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Guide: Using Microsoft Azure with Databox

HOW TO

Microsoft Azure connections are available on the Professional and higher plans. Request a free trial of Microsoft Azure by following these steps

How to prepare your Microsoft Azure Database

1. To prepare our Microsoft Azure database, we'll login to the Microsoft Azure portal ( https://portal.azure.com/) and navigate to the  SQL databases tab

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2. Next, we'll click  Add and will populate the SQL Database as seen below: 

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3. The database needs to run on a server. Since we don't already have one created, we'll create a New Server through the form below. Note that the Server Name must be unique. 

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4. On the SQL Database form, we'll click on the Select drop-down and will choose this new Server. 
5. Next, we need to create a Resource Group. We'll call ours "rg1" 
6. Finally, for the Source we'll create our Database. The final SQL Database form is populated as follows: 

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7. Click Create to create this new SQL Database. After a few minutes, this newly created SQL Database will show up in the Default Directory 

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8. Now we need to enable remote access our new SQL Database. Click on the Overview tab and select Set server firewall

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9. This will open the  Firewall settings panel. We'll enter Databox’s public IP (52.4.198.118), which will connect to this database with set credentials

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10. Click Save to update the Firewall rules

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For further security and configuration considerations, please consult the official Microsoft Azure SQL Database documentation

How to connect Microsoft Azure to Databox

Once our Database is properly prepared, we'll connect it to Databox.

To connect Microsoft Azure to Databox, go to Data Sources > + New connection. Type Microsoft Azure in the search bar and click on the green Connect button. 

This will open the  Activation window, which is where you will be prompted to enter your connection data and authorize the Databox app. 

Click the green Activate button to complete the connection process. If Microsoft Azure was successfully connected, the Activation window will close shortly and you'll see a Connected notice. 

If you see a notice that says Wrong Credentials, doublecheck your user data before re-entering them in the Activation window. 

If the Activation window doesn't close for over a minute, there may be difficulty connecting to your server due to firewall issues. If you have difficulty connecting, be sure access is granted to Databox's public IP (52.4.198.118). 

Pro Tip: A connection error can occur if you use some special characters in your Microsoft Azure password. Learn more here

How to use the Metric Builder for Microsoft Azure

The Metric Builder for Microsoft Azure allows you to create Custom Metrics using data from your Database to use in Databoards, Alerts, Goals, etc. Learn more about the Metric Builder for Microsoft Azure here.

Additional Information

  • Make sure your Firewall is open to Databox's public IP and your Port is correctly forwarded to the server
  • Query results are limited to 10,000 rows. If you expect your query to return over 10,000 rows or if you're not sure how many rows will be returned, be sure to LIMIT the query. If you need more than 10,000 rows in order to successfully report on your Microsoft Azure data in Databox, feel free to submit your request on our Roadmap here.
  • The query must contain a column named "Date." If you need to, use AS in your SELECT statement to satisfy this requirement
  • One column should always contain the Metric Value
  • "Null" values will not be recognized. Use a COALESCE function when needed. Learn more here.
  • A connection error can occur if you use some special characters in your Microsoft Azure password. We advise you to not use special characters from the list below, as it may cause encoding issues during the connection of the data source. Please check if the following are included in your Microsoft Azure password and replace them with other characters:
    • , ' " / \ and spaces"