How to drop all tables and reset an Azure SQL Database

I have an ASP.NET MVC 5 project that works local and whenever I need to blow away the DB, I just open a new query on it, change the available database dropdown to master, then close the connection on my local db and run the query "drop database [name]". Then I build the project, go into the package manager console and run "Update-Database". This seems to rebuild a fresh local database and runs the seed method in my configuration.cs file.

The problem is when I need to test things in a live environment so I can test API's and such better, I will do a deploy to an Azure Website and the accompanying Azure DB, which is nice and easy to do. I check off the "Execute code first migrations" in the publish wizard and most of the time it works and I can run and debug my live version. Sometimes I need to blow away that db and start from scratch again, but the only way I've really found to do it is to go into the Azure portal, delete the database, and then re-create it with the same name. This takes some time for Azure to process, so this is a slow testing cycle.

Is there a quick way to just drop/reset a Azure SQL DB to it's fresh, empty, virgin state and then re-publish with "execute code first migrations" to have it re-create the tables and re-seed the data?

I've seen some talk of creating an initial migration after I create the db, and then trying to use the Powershell to do some sort of roll-back to that initial state, but I haven't had luck getting it to work, and I want to delete all the data at the same time. Maybe I've just got the wrong syntax or haven't found a good enough tutorial. While I can run a query on the Azure DB to "drop database [x]" it literally kills the SQL Azure DB instance as you'd expect and you need to go back into the portal to recreate it. Sometimes that initial state is no good as the model has since been updated, so this may not be useful anyway.

I feel like there should be some easier quicker way to test changes on a live environment as there all these great tools and shortcuts provided by MS, but did they just drop the ball here for this phase of development or am I missing something?

Since there is not an API way to do this that I am aware of, we have used this script to leverage a T-SQL query to clear the database.

To delete each table (and maintain your EF migration histories if you want)

while(exists(select 1 from INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES 
             where TABLE_NAME != '__MigrationHistory' 
             AND TABLE_TYPE = 'BASE TABLE'))
begin
 declare @sql nvarchar(2000)
 SELECT TOP 1 @sql=('DROP TABLE ' + TABLE_SCHEMA + '.[' + TABLE_NAME
 + ']')
 FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES
 WHERE TABLE_NAME != '__MigrationHistory' AND TABLE_TYPE = 'BASE TABLE'
exec (@sql)
 /* you dont need this line, it just shows what was executed */
 PRINT @sql
end

To remove the foreign keys first if you need to

while(exists(select 1 from INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS where CONSTRAINT_TYPE='FOREIGN KEY'))
begin
 declare @sql nvarchar(2000)
 SELECT TOP 1 @sql=('ALTER TABLE ' + TABLE_SCHEMA + '.[' + TABLE_NAME
 + '] DROP CONSTRAINT [' + CONSTRAINT_NAME + ']')
 FROM information_schema.table_constraints
 WHERE CONSTRAINT_TYPE = 'FOREIGN KEY'
 exec (@sql)
 PRINT @sql
end

In my testing, this worked without issues (except I did not have the where clause in the DROP TABLE while query since I don't use Code First or EF migrations).

Just to add to the answers since the accepted answer did not work for me on Azure. Use the below script to Delete all the tables and basically reset the azure database. It firstly deletes all constraints and then drops all of the tables.

As @Skorunka František commented this script assumes you use the default [dbo] schema. Although you could replace it with your own schema name.

/* Azure friendly */
/* Drop all Foreign Key constraints */
DECLARE @name VARCHAR(128)
DECLARE @constraint VARCHAR(254)
DECLARE @SQL VARCHAR(254)

SELECT @name = (SELECT TOP 1 TABLE_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS WHERE constraint_catalog=DB_NAME() AND CONSTRAINT_TYPE = 'FOREIGN KEY' ORDER BY TABLE_NAME)

WHILE @name is not null
BEGIN
    SELECT @constraint = (SELECT TOP 1 CONSTRAINT_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS WHERE constraint_catalog=DB_NAME() AND CONSTRAINT_TYPE = 'FOREIGN KEY' AND TABLE_NAME = @name ORDER BY CONSTRAINT_NAME)
    WHILE @constraint IS NOT NULL
    BEGIN
        SELECT @SQL = 'ALTER TABLE [dbo].[' + RTRIM(@name) +'] DROP CONSTRAINT [' + RTRIM(@constraint) +']'
        EXEC (@SQL)
        PRINT 'Dropped FK Constraint: ' + @constraint + ' on ' + @name
        SELECT @constraint = (SELECT TOP 1 CONSTRAINT_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS WHERE constraint_catalog=DB_NAME() AND CONSTRAINT_TYPE = 'FOREIGN KEY' AND CONSTRAINT_NAME <> @constraint AND TABLE_NAME = @name ORDER BY CONSTRAINT_NAME)
    END
SELECT @name = (SELECT TOP 1 TABLE_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS WHERE constraint_catalog=DB_NAME() AND CONSTRAINT_TYPE = 'FOREIGN KEY' ORDER BY TABLE_NAME)
END
GO

