arc-enabled-sql-poc

Testing the installation of SQL Server on Ubuntu, and onboarding the server to Azure Arc

• I made a fresh install of Ubuntu 20.04 on an old HP laptop.
  • Currently, SQL Server 2022 lists compatibility with Ubuntu 22.04 as a preview, while with 20.04 it is in GA.
  • I installed Ubuntu Desktop for simplicity's sake, but of course, Ubuntu Server would mirror a production scenario more closely.
• After apt installing curl on the machine, I started the installion of SQL Server following these instructions: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/linux/quickstart-install-connect-ubuntu?view=sql-server-ver16&tabs=ubuntu2004
  • When I reached the part where you must choose an edition of SQL Server, I chose 9) Standard (Billed Through Azure). I was interested in seeing how connecting a paid version behaves with Azure Arc.
  • I also installed the optional CLI tools mentioned in the article.
• After checking that the SQL Server service was up and running on Ubuntu, I went to Azure portal and started the process of onboarding the Ubuntu server following these instructions: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/network-watcher/connection-monitor-connected-machine-agent?tabs=LinuxScript
  • According to current documentation, the SQL Server should be onboarded automatically with the machine.
  • I set up the resource group in Sweden Central.
  • I chose the option to onboard a single server manually with a downloaded script, though later it may be interesting to also test using a service principal or other methods.
• After downloading the script, I copied it to the Ubuntu machine and ran it. The script does a bunch of things if you run every command in it. These include (but are not limited to):
  • The script successfully connected to aka.ms on port 443, and after resolving the location of a bash script, it was downloaded to /root/install_linux_azcmagent.sh. This new script is also run, which actually installs the agent.
  • The article I was following asked to manually run install_linux_azcmagent.sh but as mentioned above, the original installation script includes a line for running it, so there's no need to do that again. Furthermore, in the article, there is a typo: the first letter in the name should not be uppercase.
  • If you're using a proxy server, then you actually need to run a slightly different version of the command, as mentioned in the article.
  • The installation process of the azcmagent tries to do an IP port check, but netstat was not installed on the machine, so that was skipped. On a server behind a firewall, that check might be useful, or running a similar check manually.
  • After running the last command which actually connects the agent to Azure, you have open a browser session at https://microsoft.com/devicelogin and enter a code to authenticate. I performed the authentication on a different laptop.
  • After authenticating, the agent proceeded to creating the connection / resource in Azure.
• In Azure, the Ubuntu laptop now showed up as a resource. The SQL Server did not despite waiting more than an hour. Obviously the automatic deployment didn't get triggered for some reason.
• I then tried logging into the SQL Server with sqlcmd -S localhost -U sa but after providing the password, I got an error about certificate verify having failed. This was fixed by adding -C to the command. The article also mentions -No as a way around it.
  • Just as a test, I created a db, table, and a few rows of data. Everything seemed to work fine.
• Back in Azure, I wiewed the Arc-enabled laptop's extensions and from there, started installing the SQL extension.
  • It gives three options, "PAYG", "Paid", and "LicenseOnly". I chose "PAYG" in accordance with my earlier choice.
  • That selection appears to also change the selection on the SQL Server Configuration blade of the server. The page shows the same three options.
  • The deployment took a really long time... or rather didn't finish.
  • Region may be a problem: I discovered in docs that Arc-enabled SQL Server is not available in Sweden Central.
• Realizing the region may have been the problem, I proceeded to remove the agent using this: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-arc/servers/manage-agent?tabs=windows
• Then I gave it another try, putting everything in West Europe.
  • This time I also granted right for Automanage to do stuff.
  • First attempt to connect agent to Azure failed with 403. Failed to Get MSI Certificate from HIS.
  • Second attempt was really quick and succeeded. The resource appeared in Azure after a few minutes.

• SQL Server didn't show up at the same time, but in Extensions, I can see it's being created. SQL Server Configuration doesn't yet show any of the three options chosen. ps aux on the Ubuntu machine shows the extension running as a process.
  • I left it running overnight, and in the morning I noticed two extensions had failed: MDE.Linux, i.e. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and the SQL extension.
  • MDE agent installation had timed out.
  • SQL agent logs said the Arc Connected Machine agent wasn't healthy. The reason could be that the laptop fell asleep during the really long installation. I'll retry manually if the extension wasn't installed successfully.
  • The SQL Server now actually shows in the Ubuntu laptop's SQL Server Instances. The Licence Type selection hasn't automatically been switched to PAYG although the SQL Server's properties show PAYG. Not sure if it's fully connected to Azure billing yet.
  • At least so far, I couldn't see any charges in Cost Analysis. I switched on the PAYG selection to see what happens. I think that added "Pay-As-You-Go" as the Host License Type on the Overview blade.
  • Many blades, such as Data management > Databases are still grayed out. Choosing the license type didn't affect that.