How to install Azure Data Studio on Linux to manage your SQL Servers

Data is one of the most valuable assets for most modern businesses. Often, a database is used to persist data, provide a smooth user experience, and offer operational insights.

Here, we’ll show you how to get started with Azure Data Studio on Linux. You can use it to design, query and manage your databases or SQL Server databases in the cloud or on your premises.

What is Azure Data Studio?

Azure Data Studio is a cross-platform database management tool available on Mac, Windows, and Linux. Azure Data Studio has most of the features of Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), but it’s more lightweight and extensible. However, it is not intended to replace SSMS.

You can use Azure Data Studio for cloud-based and on-premises databases. It is very modular and uses software extensions to extend or extend its functionality. For example, you can use it to connect to PostgreSQL.

Azure Data Studio is designed for the modern software engineer or data analyst. Some of its main features include:

• Highly customizable dashboards to monitor your databases
• A built-in terminal window to interact with your databases using PowerShell, Bash, etc.
• Supports Jupyter notebooks
• An SQL query editor with IntelliSense support

Azure Data Studio is fully open source and you can access its code base on GitHub.

Installing Azure Data Studio on Linux

Before beginning the installation, download the Azure Data Studio package for the distribution you are currently running.

To download: Azure Data Studio (Free)

On Debian and Ubuntu based distributions

If you are using a Debian-based distribution, such as Ubuntu, download the appropriate DEB package and use the following cd command to navigate to the Downloads directory:

cd ~/Downloads

Next, install Azure Data Studio with the APT package manager.

sudo apt install ./azuredatastudio-linux-*.deb

On RHEL, CentOS and Fedora

For Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and its derivatives, download the RPM file, then navigate to the Downloads directory.

cd ~/Downloads

Install Azure Data Studio using YUM, as follows:

sudo yum install ./azuredatastudio-linux-1.35.1.rpm

Run the command below to download the required dependencies:

sudo yum install libXScrnSaver

On Arch Linux

You can install Azure Data Studio on Arch-based distributions using Yay:

yay -S azuredatastudio-bin

Starting Azure Data Studio

You can launch Azure Data Studio from your system’s Applications menu or from the terminal by running the following command:

azuredatastudio

Connection to a database

You can easily connect to your cloud or local databases from the Azure Data Studio main page. If you have already connected to other databases, you will find them in the left sidebar.

A green dot signifies that you are currently connected to the particular database while a red dot symbolizes that you are offline.

Click on the New connection and Azure Data Studio will present you with a login screen to enter your login credentials and other database details.

Enter the name of the server you wish to connect to and provide the required login credentials. We’re using SQL Login here, but you can also use Windows Authentication if you want.

Finally, click on the Relate button to connect to your SQL Server database.

Use the Advanced to access more connection configurations such as preferred ports, connection timeout, and other security configurations to protect your data.

Uninstalling Azure Data Studio

On Debian-based distributions, you can uninstall Azure Data Studio with the apt remove command:

sudo apt remove azuredatastudio

On RHEL, Fedora and similar distributions, uninstall Azure Data Studio by running the command:

sudo yum remove azuredatastudio

To uninstall Azure Data Studio downloaded from the AUR on Arch Linux:

sudo yay -R azuredatastudio-bin

Access your cloud and local databases on Linux

This guide showed you how to access your on-premises and cloud-based DB instances using Azure Data Studio on Linux. It’s lightweight, easy to set up, and available on all major operating systems, including macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Azure Data Studio also supports backing up and restoring databases for data or disaster recovery. You can easily recover corrupted data with Azure Data Studio when you need it.

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