Toolbox - Just the Basics

There are many query sets out there to collect varying groups of configuration data - the ones I most frequently use come from Glenn Berry of SQLskills (blog/@GlennAlanBerry) but I have found that there is more data than his basic set that I like to pull, and I wanted a single query that I could run across multiple versions of SQL Server.  Glenn's basic setup is version-specific - one script for 2005, a different for 2008, etc. - and I wanted to be able to just copy-paste my script in and press Execute.

I ended up starting with some base DMV info and ran it trial-and-error against different versions until I found the fields and formats that are different.  The biggest branch is between SQL 2005-2008R2 and 2012+; there were lots of changes to the dynamic management views in SQL 2012 - so many that I ended up creating two separate branches of code with a version check at the top to determine which branch the execution goes down.

There are multiple ways to determine the SQL Server version, but the one I found that I liked the best in this case is the SERVERPROPERTY('ProductVersion'):

SET @SQLVersion = LEFT(CONVERT(VARCHAR, SERVERPROPERTY('ProductVersion')),4)PRINT @SQLVersion

This returned a nice four character value that was easy to use in the code (it's converted to a char so that I can use the LEFT function to trim it):

9.00
10.0
10.5
11.0
12.0
13.0

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The biggest change between the versions is a new DMV added in SQL 2008R2 SP1, sys.dm_os_windows_info.  I very much like having a DMV with some basic Windows information:

SELECT *
FROM sys.dm_os_windows_info 

windows_release	windows_service_pack_level	windows_sku	os_language_version
6.3		7	1033

...but what I don't like is that it was added in SP1 - SQL 2008R2 RTM doesn't have this view.  What that meant to my code was that I reference this view in the 2012+ branch but not in the 2005-2008R2 branch since I would have to get more specific (to the SP level) to determine whether I could use it in 2008R2.

http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/cc/cc63896fead20f99f3381a5c389587c48263f258d755be752624b60b62769bab.jpg

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To return RAM info, I ended up using a temp table (not my favorite but it worked here) - there is a deferred name resolution issue with returning the data due to changes in SQL 2012+.  Even with the IF...ELSE code branch I was using to split my code, the changes in this particular query broke without using an up-front temp table to hold the RAM info (which I then added into the data return query).

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So...the query:

/*
Physical RAM data comes from the sys.dm_os_sys_info DMV 

The catch is that in SQL 2012 the field changed from being measured in bytes to KB and the field name changed. 

I am collecting the data in a Temp Table because it was the only way I could find to handle deferred name resolution - by having the
DMV inline in a regular query the name resolution errors out even inside an IF ELSE statement.

The temp table is then selected from in the actual data return query below.

IF...ELSE...EXEC Code slightly modified from:
https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/sqlserver/en-US/442ce31a-9f08-4fa2-90ce-aaba23e05fac/gathering-physical-memory-for-sql-2005sql-2014?forum=transactsql
*/

IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#RAM') IS NOT NULL
DROP TABLE #RAM

CREATE TABLE #RAM
(
InstanceName SYSNAME,
Physical_Mem_MB INT
)

IF LEFT(CAST(SERVERPROPERTY('ResourceVersion') as VARCHAR(20)),2) in ('11','12','13','14')
EXEC ('INSERT INTO #RAM SELECT @@SERVERNAME, (physical_memory_KB/1024) as Physical_Mem_MB FROM sys.dm_os_sys_info')
ELSE
EXEC ('INSERT INTO #RAM SELECT @@SERVERNAME, (physical_memory_in_bytes/1024/1024) as Physical_Mem_MB FROM sys.dm_os_sys_info')

--

/*
The actual data return query for the Instance settings
There is a major branch for SQL 2005-2008R2 and a separate branch for 2012+, again because of differing field names and new DMVs between versions
Much of the data is selected as inline queries to prevent the need to tack on the Instance Name and then create a huge multi-way join
*/

