A Fine Slice Of SQL Server
David Seis simplifies the code a bit:
Have you ever written a PowerShell command so long that it stretched across the screen? Or had to update a script and hunt through a long parameter list to change a single value? Splatting solves that problem by letting you pass multiple parameters to a command using a single variable.
Read on for some examples, including a good example of how to make similar cmdlet calls easier to read.
Leave a CommentAndy Levy needs an older version of dbatools:
I don’t recall where this came up (probably in SQLSlack), but I had a need to install an older version of
dbatoolsto test something related to loading thedbatools.librarylibrary/dependency.
Read on to see how Install-Module won’t quite cut it because it doesn’t bring in the older versions of dependencies. But there is an alternative.
Anthony Nocentino creates a medallion storage layout:
In modern IT environments, not all workloads require the same level of storage performance, protection, or cost. Some applications need high performance with aggressive data protection, while others are perfectly fine with lower performance in exchange for cost savings. This tiered approach to storage service delivery is fundamental to efficient infrastructure management.
In my previous post on Fusion, I took an application-centric approach, showing how to deploy SQL Servers using Fusion. Let’s switch gears now and learn how to define a storage service catalog. In this post, I’ll demonstrate how to build a complete storage service catalog using Pure Storage Fusion Presets, offering Bronze, Silver, and Gold tiers with optional replication. We’ll see how to leverage different array types (FlashArray //X and FlashArray //C) to optimize both performance and cost across your fleet.
Read on for a link to the code, as well as more information on how it works.
Comments closedDavid Seis digs into another dbatools cmdlet:
As DBAs we install SQL Server for various reasons regularly. If you could save time for each installation for more critical tasks, would you?
In this blog post, we will audit the dbatools command Install-Dbainstance. I will test, review, and evaluate the script based on a series of identical steps. Our goal is to provide insights, warnings, and recommendations to help you use this script effectively and safely. Install-Dbainstance is a powerful tool to automate the install and configuration of a new SQL Server instance. It works well in scenarios that require frequent deployments of SQL Server instances.
You can definitely automate installation of SQL Server without the cmdlet, but the dbatools team does a good job of laying out what’s possible that you might not necessarily get just from the config script that the SQL Server installer spits out (and uses when you next-next-next your way to success).
Comments closedIn case you’re not familiar with it, PSBlitz is a PowerShell script that outputs SQL Server health and performance diagnostics data to either Excel or HTML, and saves execution plans and deadlock graphs as .sqlplan and .xdl files.
It’s based on modified non-stored procedure versions of Brent Ozar’s SQL Server First Responder Kit and Erik Darling’s sp_QuickieStore.
Along with some other custom scripts I’ve put together.You can get more details about its capabilities and usage from my PSBlitz GitHub repo.
Read on to learn about the origin story of PSBlitz, some of the major changes that have taken place over the past three years, and a bit more on the tool.
Comments closedVlad Drumea shows off one way to get work done in Powershell:
This is a brief post containing my information about my PowerShell coding setup, IDE, extensions, etc.
I’m writing this mainly because, based on the reactions to my reddit comment, some people might not be aware of how helpful the VS Code + PS extension combo can be for PowerShell code writing.
This is the environment that I use to write PowerShell scripts such as PSBlitz, Decode-AsusRouterConfig, and my SQL Server install script.
Click through to see how Vlad gets it done. Every time I see someone using the Powershell ISE, I feel the urge to stage an intervention, as the ISE does some really weird stuff with your Powershell environment that doesn’t make it amenable to writing good scripts. This is a much better way.
Comments closedMost businesses are rotten with Excel sheets and CSV exports from various tools and as my mentor puts it “Excel is the world’s database”. The dbatools command Import-DbaCsv enables the quick load of CSV tables into SQL Server, which then opens up the world of fast transformation and use in other tools such as PowerBI, or even just having it queryable rather than just in a file somewhere.
Import-DbaCsv is for you if any part of your job is to manually manage CSV files and you want to reduce the amount of time that you take to do that processing. Even if you are not a DBA but are interested in the data field, you can use SQL Server express for free, import and transform data using PowerShell for free, and export that data into Power BI or any other tool for free. I promise it can make your manual processes better, faster, and more resilient and save you tons of time!
Read on for a review of the quite useful cmdlet.
Comments closedHowever, there is one drawback I have with hash tables: they don’t default to the order in which they are inserted. I’m OK with this since I come from a DB background, and I’m used to order not being enforced unless I specify an
ORDER BY. Not everyone is as lenient as we are, though, and the vast majority of the louder masses expect this ordering.Now, there are ways around this unordered aspect of hash tables.
Click through for the easy answer, the less easy answer, and some additional thoughts on script development from Shane.
Comments closedDavid Seis updates an instance or thirty:
Keeping your SQL Server instance up to date with the latest service packs and cumulative updates is one of the key components of SQL Server security. In this blog post, we will audit the dbatools command Update-DbaInstance, which can save you hours every month and help keep your environment more secure.
I will test, review, and evaluate the script based on a series of identical steps. Our goal is to provide insights, warnings, and recommendations to help you use this script effectively and safely. Update-DbaInstance is powerful tool to automate the update of one or many SQL server instances without needing to log in.
Click through for David’s thoughts on the cmdlet.
Comments closedKoen Verbeeck wants good requests:
I needed to run a PowerShell cmdlet in an Azure Devops pipeline. The cmdlet in question was New-AzRoleAssignment, but the cmdlet itself isn’t important. What is important is that I needed to pass the object ID of a service principal to the command. Even though I was pretty sure the syntax and everything was correct, I got a “Operation returned an invalid status code ‘BadRequest’” error when the PowerShell was run (inside an Azure PowerShell task):
Read on to see how Koen diagnosed and resolved the issue.
Comments closed