I have an application that has been released for several years. I have updated the SQL Server database around 90 times and each time I have created an update SQL script, so when the user runs the new software version the database is updated.
I would like to amalgamate all the updates into a single SQL script to make deployment faster and simpler, is there an easy way to do this? I presume I could simply grab the latest database after it has run through all 90 updates via SQL Server Management Studio?
EDIT
For clarification; the software I wrote automatically applies new database updates when the user downloads the latest version. This is done via C# / .Net and look for an embedded sql script on startup in the format XX_update.sql calling each script one by one i.e.
1_update.sql - this creates the tables and initial data etc. This was my initial release database.
2_update.sql - updates to the initial database such as adding a new SP or changing column datatype etc
3_update.sql
4_update.sql
...
90_update.sql (4 years and lots of program updates later!).
Ideally, I would install my software and create a brand new database running through all 90 update scripts. Then take this database and convert it into a script which I can replace all 90 scripts above.
This is too long for a comment.
There is no "easy" way to do this. It depends on what the individual updates are doing.
There is a process you can follow in the future, though. Whenever an update occurs, you should maintain scripts both for incremental updates and for complete updates. You might also want to periodically introduce major versions, and be able to upgrade to and from those.
In the meantime, you'll need to build the complete update by walking through the individual ones.
I use a similar system at work and while I prefer to run the scripts separately I have amalgamated several scripts sometimes when they have to be deployed by another person with no problem.
In SQL Server the rule is that as long as you separate the scripts by go and use SQL Server Management Studio or another tool that process the batch separator properly there is no problem in amalgamating it, because it would look like separate scripts to SQL Server (instead of being sent to SQL Server as a one big script the tool send it in batches using the go as the batch separator).
The only problem is that if you have an error in the middle of the script, the tool would continue sending the rest of batches to the server (at least by default, maybe there is an option for changing this). That is why I prefer when possible using a tool to run then separately, just to err on the safer side and stop if there is a problem and locate easily the problematic command.
Also, for new deployments your best option is what you say of using a database that is already updated instead of using the original one and apply all the updates. And to prevent being in this situation again you can keep a empty template database that is not used for any testing and update it when you update the rest of databases.
Are you running your updates manaually on the server. Instead, you can create a .bat file, powershell script or a exe. Update scripts in your folder can be numbered. The script can just pick up updates one by one and execute it over the database connection instead of you doing it.
If you have multiple script files and you want them to combine into one,
rename these as txt, combine, rename the resulting file as sql.
https://www.online-tech-tips.com/free-software-downloads/combine-text-files/
This is easy. Download SQL Server Data Tools and use that to create the deployment script. If there's no existing database, it will create all the objects, and if targeting an older version it will perform a diff against the target database and create scripts that create the missing objects, and alter the existing ones.
You can also generate scripts for the current version using SSMS, or use SSMS to take a backup, and use a restore to in an install.
Our company is in the process of adapting TFS for source repository and project management. I am in charge of database part of the project. We are using SQL Server 2008 R2, Visual Studio 2012 and TFS Online. We have a database that is used by several of our applications. So far I have been the only one handling any change to this database. As the company is expending we are going to have multiple dev teams. So I am planning to save the database as as SSDT project to TFS.
At the moment I am maintaining my database like the following:
I have separate folders for UDFs, Stored Procedures, and Config.
Under these folders I have subfolders for each objects. For example, for stored procedures I have subfolders for each stored procedure which contains the SQL script to create the SP. The config folder contains any script similar to SSDT's post deployment script (for example, populating static data).
The SQL script contains code to drop the procedure and create it.
I have a c# app to concatenate all the SQL files into one single SQL file. Let's call it the FINAL script. When creating FINAL script I can specify version number which adds an update statement to update the version table on the database.
FINAL script is made available for customers to download and execute on the database. So the script mainly contains any add/edit to SPs, UDFs, and static data. It does not touch any existing data (data entered by user) in most cases.
As a newbie to TFS and SSDT I am not exactly sure how this can be done using SSDT/TFS or if there is better way of doing something similar. So far what I have understood about SSDT and TFS is:
I can import an existing database to SSDT project.
This will create scripts for all objects including tables.
I can easily do a publish of the database to a local server or to a server I have access to.
Things that seem confusing so far:
How do I supply clients with my latest update script? I am thinking of manually including the FINAL script to the SSDT project but there must be better way of doing it.
How do I publish the changes to a copy of the database without the loss of any user-entered data? My guess is when publishing the tables get created. I can take care of the static data but I am not sure how to handle data entered by users.
