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• PowerShell for the DBA: Search the Windows Event Logs for Errors

  This is a very simple script - but it's one I run each morning. It searches the Windows System Event Log for an error condition. You can replace "System" here with "Application" or "Security", or any of the other logs that are created on your Windows Read More... Posted Wednesday, August 04, 2010 7:43 AM by BuckWoody | 1 Comments Filed under: SQL Server, Scripts, PowerShell, Troubleshooting, Monitoring

• PowerShell and Extended Properties

  I use Extended Properties on databases and their objects all the time. They are a great way to include information about the object – I use them for versioning the database, detailing what a column is used for and so on. They can be a little tricky Read More... Posted Tuesday, July 20, 2010 6:43 AM by BuckWoody | 0 Comments Filed under: SQL Server, Scripts, PowerShell

• Find Rules and Defaults using the PowerShell for SQL Server 2008 Provider

  I ran into an issue the other day where I couldn't set up some features in SQL Server 2008 because they ddon't support the use of Rules or Defaults. Let me explain a little more about that. In older versions of SQL Server, you could decalre a "Rule" or Read More... Posted Tuesday, June 01, 2010 7:53 AM by BuckWoody | 0 Comments Filed under: SQL Server, PowerShell

• SQL Server PowerShell Provider And PowerShell Version 2 Get-Command Issue

  The other day I blogged that the version of the SQL Server PowerShell provider (sqlps) follows the version of PowerShell. That’s all goodness, but it has appeared to cause an issue for PowerShell 2.0. the Get-Command PowerShell command-let returns an Read More... Posted Monday, May 10, 2010 7:13 AM by BuckWoody | 0 Comments Filed under: SQL Server, SQL Server 2008, PowerShell, Error Codes

• SQL Server PowerShell Provider follows the Version of PowerShell on the Host and other errata

  There may be some misunderstanding on how the PowerShell Provider for SQL Server works. I’ve written an article or two explaining that you can use PowerShell with SQL Server, without having the SQL Server 2008 (or higher) provider around. After all, PowerShell Read More... Posted Wednesday, May 05, 2010 8:01 AM by BuckWoody | 1 Comments Filed under: SQL Server, PowerShell

• Create and Track Your Own License Keys with PowerShell

  SQL Server used to have  cool little tool that would let you track your licenses. Microsoft didn’t use it to limit your system or anything, it was just a place on the server where you could put that this system used this license key. I miss those Read More... Posted Thursday, April 15, 2010 7:10 AM by BuckWoody | 1 Comments Filed under: SQL Server, Scripts, Administration, PowerShell

• PowerShell PowerPack Download

  I read Jeffery Hicks’ article in this month’s Redmond Magazine on a new add-in for Windows PowerShell 2.0. It’s called the PowerShell Pack and it has a some great new features that I plan to put into place on my production systems as soon as I finished Read More... Posted Wednesday, April 07, 2010 7:30 AM by BuckWoody | 1 Comments Filed under: Development, Tips, DBA, SQL Server, Web, Administration, PowerShell, Downloads

• Process Improvement and the Data Professional

  Don’t be afraid of that title – I’m not talking about Six Sigma or anything super-formal here. In many organizations, there are more folks in other IT roles than in the Data Professional area. In other words, there are more developers, system administrators Read More... Posted Tuesday, April 06, 2010 7:23 AM by BuckWoody | 0 Comments Filed under: Developer, Tips, DBA, SQL Server, Administration, Career, PowerShell

• List SQL Server Instances using the Registry

  I read this interesting article on using PowerShell and the registry , and thought I would modify his information a bit to list the SQL Server Instances on a box. The interesting thing about listing instances this was is that you can touch remote machines, Read More... Posted Wednesday, March 31, 2010 7:41 AM by BuckWoody | 4 Comments Filed under: SQL Server, Scripts, Administration, PowerShell, Metadata

• Open the SQL Server Error Log with PowerShell

  Using the Server Management Objects (SMO) library, you don’t even need to have the SQL Server 2008 PowerShell Provider to read the SQL Server Error Logs – in fact, you can use regular old everyday PowerShell. Keep in mind you will need the SMO libraries Read More... Posted Monday, March 29, 2010 7:35 AM by BuckWoody | 1 Comments Filed under: DBA, SQL Server, Scripts, Administration, PowerShell

• PowerShell: Read Excel to Create Inserts

  I’m writing a series of articles on how to migrate “departmental” data into SQL Server . I also hold workshops on the entire process – from discovering that the data exists to the modeling process and then how to design the Extract, Transform and Load Read More... Posted Thursday, March 18, 2010 6:09 AM by BuckWoody | 5 Comments Filed under: Tips, SQL Server, Scripts, Web, T-SQL, PowerShell, Walkthroughs

• Create Outlook Appointments from PowerShell

  I've been toying around with a script to create a special set of calendar objects in Outlook that show when my SQL Server Agent Jobs are scheduled to run. I haven't finished yet, but I thought I would share the part that creates the Outlook Appointments.I Read More... Posted Wednesday, March 10, 2010 8:33 AM by BuckWoody | 1 Comments Filed under: Design, SQL Server, Administration, PowerShell

• PowerShell Version Two – Get Continuous Perf Counters

  In version 2.0 of PowerShell, you can now use a direct command-let (get-Counter) to get at the Performance Monitor counters. For instance, to show the current value of the Processor Percent Time, use this command:   Get-Counter '\Processor(*)\% Processor Read More... Posted Thursday, February 25, 2010 7:32 AM by BuckWoody | 0 Comments Filed under: Tips, SQL Server, Scripts, Performance Tuning, PowerShell

• Start a SQL Server Agent Job using the SQL Server PowerShell Provider

  Whew!  That’s a mouthfull. Anyway, I thought I would share part of a script I wrote today to help automate (more) from PowerShell. This assumes a few things: that you’re doing this from the SQL Server 2008 PowerShell provider (not just good old regular Read More... Posted Wednesday, February 10, 2010 6:13 AM by BuckWoody | 5 Comments Filed under: DBA, SQL Server 2008, PowerShell, Agent

• Tools and Processes for “Fitting it all in”

  Most data professionals I’ve met work in two modes: we plan for our day, and we react to the situations around us. I’m staring at my list of things that I need to do today right now, which is my planned work. Of course, I have no idea how much of that Read More... Posted Monday, January 18, 2010 7:42 AM by BuckWoody | 0 Comments Filed under: Development, SSMS, Developer, Tips, Microsoft, DBA, Design, SQL Server, SQL Server Management Studio, Scripts, Web, Planning, PowerShell, Process, Agent, Management