I have .mdf files that are backups of several databases, and I would like to know if it is possible to attach these files at once.
If it is also possible, for example via PHP code, I also feel free to explore.
Related
I am trying to use Copy Database Wizard to copy from my live server (shared hosting) to my local machine. Both the live and local servers are SQL 2008 R2.
I have used CDW for several years with perfect success when copying from a live SQL 2000 server to my local 2008 R2. But now that I have migrated my live database to SQL 2008 R2 the CDW is giving me this error:
Could not read metadata, possibly due to insufficient access rights.
I've learned that this error can be predicted before you even complete the CDW setup: On the page where the CDW asks you for your desired destination database name, it is SUPPOSED to populate the .mdf and .ldf files with their name-to-be and size (e.g. MB, GB).
But in my case these file names and sizes are not being shown (area is simply blank in the wizard) and then of course when I attempt to execute the package it gives me the error.
After much research I believe that reason for this error is due to the CDW requirement of "You must be a member of the sysadmin fixed server role on both the source and destination servers."
On my local server, my Windows Authentication login is listed as a Role Member for the sysadmin Server Role. However on my live server (keep in mind it is a shared SQL server with 250+ databases) the only Role Member listed is [sa].
Am I right in thinking that the only way to satisfy this requirement would be to add my specific SQL user to the live/source Server > Security > Server Roles > sysadmin role? I'm guessing that would never be done on a shared server right? Or is there some other way to make it work by messing with the specific database properties/users/roles?
I can't explain why CDW is working from the live SQL 2000 server and not the 2008 R2. I HOPE it is simply that something isn't set up right on the live database, but maybe it is due to changes that were made to SQL security over the years.
In case it matters, I must use the SMO method instead of detach/attach because it is a live database that I don't want to take down. Historically the CDW from SQL 2000 only takes 3 minutes with SMO method so speed isn't an issue anyway.
Here's my preference for a solution:
Find a way to get CDW to work, most likely by changing something on the live server. Is this possible? What would it be?
If that fails, then...
What about an idea of using CDW to create the package, but then going into to BIDS and manipulating something in the package to circumvent the sysadmin role requirement. (Does it really need the metadata? I don't need anything beside the actual data tables.) Is this possible?
UPDATE 6/14/2016: Editing a CDW package in BIDS won't work as it appears to simply use the .mdf and .ldf files, which of course I don't have access to on the shared server. I think an alternative is to use Import/Export Wizard to create a package, then edit in BIDS. The annoying part is that without access to metadata the Import/Export Wizard doesn't seem to be aware of Foreign Keys, and thus doesn't know what order to process the tables in.
If that fails, then...
Is there any other way to easily automate a daily copy from my live server to local machine? The reason I like CDW is because it is super simple to use (when it works), it can be scheduled to run daily as a SQL agent job, and requires no manual work on my part. Is there a "next best thing" if CDW can't be made to work?
You'd think that a very common scenario for all websites out there would be "how do I get a copy of my live database onto my local SQL server, daily, automatically"? But maybe I'm the weird one!
Another simple solution would be the Import/Export Wizard.
In SSMS right-click the database you want transferred and select 'Tasks' and then 'Export Data...'. It will open a wizard that is very similar to that of CDW. The difference here is that I could not find a sysadmin requirement to use it.
At the end it will give the option to run immediately and/or save the SSIS package. If you save the SSIS package (I prefer to save it to disk) you can then create a schedule via a SQL Agent job.
We've got a SQL Server instance with some 15-20 databases, which we check in TFS with the help of RedGate. I'm working on a script to be able to replicate the instance (so a developer could run a local instance when needed, for example) with the help of these scripts. What I'm worried about is the dependencies between these scripts.
In TFS, RedGate has created these folders with .sql files for each database:
Functions
Security
Stored Procedures
Tables
Triggers
Types
Views
I did a quick test with Powershell, just looping over these folders to execute the sql, but I think that might not always work. Is there a strict ordering which I can follow? Or is there some simpler way to do this? To clarify, I want to be able to start with an completly empty SQL Server instance, and end up with a fully configured one according to what is in the TFS (without data, but that is ok). Using Powershell is not a requirement, so if it is simpler to do some other way, that is preferrable.
If you're already using RedGate they have a ton of articles on how to move changes from source control to database. Here's one which describes moving database code from TFS using sqcompare command-line:
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/168595/Continuous-Integration-for-Database-Development
If you compare to any empty database it will create the script you are looking for.
The only reliable way to deploy the database from scripts folders would be to use Red Gate SQL Compare. If you run the .sql files using PowerShell, the objects may not be created in the right order. Even if you run them in an order that makes sense (functions, then tables, then views...), you still may have dependency issues.
