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Azure Data Factory - naming rules

APPLIES TO: Azure Data Factory Azure Synapse Analytics

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Data Factory in Microsoft Fabric is the next generation of Azure Data Factory, with a simpler architecture, built-in AI, and new features. If you're new to data integration, start with Fabric Data Factory. Existing ADF workloads can upgrade to Fabric to access new capabilities across data science, real-time analytics, and reporting.

The following table provides naming rules for Data Factory artifacts.

Name Name Uniqueness Validation Checks
Data factory Unique across Microsoft Azure. Names are case-insensitive, that is, MyDF and mydf refer to the same data factory.
  • Each data factory is tied to exactly one Azure subscription.
  • Object names must start with a letter or a number, and can contain only letters, numbers, and the dash (-) character.
  • Every dash (-) character must be immediately preceded and followed by a letter or a number. Consecutive dashes aren't permitted in container names.
  • Name can be 3-63 characters long.
Linked services/Datasets/Pipelines/Data Flows Unique within a data factory. Names are case-insensitive.
  • Object names must start with a letter.
  • The following characters aren't allowed: “.”, “+”, “?”, “/”, “<”, ”>”,”*”,”%”,”&”,”:”,”\”
  • Dashes ("-") aren't allowed in the names of linked services, data flows, and datasets.
Integration Runtime Unique within a data factory. Names are case-insensitive.
  • Integration runtime Name can contain only letters, numbers, and the dash (-) character.
  • The first and last characters must be a letter or number. Every dash (-) character must be immediately preceded and followed by a letter or a number.
  • Consecutive dashes aren't permitted in integration runtime name.
Data flow transformations Unique within a data flow. Names are case-insensitive
  • Data flow transformation names can only contain letters and numbers
  • The first character must be a letter.
Resource Group Unique across Microsoft Azure. Names are case-insensitive. For more info, see Azure naming rules and restrictions.
Pipeline parameters & variable Unique within the pipeline. Names are case-insensitive.
  • Validation check on parameter names and variable names is limited to uniqueness because of backward compatibility reason.
  • When use parameters or variables to reference entity names, for example linked service, the entity naming rules apply.
  • A good practice is to follow data flow transformation naming rules to name your pipeline parameters and variables.

Related content

Learn how to create data factories by following step-by-step instructions in Quickstart: create a data factory article.

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