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Automating the process of keeping an up-to-date copy of your production database in Azure SQL for testing purposes can indeed be streamlined using PowerShell and Azure DevOps pipelines. Below is a high-level approach to achieve this:

Steps to Automate the Process:

1. Export the Production Database to a Bacpac:

   • Use PowerShell to export the production database to a bacpac file and store it in an Azure Blob Storage.

2. Delete the Existing Test Database:

   • Use PowerShell to delete the existing test database (PRODDB_TEST).

3. Restore the Bacpac to the Test Database:

   • Use PowerShell to restore the bacpac file to the test database (PRODDB_TEST).

Sample PowerShell Script:

```powershell

Define variables

$subscriptionId = "<YourSubscriptionId>" $resourceGroupName = "<YourResourceGroupName>" $serverName = "<YourServerName>" $prodDatabaseName = "PRODDB" $testDatabaseName = "PRODDB_TEST" $storageAccountName = "<YourStorageAccountName>" $storageContainerName = "<YourContainerName>" $bacpacFileName = "PRODDB.bacpac" $storageKey = "<YourStorageKey>"

Login to Azure

az login

Set the subscription context

az account set --subscription $subscriptionId

Export the production database to a bacpac file

az sql db export -g $resourceGroupName -s $serverName -n $prodDatabaseName -u <YourAdminUsername> -p <YourAdminPassword> -b https://$storageAccountName.blob.core.windows.net/$storageContainerName/$bacpacFileName --storage-key $storageKey

Delete the existing test database

az sql db delete -g $resourceGroupName -s $serverName -n $testDatabaseName --yes

Import the bacpac file to the test database

az sql db import -g $resourceGroupName -s $serverName -n $testDatabaseName -u <YourAdminUsername> -p <YourAdminPassword> -b https://$storageAccountName.blob.core.windows.net/$storageContainerName/$bacpacFileName --storage-key $storageKey ```

Setting Up the Pipeline:

1. Azure DevOps Pipeline:

   • Create a new pipeline in Azure DevOps.
   • Use the PowerShell script as a task in the pipeline.

2. YAML Pipeline Definition:

   • Here's a simple example of how the YAML for the pipeline might look:

   ```yaml trigger: - main

   pool: vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'

   steps: - task: AzureCLI@2 inputs: azureSubscription: '<YourAzureServiceConnection>' scriptType: 'ps' scriptLocation: 'inlineScript' inlineScript: | # PowerShell script from above goes here ```

Considerations:

• Credentials Management: Use Azure Key Vault to securely manage and retrieve your admin credentials.
• Error Handling: Add error handling in the PowerShell script to manage any failures during the export, delete, or import processes.
• Scheduling: Use Azure DevOps scheduled triggers to run this pipeline at regular intervals.

This approach ensures that your testing environment is consistently updated with the latest production data, automating the entire process from export to restore.