SQL Compare reads all of the scripts and uses them to construct a "virtual" database in memory, then it calculates a dependency matrix for it so when the deployment script is created, things are done in the correct order. That will prevent SQL Server from throwing dependency-related errors.
If you are using Visual Studio with the database option it includes a Schema Compare that will allow you to compare what is in the database project in TFS to the local instance. It will create a script for you to have those objects created in the local instance. I have not tried doing this for a complete instance.
You might have to at most create the databases in the local instance and then let Visual Studio see that the tables and other objects are not there.
You could also just take the last backup of each database and let the developer restore them to their local instance. However this can vary on each environment depending on security policy and what type of data is in the database.
I tend to just use PowerShell to build the scripts for me. I have more control over what is scripted out when so when I rerun the scripts on the local instance I can do it in the order it needs to be done in. May take a little more time but I get better functioning scripts for me to work with, and PS is just my preference. There are some good scripts already written in the SQL Community that can help you on this. Jen McCown did a blog post of all the post her husband has written for doing just this, right here.
I've blogged about how to build a database from a set of .sql files using the SQL Compare command line.
http://geekswithblogs.net/SQLDev/archive/2012/04/16/how-to-build-a-database-from-source-control.aspx
The post is more from the point of view of setting up continuous integration, but the principles are the same.
I don't have any experience in SQL databases.
I want to use Microsoft SQL server and i need to ask two questions:
I want to know what are the disadvantage and advantage of saving the data in the mdf file.
Is there some easy way to 'copy' the data that i saved in the mdf file to the regular table ?
1) Question doesn't make sense: All data is stored in .mdf or .ndf data files (in reality the extension doesn't matter, it's just a convention)
2) You seem to be mixing the concept of a table and a data file. Backups are used to create safe copies of your data. The tables you see in SSMS are stored in data files (via filegroups).
If you don't know anything about SQL Server, you should start by finding a good book (and go to a good training course) to understand the basic concepts. The documentation is very extensive, but it's really a reference and not a learning tool.
Having said that, have you read the documentation on files and filegroups in SQL Server? All data in SQL Server is stored in .mdf (and possibly .ndf) files. Unless you're using SQL Server Compact, I believe.
And what are "regular tables"? Are you perhaps using Access as a front-end to SQL Server?
I have a typical dev scenario: I have a SQL 2008 database that I want to copy every so often to my local instance of 2008 Express so that I can do dev, make changes, etc. to the local copy. I have some constraints though: the source db is part of a live e-commerce site in shared hosting so I can't detach it and the hosting service wants me to pay $5 for each ad hoc back up I invoke.
What I'd like is some tool that I can invoke ad hoc to take a snapshot (complete, not incremental) of the live db that I can then import in my local one. I've tried the SSMS 2008 Copy Database Wizard but it gives me an error saying I can't do that with Express. I tried the Generate Scripts tool and thought that was going to make it - the export to my local disk worked but when I went to import using SQLCMD (the script was 1GB so SSMS errored when I tried to open it there), it told me there was a syntax error a few thousand lines in.
Coming from the MySQL world, this process is trivial. All I want is an analog of mysqldump and then a command-line way to import that file into a db. Surely there's an easy way to do this in the SQL Server world? This seems like the most basic use-case for developers.
[ Yes, I've seen a few other questions here that seem similar but I didn't think they had the same constraints. ]
Best answer: full backup, restore, pay $5. Anything else seems to me like it'd waste a lot more than $5 worth of time.
If they don't charge you to run queries against the database these tools may help. Granted these are not free tools, but are handy on so many fronts it would be worth buying one. These tools can diff your source db and target db both data and structure or just one or the other, and optionally sync the target database to be just like the source.
http://www.innovartis.co.uk/
http://www.red-gate.com/products/sql%5Fdata%5Fcompare/index.htm
Try SQL Dumper.
SQL Server Dumper enables you to dump selected SQL Server database tables into SQL INSERT statements, that are saved as local .sql files and contain all the data required to create a duplicate table, or to be used for backup purposes. You can choose to create an individual .sql file for each table, or combine all selected tables into a single file.
SQL Server Database Publishing Wizard and osql usually do the trick for me with large databases.
My system is for development, and I run a local copy of sql server 2005. I want to move all the database files out of program files, and put in a better location on another partition. To do this would you simply detach all the databases in SSMS, move the .mdf and .ldf files with windows explorer, then reattach?
That should work.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/224071
Yes, detach and re-attach them. If you are going to move the system databases also, that will take some special effort. Instructions for that can be found on MSDN.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms345408(SQL.90).aspx
Probably this is what you are looking for. I would want to write my answer here but I am too lazy to do that, but I am sending you to my blog post regarding Moving Data File in SQL Server;
http://dbalink.wordpress.com/2008/11/06/how-to-moving-data-files/