Comments on: SQL Server 2008 PowerShell SnapIn

By: robfarley

robfarley — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:34:34 +0000

Yes Mark, you’re correct. SQLPS isn’t without its uses, but all too often I want to hook into slightly more than what I have available.

And I’m often running PowerShell anyway, which makes the snapins way more useful.

Rob

By: MarkTab

MarkTab — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:09:55 +0000

By the way — I will also provide a document quotation on why use SQLPS at all if anybody could simply add the PS PlugIn. SQLPS is a “Power Shell Mini-Shell”:

“By default, sqlps runs with the scripting execution policy set to Restricted, which prevents running any PowerShell scripts. You can use the Set-ExecutionPolicy cmdlet to enable running signed scripts, or any scripts. Only run scripts from trusted sources, and secure all input and output files using the appropriate NTFS permissions.”

from http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc281962.aspx

Powershell is, well, powerful, and a main concern for a SQL Server admin is inadvertently running something against a shared-database environment.

SQLPS is therefore the default window when right-clicking an object in SSMS.

The link I referenced provides a script for adding SQL Server snap-ins to any PowerShell environment (it is more than just three lines since it includes conditional registration, for example). Also provided is a script to load SMO only (if, for example, the intention is to port to .NET and not use the SQL provider).

By: MarkTab

MarkTab — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:50:22 +0000

Thanks for this post.

For the TOTAL newbie, when I type:
get-pssnapin -reg

I receive:
Name : SqlServerCmdletSnapin100
PSVersion : 1.0
Description : This is a PowerShell snap-in that includes various SQL Server cmdlets.

Name : SqlServerProviderSnapin100
PSVersion : 1.0
Description : SQL Server Provider

Then, I should do (based on the “Name”):
Add-PSSnapin SqlServerProviderSnapin100
Add-PSSnapin SqlServerCmdletSnapin100

By: Rob Farley

Rob Farley — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:57:09 +0000

Goodwin – there are some great books around. Pop down to a bookshop and glance through a few to find one that suits your learning style. But also read blogs like blogs.msdn.com/powershell to stay learning!

Aaron – I’m not sure, because I don’t run Exchange locally. However, if there’s a PowerShell provider at all (through this Exchange Shell you mention), you should be able to see if it’s treated as a snapin using “Get-PSSnapin -reg” like Darren and I did for the SQL stuff. And post back here to let me know how you go.

By: Aaron Guilmette

Aaron Guilmette — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:50:11 +0000

Does anyone know if this works for the Exchange 2007 Command Shell? For those of us that admin multiple platforms and applications, the prospect of PS bloat is demoralizing.

By: G D Milner

G D Milner — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:54:37 +0000

In my opinion, the best book on Powershell is and remains Bruce Payette’s Powershell in Action. Also very good is the Windows PowerShell Cookbook by Lee Holmes.

I just started reading Pro Windows PowerShell by Hristo Deshev, and that one looks pretty good, too.

If you only buy one book, however, get Powershell in Action.

Cheers

By: Goodwin Robinson

Goodwin Robinson — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 04:33:26 +0000

Hi Rob and everyone!

Great article, I DBA managing just over 60 SQL Server 2000/2005 Instances, supporting over 300 databses and it seems my day will be much more productive if I can script in PowerShell.

I know the basis in VBScript via WSH, so some knowledge base on my part to work with, but will like to take on PowerShell.

So, Please where would you suggest I start – books and web resource etc I could use to get up to speed.

Thanks

Goodwin

By: Rob Farley

Rob Farley — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:16:01 +0000

Sorry Steve, I actually haven’t tried this! I doubt it’ll work, but please try and let me know!

By: steve

steve — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 07:02:50 +0000

So do you need to install SQL 2008 or can you just copy the SQLPS.exe to your local machine?

By: Rob Farley

Rob Farley — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 15:59:45 +0000

But ‘Invoke-SqlCmd’ comes with the SQL PS Provider, so you don’t need to roll your own.

And for backup times, you don’t need to go back into T-SQL, you can just do it from SMO directly:

PS SQL:rob-pcdefaultDatabases> gci | select-object name,lastbackupdate

And if you need to make SMO connections, you can. I guess it’s no different really to using invoke-sqlcmd.

Of course, with SSMS 2008, you can do Local Server Group queries, which makes this much easier to do using T-SQL directly.

Rob