/* Drop all Primary Key constraints */
DECLARE @name VARCHAR(128)
DECLARE @constraint VARCHAR(254)
DECLARE @SQL VARCHAR(254)

SELECT @name = (SELECT TOP 1 TABLE_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS WHERE constraint_catalog=DB_NAME() AND CONSTRAINT_TYPE = 'PRIMARY KEY' ORDER BY TABLE_NAME)

WHILE @name IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
    SELECT @constraint = (SELECT TOP 1 CONSTRAINT_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS WHERE constraint_catalog=DB_NAME() AND CONSTRAINT_TYPE = 'PRIMARY KEY' AND TABLE_NAME = @name ORDER BY CONSTRAINT_NAME)
    WHILE @constraint is not null
    BEGIN
        SELECT @SQL = 'ALTER TABLE [dbo].[' + RTRIM(@name) +'] DROP CONSTRAINT [' + RTRIM(@constraint)+']'
        EXEC (@SQL)
        PRINT 'Dropped PK Constraint: ' + @constraint + ' on ' + @name
        SELECT @constraint = (SELECT TOP 1 CONSTRAINT_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS WHERE constraint_catalog=DB_NAME() AND CONSTRAINT_TYPE = 'PRIMARY KEY' AND CONSTRAINT_NAME <> @constraint AND TABLE_NAME = @name ORDER BY CONSTRAINT_NAME)
    END
SELECT @name = (SELECT TOP 1 TABLE_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS WHERE constraint_catalog=DB_NAME() AND CONSTRAINT_TYPE = 'PRIMARY KEY' ORDER BY TABLE_NAME)
END
GO

/* Drop all tables */
DECLARE @name VARCHAR(128)
DECLARE @SQL VARCHAR(254)

SELECT @name = (SELECT TOP 1 [name] FROM sysobjects WHERE [type] = 'U' AND category = 0 ORDER BY [name])

WHILE @name IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
    SELECT @SQL = 'DROP TABLE [dbo].[' + RTRIM(@name) +']'
    EXEC (@SQL)
    PRINT 'Dropped Table: ' + @name
    SELECT @name = (SELECT TOP 1 [name] FROM sysobjects WHERE [type] = 'U' AND category = 0 AND [name] > @name ORDER BY [name])
END
GO

Sadly I cannot find the source for this code anymore as i had it saved in one of my repositories. I hope it helps someone.

Just to add my variant to the mix... This one also takes into account Views and External Tables. It will not barf on External Tables which have to be removed separately with DROP EXTERNAL TABLE. This caused the original version to spin forever.

while(exists(select 1 from INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS where CONSTRAINT_TYPE='FOREIGN KEY'))
begin
 declare @sql nvarchar(2000)
 SELECT TOP 1 @sql=('ALTER TABLE ' + TABLE_SCHEMA + '.[' + TABLE_NAME
 + '] DROP CONSTRAINT [' + CONSTRAINT_NAME + ']')
 FROM information_schema.table_constraints
 WHERE CONSTRAINT_TYPE = 'FOREIGN KEY'
 exec (@sql)
 PRINT @sql
end


while(exists(select 1 from INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES 
	where TABLE_NAME != 'database_firewall_rules' 
	AND TABLE_TYPE = 'BASE TABLE'
	AND TABLE_NAME NOT IN (select name from sys.external_tables)))
begin
 declare @sql1 nvarchar(2000)
 SELECT TOP 1 @sql1=('DROP TABLE ' + TABLE_SCHEMA + '.[' + TABLE_NAME + ']')
 FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES
 WHERE TABLE_NAME != 'database_firewall_rules'
	AND TABLE_TYPE = 'BASE TABLE'
	AND TABLE_NAME NOT IN (select name from sys.external_tables)
exec (@sql1)
 PRINT @sql1
end

I usually

1. open SQL Server Management Studio or from Visual Studio open SQL Server Object Explorer
2. I connect to the Azure SQL Server (i.e: yourserver.database.windows.net with your username and password for SQL Server authentication option selected) (also remember that you would need to add a firewall exception in Azure portal to connect from your PC to the database in this way)
3. Right click on the Database and delete.

