Query VMWare vCenter VCDB database for guest power state = OFF

Question: I want to identify virtual machines which are powered off. What query can I run which will return the full list of virtual machines within a VMWare vCenter database where the power state = OFF. Answer: It is possible to return the recordset by querying the database. Find a sample query executed on a vcDB database. The query includes some extra information , which you may find useful . The key column is the POWER_STATE column in the vpxv_vms table. There are different potential power states for a virtual machine . Possible values are off, on, and suspend SELECT... Read more →

How to find the local tcp port used on SQL Server

Question: How can I find the tcp port number used by a session ? I want to use a SQL Query to find this information as I don't have access to the cmdline. Answer: One method to use from within SQL Server is the sys.dm_exec_connections DMV . This SQL Server DMV returns various details about the current connections to a SQL Server Instance. This query returns connections information for all existing connections. One of the columns is the "local_tcp_port" , and when the net_transport is TCP - there will be a value in the "local_tcp_port" SELECT suser_sname() as username ,local_tcp_port... Read more →

How to use parsename with SERVERPROPERTY('productversion')

Question: I'd like to use SERVERPROPERTY('productversion') for purposes of reporting on current sql server level. I'm using the SERVERPROPERTY('productversion') funcion , but am struggling with how to split the parts of the details , to make it easier for reporting. For example : 13.0.5081.1 , I'd like to split as Major = 13 Minor = 0 Build = 5081 Revision = 1 Answer: The PARSENAME function can be used to split the SERVERPROPERTY('productversion') and avoid using various string functions. PARSENAME is commonly used to split object names into there constituent parts. Here is an example: select parsename('master.dbo.sysdatabases',1) select parsename('master.dbo.sysdatabases',2) select... Read more →

How to convert sys.master_files size column into GB

Question: I need to convert the sys.master_files size column into GB. Currently when I run select name,size from sys.master_files I get back the file size as KB. I've tried doing something - size/1024/1024 - but I'm getting incorrect results. How do I get the current sys.master_files size unit into the GB format? Answer: The size column in the sys.master_files is an int data type and is represented as 8-KB pages. In the example you've given above - you're not taking into account the 8-KB pages. You need to multiply the size value by 8. i.e size * 8 Find an... Read more →

How to find computed columns on a SQL Server table

Question: I'm having a problem with an index rebuild job , which is failing on tables with computed columns. I've read ALTER INDEX failed due to QUOTED IDENTIFIER set to OFF which details a solution for situations of computed columns, xml data type and LOB data types. How can I find the computed columns on sql tables? Answer: These are two ways in which you can identify the computed columns. One method is through the sys.columns and the other through sys.computed_columns . sys.computed_columns has the benefit of not requiring you to use the "is_computed = 1" predicate. Method 1 -... Read more →