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title: "Introducing bcdb: Read a Business Central Backup Without SQL Server"
summary: bcdb is a tool that reads SQL Server backup files (.bak) and Business Central cloud exports (.bacpac) directly without requiring SQL Server or a restore process. It decodes table data using AL field names when provided with extension symbols and supports library and CLI usage.
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# Introducing bcdb: Read a Business Central Backup Without SQL Server

[Read the post](https://stefanmaron.com/posts/bcdb-read-business-central-backups-without-sql-server/) · Stefan Maron (Stefan Maron, MVP) · 2026-09-01 · 1356 words · tier community · reviewed (checked by Opus)

> bcdb is a tool that reads SQL Server backup files (.bak) and Business Central cloud exports (.bacpac) directly without requiring SQL Server or a restore process. It decodes table data using AL field names when provided with extension symbols and supports library and CLI usage.

## Key points

- Reads .bak and .bacpac files directly by parsing pages and the system catalog, with no SQL Server or restore needed
- Gives AL field names and types when passed the .app symbols; otherwise it uses SQL column names
- Ships as a .NET global tool, a NuGet library (BcDb.Core) and native binaries for several platforms
- Checked page by page against fresh SQL Server restores, with over 99.9% of pages identical. It refuses unsupported backup types and column types rather than guessing
- Built mainly so AL Runner can use real customer data without needing the exact extension versions

## Quotes

- "AL Runner doesn't have that constraint: it only cares whether the data structure matches." (Explains the fundamental advantage over service tier restore: enables testing without exact extension versions)

## Context

- Features: backup file parsing, table row decoding, page decompression, BLOB handling, AL field mapping, command-line interface, library interface, serve mode
- Versions: BC 21, BC 24, BC 27.5, BC 28.1

Source: Stefan Maron, community blog. Summary, key points and quotes are derived (CONTENT-NOTICE.md); read the original for the full text.