Don't Place the Blame on SQL Server

I have never worked for Microsoft, but SQL Server has given me a lot in terms of learning, community and opportunities, all these together have helped me do a great job as a Database Administrator (DBA) for many years. Since I started working with SQL Server nearly 15 years ago, I have heard a lot of complaints about SQL Server being nowhere near as good as Oracle. Much as I would have liked to ignore these fruitless discussions, I couldn't see the point of comparing products in such a compulsive way. Is it not true that our skills are more crucial than the technology itself? — Or perhaps some people just try to find something to blame. Whatever the case, I am convinced that we, as database professionals, are compelled to make the most out of any specific database technology. 

No matter what technology we are working with, we are at the wheel — technology is just a tool — so it is not the best to blame technology on the ground of one's inefficiency.

Installing a stand-alone SQL Server 2017 instance step by step

Undoubtedly, many of us have the task of installing a new stand-alone SQL Server instance which includes the database engine service only. For instance, it can primarily be needed for dedicated and consolidated OLTP environments. Consequently, we can be asked to create a formal document for others so that they can easily follow it for future installations and standard configurations.

Today's post is going to outline the process of installing a basic stand-alone SQL Server 2017 instance. This process is just a basic guideline and, surely, not a rule for each installation, because it is fully understood that every environment is different and needs a customised installation to meet very specific requirements. You can read the whole tip about it at mssqltips here https://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/5616/steps-to-install-a-standalone-sql-server-2017-instance. I hope you find it very useful and practical. That's all for now. Please let me know any remarks you may have. Stay tuned!

Installing SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1 on all SQL instances via CMD

When it comes to installing SQL Server 2005 Service Packs on various instances rapidly, we can do it by executing the Service Pack setup with some parameters via CMD. First of all, we can use it to figure out which parameters we do have available to work with, so the following can be done:

D:\Downloads\SP1_SQL2005SQLServer2005SP1-KB913090-x86-ENU.exe /?

Having executed that via CMD, the complete list of parameters will be shown:

/? – Help
/quiet – Quiet mode
/reportonly -Instance report only
/allinstances – Apply patch all product instances by default
/instancename – Product instance names to patch
/SAPWD – SQL SA password
/use – Remote admin domain and account
/password – Remote admin password

Furthermore, if we are curious to know about how many SQL instances have the right service pack installed, we may use the '/reportonly' parameter:

D:\Downloads\SP1_SQL2005SQLServer2005SP1-KB913090-x86-ENU.exe /reportonly

Only after that will we be able to verify which client and server components are installed for each SQL Server 2005 instance like MSXML Parser version, Database Engine services, SSAS services, SSIS services, and so on. Now we are ready, for example, to install the SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1 on SVPRDB:  

D:\Downloads\SP1_SQL2005SQLServer2005SP1-KB913090-x86-ENU.exe /instancename SVPRDB

Finally, we may want to install it on all SQL Server 2005 instances in the same server:

D:\Downloads\SP1_SQL2005SQLServer2005SP1-KB913090-x86-ENU.exe /allinstances

As you have been, using this technique is not complex. That is all for now, let me know any remarks you may have. Thanks for reading. Stay tuned.

How to uninstall SQL Server 2005 instances successfully

With the passing of days, the number of people asking me how to uninstall SQL Server 2005 instances successfully is on increase. I would like to say that it is a simple question but quite difficult to answer as there are many related components installed which need to be uninstalled by following a correct order, otherwise, we are going to fail. Today's post is going to explain my own technique to do it with ease and success.

Here is the correct procedure to uninstall a SQL Server 2005 instance:

1. Firstly, we do have to find the right directory where 'ARPWrapper' tool is installed (usually it is inside of either 'C:\Program Files' or 'C:\Program Files (x86)' folders). After doing that, we can start the tool by executing one of the two following commands via CMD with '/remove' parameter included.

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Setup Bootstrap\ARPWrapper.exe" /Remove

"C:\Program Files (x86) \Microsoft SQL Server\90\Setup Bootstrap\ARPWrapper.exe" /Remove

Having done that, 'ARPWrapper.exe' will start and we will be able to choose the SQL Services we want to uninstall. The wizard shows two parts: the first one lists the server components and the second one the common components. Because we only want to uninstall all server components (Database Engine, Analysis Services, SSIS, and etc.), we will select the first one and then click on 'Next' and 'Finish'.


Naturally, if we wanted to uninstall the common components at the same time, we will have to check all of them in the same window:



Only after successfully completing the process will we be able to move on the next steps. (If we had Reporting Services installed, we would have to make sure that its virtual directories were deleted as well, otherwise, we do have to delete manually the directories ReportServer[$SQLInstanceName] and Reports[$SQLInstanceName] by using IIS Services Manager)

2. We are ready to move on. Going to 'Add or Remove Programs', we will uninstall some components following strictly this order: 

• MSXML 4.0 Parser
• SQLXML6
• Microsoft SQL Server VSS Writer
• Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Backward Compatibility Components
• All components related to SQL Server 2005, except Microsoft SQL Server Native Client y Microsoft SQL Server Setup Support Files components

(It is time to move on the next step if this was the only SQL Instance that we wanted to remove, otherwise, we need to come back to the first step and do the same for each SQL Instance until removing all.)

3. Remove 'Microsoft SQL Server Native Client' component by using  'Add or Remove Programs'.

4. Remove 'Microsoft SQL Server Setup Support Files' component by using ''Add or Remove Programs'.

5. Finally, we have to restart the server.

To sum up, not only do we have SQL Server 2005 uninstalled successfully, but also very cleanly by following some simple and practical steps. Now this task is not going to be a pain in the neck any longer. 

I hope you find this post very useful and make the most out of it. That is all for now, let me know any remarks you may have uninstalling SQL Server 2005. Thanks for reading. Stay tuned.