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title SqlPackage CLI Reference
description Learn how to use SqlPackage with its CLI syntax. View available parameters, properties, and SQLCMD variables.
author dzsquared
ms.author drskwier
ms.reviewer maghan, randolphwest
ms.date 01/27/2026
ms.service sql
ms.subservice tools-other
ms.topic reference
ms.collection
data-tools
ms.custom
sfi-ropc-nochange

SqlPackage CLI reference

SqlPackage is a command-line utility for database portability and deployments in Windows, Linux, and macOS environments. The SqlPackage command-line interface (CLI) parses each invocation for parameters, properties, and SQLCMD variables.

SqlPackage {parameters} {properties} {SQLCMD variables}
  • Parameters specify the action to perform, the source and target databases, and other general settings.
  • Properties modify the default behavior of an action.
  • SQLCMD variables pass values to the SQLCMD variables in the source file.

To create a SqlPackage command, specify an action and its additional parameters. Optionally, add properties and SQLCMD variables to further customize the command.

The following example uses SqlPackage to create a .dacpac file of the current database schema:

SqlPackage /Action:Extract /TargetFile:"C:\sqlpackageoutput\output_current_version.dacpac" \
 /SourceServerName:"localhost" /SourceDatabaseName:"Contoso" \
 /p:IgnoreUserLoginMappings=True /p:Storage=Memory

These are the parameters from this example:

  • /Action:Extract
  • /TargetFile:"C:\sqlpackageoutput\output_current_version.dacpac"
  • /SourceServerName:"localhost"
  • /SourceDatabaseName:"Contoso"

These are the properties from this example:

  • /p:IgnoreUserLoginMappings=True
  • /p:Storage=Memory

SqlPackage actions

Action Description
Version Returns the build number of the SqlPackage application.
Extract Creates a data-tier application (.dacpac) file containing the schema or schema and user data from a connected SQL database.
Publish Incrementally updates a database schema to match the schema of a source .dacpac file. If the database doesn't exist on the server, the publish operation creates it. Otherwise, an existing database is updated.
Export Exports a connected SQL database - including database schema and user data - to a BACPAC file (.bacpac).
Import Imports the schema and table data from a BACPAC file into a new user database.
DeployReport Creates an XML report representing the changes that a publish action would take.
DriftReport Creates an XML report representing the changes applied to a registered database since it was last registered.
Script Creates a Transact-SQL incremental update script that updates the schema of a target to match the schema of a source.

[!INCLUDE entra-id]

Parameters

Some parameters are shared between the SqlPackage actions. The following table summarizes the parameters. For more information, use the links in the table heading to visit the specific action pages.

Parameter Short Form Extract Publish Export Import DeployReport DriftReport Script
/AccessToken: /at Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
/ClientId: /cid No Yes No No No No No
/DeployScriptPath: /dsp No Yes No No No No Yes
/DeployReportPath: /drp No Yes No No No No Yes
/Diagnostics: /d Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
/DiagnosticsFile: /df Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
/DiagnosticsPackageFile: /dpf No Yes No Yes No No No
/MaxParallelism: /mp Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
/OutputPath: /op No No No No Yes Yes Yes
/OverwriteFiles: /of Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes
/Profile: /pr No Yes No No Yes No Yes
/Properties: /p Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
/Quiet: /q Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
/Secret: /secr No Yes No No No No No
/SourceConnectionString: /scs Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes
/SourceDatabaseName: /sdn Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes
/SourceEncryptConnection: /sec Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes
/SourceFile: /sf No Yes No Yes Yes No Yes
/SourcePassword: /sp Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes
/SourceServerName: /ssn Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes
/SourceTimeout: /st Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes
/SourceTrustServerCertificate: /stsc Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes
/SourceUser: /su Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes
/TargetConnectionString: /tcs No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
/TargetDatabaseName: /tdn No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
/TargetEncryptConnection: /tec No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
/TargetFile: /tf Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes
/TargetPassword: /tp No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
/TargetServerName: /tsn No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
/TargetTimeout: /tt No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
/TargetTrustServerCertificate: /ttsc No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
/TargetUser: /tu No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
/TenantId: /tid Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
/UniversalAuthentication: /ua Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
/Variables: /v No No No No Yes No Yes

Properties

SqlPackage actions support many properties to modify the default behavior of an action. Add /p:PropertyName=Value to the command line to optionally use properties. You can specify multiple properties, and specify some properties more than once. For example, you can use /p:TableData=Product /p:TableData=ProductCategory. For more information on properties, see the specific action pages.

SQLCMD variables

You can build SQLCMD variables into a .dacpac file from a SQL project. Set these variables during deployment using SqlPackage Publish or Script. For more information on adding SQLCMD variables to a SQL project, see SQL Database Projects extension.

Utility commands

Version

Displays the sqlpackage version as a build number. Use it in interactive prompts and in automated pipelines.

SqlPackage /Version

Help

Use /? or /help:True to display SqlPackage usage information.

SqlPackage /?

For parameter and property information specific to a particular action, use the help parameter in addition to that action's parameter.

SqlPackage /Action:Publish /?

Exit codes

SqlPackage commands return the following exit codes:

  • 0 = success
  • nonzero = failure

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