Welcome to MidnightDBA.com! Here is the place we put our free technology tutorials. We cover various aspects of SQL Server and PowerShell, and whatever else strikes our fancy.
You’ll also find recordings of our classes – we speak at user groups and conferences internationally – and of our live weekly IT webshow, DBAs@Midnight.
As long as you’re here, check out our blogs, and our other sites: we review books and products on ITBookworm.com, and we offer our career workshop for sale at DBARoadmap.com
File Actions
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Filmed: 5/29/2015
Length: 00:24:44 minutes
This is an important feature. MB allows you to copy or move your backup files after you take the backup. There are some pretty cool features here so watch the vid and you'll see how easy it can be to add this important functionality to your backup scenario.
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Include/Exclude DBs
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Filmed: 5/29/2015
Length: minutes
MB has a few ways to include and exclude DBs from the backup process. Here I walk you through the nuances of this feature.
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Mirroring Backups
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Filmed: 5/29/2015
Length: 00:14:05 minutes
Mirroring backups is not only easy it's very flexible. Here I'll show you the ins and outs of setting up and managing mirrored backups.
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Path Basics
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Filmed: 5/29/2015
Length: 00:20:51 minutes
One of the coolest aspects of MB is how it handles your backup paths. There are some really cool options for configuration and it even helps you with your DR scenarios. We've thought through so much here that we know you'll love it too.
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Replacing Diff Actions
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Filmed: 5/29/2015
Length: 00:03:40 minutes
Some DBs are too small to need a differential backup. MB makes it really easy to supply different actions in these situations. You can have as many configs as you like without any extra jobs.
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Server Labels
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Filmed: 5/29/2015
Length: 00:05:25 minutes
Server labels are one of our great HA features. This feature allows you to organize AG backups as well as mirroring, log shipping, and even cross-site DR scenarios.
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Shrinking Logs
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Filmed: 5/29/2015
Length: 00:08:12 minutes
When logs get too large because of large transactions or missed backups it can cause issues in your environment. And the DBA usually has to step in and shrink the log. You shouldn't have to take time out of your day or get up in the middle of the night to manage this situation. MB makes this incredibly easy and it's also very flexible. Here I'll show you how easy it is to setup and manage this feature.
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Status Monitor
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Filmed: 5/29/2015
Length: 00:05:32 minutes
We consider this one of our flagship features. The status of the current backup and of the entire job is updated in the log. You can see which backups are complete and even the percent complete of the current backup. We love this feature.
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Striping Backup Files
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Filmed: 5/29/2015
Length: 00:12:06 minutes
Striping backups is an important step in tuning your backups so they run nice and fast. MB makes it so easy to have specialized configurations without any extra jobs. Here I show you how easy it is to setup and manage striped backups.
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Azure Backups
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Filmed: 5/28/2015
Length: 00:15:19 minutes
Here I show you how to setup backups to Azure blobs. This is an end to end video and I show you from both the Azure side, and the MB side.
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Certificate Backups
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Filmed: 5/28/2015
Length: 00:12:29 minutes
Minion Backup will automatically backup your server-level and database-level certificates. Here I'll show you what you need to know to be successful with this feature.
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Encrypted Backups
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Filmed: 5/28/2015
Length: 00:10:19 minutes
SQL Server 2014 and above has native backup encryption and this is fully supported by Minion Backup. Here I'll show you how to setup and use this feature.
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Advanced Tuning Thresholds
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Filmed: 5/27/2015
Length: 00:19:33 minutes
Here I show you how to configure MB backup thresholds using the advanced options. If you're going to get it right you need to watch this video. We do not cover the basics from the last video so if haven't watched the Threshold Basics video you should see that one first.
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Tuning Threshold Basics
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Filmed: 5/27/2015
Length: 00:22:17 minutes
One of Minion Backup's most incredible features is its dynamic tuning. Here I talk about threshold basics and how to configure the settings to do what you need without any extra jobs.
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Change FillFactor
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Filmed: 10/19/2014
Length: 00:04:21 minutes
Learn how to change the FillFactor both at the database and at the table levels.
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Include and Exclude
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Filmed: 10/19/2014
Length: 00:03:16 minutes
There are different ways to include and exclude both databases and tables. Here I'll show you exactly how to efficiently manage the objects you want to process.