As simple as that.

Then, since you mentioned that you have a code first migrations approach, simply run the migrations again in the Azure SQL Server (for example when publishing make sure you check the option to apply migrations for the given sql server connection string)

I usually delete the remote database and then re-deploy the application with the command to re-run the migrations. This will create again the database with the new tables. The code to seed the database is in my Startup code so it's seeded any time the app is initialized if there is no values in DB.

This is also valid for AspNet Core Mvc (MVC6)

Azure SQL is essentially SQL server. So you can use MS SQL Server Management Studio https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/ssms/download-sql-server-management-studio-ssms

Open the database in Management Studio using your admin account, then execute drop table SQL commands or use the GUI right click menu to do whatever you want, just like using a local database.

Similar thing can be done in the Visual Studio SQL Server Object Explorer. Just right click the root "Add SQL server".

Addition to the answer given by @Gizmo3399. We use temporal tables with Entity Framework (EF) Core 5.0.2 with .NET 5. This is the command we use to clear our database. History is the schema we use for system-versioned temporal table. Currently needs to be ran twice to drop everything but no modifications needed otherwise.

/* Azure friendly */
/* Drop all Foreign Key constraints */
DECLARE @name VARCHAR(128)
DECLARE @constraint VARCHAR(254)
DECLARE @SQL VARCHAR(254)
DECLARE @SQL2 VARCHAR(254)

SELECT @name = (SELECT TOP 1 TABLE_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS WHERE constraint_catalog=DB_NAME() AND CONSTRAINT_TYPE = 'FOREIGN KEY' ORDER BY TABLE_NAME)

WHILE @name is not null
BEGIN
    SELECT @constraint = (SELECT TOP 1 CONSTRAINT_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS WHERE constraint_catalog=DB_NAME() AND CONSTRAINT_TYPE = 'FOREIGN KEY' AND TABLE_NAME = @name ORDER BY CONSTRAINT_NAME)
    WHILE @constraint IS NOT NULL
    BEGIN
		IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.schemas WHERE name = 'History') AND @name != '__EFMigrationsHistory'
			BEGIN
				 SELECT @SQL = 'ALTER TABLE [history].[' + RTRIM(@name) +'] DROP CONSTRAINT [' + RTRIM(@constraint) +']'
				 EXEC (@SQL)
			END
		SELECT @SQL2 = 'ALTER TABLE [dbo].[' + RTRIM(@name) +'] DROP CONSTRAINT [' + RTRIM(@constraint) +']'
        EXEC (@SQL2)
        PRINT 'Dropped FK Constraint: ' + @constraint + ' on ' + @name
        SELECT @constraint = (SELECT TOP 1 CONSTRAINT_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS WHERE constraint_catalog=DB_NAME() AND CONSTRAINT_TYPE = 'FOREIGN KEY' AND CONSTRAINT_NAME <> @constraint AND TABLE_NAME = @name ORDER BY CONSTRAINT_NAME)
    END
SELECT @name = (SELECT TOP 1 TABLE_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS WHERE constraint_catalog=DB_NAME() AND CONSTRAINT_TYPE = 'FOREIGN KEY' ORDER BY TABLE_NAME)
END
GO

/* Drop all Primary Key constraints */
DECLARE @name VARCHAR(128)
DECLARE @constraint VARCHAR(254)
DECLARE @SQL VARCHAR(254)
DECLARE @SQL2 VARCHAR(254)

SELECT @name = (SELECT TOP 1 TABLE_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS WHERE constraint_catalog=DB_NAME() AND CONSTRAINT_TYPE = 'PRIMARY KEY' ORDER BY TABLE_NAME)