DECLARE @SQLVersion as NVARCHAR(4)

SET @SQLVersion = LEFT(CONVERT(VARCHAR, SERVERPROPERTY('ProductVersion')),4)

/*
PRINT @SQLVersion
*/

IF @SQLVersion in ('9.00', '10.0', '10.5')
SELECT SERVERPROPERTY('ServerName') as [InstanceName]
, SERVERPROPERTY('ComputerNamePhysicalNetBIOS') as [ComputerNamePhysicalNetBIOS]
, SERVERPROPERTY('ProductVersion') as [SQLProductVersion]
, @SQLVersion as [SQLMajorVersion]
, CASE @SQLVersion
WHEN '9.00' THEN 'SQL Server 2005'
WHEN '10.0' THEN 'SQL Server 2008'
WHEN '10.5' THEN 'SQL Server 2008 R2'
END as [SQLVersionBuild]
, SERVERPROPERTY('ProductLevel') as [SQLServicePack]
, SERVERPROPERTY('Edition') as [SQLEdition]
, (
SELECT RIGHT(SUBSTRING(@@VERSION, CHARINDEX('Windows NT', @@VERSION), 14), 4)
) as [WindowsVersionNumber]
, (
SELECT CASE LTRIM(RIGHT(SUBSTRING(@@VERSION, CHARINDEX('Windows NT', @@VERSION), 14), 4))
/* LTRIM needed to trim leading space in three character version numbers such as 5.0 */
/* No DMV for this in SQL 2005, 2008, or 2008R2 RTM */
WHEN '5.0' THEN 'Windows 2000'
WHEN '5.1' THEN 'Windows XP'
WHEN '5.2' THEN 'Windows Server 2003/2003 R2'
WHEN '6.0' THEN 'Windows Server 2008/Windows Vista'
WHEN '6.1' THEN 'Windows Server 2008 R2/Windows 7'
WHEN '6.2' THEN 'Windows Server 2012/Windows 8'
WHEN '6.3' THEN 'Windows Server 2012 R2'
WHEN '10.0' THEN 'Windows Server 2016'
ELSE 'Windows vNext'
END
) as [WindowsVersionBuild]
, (
SELECT [Physical_Mem_MB]
FROM #RAM
) as [PhysicalMemMB]
, (
SELECT [value_in_use]
FROM sys.configurations
WHERE name LIKE '%min server memory%'
) as [MinServerMemoryMB]
, (
SELECT [value_in_use]
FROM sys.configurations
WHERE name LIKE '%max server memory%'
) as [MaxServerMemoryMB]
, (
SELECT [cpu_count]
FROM sys.dm_os_sys_info
) as [LogicalCPUCount]
, (
SELECT [hyperthread_ratio]
FROM sys.dm_os_sys_info
) as [HyperthreadRatio]
, (
SELECT [cpu_count]/[hyperthread_ratio]
FROM sys.dm_os_sys_info
) as [PhysicalCPUCount]
, (
SELECT [value_in_use]
FROM sys.configurations
WHERE name LIKE '%max degree of parallelism%'
) as [MAXDOP]
, (
SELECT [value_in_use]
FROM sys.configurations
WHERE name LIKE '%cost threshold for parallelism%'
) as [CTOP]

