I setup an account with SQL Azure last week, and I would like to document each step I took in order. 

There is a lot of information on SQL Azure FAQ and Zack Owens’ blog.  I still ran into some issues though, and I wanted to provide detailed instruction on how to work through them.

Step 1 – Get SQL Azure token.  You need to Microsoft Azure site and scroll down the page to request tokens.

Step 2 – Wait for the email you will receive that will contain the token (invitation code) and instructions on how to activate it. Follow those step to setup an account.

Step 3 – Create new project in SQL Azure.  You will setup user ID and password as part of that process.

Step 4 – Create a database with a name you choose and setup firewall

You can see your own IP address on this window above as well.  You can just copy that address and paste it into both IP ranges – low and high,

Step 5 – Start SSMS (SQL Server Management Studio).  Hit Cancel on initial login screen.

Step 6 – Click New Query button

Step 7 – Enter your server information, but do NOT click Connect

Step 8 – Click Options and enter your database name

Step 9 – Click “Connect”.  You should not get any errors and now you can see a query window.  You are ready to add tables.

Step 10 – Type in script to create database structure.  Important: not all standard SQL commands are supported.  If you are scripting an existing database, you will need to remove all file group references, such as “ON PRIMARY”. 

Step 11 – Create a standard .NET application.  You can get exact connection string on your SQL Azure management page:

You are done!

Find more information on SQL Azure FAQ and Zack Owens’ blog.