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Print Statements
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Filmed: 10/19/2014
Length: 00:03:27 minutes
You don't have to alter the procedure in order to print reindex statements so you can run indexes manually. This is an excellent feature that we use all the time to help troubleshoot specific index issues.
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Regex Exclude
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Filmed: 10/19/2014
Length: 00:03:56 minutes
We have advanced exclusions in Minion Reindex. You can do anything you want with our powerful regex exclusion feature. Come see how it works.
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Reorder Objects
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Filmed: 10/19/2014
Length: 00:04:58 minutes
You can process databases and tables in any order you like. Let me show you how much power and flexibility you have with Minion Reindex.
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Settings Tables
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Filmed: 10/19/2014
Length: 00:17:25 minutes
You can control almost anything with the settings tables in Minion Reindex. Here I'll show you how you can completely customize your settings without creating any extra jobs.
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Move DBs with Regex
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Filmed: 9/2/2014
Length: 00:10:55 minutes
Use the power of Regex to format move statements for hundreds of DB files all at once. This will not only standardize your processes, but make them much more stable as well. This blog post has the demo code: Demo Code
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Change Excel Delimiter
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Filmed: 8/16/2014
Length: 00:04:40 minutes
Here I'm going to show you how to changed the delimiter when you output Excel data to a CSV. By default you can only use a comma as a delimiter, and changing it isn't obvious. This isn't the kind of thing that comes in handy very often, but when it does you'll love knowing this trick.
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What is a Stored Procedure
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Filmed: 3/11/2014
Length: 00:10:18 minutes
Here Jen explains what a stored procedure is, and how to create a basic one with no parameters. She also compares it with other objects stored in the DB.
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Script PK/FKs in Powershell
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Filmed: 5/10/2013
Length: 00:07:17 minutes
Here I show you how to script out objects that belong to tables like primary keys, forgeign keys, constraints, and indexes with powershell. It's really a lot easier than you think and it allows you to reproduce these objects as often as you like.
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Object Properties in Powershell
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Filmed: 4/19/2013
Length: 00:12:03 minutes
This is a great video that shows you how to look at the properties collection in objects and explains what the different properties mean. So you can see whether a property is writeable and tell when it's dirty and you need to use the alter() method. It's not the kind of thing you'll use all the time, but it's really good to have it when you do.
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Get into SQL
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Filmed: 1/9/2013
Length: 00:06:44 minutes
Have you ever found yourself locked out of SQL because your account doesn't have rights and you don't know the sa password? Here I show you how to get access so you can make yourself a sysadmin.
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Mouth Wide Shut: Coherent Interviewing
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Filmed: 10/18/2012
Length: 1:13:38 minutes
Sean and Jen lend their unique style of teaching to talk to you about the ins and outs of passing a technical interview. You can't afford to miss this session if you plan to stay in IT.
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Change Startup Params in Powershell
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Filmed: 6/1/2012
Length: 8:40 minutes
I heard someone today say that you can't change startup parameters in Powershell. So I made this vid to set the record straight.
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Drop Tables in Powershell
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Filmed: 5/25/2012
Length: 5:49 minutes
Today I'm dropping tables based off of a regex expression and by rowcount. Good stuff here. The power of the shell shines through with the easy regex expression.
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Server Configuration Settings in Powershell
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Filmed: 5/25/2012
Length: 10:07 minutes
I love making vids on the trickier stuff and this one is it. Here we're talking about duplicating sp_configure in Powershell. It's pretty easy, but there's a trick to it.
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Truncate Tables in Powershell
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Filmed: 5/25/2012
Length: 4:10 minutes
Here I show you how to truncate a mass of tables in the same schema. Of course, you don't have to limit it to a single schema if you don't want.
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Fix AutoShrink in Powershell
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Filmed: 5/24/2012
Length: 9:15 minutes
Here I show you how to turn off AutoShrink on a DB and then how to make sure it's turned off on all your DBs.
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Get SQL Server Root Dir in Powershell
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Filmed: 5/24/2012
Length: 7:31 minutes
Here we're finding the root install directory for SQL Server.
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Attach DBs in Powershell
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Filmed: 5/23/2012
Length: 13:15 minutes
This continues the series on detach/attach for DBs. Along the way I show you how to deal with a powershell provider bug, work with the stringCollection object, and use all 4 overloads for the AttachDatabase method.