ELSE /* SQL 2012+ */

SELECT SERVERPROPERTY('ServerName') as [InstanceName]
, SERVERPROPERTY('ComputerNamePhysicalNetBIOS') as [ComputerNamePhysicalNetBIOS]
, SERVERPROPERTY('ProductVersion') as [SQLProductVersion]
, @SQLVersion as [SQLMajorVersion]
, CASE @SQLVersion
WHEN '11.0' THEN 'SQL Server 2012'
WHEN '12.0' THEN 'SQL Server 2014'
WHEN '13.0' THEN 'SQL Server 2016'
ELSE 'SQL Server vNext'
END as [SQLVersionBuild]
, SERVERPROPERTY('ProductLevel') as [SQLServicePack]
, SERVERPROPERTY('Edition') as [SQLEdition]
, (
SELECT [windows_release]
FROM sys.dm_os_windows_info
) as [WindowsVersionNumber]
, (
SELECT CASE windows_release
WHEN '5.0' THEN 'Windows 2000'
WHEN '5.1' THEN 'Windows XP'
WHEN '5.2' THEN 'Windows Server 2003/2003 R2'
WHEN '6.0' THEN 'Windows Server 2008/Windows Vista'
WHEN '6.1' THEN 'Windows Server 2008 R2/Windows 7'
WHEN '6.2' THEN 'Windows Server 2012/Windows 8'
WHEN '6.3' THEN 'Windows Server 2012 R2'
WHEN '10.0' THEN 'Windows Server 2016'
ELSE 'Windows vNext'
END
FROM sys.dm_os_windows_info /* New DMV in SQL 2008 R2 SP1*/
) as [WindowsVersionBuild]
, (
SELECT [Physical_Mem_MB]
FROM #RAM
) as [PhysicalMemMB]
, (
SELECT [value_in_use]
FROM sys.configurations
WHERE name LIKE '%min server memory%'
) as [MinServerMemoryMB]
, (
SELECT [value_in_use]
FROM sys.configurations
WHERE name LIKE '%max server memory%'
) as [MaxServerMemoryMB]
, (
SELECT [cpu_count]
FROM sys.dm_os_sys_info
) as [LogicalCPUCount]
, (
SELECT [hyperthread_ratio]
FROM sys.dm_os_sys_info
) as [HyperthreadRatio]
, (
SELECT [cpu_count]/[hyperthread_ratio]
FROM sys.dm_os_sys_info
) as [PhysicalCPUCount]
, (
SELECT [value_in_use]
FROM sys.configurations
WHERE name LIKE '%max degree of parallelism%'
) as [MAXDOP]
, (
SELECT [value_in_use]
FROM sys.configurations
WHERE name LIKE '%cost threshold for parallelism%'
) as [CTOP]

/*
Clean-Up
*/

IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#RAM') IS NOT NULL
DROP TABLE [#RAM]

--

The resultset looks like this:

InstanceName	ComputerName PhysicalNetBIOS	SQLProductVersion	SQLMajorVersion
Instance1\I1	Server55	12.0.5000.0	12

SQLVersionBuild	SQLServicePack	SQLEdition
SQL Server 2014	SP2	Standard Edition (64-bit)

Windows Version Number	Windows Version Build	Physical MemMB	MinServer MemoryMB	MaxServer MemoryMB
6.3	Windows Server 2012 R2	81918	64	66560

LogicalCPUCount	HyperthreadRatio	PhysicalCPUCount	MAXDOP	CTOP
12	1	12	1	5

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I like this a lot as it is a quick way to pull basic SQL, Windows, RAM, and CPU from any SQL 2005+, which is something I need all the time when I touch a new server.

Hope this helps!

Which Blogs Do I Recommend?

One of the most important parts of continuing learning as a DBA (or probably an IT Professional) is reading blogs.  The world used to run on professional magazines and journals (and there are a few good ones still out there) but the current equivalent of a weekly or quarterly periodical is a daily/weekly blog produced by anyone from a corporate presence like Microsoft or SentryOne to individual DBA's chronicling their IT journey (like me)!

I used to rely on the Blogger Rankings from Tom LaRock as a good list of general SQL Server blogs, but recently I noticed the rankings list has been removed from his site.  I don't know when it happened but since I frequently referenced new blog readers to his list I figured I should try to recreate a version of it myself.

These are the blogs I most frequently read and reference, although there are many, many, more out there.

https://nebraskasql.blogspot.com/p/blog-list.html

I use feedly as my tool of choice, adding the individual links to my feedly so that all of the blog posts aggregate in one place.

