Importing Data Into SQL Azure

I was working to get an updated set of data from my local development machine copied up to a Windows Azure database today and spent a lot of time trying to figure out why I couldn’t simply copy the data using the SQL Server Import and Export Wizard. Getting a connection between the two databases would always succeed, but as soon as I had picked my source and destination databases, clicking Next would always produce an error:

The stored procedure required to complete this operation could not be found on the server

Not overly informative

While Microsoft may have good intentions of eventually supporting data import / export using the more familiar OLEDb provider, as it stands right now, selecting OLEDb will not work as it is not currently supported by SQL Azure. Looking over the MSDN articles is of little help, with suggestions that the wizard is used and links to various unhelpful resources. That said, there is a very good article on the TechNet Social pages.

It turns out that you are still able to use the wizard, but in order to get the data imported, you should use the .Net Framework Data Provider for SqlServer as the Data Source. Populate the values from your connection string into the corresponding fields in the dialog then carry on as normal.

The right provider makes all the difference

Hope this helps!