Convert Access to SQL Server.

Using Access to SQL Server conversion and synchronization tools.

When you start DBConvert or DBSync application in GUI mode it guides you through several steps to set up the database migration or synchronization:

1. Connect to Access source database.

If a source database requires you to log in, you can specify a user name/ password and host/ port parameters.

2. Connect to SQL Server destination database.

Specifying parameters for destination database looks like the same as for source. Usually, it consists of defining connection settings and username/password pairs.

NOTE #1: Every DBConvert or DBSync tool has two different databases in its name. That means any specified database from a pair can be set up as a source or destination. Besides, the same type of database may be set up both as a source or destination.

As an example, here is the list of possible migration directions with on-premises databases:

• Access to SQL Server
• SQL Server to Access
• Access to Access
• SQL Server to SQL Server

NOTE #2: Don't be confused by the fact that connections to cloud databases like Amazon RDS, Google Cloud, and Heroku are not explicitly specified in the configuration of a source or destination in the DBConvert / DBSync interface. To connect to Cloud database instances, use the same settings as you do for traditional on-premises databases.

NOTE #3: Your connections to source and target databases stay active until you close DBConvert/ DBSync application or reopen new connections on "source" and "destination" steps.

Read more about the specific source/ destination configurations for different databases.

3. Configure database migration options.

At the next step, you can specify precisely which tables, fields, indices, views you want to transfer to the SQL Server destination database. Just check/ uncheck the box in front of each database object you want to convert.

Customize general database/ tables settings. Or set up a particular table , field, index individually when migrating data from Access to SQL Server.

Check out our articles about Configure database migration options. for detailed information.

The screenshot below sums up general features available in DBConvert software solutions.

4. Detection of potential database migration issues. Errors and Warnings

The database typically constrains certain relations on the data that cannot be violated. On the customization step, a smart error checker verifies all possible Data integrity and Referential integrity issues and highlights them, if any, before performing a migration.

By default, DBConvert tries to automatically map the database types of the source Access database to the closest equivalent of the target SQL Server database types. However, you can manually change the data types for the entire database globally using the "Global mapping" or individually for each field.

Check out Smart error checker. Errors and Warnings for more information.

5. Execution. The final stage of data migration from Access to SQL Server

Once you configure source and destination databases for migration in the previous steps, you can start the actual conversion or synchronization process.

Click the "Commit" button to start conversion. Also, here, you can monitor the migtation/ synchronization process.

Optionally save connection settings and configuration parameters into the session file to schedule the launching of sync or migration jobs regularly.

Read more about execution stage available options.

Command line mode

Previously saved sessions can be passed as parameters to Command-Line DBConvert Client. A session keeps Access source and SQL Server target database connection settings with other specified options.

Example: C:\Program Files\DBConvert\access2mssqlPro\access2mssqlPro_Cons.exe /Session:"Session_Name"

NOTE: First, you have to run the software in GUI mode to create a session file with initial parameters.