I've been building a script to setup a MSSQL server in PowerShell, but I'm stuck at this point. I can't figure out where the SQL Server Configuration Manager SnapIn is saving the data and I can't figure out how to access it via COM.
Is there a way to change MMC settings (command-line) without having to click through the GUI?
Almost all the settings you change in SQL Server are stored in SQL Server somewhere, which means TSQL is used to make those changes. My favorite trick is to run SQL Profiler against a database while changing its settings. You can then see the SQL being used to modify the settings you need, which you can execute from your script. Very useful
Related
Tools used
Visual Studio 2017 (with SSIS)
SQL Server Management Studio 17.9.1
Involved in the process
Two SSIS developers and SSMS with Integration Services Catalog which stores deployed projects.
Overview
I have a solution with projects inside created in SSIS. Each project has project parameters specifying for each database connection two different params: Connection string and a password. Password is marked sensitive.
Project and all it's packages have ProtectionLevel set to EncryptAllWithPassword. The project get's pushed to git repository and another developer downloads changes. Now, he needs to provide password in order to be able to work with the project (or multiple projects within solution). So far so good, we have a "master password" on project levels which protect access to parameters such as sensitive passwords. When a developer goes to Project.params and untick sensitive mark, the password is shown. All good for now as well, since he needed to know the password for the project first to see the passwords.
Here's the tricky part
When the project is being deployed do Integration Services Catalog, ProtectionLevel is being changed and the project which can be exported from Management Studio is no longer password protected. To export such a project one obviously needs ssis_admin permission, but that's out of scope for this issue. When the project was deployed and then imported back from SSMS to SSIS, a developer can open it without password and untick the sensitive mark for Project.params passwords. All passwords are visible for him now. This is wrong.
What am I trying to achieve
I want to mimic the same behaviour with sensitive values we have in SSMS. Whenever you untick a sensitive mark on an environment variable, the value is cleared - like below.
However, when I do the same in SSIS Project.params (untick sensitive mark), the value is still shown so I can see all the passwords - as presented below.
I'd like it to be stored as it is, but unable to see it's plain text value.
Is it possible at all? Or maybe there's a better way to organise this? I need to be able to execute packages from within SQL Server Agent (SSMS) providing environment variables as well as from my own computer under SSIS, which is why I need to store these passwords in order not to repeat them every time.
This problem that you described is a real issue for any team working collaboratively on SSIS. I'll describe the pattern that I've used to solve this, which might be helpful. First, I should state that I don't like storing passwords in source control, even if they're encrypted. Here is what I typically do:
Set all SSIS packages and projects to Don't Save Sensitive. This removes all passwords from the files and closes the source control loophole
When possible, all the developers should have a local set up of the ETL ecosystem - SQL databases (no data or just test data), file system, etc. All packages should be configured to work against this local environment. In this way, you can be an admin, connect with windows authentication and have full control over the test data. This also helps you avoid interfering with anyone else's development and testing.
For a SQL connection, set parameters for the connection string and password. The connection string can point to your local instance and use windows auth. The password can be blank and checked as sensitive. If everyone sets up their local system the same way, then nothing needs to change when another developer opens this up and begins work on the project.
For deployment, environments can be configured for each server. The password can optionally be used for SQL authentication and the connection string would change to include the username property and not windows auth.
The above pattern makes it really easy to develop as a team and pretty straight forward for deployment automation.
I would propose to use SSIS Project Catalog and Project Environments together with the following approach.
Think about SSIS packages as programs or runners, and databases - as resources. Thus, packages are independent from resources, and the resources are configured at package setup phase in specific environment.
In practice, this leads to the following configuration and activities:
Packages are created and developed in SSIS Project Mode. All connection manages are declared at Project level.
Do not save passwords in Packages or Projects.
Each environment Project is deployed to has defined Environment variable configuration where we store configuration about databases, namely:
Connection strings, could be cut and paste from the original package
DB name
Server name
User name if Windows Auth is not used
Password if Windows Auth is not used
After project deploy, one has to map all project connection params with environment variables. We created a simple C# program for that.
Values from environment variables are used at corresponding param values of connections. Moreover, you can store other configuration params there, not only connections.
You can have several sets of params at the same environment, and choose set when staring package.
Automated testing is done with scripted execution, and environment is specified in testing script.
So, every environment we deploy project to has configuration environment with all connection data. Connectivity params in QA environments are supplied by env engineer; developer does not need to worry about that.
I am trying to debug a program using Entity Framework code first on my personal (work) computer.
We have recently had a domain migration, meaning that the user I log in as now is not the same that I used before. This caused me to loose access to the databases I had on the computer. To get around this, I have uninstalled everything to do with Microsoft SQL Server on the computer, and installed the latest version of Microsoft SQL Server, 2014 - 12.0.4213.0 . I then restored the database I need.
