SharePoint to Azure Database for MySQL

Last updated 19 October 2026

One way: SharePoint stays the system of record, and SPSync keeps a read-only copy of your lists current in Azure Database for MySQL.

Status: Shipped · product: SPSync for Relational Databases

Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server turns TLS on for new servers, and getting that one setting right is most of the work. After that, SPSync writes SharePoint lists as MySQL tables that an App Service app, a Function, Metabase or Power BI’s MySQL connector reads as it would any other database.

TLS, sign-in and the network path

Download the root certificate Microsoft publishes for Flexible Server, DigiCert Global Root G2 at the time of writing, and add ssl_ca=/path/to/the-certificate.pem to the connection string. The MySQL driver SPSync uses treats that as “require TLS and verify the server”. Do not also add ssl_verify_identity=true; with this driver it discards the certificate path and turns verification off.

Sign-in is a MySQL username and password, read from the environment variable that holds the connection string. Flexible Server accepts a plain username. Older Single Server instances often expect user@servername. Microsoft Entra authentication is not supported today.

Open one network path before the first run:

• a firewall rule for the address the sync runs from, if the server allows public access;
• or a host inside the VNet, if the server uses private access.

Test it from wherever the sync will run, whether that is a desktop, SPSync in your Azure or a build agent, because an admin’s own laptop often has a path the sync host lacks.

Tables and types

An approved-vendor list with a Category lookup, a Buyer person column and a multi-choice Regions column becomes proc_vendors, keyed on the SharePoint item ID, with category_id and category_value, a buyer_user_id that joins to sp_users, and a proc_vendors__regions child table. GUIDs and shorter text columns are bounded VARCHAR(n), so you can put a unique index on them. Long text stays TEXT and is not indexed for you. Table and column names are capped at 64 characters, and SPSync shortens longer SharePoint names to fit.

A new SharePoint column appears on the next run, a removed one stays, and a retyped column gets a _v2 column alongside.

Uses on Azure

An app’s read model. An App Service or Function that reads reference data through Graph can query the server instead; see a read replica for internal apps.

Dashboards. Metabase or Grafana connect with their MySQL drivers; see Tableau, Looker, Metabase and Grafana on SharePoint data.

Master data for integrations. Cost centres and product codes become tables Logic Apps can query; see reference and master data from SharePoint.

A move off SharePoint lists. The replica gives an application something to cut over to; see migrating list data off SharePoint.

Steps

1. Start with delegated sign-in, or ask a SharePoint admin to approve Sites.Selected on the sites so the sync can run unattended.
2. Create a MySQL user that can create tables in the target database.
3. Store the connection string, with ssl_ca, in an environment variable.
4. Choose lists or a whole site and run; the first run creates the schema.
5. Set a schedule. Later runs read changes only, with a reconcile, weekly by default.

The server’s compute tier affects how long the first full load of a large list takes far more than it affects later runs.

spsync auth login --client-id 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
spsync export-config --output replication.yaml --pipeline-name azure_database_for_mysql --prefix azure_database_for_mysql --destination-kind mysql --connection-string-env SPSYNC_DB_CONNECTION --dataset-name azure_database_for_mysql --client-id 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000 --site-url https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/example --all-lists
spsync doctor replication.yaml
spsync run replication.yaml

pipeline_name: azure_database_for_mysql
prefix: azure_database_for_mysql
auth:
  mode: delegated
  client_id: 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
  tenant_id: common
destination:
  kind: mysql
  connection_string_env: SPSYNC_DB_CONNECTION
  dataset_name: azure_database_for_mysql
scopes:
  - site_url: https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/example
    mode: entire_site
reconcile_interval_days: 7
create_reporting_views: false

# every night at 02:00
0 2 * * * cd /opt/spsync && SPSYNC_DB_CONNECTION="$(cat /etc/spsync/db.env)" uv run spsync run replication.yaml >> /var/log/spsync/run.log 2>&1

# .github/workflows/spsync-run.yml
name: SPSync
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 2 * * *"
  workflow_dispatch: {}
jobs:
  run:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@v3
      - run: uv sync
      - run: uv run spsync run replication.yaml
        env:
          SPSYNC_DB_CONNECTION: ${{ secrets.SPSYNC_DB_CONNECTION }}
          SPSYNC_LICENCE_KEY: ${{ secrets.SPSYNC_LICENCE_KEY }}

# azure-pipelines.yml
schedules:
  - cron: "0 2 * * *"
    branches: { include: [main] }
    always: true
steps:
  - script: uv sync
  - script: uv run spsync run replication.yaml
    env:
      SPSYNC_DB_CONNECTION: $(SPSYNC_DB_CONNECTION)
      SPSYNC_LICENCE_KEY: $(SPSYNC_LICENCE_KEY)

# Windows Task Scheduler action (see /docs/cli/automation/)
$env:SPSYNC_DB_CONNECTION = (Get-Content C:\spsync\db.env)
uv run spsync run C:\spsync\replication.yaml
schtasks /Create /SC DAILY /ST 02:00 /TN "SPSync" /TR "powershell -File C:\spsync\run.ps1"

# ~/Library/LaunchAgents/io.spsync.run.plist, then: launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/io.spsync.run.plist