the URL that needed to be populated (say, VM region), those would also be added in by Orb. In addition to web URLs, this parameter injection works across different resource types like saved ADX queries, PowerShell scripts/terminals and more. The combination of the object hierarchy and shared resources is what enables the rapid information exploration. When a Live Site incident is raised to our team in Azure Compute, we use Orb to quickly navigate from a VM object to the host server. From there, we can look at all the various host resources and dashboards that determine the host server health. Since Azure Networking has also modeled their objects in Orb, my team can jump to the network switch object the host is running under and then look at all the shared dashboards that determine network switch health. Without this shared resource model, we might have previously engaged another engineer on the Networking team to get access to the same information. Under the covers, Orb uses a git repository to store the shared resources and object hierarchy definitions. This allows organizations to control who was read/write permissions on the shared view, as well as audit and rollback capabilities. Users can update the shared view and submit pull requests from within Orb. Orb is available to download and use for free on GitHub. Windows is the only supported Operating System at this point. Orb ships with a sample ADX cluster and object definitions - to use Orb with your real service data, take a look at this guide.Azure Data Explorer Support for Virtual Network (VNet) Deployment
Azure Data Explorer now supports deploying a cluster into a subnet in your Virtual Network (VNet), enabling you to: Enforce Network Security Group (NSG) rules on your ADX cluster traffic. Connect your on-premise network to ADX cluster's subnet. Secure your Data Connection sources (EventHub/EventGrid) with service endpoint. The feature is still in private preview, please fill this form to deploy ADX cluster into your VNet.