May be there is something fundamentally wrong in my understanding of this whole thing. That is why I am here... :)
You want to pull your DB into a SQL Project. Maintain all of your changes there. This tells your system what the schema of your database should be. From there, I'd generate the dacpac files (through building the project) and provide those to your clients along with having them install the SSDT tools that include SQLPackage. They can run SQLPackage to make changes to their database to handle the schema changes automatically. This will bring their database in line with your schema, no matter how far off it might be.
I'd also create a publish profile for them to use. This lets you control some of the settings.
You can choose to not drop any objects not in your project
You can choose to ignore users/permissions
You can set an option to not allow changes if there would be data loss.
You can wrap everything in a transaction so a failed update rolls back
If you give them a batch file to run, you can specify an output file or a Diff report, or have them generate their own script to do the update.
I blogged about this at http://schottsql.blogspot.com/2013/10/all-ssdt-articles.html
(or http://schottsql.blogspot.com/search/label/SSDT if that doesn't work well). That will take you through some basics of why you might want to use SQL Projects, creating them, maintaining them, and publishing the changes to an existing database.
My Application Database Without Project and without Source safe, i planned to make my DB to be as project and add it to TFS, but I have no idea how to script the stored procedures, Triggers, Views, Functions, and what is the best practice to Make Update Script for All My stored procedures, Triggers, Views, and Functions to My customers DB.
The best procedure (IMHO) is to manually maintain a strict version of your schemas. Then when you need to make changes you write a delta script to move from one version to the next. I suggest you write the DDL scripts by hand -- you can make them concise and comment them.
You can use a tool like Visual Studio Team System for database architects, take a look at Running static code analysis on SQL Server database with Visual Studio Team System for database architects it will show you how to import the data, disregard the static code analysis that comes later it does not apply to your question
I've found a good way to get SQL scripts into SCM from an existing database is to use SMSS's "export all to script" option or whatever it's called, can't remember now.
Then every other change you add the change script into your SCM with a different version number in the file name.
Every release (or set cycle depending on your development/release methodology) you apply all change scripts, then re-script the entire database, tag it, and start again.
The best way to do it - save the database in TFS as set of database creation script, i.e. MyTable table should be added to TFS as MyTable.sql file (CREATE TABLE...) etc. We are using SQL Examiner to do this - see the following article: How to keep your database under version control
We are working with SVN and I never tested SQL Examiner with TFS, but I know that the tool supports TFS.
I was wondering if there is a way to automatically append to a script file all the changes I am making to my columns, tables, relationships etc...
The thing is I am doing a lot of different changes on a TEST db and the idea will be to apply this change script when I move the test db to production... hence keeping production data but applying all schema and object changes.
Is there an easy way to do this? Can it also migrate database diagram changes?
I have seen how you can create a change script each time I do a change but this means I have to copy and paste into a master file. Actually pretty easy!
I was just wondering if I was missing something?
Do not make changes to the test server using the UI. Write scripts and keep them under source control. You can test your scripts starting from backups of the live data and you can tune yoru scripts untill they achieve the desired result. Then you can check in the scripts for reference and later apply them on the live server. See this article Version Control and Your Database.
BTW, check out the SSMS toolpack, I think it may do what you want (I'm not sure). My advice stand none the less: version your schema, use explicitly created/saved scripts, use source control.
There's no way to directly generate a "delta" script in SSMS.
However, if every time you publish changes, you script out the entire database, including data, to SQL using the SQL Server Database Publishing Wizard you should be able to extract diffs between the versions and get your deltas that way.
If money is no object, you can purchase Visual Studio Team System Database Architect edition and use its fantastic database comparison tools to generate and version control exactly the diffs you want.
Try using TableDiff , that came with SQL Server 2005.
SQL Server 2005 TableDiff Utility
tablediff Utility
We have the process where when a developer gets done with a change, they then script it out and check it into Subversion. In Subversion we have a folder for Tables, Stored Procs, Data, etc. They script it out so it is repeatable (i.e. don’t insert the new data if it is already there.) This is important to do anyway so you keep the history of changes for a given object in the database.
In the past, we would just enter each of the files that we wanted scripted out into a text file (i.e. FileListV102.txt). When we were ready to make a release we would do “get latest” on all of the files (from VSS back then.) We then had a simple utility that would read the “file list” file and open each of those files in turn concatenating them into an output file. That is pretty easy to code.
We outgrew that and now we have a release management tools (which can be found here and will be on sale mid September), that takes all of the files and creates a big SQL script file out of it. It does it in the order that you would expect based on the folder names – so files found in the "Tables" folder are done before those in the "Data" folder, etc.
Either way, once you are done you have a big SQL script file that you can then apply to a fresh copy of production and that is what you test against.
I know I'm way late to the party, but I just wanted to add that there are tens of third party products out there. Some are very good, some are very cheap or free, and some are a mixture. I listed 22 here:
http://bertrandaaron.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/re-blog-the-cost-of-reinventing-the-wheel/
We have been using a relatively new software called Kal Admin.