WHILE @name IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
    SELECT @constraint = (SELECT TOP 1 CONSTRAINT_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS WHERE constraint_catalog=DB_NAME() AND CONSTRAINT_TYPE = 'PRIMARY KEY' AND TABLE_NAME = @name ORDER BY CONSTRAINT_NAME)
    WHILE @constraint is not null
    BEGIN
		IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.schemas WHERE name = 'History') AND @name != '__EFMigrationsHistory'
			BEGIN
				SELECT @SQL = 'ALTER TABLE [history].[' + RTRIM(@name) +'] DROP CONSTRAINT [' + RTRIM(@constraint)+']'
				EXEC (@SQL)
			END
		SELECT @SQL2 = 'ALTER TABLE [dbo].[' + RTRIM(@name) +'] DROP CONSTRAINT [' + RTRIM(@constraint) +']'
        EXEC (@SQL2)
        PRINT 'Dropped PK Constraint: ' + @constraint + ' on ' + @name
        SELECT @constraint = (SELECT TOP 1 CONSTRAINT_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS WHERE constraint_catalog=DB_NAME() AND CONSTRAINT_TYPE = 'PRIMARY KEY' AND CONSTRAINT_NAME <> @constraint AND TABLE_NAME = @name ORDER BY CONSTRAINT_NAME)
    END
SELECT @name = (SELECT TOP 1 TABLE_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS WHERE constraint_catalog=DB_NAME() AND CONSTRAINT_TYPE = 'PRIMARY KEY' ORDER BY TABLE_NAME)
END
GO

/* Drop all tables */
DECLARE @name VARCHAR(128)
DECLARE @SQL VARCHAR(254)
DECLARE @SQL2 VARCHAR(254)
DECLARE @SQL3 VARCHAR(254)

SELECT @name = (SELECT TOP 1 [name] FROM sysobjects WHERE [type] = 'U' AND category = 0 ORDER BY [name])

WHILE @name IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
	IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.schemas WHERE name = 'History') AND @name != '__EFMigrationsHistory'
		BEGIN
			SELECT @SQL = ('ALTER TABLE [' + RTRIM(@name) +'] SET (SYSTEM_VERSIONING = OFF)');
			EXEC (@SQL)
			SELECT @SQL2 = 'DROP TABLE [history].[' + RTRIM(@name) +']'
			EXEC (@SQL2)
		END
	SELECT @SQL3 = 'DROP TABLE [dbo].[' + RTRIM(@name) +']'
    EXEC (@SQL3)
    PRINT 'Dropped Table: ' + @name
    SELECT @name = (SELECT TOP 1 [name] FROM sysobjects WHERE [type] = 'U' AND category = 0 AND [name] > @name ORDER BY [name])
END
GO

IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.schemas WHERE name = 'History')
BEGIN
	DROP SCHEMA History
END

GO

If somebody would like to have such a script but with a filter by schema then there you go:

/* Azure friendly */

/* Drop all Foreign Key constraints */

/* Arguments */
DECLARE @schema VARCHAR(128) = '<TODO_PROVIDE_SCHEMA>'


/* Variables */
DECLARE @tableName VARCHAR(128)
DECLARE @tableSchema VARCHAR(128)
DECLARE @constraintName VARCHAR(254)
DECLARE @SQL VARCHAR(254)


SELECT TOP 1
   @tableName = sourceTable.name,
   @tableSchema = SCHEMA_NAME(sourceTable.schema_id),
   @constraintName = f.name
FROM sys.foreign_keys AS f
INNER JOIN sys.foreign_key_columns AS fc ON f.OBJECT_ID = fc.constraint_object_id
INNER JOIN sys.tables targetTable ON targetTable.OBJECT_ID = fc.referenced_object_id
INNER JOIN sys.tables sourceTable ON f.parent_object_id = sourceTable.object_id
WHERE targetTable.[schema_id] = SCHEMA_ID(@schema)
ORDER BY sourceTable.name

WHILE @tableName is not null
BEGIN

	SELECT @SQL = 'ALTER TABLE [' + RTRIM(@tableSchema) + '].[' + RTRIM(@tableName) +'] DROP CONSTRAINT [' + RTRIM(@constraintName) +']'
    EXEC (@SQL)
    PRINT 'Executed: ' + @SQL
	
	SET @tableName = NULL;

	SELECT TOP 1
	   @tableName = sourceTable.name,
	   @tableSchema = SCHEMA_NAME(sourceTable.schema_id),
	   @constraintName = f.name
	FROM sys.foreign_keys AS f
	INNER JOIN sys.foreign_key_columns AS fc ON f.OBJECT_ID = fc.constraint_object_id
	INNER JOIN sys.tables targetTable ON targetTable.OBJECT_ID = fc.referenced_object_id
	INNER JOIN sys.tables sourceTable ON f.parent_object_id = sourceTable.object_id
	WHERE targetTable.[schema_id] = SCHEMA_ID(@schema)
	ORDER BY sourceTable.name
END
GO
/* Drop all Primary Key constraints */

