SQL Server , Meltdown and Spectre FAQ

I'm getting various questions about the Spectre and Meltdown impact on SQL Server. I'll start listing the most popular questions and the response. There is a lot of activity in progress across all the communities about mitigating the impact of Meltdown and Spectre . Typically there will be patching by different vendors and this needs to be managed properly. Where is the Microsoft SQL Server guideance documentation for Meltdown and Spectre ? The main link I reference is Protect SQL Server from attacks on Spectre and Meltdown side-channel vulnerabilities . The main advice is start planning for patching. There is... Read more →

How to get DOMAIN login name with Powershell Get-ADGroupMember

Question: I’ve read the article How to Export Active Directory Group Members with Powershell Get-ADGroupMember . This article has a script to export the members of the AD group , but it exports the name. I require the DOMAIN_NAME\login_name information . Select name – returns the name , which columns do I return which would give me the DOMAIN_NAME\login_name ? Answer: The Get-ADGroupMember cmdlet is very efficient at returning AD group members , but it does require some manipulation to get back the DOMAIN_NAME\login_name combination. I’m assuming you’ve installed the Powershell Active Directory module for Windows. If you haven’t then... Read more →

Powershell input parameter via command line

Question: How do you use input parameters on Powershell via command line? I need to pass a value Answer: The easiest way to use input parameters on Powershell via command line is to use this method. This method will give you the flexibility to use multiple input parameters in your powershell scripts First , let's look inside the script: param ( [string]$myserver = "http://myserver" ) write-output $myserver This script accepts an input parameter - which you'll call from the command line. In this case , you'll pass in a parameter call "myserver" and then it will output to the console.... Read more →

Disaster Recovery Powershell Script to check for failed Windows services

This Powershell script will Check on all Windows servers that a service which was meant to start has failed. Excludes services which are not meant to start. One of the keys in a disaster recovery plan is the ability to quickly identify issues which may impact business continuity. Part of the DBA responsibility is to identify issues , fixing them and working with other engineering support staff. The purpose of this script is to quickly scan all the servers in the list – and find services which are not 1077 or 0. In other words, the services have attempted to... Read more →

How to add a row in Powershell System.Data.Datatable

Powershell System.Data.Datatable is one of my favourite methods in powershell scripting to manage data sets. It works in-memory – which makes it very fast , and is versatile when moving data around different data sources. I’ve used it extensively in different Powershell scripts . One of its particular strengths is working with SQL Server and the capacity to load recordsets. There is a fair amount of control available to the programmer when using the System.Data.Datatable. For example , -To instantiate a new Powershell object $dt = new-object "System.Data.DataTable" --To create new columns – in this example I’m using 2 $col1... Read more →