File under: letting myself serve as an example for others.

I recently built a test box with an instance of SQL Server 2008 Developer Edition. I've done this so many times that I apparently got sloppy and stopped paying attention during setup. This time it caught up with me. On first launching Management Studio to do some post-install configuration, I realized that I'd "locked myself out" - I skipped the step to add my account to the sysadmin role on one of the instances. Setup requires that some account be added as sysadmin, but I didn't remember what I'd chosen, and there were no other accounts on the box that stood out as likely candidates.

I'd also opted to stick with the default Windows authentication mode, meaning the built-in sa account was not available.

For those who haven't made the move to SQL 2008, you'll find the following step in the Setup program. Unlike in earlier versions, local Windows admins aren't automatically granted access to SQL Server 2008. You'll want/need to designate one or more account to be added to the sysadmin server role. Skipping that step somehow got me in this mess.

I really wanted to avoid the time it would take to uninstall and reinstall the instance. Happily, I remembered another way: as a member of the local Windows Administrators group, I could start the SQL instance from a command line with the -m parameter for single user mode, connect to the service, and let myself in the "back door". ("m" for single user? Sure, that makes perfect sense. I remember this as "mono" for one at a time.)

One of the side effects of starting in single user mode is that members of the local Windows Administrator group can connect to SQL Server with its one connection. (Whether this is a good idea from a security standpoint remains open for debate, but it sure saved my bacon this time.) This would give me the ability to log in, map my Windows account into a SQL Server login, and add my new login to the sysadmin role. Here are the steps I followed.

1. Using the SQL Configuration Manager, I stopped the instance I needed to work with.
   
   
   

2. I also stopped any other SQL-related services which might try to connect to the instance, using up my one connection. This included Agent, and might also include Analysis Services or Reporting Services, depending on your installed options.
   

3. From a command prompt, I navigated to the SQL Server folder where the program executable lived.

4. I started SQL Server's executable with the -m parameter and waited for it to complete startup and recovery of any databases. (Note that the error log information echoes to the command prompt window but will simply pause when it's done startup - leave this window open to keep SQL Server running in this single-user mode. You can confirm if you successfully launched in single-user mode by looking for a line in the output that reads "SQL Server started in single-user mode. This an informational message only."
   
   
   

5. From a query tool, I connected to SQL Server using my Windows account. While I could have used a new query window in SQL Server Management Studio, I didn't want to wait for it to load, so I used SQLCMD from another command prompt session. (You can't use the Object Explorer pane in SSMS to connect when in single-user mode: clickers beware! This is one of those times where knowing the code (or having a saved script) is essential) If you're unfamiliar with SQLCMD, the -S switch specifies the instance name, the -E specifies that you're using Windows Authentication. These switches are case-sensitive.
   

6. Once connected, I created a login for my Windows account:
   

7. Then I used a system stored procedure to add my account to the sysadmin fixed server role.
   

8. Now that I've let myself back in to SQL Server, I stopped the service with the SHUTDOWN command. I could have closed the other command prompt window as well.

9. Finally, I restarted the service. Since I already had a command prompt window open, I opted for Windows' NET START command. The SQL Configuration Manager, the Windows Services Control Panel, or the Registered Servers pane in SSMS would also have worked.
   

And here's my visual confirmation (I could have simply tried to reconnect using SQLCMD, but I think we're all tired of command prompt screenshots by this point). Note that I used the system function IS_SRVROLEMEMBER to check my status. Looking at the properties of my login, or of the sysadmin role in Object Explorer would have shown this as well.

I hope this helps someone else in the same predicament!

SQL Server MVP Glenn Berry asked today on Twitter whether there was a command-line switch needed to enable upgrading from SQL Server 2008 Enterprise Evaluation Edition to a full Enterprise edition.

I replied (incorrectly, as it turns out) that it wasn't possible, as I remember reading in Books Online that the old /SKUUPGRADE parameter was no longer supported in SQL 2008.

But I do love Twitter for this kind of thing: Rambling DBA (and MVP) Jonathan Kehayias weighed in with a correction. It seems /SKUUPGRADE has morphed into /ACTION=editionupgrade, as Jonathan provided in the following example:

Setup.exe /q /ACTION=editionupgrade /INSTANCENAME=MSSQLSERVER /PID=

I'm filing that one away for later, and I'm much obliged to Glenn for posting the question that exposed a hole in my knowledge, and to Jonathan for filling in the gap!

Exam 70-432: Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Implementation and Maintenance or Exam 70-431: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Implementation and Maintenance

The book we'll be using is:

Microsoft Press: MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-431) (http://tinyurl.com/lv8fy3)

or

Microsoft Press: MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-432) (http://tinyurl.com/nx52mr)

We'll meet over Live Meeting, with only one in-person date on the schedule, the day of the tests.

• Exam Review Live Meeting #1: Saturday Oct 24, 9-11am

• Exam Review Live Meeting #2: Saturday Nov 7, 9-11am

• In-person exam cram and test-taking: Saturday Dec 5 (specific times to be announced, but exam cram will be in the morning, and exams offered in the afternoon)

This schedule is open enough that we can add another review meeting (via LiveMeeting) as needed.

