Sql Server Migration Assistant for Access

Question

I have been tasked with migrating an existing MS Access database to SQL Server 2012. It appears that using the SSMA for Access is the best choice for completing this migration. I have done some review of the migration assistant and it seems to be pretty straight forward. The kicker is that this client wants to use the existing Access forms with the data that has been migrated to SQL Server. So once the migration is complete, I need to point all of the current Access forms, queries, and reports at the new data source. I am not sure of the best way to accomplish this. I see that there is an option to 'link tables' when using the migration assistant but I am guessing there is more work to do to get the entire access front end working with the SQL backend. I don't have much Access experience so any help or advice on the best way to accomplish this would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Answer 1

The SSMA tool can also redirect its table definitions (the entries under the 'Tables' tab in the database window) so that they reference the migrated data in SQL Server. Forms, queries and reports all use these table definitions, so you may well find that most things work as expected immediately after migration. However, there are some aspects that do not move successfully, and you are likely to hit some of these if there is much VBA code in your application.