Using an SQL Server in Azure

In Citavi 5.1 and later you can save Citavi projects in an SQL database in Microsoft Azure. The following guide shows you how to set up Azure for this purpose.  

  1. Go to https://portal.azure.com. Sign in to your account. Register for Windows Azure if you haven't already done so. You'll need to have a credit card in order to use Azure services. Microsoft will charge your card for the services used for the corresponding database. Citavi has no control over these fees.
  2. On the left-hand column, click SQL databases.
  3. Click Add.
  4. Enter a name for the database. Please note that spaces and special characters are not allowed. The Citavi project will later be saved in the database you are creating.
  5. Under Server click Configure required settings.
  6. Click Create a new server.
  7. Enter a Server name (your organization's name, for example). You can later add additional SQL databases to this server if you want.
  8. Enter the server administrator's user name in the Server admin login field.
  9. Add a Password and confirm it. Make sure to save the Server name, Server admin login, and Password. You'll need this information later on for the Citavi DBServer Manager.
  10. Select the Location (data center) where the Server should be run from. We recommend selecting the location closest to you.
  11. Under Create V12 server make sure that Yes is selected.
  12. Click OK.
  13. Under Select source make sure that Blank database is displayed.
  14. Click Pricing tier and select one of the options. Standard S0 should work well for most use cases.
  15. Do not make any changes under Optional configuration, Resource group, and Subscription. Click Create.
  16. Click the Server name. Click Show Firewall settings. Enter the IP addresses that should have access to the database.
    Select either your current IP address (only you can access the database) or define an IP range. To add your current IP address, click Add client IP (in this case only your computer will have access) or enter an IP range. Note: If you use the IP range 0.0.0.0 - 255.255.255.255 all computers will be able to access the server if they have the necessary password.
    You should enter a specific IP range if only computers in a certain IP range (within a company, for example) should be able to access the server. Select 0.0.0.0 - 255.255.255.255 if your organization does not have a dedicated IP range or if users will be accessing Citavi projects from computers outside the organization's IP range.  
    Click Save.
  17. For the newly created SQL database, click All settings and then click Properties. Copy the Server name.
  18. Start Citavi DBServer Manager.
  19. On the Databases menu, select Manage.
  20. Click Add to start the Citavi database assistant and add the new database.
  21. Enter the server name from step 17 in the Computer name field. Enter the login name and password from step 8 in the corresponding fields. Click Next.
  22. Click Finish. Close the window.
  23. If you created more than one database, click Databases > Connections to switch to another database.
  24. Add Users.
  25. Add Licenses.
  26. Create projects or import existing projects.