During a health check someone asked if SQL Server Agent has settings to tune. It does. Here is how to get SQL Server Agent properties with a simple script.
SQL SERVER – Installation Error – Unable to Open Windows Installer File – 2147286960
Installing SQL Server 2016 failed with “Unable to open Windows Installer file” and error -2147286960. Here is what caused it and how I fixed the setup.
SQL SERVER – Service Pack Failure: MissingRegistryKeyException. The Registry Key is Missing
A reader hit MissingRegistryKeyException during a service pack, but my earlier fix did not help. Here is another cause of the missing registry key and the fix.
ENCRYPTBYPASSPHRASE: Simple Encryption and Its Weak Spot
One function in, one function out, and then the real question: where does the passphrase live? A short tour with demos you can run.
PowerShell – Get Maximum Memory of Server with dbatools
Readers asked how to get started with dbatools. Here is a simple first step: finding the maximum memory of a server with one PowerShell command.
PowerShell – How to Install dbatools?
dbatools installs as a PowerShell module on a Windows management machine. Rob Sewell, known as DBA with Beard, introduced me to it.
Transaction Log Backups Based on Log Size
Transaction log backups on a schedule can miss a burst of activity that fills the disk. This post builds a procedure that reads the log written since the last backup and takes a log backup once it passes a limit you choose. It also explains why the old habit of shrinking the log after each backup does harm.