It has Change Management feature and let distributing selected changes to other databases very easily. We used to do it by comparing two databases but it not satisfy our need for change tracking.
BTW Kal Admin has Metadata and data compare capabilities as well.
I often run into the following problem.
I work on some changes to a project that require new tables or columns in the database. I make the database modifications and continue my work. Usually, I remember to write down the changes so that they can be replicated on the live system. However, I don't always remember what I've changed and I don't always remember to write it down.
So, I make a push to the live system and get a big, obvious error that there is no NewColumnX, ugh.
Regardless of the fact that this may not be the best practice for this situation, is there a version control system for databases? I don't care about the specific database technology. I just want to know if one exists. If it happens to work with MS SQL Server, then great.
In Ruby on Rails, there's a concept of a migration -- a quick script to change the database.
You generate a migration file, which has rules to increase the db version (such as adding a column) and rules to downgrade the version (such as removing a column). Each migration is numbered, and a table keeps track of your current db version.
To migrate up, you run a command called "db:migrate" which looks at your version and applies the needed scripts. You can migrate down in a similar way.
The migration scripts themselves are kept in a version control system -- whenever you change the database you check in a new script, and any developer can apply it to bring their local db to the latest version.
I'm a bit old-school, in that I use source files for creating the database. There are actually 2 files - project-database.sql and project-updates.sql - the first for the schema and persistant data, and the second for modifications. Of course, both are under source control.
When the database changes, I first update the main schema in project-database.sql, then copy the relevant info to the project-updates.sql, for instance ALTER TABLE statements.
I can then apply the updates to the development database, test, iterate until done well.
Then, check in files, test again, and apply to production.
Also, I usually have a table in the db - Config - such as:
SQL
CREATE TABLE Config
(
cfg_tag VARCHAR(50),
cfg_value VARCHAR(100)
);
INSERT INTO Config(cfg_tag, cfg_value) VALUES
( 'db_version', '$Revision: $'),
( 'db_revision', '$Revision: $');
Then, I add the following to the update section:
UPDATE Config SET cfg_value='$Revision: $' WHERE cfg_tag='db_revision';
The db_version only gets changed when the database is recreated, and the db_revision gives me an indication how far the db is off the baseline.
I could keep the updates in their own separate files, but I chose to mash them all together and use cut&paste to extract relevant sections. A bit more housekeeping is in order, i.e., remove ':' from $Revision 1.1 $ to freeze them.
MyBatis (formerly iBatis) has a schema migration, tool for use on the command line. It is written in java though can be used with any project.
To achieve a good database change management practice, we need to identify a few key goals.
Thus, the MyBatis Schema Migration System (or MyBatis Migrations for short) seeks to:
Work with any database, new or existing
Leverage the source control system (e.g. Subversion)
Enable concurrent developers or teams to work independently
Allow conflicts very visible and easily manageable
Allow for forward and backward migration (evolve, devolve respectively)
Make the current status of the database easily accessible and comprehensible
Enable migrations despite access privileges or bureaucracy
Work with any methodology
Encourages good, consistent practices
Redgate has a product called SQL Source Control. It integrates with TFS, SVN, SourceGear Vault, Vault Pro, Mercurial, Perforce, and Git.
I highly recommend SQL delta. I just use it to generate the diff scripts when i'm done coding my feature and check those scripts into my source control tool (Mercurial :))
They have both an SQL server & Oracle version.
I wonder that no one mentioned the open source tool liquibase which is Java based and should work for nearly every database which supports jdbc. Compared to rails it uses xml instead ruby to perform the schema changes. Although I dislike xml for domain specific languages the very cool advantage of xml is that liquibase knows how to roll back certain operations like
<createTable tableName="USER">
<column name="firstname" type="varchar(255)"/>
</createTable>
So you don't need to handle this of your own
Pure sql statements or data imports are also supported.
Most database engines should support dumping your database into a file. I know MySQL does, anyway. This will just be a text file, so you could submit that to Subversion, or whatever you use. It'd be easy to run a diff on the files too.
If you're using SQL Server it would be hard to beat Data Dude (aka the Database Edition of Visual Studio). Once you get the hang of it, doing a schema compare between your source controlled version of the database and the version in production is a breeze. And with a click you can generate your diff DDL.
There's an instructional video on MSDN that's very helpful.
I know about DBMS_METADATA and Toad, but if someone could come up with a Data Dude for Oracle then life would be really sweet.
Have your initial create table statements in version controller, then add alter table statements, but never edit files, just more alter files ideally named sequentially, or even as a "change set", so you can find all the changes for a particular deployment.
The hardiest part that I can see, is tracking dependencies, eg, for a particular deployment table B might need to be updated before table A.
