Lessons Learned #535: BACPAC Import Failures in Azure SQL Database Due to Incompatible Users
We recently worked on a support case where a customer was trying to import a BACPAC file, generated on a different server and subscription, into their Azure SQL Database. The process kept failing with the following errors: "Could not import package. Error SQL72014: Framework Microsoft SqlClient Data Provider: Msg 33159 - Only connections established with Active Directory accounts can create other Active Directory user" At first glance, this looked like a permissions issue, but digging deeper we realized that the error was triggered when the import process tried to create Entra ID (Azure AD) users while the connection was being made with a SQL Login, We checked several things in the BACPAC: The BACPAC contained references to external Active Directory users that were valid in the source environment but not in the target. Both the Azure portal and SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) failed with the same error. Since BACPAC files include both schema and user objects, incompatible users were being carried over and breaking the import. After thorough investigation, the following resolution path was established: We created a dummy copy of the source database. We removed the external AD/Entra users from that copy. We generated a new BACPAC from this cleaned database. We imported it into the target Azure SQL Database — and this time it worked. We explained several details: BACPAC files included both schema and security objects, including users. If external Active Directory users are not present in the target environment can cause import failures. Before exporting, review and remove or adjust user objects to avoid this issue — particularly when migrating across subscriptions, servers, or organizations with different Azure AD tenants.Lesson Learned #523: Measuring Import Time -Parsing SqlPackage Logs with PowerShell
This week I'm working on a service request who was experiencing long import times when restoring a large BACPAC into Azure SQL Database, I need to understand where time was being spent inside SqlPackage.exe. I rely on the diagnostics log and the PowerShell to analyze this time. The file contains valuable information that we can extract and summarize using PowerShell. I developed a small PowerShell Script with the following idea: Classifies every entry (Information, Verbose‑25, Verbose‑19, …). Tracks cumulative time for each class. Flags any operation whose delta exceeds 10 seconds with a warning. Produces two tables at the end: Summary per Level (counts + total seconds). Verbose‑25 Operations sorted by elapsed time. I used Verbose-25 (Verbose Operation plus operation ), because I identified that the lines contains the elapsed-time of the operation done. Those are usually the slowest parts. How the Script Works Read the content 5000 lines at a time. Parser every line running Process‑Line function to obtain 3 variables Level, Id, Timestamp, Message. If the level is not Verbose-25 (operation finished), the time is measured against the previous timestamp otherwise for Perf: text Operation ended we use elapsed ms. I added a line that when the delta > 10 s triggers Write‑Warning. $logPath = "C:\temp\Exampledf.txt" $prevStamp = $null $Salida = $null [int]$Lines= 0 $stats = @{} $Verbose25 = @{} function Process-Line { param ( [string]$line, [ref]$prevStamp ) if ($line -notmatch 'Microsoft\.Data\.Tools\.Diagnostics\.Tracer') { return "" } $tail = $Line.Substring($Line.IndexOf('Tracer') + 6).Trim() $c1 = $tail.IndexOf(':') if ($c1 -lt 0) { return "" } $level = $tail.Substring(0, $c1).Trim() $rest = $tail.Substring($c1 + 1).Trim() $c2 = $rest.IndexOf(':') if ($c2 -lt 0) { return "" } $id = $rest.Substring(0, $c2).Trim() $rest = $rest.Substring($c2 + 1).Trim() if ($rest.Length -lt 19) { return "" } $stamp = $rest.Substring(0, 19) $msg = $rest.Substring(19).Trim() if ($msg.StartsWith(':')) { $msg = $msg.Substring(1).Trim() } If($Level -eq "Verbose") { $levelKey = "$level-$id" # Verbose-25, Verbose-19… } else { $levelKey=$level } $delta = 0 if ($msg -like 'Perf: Operation ended*' -and $Level -eq "Verbose") { # Ej.: "...elapsed in ms): StartImportTable,[schema].[table],58" $elapsedMs = ($msg.Split(',')[-1]).Trim() if ($elapsedMs -match '^\d+$') { $delta = [double]$elapsedMs / 1000 } $Verbose25[$msg] = @{ ElapsedTime = [double]$elapsedMs / 1000 } $prevStamp.Value = [datetime]$stamp } else { $curr = [datetime]$stamp if ($prevStamp.Value) { $delta = ($curr - $prevStamp.Value).TotalSeconds } $prevStamp.Value = $curr } # ---- Update the summary ----------------------------------------------- if (-not $stats.ContainsKey($levelKey)) { $stats[$levelKey] = @{ Count = 0; Total = 0 } } $stats[$levelKey].Count++ $stats[$levelKey].Total += $delta return "$levelKey $delta $($msg.Trim())" } # Read and show line (every 5000) Get-Content -Path $logPath -ReadCount 5000 | ForEach-Object { foreach ($line in $_) { $Lines++ $Salida = Process-Line -line $line -prevStamp ([ref]$prevStamp) if ($Salida) { $deltaToken = [double]($Salida.Split()[1]) if ($deltaToken -gt 10) { Write-Warning "$Lines $Salida" } if ($Lines % 5000 -eq 0 -and $Salida) { Write-Output "$Lines Text: $Salida" } } } } Write-Output "`n--- Summary per Level -----------------------------------------" Write-Output "Lines Read: $Lines" $stats.GetEnumerator() | Sort-Object Name | ForEach-Object { [pscustomobject]@{ Level = $_.Name Operations = $_.Value.Count TotalTimeSec = [math]::Round($_.Value.Total, 3) } } | Format-Table -AutoSize Write-Output "`n--- Verbose-25 Operations -------------------------------------" $Verbose25.GetEnumerator() | Sort-Object @{ Expression = { [double]$_.Value.ElapsedTime }; Descending = $true } | ForEach-Object { [pscustomobject]@{ Operation = $_.Name ElapsedTimeSec = [double]$_.Value.ElapsedTime } } | Format-Table -AutoSize Examples:Lesson Learned #25: Export/Import Azure SQL Database using Azure File Service?
First published on MSDN on Apr 03, 2017 In some situations, we need to import or export our Azure SQL Database using SQLPackage, but, unfortunately, either source and destination file we cannot specify a blob storage, in case that we want to save the file in this storage.