DECLARE @schema VARCHAR(128) = '<TODO_PROVIDE_SCHEMA>'

DECLARE @tableName VARCHAR(128)
DECLARE @tableSchema VARCHAR(128)
DECLARE @constraintName VARCHAR(254)
DECLARE @constraintSchema VARCHAR(128)
DECLARE @SQL VARCHAR(254)


SELECT 
	@tableName = t.name,
	@tableSchema = SCHEMA_NAME(t.schema_id),
	@constraintName = pk.name,
	@constraintSchema = SCHEMA_NAME(t.schema_id)
FROM sys.objects pk 
JOIN sys.objects t ON (pk.parent_object_id = t.object_id)
WHERE pk.[type] = 'PK'
	AND pk.schema_id = SCHEMA_ID(@schema)
ORDER BY t.name 

WHILE @tableName is not null
BEGIN
	SELECT @SQL = 'ALTER TABLE [' + RTRIM(@tableSchema) + '].[' + RTRIM(@tableName) +'] DROP CONSTRAINT [' + RTRIM(@constraintName) +']'
	PRINT 'Executing: ' + @SQL
	EXEC (@SQL)

	SET @tableName = null;
	SELECT 
		@tableName = t.name,
		@tableSchema = SCHEMA_NAME(t.schema_id),
		@constraintName = pk.name,
		@constraintSchema = SCHEMA_NAME(t.schema_id)
	FROM sys.objects pk 
	JOIN sys.objects t ON (pk.parent_object_id = t.object_id)
	WHERE pk.[type] = 'PK'
		AND pk.schema_id = SCHEMA_ID(@schema)
	ORDER BY t.name 
END
GO



/* Drop all tables */

DECLARE @schema VARCHAR(128) = '<TODO_PROVIDE_SCHEMA>'

DECLARE @tableName VARCHAR(128)
DECLARE @tableSchema VARCHAR(128)
DECLARE @SQL VARCHAR(254)

SELECT TOP 1 
	@tableName = [name],
	@tableSchema = SCHEMA_NAME(schema_id)
FROM sys.tables
WHERE [type] = 'U' 
	AND schema_id = SCHEMA_ID(@schema)

WHILE @tableName IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
    SELECT @SQL = 'DROP TABLE [' + RTRIM(@tableSchema) +'].[' + RTRIM(@tableName) +']'
    EXEC (@SQL)
    PRINT 'Dropped Table: ' + @tableName

	SET @tableName = NULL;
    SELECT TOP 1 
		@tableName = [name],
		@tableSchema = SCHEMA_NAME(schema_id)
	FROM sys.tables
	WHERE [type] = 'U' 
		AND schema_id = SCHEMA_ID(@schema)
END
GO


/* DROP Sequences */

DECLARE @schema VARCHAR(128) = '<TODO_PROVIDE_SCHEMA>'


DECLARE @seqName VARCHAR(128)
DECLARE @seqSchema VARCHAR(128)
DECLARE @SQL VARCHAR(254)


SELECT TOP 1
	@seqName = s.name,
	@seqSchema = SCHEMA_NAME(s.schema_id)
FROM sys.sequences s
WHERE schema_id = SCHEMA_ID(@schema)
ORDER BY s.name


WHILE @seqName is not null
BEGIN
	SELECT @SQL = 'DROP SEQUENCE [' + RTRIM(@seqSchema) + '].[' + RTRIM(@seqName) +']'
	PRINT 'Executing: ' + @SQL
	EXEC (@SQL)

	SET @seqName = null
	SELECT TOP 1
		@seqName = s.name,
		@seqSchema = SCHEMA_NAME(s.schema_id)
	FROM sys.sequences s
	WHERE schema_id = SCHEMA_ID(@schema)
	ORDER BY s.name
END
GO

Before executing don't forget to change <TODO_PROVIDE_SCHEMA> to your schema

That script will find all FK that is related to the target schema so for example, when schema1.table1 has FK to schema2.table2 and if we want to delete schema2 then my script also deletes that FK (even if that is a different schema)

Script also drops sequences

Alternatively, you can drop the database in C# and create a new database with ExecuteNonQuery.

queryString = "DROP DATABASE TestDB2";

SqlCommand command = new SqlCommand(queryString, connection);
        command.Connection.Open();
        command.ExecuteNonQuery();

Where connection is a connection to your Azure SQL Database master database.

Alternatively, to create a database:

queryString = "CREATE DATABASE TestDB2 ( EDITION = 'standard' )";