How to list Windows users with Powershell

Question: How can I use Powershell to list out Windows users? Are there Powershell cmdlets which can report on Windows users ? Answer: There are "out of the box" Powershell cmdlets which will support the requirement . How you apply the powershell cmdlets will depend on how much detail is required. Here are some examples: --return local groups Get-localgroup --return all members of a group - in this example the Administrator group Get-LocalGroupMember -Group "Administrators" --Get the local users Get-Local User --SID of a local group (Get-Localgroup Administrators).SID These are some basic examples to extract Windows users information with Powershell.... Read more →

How to fix error - The database cannot be opened because it is version 852. This server supports version 706 and earlier

Question:A vendor sent me some detached MDF files from a SQL Server and asked me to attach. I attempted the ATTACH without a log file option and got this error The database 'mydb' cannot be opened because it is version 852. This server supports version 706 and earlier. A downgrade path is not supported. The error message details are obvious i.e attempt to attach a database with a version level higher than the current version of the current SQL Server. The SQL error message says the current server is version 706 and attempting to connect a database of version 852.... Read more →

How to view all Powershell commands on a server

Question: How can I view all Powershell commands on a server? I've installed multiple Powershell modules for various processes , and have lost track of what's available. Also , I'd like to expand my range of Powershell command usage Answer: The Powershell cmdlet - Get-Command - returns all the Powershell commands on a server. There are a number of different filters and parameters you can use with Get-Command. Using Get-command - you'll quickly find is one of the most useful Powershell cmdlets. Along with 2 other Powershell cmdlets - which I consider to be the most powerful - read more... Read more →

Should Developers manage database read status

A programmer asked me if he can include the a function to change the database status out of READ_ONLY , add some data and then put it back into READ_ONLY. These are the basic commands ALTER DATABASE database-name SET READ_ONLY ALTER DATABASE database-name SET READ_WRITE There are some considerations for deciding if a Developer should be able to include as part of an ETL process , the capacity to change the READ STATE of a SQL database 1) Requires ALTER permission on the database. This is an elevated privilege - and may break the organisations sql server security policy 2)... Read more →

How to read and parse the Microsoft SQL Server extended event log file xel file

Question: I'm trying to read the Microsoft SQL Server Extended Event Log File - xel file for the SQL Server Extended Events system_health extended event. Just opening it up in Notepad - produces human unreadable output . How can I read the Extended Event Log File output file , using t0-sql? Answer: Microsoft have provided various methods and SQL functions which can read the Extended Event Log File file . There are multiple options. It is possible to list out the records within the Log file - this option will return a recordset, as xml output. You may want to... Read more →