When I first tried to run the program, Visual Studio complained that the project is set up to use SQL Server Express, which was not installed. The recommended solution is to change the project to use SQL Server instead. To do this, I must click on "the database file" and follow the instructions. I have looked through the entire solution. There is a great many files, but I found no good candidate for "the database file."
It seems that my Google fu is not strong enough to find anything about this. So my question is: how do I change the project to use SQL Server?
I also have a second, related question. I tried to solve the problem by installing SQL Server Express. However, when I try to restore the database to this, no base appears in the drop down list. When I try to run the program now, I get another error:
Unable to create the file 'c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL11.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\DATA\Timelønsblanket.mdf' because it already exists.
I guess that this is also why I cannot restore the database. What I have found in websearches warns that I should not manually delete .mdf files.
Any advice on what to do?
I have solved the problem. All that was needed was a correct connection string. No need to find a "database file".
I am proposing an idea for a final year project that is basically a virtual environment. I would be using Citrix XenServer in conjunction with Windows Server 2008 R2 and Citrix netscaler to make the server accessible over the web. I would also be hosting a website on the server that Windows is on.
What I was wondering is, would it be possible to trigger the execution of a script on the server from the web page. So basically a user comes along, goes to my website, registers their details. a csv file is then produced based on the details that are input. Then I was wondering is there a way to trigger the execution of a powershell script that would use the csv file to set up the user in Active directory. The powershell script itself is simple its just how I would get it to run is another thing.
Yes it is possible.
PowerShell lets us create graphical interfaces with the .NET winforms. With it, we can build front end to manage our scripts. It's a really nice feature, and tools like AdminScriptEditor make it pretty easy.
I have found this link for your reference - PowerShellOnWebPage
You can tweak/create the script as per your need.
Let me know if this helps.
Thanks!
I'm trying to wrap my hand around DSC in PowerShell 4.0, what's possible, and what's not. I've installed xWebAdministration Module.
Could I create a website in IIS, then somehow export it to the a .ps1 file (I think in the MOF format). For example, txWebAdministration has a sample called xWebAdministration\Examples\Sample_xWebsite_NewWebsite.ps1. Could I use an existing website to build a file like this? Or do I have to type everything in manually?
I'm basically trying to jump in and try some things without reading from end-to-end. I was hoping Get-DscConfiguration would somehow read my IIS configuration and create such a file.
For example, in SQLServer, you can create a database and tables using the graphical user interface of SQL Studio Management Studio (SSMS), then export a script to re-create those same tables on another server.
Is such a concept possible with DSC, or am I missing the boat.
There is nothing like this at the moment.
Keep in mind DSC is very new and quite sparse. The DSC Resource Kit is created by people at Microsoft, but isn't supported or all that official.
You could write a script to parse an existing web site and export it to a configuration in a PS1, or even directly into an MOF (it's a text file too), but there is nothing close to this functionality existing at the moment.
Your best bet is probably to type it out manually at this time.
There is a tool that creates a DSC configuration from an existing machine called GuardRail but I think it will not support the experimental xWebAdministration Module. As briantist said, it wouldn't be too difficult to create a powershell script that uses WebAdministration commandlets to produce a DSC configuration.
In fact a workmate asked me the same question today and I'm considering writing one. If you I'll update my answer in a few days with a script that will do this.
I have a Websphere Application Server v8.0, and my job requires me to change the location of my JDBC data source to different values to test in different environments. I traditionally would do this via the admin console and change the settings via the Resources > JDBC > Data sources section, but I'd like to write a script to change these settings. When I run the admin console, where do the settings get stored? I can run the console vis-a-vis the Servers tab in Eclipse (Rational Application Developer) or by navigating to localhost:9044, but I don't know where the settings are stored - which I'd need to write said script.
Can anybody help me out?
From what I remember of WebSphere Application Server, the settings are ultimately persisted to the file system - however you shouldn't be changing them this way because application server config is a messy and complicated business and by directly changing settings you risk destroying your app server.
I'd recommend checking out this redbook, particularly Chapter 8 which describes how you can configure your app server with scripts. Also I seem to recall plans to display the equivalent scripting commands in the admin console.
If it helps, I had a quick look locally and found a reference to my JDBC data source in "resources.xml" located within the websphere directory at...
<server profile root>\config\cells\<aNodeCell>\nodes\<aNode>\servers\<aServer>
In the past I've used xml config to read values for convenience, but not often to update. Instead I have made use of some of the jython script options available and can echo Jim's response to check out the options there in case there is something that would be a viable alternative.
Edit:
There is another link that may be of interest Configuring data access with wsadmin scripting. I've not used this particular feature of wsadmin myself but it does appear to show promise at first glance.
If you want to write a script, then rather than looking at file system write a proper jython script, which will do your modifications in the similar way as you would do it via console.
To make writing script easier you can use:
Command assistance in the console - the Help portlet on the right shows last invoked command in jython
Script library, which already provides some scripts - Automating data access resource configuration using wsadmin scripting
And basic scripting commands - Configuring data access with wsadmin scripting