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Calling Detach Methods in Powershell
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Filmed: 5/22/2012
Length: 7:28 minutes
Detaching DBs in Powershell is pretty easy, which is why you should learn how to do it. It takes less typing than the t-sql version. However, there are also methods for discovering which files belong to the DB that was detached and that can be invaluable when you're trying to attach a DB on a big server and you don't know where all the files may be.
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Get IP and DNS in Powershell
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Filmed: 5/22/2012
Length: 9:12 minutes
Getting IP address and DNS info from your servers in a useful format isn't as straightforward as you would think. Here I'm going to show you how to get that info painlessly and in a way you can use for all your automated processes.
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Change Schema in Powershell
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Filmed: 5/18/2012
Length: 8:26 minutes
Changing object schemas is easy enough in T-SQL when it's a single object, but it get considerably more complicated when you've got several objects to change, or even several thousand. This is where Powershell comes in. Here I show you how to very easily change the schema of as many objects as you like in just a few seconds. And I throw in some regex in there for good measure. Let's have some fun.
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Change SQL Server Permissions in Powershell: Part 1
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Filmed: 5/17/2012
Length: 24:42 minutes
Here I show you how to change permissions in SQL Server using Powershell. There are 2 methods I discuss and I even show you some of the problems you can run into. This is the 1st in a series so be sure to watch the 2nd one too. In This video I also reference a couple other vids. Those are here:
Scripting DB Objects in Powershell (Advanced Topics)
Cycle Error Log on all Servers using Powershell
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Change SQL Server Permissions in Powershell: Part 2
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Filmed: 5/17/2012
Length: 10:47 minutes
Continuing from the 1st video, here I show you how to capture useful errors from the method call. I explain how to Trap the errors and loop through InnerException to make sure you get all of them. If you saw the last vid, you can't miss this one.
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Read SQL Server Error Logs in Powershell
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Filmed: 5/15/2012
Length: 18:09 minutes
Would you like to work with the SQL Server error logs in Powershell? Well here I'm gonna show you how. Not only do we pull in the current log, but I also show you how to get all of the historical logs for all the instances on the server as well. Good stuff.
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Cycle Error Log on all Servers using Powershell
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Filmed: 5/14/2012
Length: 18:11 minutes
Here I show you how to use the Carrier Method for using powershell to cycle all your error logs. This is an excellent way to get started using powershell, and I use it even though I know it fairly well.
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Largest SQL Server Installs
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Filmed: 3/16/2012
Length: 1:20:51 minutes
Kaylan Yella brings us another excellent session, this time on the largest SQL installs. If you've ever wanted to have some ammo for those people in your office who blame the bad DB performance on some sort of SQL Server threshold instead of their bad coding, then here it is. Kal shows us what the best in the world are doing with SQL Server and trust me, your install is nowhere close to reaching a threshold.
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Dealing with Sql_variant in SSIS
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Filmed: 2/14/2012
Length: 7:41 minutes
Every now and then you come across something you don't want to deal with that you're forced to handle in your SSIS packages. Here I'll discuss techniques for handling the Sql_variant data type in your packages so your data loads properly.
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Change Agent Job Properties in Powershell
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Filmed: 2/9/2012
Length: 18:21 minutes
You may have occasion to change the job step properties on multiple agent jobs and here I show you how. The possibilities are almost endless here and I explore a few of them with you. You can see the full script in the accompanying blog post: www.midnightdba.com/DBARant/?p=791
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Best Habit for Coders
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Filmed: 1/1/2012
Length: 5:02 minutes
There's a step you can make in your code to improve it many times over. It's an easy step to take, but it can make all the difference. You shouldn't overlook this step so come learn how to make all your code tons better.
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Querying Dev Metadata
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Filmed: 12/31/2011
Length: 6:33 minutes
Sometimes you need to get info on objects you've created. Here you can see how you can query for this info, and even learn a cool trick for greatly simplifying the process.
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Change Users Password
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Filmed: 8/29/2011
Length: 4:02 minutes
Users don't need special permissions to change their own passwords, but there is a minor trick to it. Here I'll show you 3 ways that ordinary users can changed their own passwords without any elevated privileges.
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UNION and UNION ALL
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