title: Using a LocalDb MDF file on Azure
body: <p>I am developing an ASP.NET MVC website, which I want to host on Azure Websites. While in development, I have been using an MDF file in my App_Data directory with a connection string looking like this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;add name="DefaultConnection" connectionString="Data Source=(LocalDb)\v11.0;Initial Catalog=MyApp;Integrated Security=SSPI;AttachDBFilename=|DataDirectory|\MyApp.mdf;MultipleActiveResultSets=true" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient"  /&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>To try it out on Azure, I was hoping I could leave this connection string as is, and simply FTP my MyApp.mdf into the App_Data folder on Azure, since it is all set up with the example data I want to use. However, when I tried to access my site, I ran into the following error:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while
    establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or
    was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that
    SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: SQL
    Network Interfaces, error: 52 - Unable to locate a LocalDB
    installation. Verify that SQL Server Express is properly installed and
    that the LocalDB feature is enabled.)</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>My question is, is there a way I can run my Azure website connecting to an MDF file in my App_Data folder, or am I forced to use an Azure SQL database?</p>