Phil Factor describes how custom pre- and post-deployment scripts work, when doing state-based database deployments with SQL Compare or SQL Change Automation, and how you might use them to, for example, add a version number to the target database, specify its database settings, or stuff data into some tables. Read more
Phil Factor demonstrates some simple examples of how to use SQL Clone's PowerShell library to pass objects between cmdlets, and simplify common tasks, such as creating and deploying clones from various images. He then documents the objects and cmdlets, and illustrates their inputs and outputs. Read more
If you are evaluating a tool such as a text editor or spreadsheet, it is easy: you just install it, you run it, you decide whether you need it. Job done. However, a similar 'unboxing' or 'unwrapping' of SQL Clone, and installing across a network, is not so quick and easy. Phil Factor's solution is to install and run a complete installation of SQL Clone on a single box. This allows you to try everything out, creating images and deploying clones, while isolated from the network. It can then be extended across a network, subsequently, when it's been fully tested. Read more
There is an old joke that upgrading to the latest SQL Server is wasted on some DBAs, because they will still stick mainly to what worked in SQL Server 2005. This type of DBA is becoming rare, in my experience, but there is still some truth in the idea that many of us don’t get Read more
Phil Factor starts with the basics how to rebuild a set of development database from scratch, using SQL Change Automation, and then demonstrates how to check for any active sessions before rebuilding, import test data using BCP, and secure passwords if connecting to the target with SQL Server credentials. Read more
Phil Factor demonstrates how using XML argfiles to pass parameters to SQL Compare cuts out a lot of the tedious scripting involved in modifying a database schema comparison and deployment process, as required for each target database. Read more
SQL Compare is the industry standard tool for comparing and deploying database schema changes, and version 14.0 now provides a Command Line Interface (CLI) on Linux (available as a beta, at time of writing). Teams working with SQL Server on Linux, or across multiple platforms, benefit from seamless development processes, driven by SQL Compare, without Read more
Your PowerShell process for database comparison and deployment is running smoothly, and your instinct is to 'leave well alone'. However, you continually need to delve into the script to tweak comparison settings or add a new command line switch. Phil Factor proposes a way to avoid this using SQL Compare projects. Read more
This article explains the basic components of a tech stack, and the decisions and requirements that affect how and where monitoring tools generally, and a specialist SQL Server monitoring tool like SQL Monitor, in particular, fit into your stack. Read more
SQL Compare now includes a Linux-based command line interface (CLI), as well as a Windows-based one, for doing schema comparison and deployments of SQL Server databases. This article offers worked examples of CLI scripts for various schema comparison tasks, to get you up and running with either version. Read more
Compliant Database DevOps
Standardize team-based development
Automate database deployments
Monitor performance and availability
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