For Oracle, I use Toad, which can dump a schema to a number of discrete files (e.g., one file per table). I have some scripts that manage this collection in Perforce, but I think it should be easily doable in just about any revision control system.
Take a look at the oracle package DBMS_METADATA.
In particular, the following methods are particularly useful:
DBMS_METADATA.GET_DDL
DBMS_METADATA.SET_TRANSFORM_PARAM
DBMS_METADATA.GET_GRANTED_DDL
Once you are familiar with how they work (pretty self explanatory) you can write a simple script to dump the results of those methods into text files that can be put under source control. Good luck!
Not sure if there is something this simple for MSSQL.
I write my db release scripts in parallel with coding, and keep the release scripts in a project specific section in SS. If I make a change to the code that requires a db change, then I update the release script at the same time.
Prior to release, I run the release script on a clean dev db (copied structure wise from production) and do my final testing on it.
I've done this off and on for years -- managing (or trying to manage) schema versions. The best approaches depend on the tools you have. If you can get the Quest Software tool "Schema Manager" you'll be in good shape. Oracle has its own, inferior tool that is also called "Schema Manager" (confusing much?) that I don't recommend.
Without an automated tool (see other comments here about Data Dude) then you'll be using scripts and DDL files directly. Pick an approach, document it, and follow it rigorously. I like having the ability to re-create the database at any given moment, so I prefer to have a full DDL export of the entire database (if I'm the DBA), or of the developer schema (if I'm in product-development mode).
PLSQL Developer, a tool from All Arround Automations, has a plugin for repositories that works OK ( but not great) with Visual Source Safe.
From the web:
The Version Control Plug-In provides a tight integration between the PL/SQL Developer IDE >>and any Version Control System that supports the Microsoft SCC Interface Specification. >>This includes most popular Version Control Systems such as Microsoft Visual SourceSafe, >>Merant PVCS and MKS Source Integrity.
http://www.allroundautomations.com/plsvcs.html
ER Studio allows you to reverse your database schema into the tool and you can then compare it to live databases.
Example: Reverse your development schema into ER Studio -- compare it to production and it will list all of the differences. It can script the changes or just push them through automatically.
Once you have a schema in ER Studio, you can either save the creation script or save it as a proprietary binary and save it in version control. If you ever want to go back to a past version of the scheme, just check it out and push it to your db platform.
There's a PHP5 "database migration framework" called Ruckusing. I haven't used it, but the examples show the idea, if you use the language to create the database as and when needed, you only have to track source files.
We've used MS Team System Database Edition with pretty good success. It integrates with TFS version control and Visual Studio more-or-less seamlessly and allows us to manages stored procs, views, etc., easily. Conflict resolution can be a pain, but version history is complete once it's done. Thereafter, migrations to QA and production are extremely simple.
It's fair to say that it's a version 1.0 product, though, and is not without a few issues.
You can use Microsoft SQL Server Data Tools in visual studio to generate scripts for database objects as part of a SQL Server Project. You can then add the scripts to source control using the source control integration that is built into visual studio. Also, SQL Server Projects allow you verify the database objects using a compiler and generate deployment scripts to update an existing database or create a new one.
In the absence of a VCS for table changes I've been logging them in a wiki. At least then I can see when and why it was changed. It's far from perfect as not everyone is doing it and we have multiple product versions in use, but better than nothing.
I'd recommend one of two approaches. First, invest in PowerDesigner from Sybase. Enterprise Edition. It allows you to design Physical datamodels, and a whole lot more. But it comes with a repository that allows you to check in your models. Each new check in can be a new version, it can compare any version to any other version and even to what is in your database at that time. It will then present a list of every difference and ask which should be migrated… and then it builds the script to do it. It’s not cheap but it’s a bargain at twice the price and it’s ROI is about 6 months.
The other idea is to turn on DDL auditing (works in Oracle). This will create a table with every change you make. If you query the changes from the timestamp you last moved your database changes to prod to right now, you’ll have an ordered list of everything you’ve done. A few where clauses to eliminate zero-sum changes like create table foo; followed by drop table foo; and you can EASILY build a mod script. Why keep the changes in a wiki, that’s double the work. Let the database track them for you.
Schema Compare for Oracle is a tool specifically designed to migrate changes from our Oracle database to another. Please visit the URL below for the download link, where you will be able to use the software for a fully functional trial.
http://www.red-gate.com/Products/schema_compare_for_oracle/index.htm
Two book recommendations: "Refactoring Databases" by Ambler and Sadalage and "Agile Database Techniques" by Ambler.
Someone mentioned Rails Migrations. I think they work great, even outside of Rails applications. I used them on an ASP application with SQL Server which we were in the process of moving to Rails. You check the migration scripts themselves into the VCS.
Here's a post by Pragmatic Dave Thomas on the subject.