Integrating Azure SQL with Django : A Step-by-Step Guide

hi👋 My name is Sourabh and I am a student ambassador from Bangalore studying Computer Science at BIT.

Azure SQL and Django integration

Migrate your Django project to a cloud-based database such as Azure SQL It can significantly improve scalability, reliability, and performance. This guide walks you through integrating Django with Azure SQL.

prerequisites

1. Azure subscription: get Azure for students You can receive $100 in credit over 12 months.
2. Django project: Make sure you have an existing Django project set up.
3. VS Code: install visual studio code Code editing to suit your needs.

Required Package

pip install django pyodbc mssql-django

Install ODBC Driver
To connect Django to Azure SQL, you need to install the ODBC driver for SQL Server. The following command installs ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server depending on your operating system.

For Ubuntu/Linux:

sudo su
curl https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | apt-key add -
curl https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/20.04/prod.list > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mssql-release.list
exit
sudo apt-get update
sudo ACCEPT_EULA=Y apt-get install -y msodbcsql17
sudo apt-get install -y unixodbc-dev

For macOS:

brew tap microsoft/mssql-release https://github.com/Microsoft/homebrew-mssql-release
brew update
brew install --no-sandbox msodbcsql17 mssql-tools

For Windows:
You can download and install the driver from: Microsoft’s website.

Once the drivers are installed, your Django project should be able to connect to Azure SQL using: mssql-django Package.

Why use Azure SQL instead of SQLite3?

• Scalability: Easily handle large data sets and high traffic.
• Trustworthy: Managed by Microsoft and provides high availability and disaster recovery capabilities.
• security: Advanced features like encryption, threat detection, and compliance.
• Performance: Features like automatic tuning and intelligent query processing.
• Remote access: Access your database from anywhere.

Step-by-step integration

1. Set up Azure SQL Database

Deployment options for Azure SQLNote – Deployment can also be done through the Azure portal.

• Create a resource group.

  az group create -l  -n ​

• Create SQL Server:

  az sql server create -n  -l  --admin-user  --admin-password  -g ​

• Create a database:

  az sql db create -g  -s  -n my-db --service-objective GP_Gen5_2​

• Allow the IP in your firewall:

  az sql server firewall-rule create --resource-group  --server  --name AllowMyClientIP --start-ip-address  --end-ip-address ​

2. Install required packages

pip install django pyodbc mssql-django

3. Configure Django Settings

in settings.pyupdate database part time job:

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'mssql',
        'NAME': 'my-db',
        'USER': '',
        'PASSWORD': '',
        'HOST': '.database.windows.net',
        'PORT': '',
        'OPTIONS': {
            'driver': 'ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server',
    },
}
}

4. Migration and Migration

python manage.py makemigrations
python manage.py migrate

5. Run the server

python manage.py runserver

And that’s it! Your Django project is now integrated with Azure SQL :party_popper:.

Additional resources:
– Azure SQL documentation
– mssql-django GitHub repository

Happy coding!

Useful Links
1. Create a REST API using Python, Django, and Azure SQL
2. Create a REST API in Python using Django and Azure SQL
3. Deploy Python (Django/Flask) apps using PostgreSQL on Azure
4. Azure SQL migration using Data Studio
5. Azure SQL Django samples on GitHub