PowerShell has radically improved the ease of monitoring and adminstering Windows-based servers, and automating routine processes. The visionary leader of this project is Jeffery Snover, who is now Lead Architect for both Windows Server and System Center Datacenter. … Read more
PowerShell is worth using when it is the quickest way to providing a solution. For the DBA, it is much more than getting information from SQL Server instances via PowerShell; it can also be run from SQL Server as part of a system that helps with administrative and monitoring tasks. Laerte explains how.… Read more
SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) has many features that make it particularly convenient for the database developer and DBA. Registered Servers are typical: poorly documented, but essential for the busy DBA, since they are easily scriptable via TSQL or PowerShell as well as the SSMS GUI, to access groups of servers to perform a wide range of tasks.… Read more
Although, generally speaking, source control is the truth, a database doesn't quite conform to the ideal because the target schema can, for valid reasons, contain other conflicting truths that can't easily be captured in source control. Dave Ballantyne explains the problems and suggests a solution.… Read more
Sometimes, you can tire of writing the same PowerShell code once again. After this happened to Phil whilst keying in an SMO pipeline to access databases, it occurred to him that he should have only one pipeline to access databases in PowerShell, one reusable pipelin… Read more
Jenkins, formerly called Hudson, is an open-source server-based Continuous Integration tool that works with all the major Source Control Management (SCM) tools including TFS, and can even script in PowerShell. It is clever software written by a clever geek, Kohsuke Kawaguchi.… Read more
It is likely that you'll want to add a database with TDS Encryption to your AlwaysOn Availability Group. If you do so you'll find that you can't use the SSMS wizard to do so. So, how do you achieve it? Read on...… Read more
Once you pass that point of just hurriedly writing PowerShell scripts for immediate use and start to write PowerShell functions for reuse, then you'll want a robust set of parameters that allow functions to work just like cmdlets. … Read more
Laerte goes step-by-step through the process of tidying up and making more reusable an untidy collection of PowerShell routines, showing how pipelines and advanced functions can make PowerShell more effective in helping to automate many of the working DBA's chores.… Read more
As well as running TSQL and PowerShell, the free SQL Scripts Manager tool can also run Python scripts. This allows even more sophisticated scripting possibilities for managing automated database tasks. … Read more
An automated build and deployment system is no longer a dream. Now that PowerShell has matured as a product, and since the emergence of new tools such as Psake and Chocolatey, the ambition of the perfect build process has come nearer to reality. … Read more
One of the most radical features of PowerShell is amongst the least known. It is possible to extend the buit-in Cmdlets to provide extra functionality. One can add or remove parameters to make subsequent scripting simpler. Michael shows how this is done to meet a practical requirement:, excluding entire subtrees from a recursive directory trawl for automating source control. … Read more
A combination of PowerShell and HTML can provide the basis of an easily-scanned report on the basic state of a whole group of servers. Sean combined a range of routine health-checks to provide himself a useful range of information about his servers to his in-box.
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The offline address-book (OAB) of Exchange is available when the user is not connected, Since Exchange 2007, it is updated via a Web-based distribution point. But what if you need to set up several Offline address-books for a variety of sites or geographical regions, each to be distributed by a different point? How would you do that? Krishna demonstrates.… Read more
In the first of a series of articles on automating the process of building, modifying and copying SQL Server databases, Phil Factor demonstrates how one can generate TSQL scripts for databases, selected database objects, or table contents from PowerShell and SMO.… Read more
Even where Source Control isn't being used by developers, it is still possible to automate the process of tracking the changes being made to a database and put those into Source Control, in order to track what changed and when. You can even get an email alert when it happens. With suitable scripting, you can even do it if you don't have direct access to the live database. Grant shows how easy this is with SQL Compare.… Read more
Even if you know PowerShell inside and out, there will be those times where you won't be the end user for your script, even within your organisation. You need a straightforward GUI. Thankfully, Jonathan Medd has provided workthoughs for three tools - PowerGUI, PrimalForms, and SQL Scripts Manager - to help apply some GUI goodness to your scripts.… Read more
Modules allow you to use standard libraries that extend PowerShell's functionality. They are easier to use than to create, but if you get the hang of creating them, your code will be more easily-maintained and re-usable. Let Michael Sorens once more be your guide through PowerShell's 'Alice in Wonderland' world.… Read more
Sean Duffy recently had an unwelcome encounter with Exchange Server Back Pressure, which cut off his message flow due to a lack of space on the server. To make sure it didn't happen again, he found a way to automatically monitor all his servers from afar, with a little PowerShell magic.… Read more
We asked Phil why his PowerShell tabular reports looked so nice. 'CSS structural pseudo-classes' he muttered mystically. Later on, without any further warning, he popped up with this article that explains for anyone who has missed them, how to go about doing intricate formatting of an HTML file, the contents of which you cannot alter.… Read more
