Database

There are a few steps you need to do before you can work with your database. You will be ready to start working with the database at the end of the article.

Connecting to your Cloud database locally

Umbraco Cloud automatically overrides whatever is in the umbracoDbDsn connection string in the web.config or appSettings.json when the site is running on Cloud.

Any connection string named umbracoDbDsn will only be used when you run the site locally (cloned). In rare cases, you might need the database timeout increased on Cloud, for that, you'll need to reach out to support for assistance.

For security, your database on Umbraco Cloud is running behind a firewall. You'll need to open the firewall for the relevant IPs to connect to the database. This can be a single IP, a list of IPs, or even an IP range.

To open the firewall to a specific IP follow the steps below:

1. Go to your Umbraco Cloud Project.

2. Go to Configuration in the side menu on your project.

3. Click on Connections.

4. Click Add new IP address under SQL Azure firewall rules

5. Enter the IP that is allowed to access the database.

   1. Give the IP a name as well. his gives an overview of who the different IPs that have been added belong to.

If you don't see the SQL Azure firewall, it's due to permissions and you'll need to contact the projects administrator.

Adding a new IP to access the database

The IP can also be added by clicking "Add now". It'll automatically add your current IP address and save the settings. It might take up to five minutes for the firewall to be open for your IP.

Connecting to the database using SQL Management Studio

Once the firewall is open, it's time to fire up SQL Management Studio and connect to the database. Be aware that a database exists for each environment on Umbraco Cloud. Any changes you make to custom tables need to be done for each database.

To connect to the database using SQL Management Studio follow the steps below:

1. Go to SQL Connection Details in the Configuration menu on Umbraco Cloud.

2. Note down the Server name, Login, Password, and Database.

3. Go to SQL Management Studio.

   1. Choose SQL Server Authentication as the authentication type In the Connect to Server dialog.

   2. Add the Server name in the Connect to Server dialog

   3. Add the Login in the Connect to Server dialog

   4. Add the Password in the Connect to Server dialog

4. Click Options.

5. Add the name of the database in the Connect to Database dialog under Connection properties.

6. Click Connect.

Now that you've connected you can work with the databases on Umbraco Cloud, like you could on any other host. Remember to let Umbraco Cloud do the work when it comes to the Umbraco-related tables (Umbraco* and CMS* tables).

LocalDB

LocalDB is no longer supported in the latest major version of Umbraco. The documentation below is only relevant if you are on Umbraco 9 and below.

When you clone a site locally, Umbraco Cloud automatically creates a local database and populates it with data from your website running on the Cloud. If you don't specify database settings before the local site startup, it defaults to a SQL CE database in the umbraco/Data folder. If you wish to use a local SQL Server instead, you can update the connection string in the web.config or appSettings.json file (from v9+). You need to do this before your site starts up the first time.

By default when Umbraco Cloud restores a local database it will be a Umbraco.sdf file in the /App_Data folder. However, the restore creates a Umbraco.mdf file if LocalDB is installed and configured. To use LocalDB ensure applicationHost.config it is configured with loadUserProfile="true" and setProfileEnvironment="true".

Read about how to work with LocalDB and full IIS in the Microsoft documentation.

<add name="ASP.NET v4.0" autoStart="true" managedRuntimeVersion="v4.0" managedPipelineMode="Integrated">
   <processModel identityType="ApplicationPoolIdentity" loadUserProfile="true" setProfileEnvironment="true" />
</add>

If you don´t see the lines in the applicationHost.config, you can add them manually to the <applicationPools> section.

Usually applicationHost.config is located in this folder for IIS: C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\config

and in one of these folders for IIS Express:

C:\Users\<user>\Documents\IISExpress\config\

If you're using Visual Studio 2015+ check this path: $(solutionDir)\.vs\config\applicationhost.config

In Visual Studio 2015+ you can also configure which applicationhost.config file is used by altering the <UseGlobalApplicationHostFile>true|false</UseGlobalApplicationHostFile> setting in the project file (eg: MyProject.csproj). Source: Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) forum.

Now that you are all set and ready you can continue to work with your database locally.