Free Practice tests will be made available to active participants after the Live Meeting exam review sessions have completed and well before the exam date.

Participants will need to register themselves for the exam at Prometric but please do not do so yet, as we will be setting up a private exam room at Ameriteach on Dec 5, and you will need that location code to be able to register.

We will be setting up a web forum and document repository at the new denver.sqlpass.org website. Registration information will be sent to study group participants shortly.

I've been trying to set up a "kickoff" LiveMeeting to discuss this with anyone who has questions, but communications and scheduling snafus have prevented me from doing so until today. I'll host a LiveMeeting at lunchtime on Monday and Tuesday, Oct 12 and 13, for anyone who wants to go over the program and ask questions.

If you would like to participate in this study group, please send an email to the group with the subject "Certification Study Group" so I can be sure to catch the reply.

• Knowledgebase article Q271509 How to monitor blocking in SQL Server 2005 and in SQL Server 2000
• Adapting SQLDiag to invoke sp_blocker_pss_80 (and some other interesting ideas)
• Top SQL Server 2005 Performance Issues for OLTP Applications SQLCAT - Top 10 Lists
• SQL Server Wait Types, Perfmon Counters, and Correlations
]]>6231: Policy-based management resourceshttp://blogs.ameriteach.com/chris-randall/2009/5/19/6231-policy-based-management-resources.htmlChris Randall2009-05-19T16:18:41ZAmeriteach:
• Product team blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/sqlpbm/
• Lara Rubbelke's blog: http://sqlblog.com/blogs/lara_rubbelke/default.aspx
• SQL Server 2008 Compliance Whitepaper
]]>SQL Server Integration Services: Videos on Designing and Performance Tuning for Performancehttp://blogs.ameriteach.com/chris-randall/2009/5/3/sql-server-integration-services-videos-on-designing-and-perf.htmlChris Randall2009-05-03T02:01:45Z

Designing and Tuning for Performance your SSIS packages in the Enterprise (SQL Video Series):

"For all of those whom are interested in SSIS performance, we have posted a new SQL video series about how to design and tune your SSIS packages for performance.

Measuring and Understanding the Performance of Your SSIS Packages in the Enterprise (SQL Server Video)
Link | Watch this video

Author: Denny Lee, Microsoft Corporation

This video demonstrates how to measure and understand the performance of packages, based on lessons learned from enterprise customers. In this video, you will learn the following guidelines for improving performance:

• How the limits of the source system affect performance.
• Why disk I/O is important.
• Why you should establish a package performance baseline

'

Tuning Your SSIS Package Data Flow in the Enterprise (SQL Server Video)
Link | Watch this video

Author: David Noor, Microsoft Corporation

This video demonstrates how to improve the performance of the data flow in an Integration Services package. In this video, you will learn how to tune the following phases of the data flow:

• Extraction
• Transformation
• Loading

You can apply these performance tuning tips when you design, develop, and run the data flow.

'

Understanding SSIS Data Flow Buffers (SQL Server Video)
Link | Watch this video

Author: Bob Bojanic, Microsoft Corporation

This video looks at the memory buffers that transfer data to the data flow of an Integration Services package. The video includes the following items:

• Demonstration of a simple package that shows you how Integration Services divides the data along the data flow paths and how buffers carry data along those paths.
  This simple package performs the following operations:
  • Data extraction
  • Character mapping
  • Creation of new columns by using a synchronous transformation
  • Multicasting
  • Sorting by using a blocking (asynchronous) transformation.
• Design guidelines for building and maintaining the data flow of a package.

'

Designing Your SSIS Packages for Parallelism (SQL Server Video)
Link | Watch this video

Author: Matt Carroll, Microsoft Corporation

This video demonstrates how to increase the performance of your Integration Services packages by designing for parallelism.

]]>Finally! OneNote Print Driver – A 64 Bit Solutionhttp://blogs.ameriteach.com/chris-randall/2009/4/23/finally-onenote-print-driver-8211-a-64-bit-solution.htmlChris Randall2009-04-23T18:53:27ZA significant barrier to my use of OneNote was that on 64-bit OSes, the Print-to-OneNote feature wasn't available. That's now changed:

From David Rasmussen's blog

ONENOTE PRINT DRIVER – A 64 BIT SOLUTION

Short version: I have a solution for those of you needing a 64 bit OS solution for printing to OneNote. Read on for details.

Well… it’s been a long time between posts. Without making excuses, suffice it to say we’ve been crazy busy working on the next release of OneNote. And given strong feedback about the 64 bit print driver issue, I decided to put what little spare time I had into trying to develop a 64 bit OS solution for printing to OneNote 2007 for you, rather than blogging.

See the rest at his blog, including the link to the Codeplex download.

]]>Denver SQL User Group: April meeting tonighthttp://blogs.ameriteach.com/chris-randall/2009/4/16/denver-sql-user-group-april-meeting-tonight.htmlChris Randall2009-04-16T16:57:39ZCome join us on Thursday, April 16 for two presentations while you eat and mingle with your peers.SQL Server consultant Eric Peterson will concisely cover the myths and truths of efficient query performance, followed by Kevin Cox of Microsoft, who will show us how to use SQL Server 2008 to manage all of your database servers.