As with any blog posts, read at your own risk and your mileage may vary (and remember, #ItDepends) but these are sources I find to be generally reliable, sorted by their employers for ease of reference.

Even though the blogs are broken out by employer, most of the posts (by far) that you see in these blogs are general SQL Server knowledge and *not* company product marketing (although those sometimes appear as well - for example you will see references to the new version of Plan Explorer Pro on some of the SentryOne blogs, etc.)

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Hope this helps!

Error 33206 - SQL Server Audit Failed to Create the Audit File

One of the joys of working with SQL Server is the descriptive and meaningful error messages, right?

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/batmantheanimatedseries/images/a/a7/DiD_39_-_Joker_Vision.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20160610021326

Exhibit A - the 33206:

Error: 33206, Severity: 17, State: 1.

SQL Server Audit failed to create the audit file 'T:\MSSQL\Audit Files\PLAND_Objects_DML_Audit_Events_A2B00B57-4B43-4570-93C8-B30EE77CC8C9_0_131645629182310000.sqlaudit'. Make sure that the disk is not full and that the SQL Server service account has the required permissions to create and write to the file.

At first glance, this error tells us one of two things is wrong - the disk is full or the SQL service account doesn't have the required permissions to create and write to a file at the given location.

Simple to troubleshoot, right?

Except when the service account already has Full Control to each folder and sub-folder in the path...

(Note that it is important to check every folder along the path - I have seen situations where the account has permissions to the direct sub-folder (in this example T:\MSSQL\Audit Files) or even the direct sub-folder and the root of the drive (T:) and yet a security check fails due to the intermediate folder not having the correct permissions.  To me it shouldn't work this way, but sometimes it does...)

What about the drive being full?

Maybe not.

Having exhausted the obvious paths (at least obvious from the error text), I went back to my default next step:

https://memegenerator.net/img/instances/52632802/i-see-your-google-fu-is-as-strong-as-mine.jpg

A base search for a "SQL Error 33206" actually brought back a bunch of results about Error 33204 - "SQL Server Audit could not write to the security log" (FYI - the common fix for a 33204 is to grant the SQL service account rights to a related registry key as described here)

A better Google contains a piece of the error message: 

SQL 33206 "SQL Server Audit failed to create the audit file"

The second result in the resultset for this search is a recent blog post from someone I know to be a reliable source, Microsoft Certified Master Jason Brimhall (blog/@sqlrnnr).  

In his post Jason describes the same process I describe above - eliminate the obvious - but then he shows what the real problem was for my situation, the file configuration in the SQL Server Audit configuration:

When I checked the T:\MSSQL\Audit Files folder, sure enough, there were fifteen audit files reaching back over thirteen months' worth of service restarts.

To mitigate the problem I deleted the oldest of the fifteen files, and the Audit resumed.

WOOHOO!

The real fix to this situation is to configure the files as "rollover" files - setting the Audit File Maximum Limit to fifteen "Maximum Rollover Files" instead of fifteen"Maximum Files" would allow the audit to overwrite the oldest file once it reaches to configured max rather than crashing the audit as happened here.

Realize you can only do this if you can handle the oldest files being overwritten; if you have to persist the files you need to create a separate archiving process to handle that.

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If nothing else, the real silver lining in my particular situation was that the creator of this audit at the client configured the audit to "Continue" rather than "Shut Down Server" (completely shut down Windows - not just stop SQL, but shut down the whole server) or "Fail Operation" (allow SQL to run but fail any operation that would meet the audit specification - not as catastrophic as "Shut Down Server" but still very impactful).

https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/nintchdbpict000273355923.jpg?w=960

There are definitely situations that call for "Shut Down Server" or "Fail Operation" - if your Audit is in place to satisfy a legal/regulatory/moral requirement, then definitely consider these options - but this is often not the case.

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Hope this helps!