We’ll make time during the meeting for the group to answer any technical questions you have about SQL Server, and there will also be announcements concerning jobs and events that might be of interest to you.

The meeting will conclude with prize drawings provided to us by our sponsors, including 2 full licenses of Vista Ultimate, a copy of Visual Studio 2008 Standard, an excellent book on query tuning and optimization, and the much desired SQL Server 2008 Postal Stamps.

Glenn Berry's also threatening to bring some goodies!

Coming Attractions:

In May, Paul Nielsen of SQL Server Bible fame will be with us, and Ed Tomlinson of Dataface will present at our June meeting to show us how SQL Server supports Enterprise 2.0 applications.

Presentation #1: SQL Server Queries – Myths, Truths and other Insights

We’ve all heard or even told co-workers certain “truths” about SQL Server including:

• Don’t select more columns than you need
• Joins are expensive
• Include the schema name when referencing tables

Most of us accept these and other “truths” at face value and don’t give them a second thought. Testing has shown that some assumptions are pure myths, others depend on the circumstances and others are true, but may not be exactly as you imagined them.

In this session, we’ll conjecture a bit and then we’ll investigate a number of cases to see the actual percentage differences between various options and discuss where these SQL Server surprises might be lurking in your systems.

Presenter:

Eric Peterson has a BS in Computer Science, an MBA and Masters in International Management Studies. He runs a consulting company that specializes in SQL Server services, teaches the SQL Server Performance Tuning course for a leading training company, and has worked in employee and consulting capacities with companies ranging from Fortune 100 firms to startups throughout his 25 year career.

Eric has worked with SQL Server from its introduction through SQL Server 2008 and his specialties include design, administration, replication and hosted environments in a number of diverse industries. Questions arising from his experiences and training prompted Eric to create a website that explores the real cost of SQL Server tasks; often clarifying conventional wisdom and occasionally dispelling SQL myths.

Presentation #2: Using SQL 2008 to manage SQL 2005 and 2000 machines; covers multi-server management, policy based management, Performance Data Warehouse.

This session will provide an overview on how to use SQL Server 2008 to manage all of your SQL Server machines. Kevin will discuss multi-server management in detail and will provide us with Microsoft’s roadmap for multi-server management. In addition, Kevin will cover topics such as policy based management and Performance Data Warehouse and discuss their relevance in a multi- server environment.

Presenter:

Kevin Cox works for Microsoft in the SQL Server Product Group on the Customer Advisory Team. This team works on the largest database implementations in the world to make sure they are successful with SQL Server. Kevin received his BS in Computer Science from Arizona State University.

Location:

• 7595 Technology Way
• Suite 400
• Denver, CO 80237

Typical Meeting Agenda:

• 5:30 - 6:00 - Food / Socializing
• 6:00 - 6:10 - User Group Business
• 6:10 - 6:30 - Vendor / Open Q&A
• 6:30 - 8:00 - Main Presentation
• 8:00 - 8:30 - Give Away / Wrap-Up

Pass it on:

If you feel that a friend or colleague would benefit from our user group, please feel free to forward on this notice. If you received this notice from a friend or colleague, please consider becoming a member of our user group. There are no dues to membership but you will have the added benefits of receiving event reminders and attendance to members only meetings. Becoming a member is quick and painless, simply go to the membership section of the user group web site which and complete the form. That's it!

]]>Whitepaper: Troubleshooting Performance Problems in SQL Server 2008http://blogs.ameriteach.com/chris-randall/2009/4/14/whitepaper-troubleshooting-performance-problems-in-sql-serve.htmlChris Randall2009-04-14T17:19:43ZTroubleshooting Performance Problems in SQL Server 2008

Published: March 2009

Applies to:SQL Server 2008

Summary: Sometimes a poorly designed database or a system that is improperly configured for the workload can cause the slowdowns in SQL Server. Administrators need to proactively prevent or minimize problems and, when they occur, diagnose the cause and take corrective action.

This paper provides step-by-step guidelines for diagnosing and troubleshooting common performance problems by using publicly available tools such as SQL Server Profiler, Performance Monitor, dynamic management views, and SQL Server Extended Events (Extended Events) and the data collector, which are new in SQL Server2008.

For more information, please refer to http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd672789.aspx

]]>Sample videos posted for the SSWUG.ORG Virtual Conferencehttp://blogs.ameriteach.com/chris-randall/2009/4/9/sample-videos-posted-for-the-sswugorg-virtual-conference.htmlChris Randall2009-04-09T01:01:33Z


The folks behind the SSWUG Virtual Conference have posted 10 minute previews for some of the sessions at the upcoming event.

As I've previously blogged, I recorded three sessions for the conference. A preview of my Introduction to Reporting Services session can be seen here.

As a reminder, a free community event is coming up on April 17th. If you’re not sure how the whole virtual conference thing works, this event will give you a way to try out the format.

]]>