Voice of the DBA

Category: Blog

Updating SSMS is Easy (w/ v21)

I’ve been using the SSMS preview for v21. This is the next evolution of SSMS, where the VS shell is finally being updated. For many of us, SSMS has been using an old version of the Visual Studio shell as its basis for development. It’s a locked down version, which is limited what’s possible in SSMS. Redgate and a few other companies have hacked in tools like SQL Prompt and SQL Source Control, but the number of extensions.

In any case, this post looks at the upgrade to preview 6. I was on 4 on this machine, and I noticed a message when (returned home and ) started SSMS.

Just like v19 and v20, this appears in the lower right corner. However, in this case, it’s showing a VS 2022 update.

When I click the update on close, and close SSMS, I see a UAC dialog and then the VS Installer. The download and install starts right away, in the same way that any VS update comes down.

When this finishes, no download, nothing for me to do, I see things updated.

And I’m updated. When I started, I got the question about testing the new connection dialog, which I agreed to, but forgot to screenshot. In any case, I can now do more testing with this new version to be sure it’s working well.

April 28, 2025
The Book of Redgate: Customer Quotes

Many organizations list customer testimonials and quotes on their websites or literature. It makes sense to show off those places where you’ve done well in hopes of influencing others to do business with you. We seek this out, and while we get a lot at Redgate, they take effort to put together.

I was surprised to find some of these in the Book of Redgate. After all, this was an internal publication for the employees. We don’t need customer referrals.

And yet, seeing these quotes brings me some pride. I’d hope most employees felt that way, but here are a few samples:

“I raised an issue with Redgate regarding functionality in their SQL Compare product … and a couple of months later the items identified had been rewritten”

“Whenever I show people any Redgate software, it’s like they just escaped from communist Russia and have a new life to live.”

“SQL Data Generator has overnight become the principal tool we use for loading test data to run our performance and load tests”

That last one is from Grant, before he joined us as an employee.

There are many more, and I recently saw a large spreadsheet of quotes from customers that we can use externally. It’s amazing how many people love our tools and have benefitted from them.

It’s nice to work in a successful and profitable business, but it’s really motivating when so many of our customers appreciate what we do.

I have a copy of the Book of Redgate from 2010. This was a book we produced internally about the company after 10 years in existence. At that time, I’d been there for about 3 years, and it was interesting to learn a some things about the company. This series of posts looks back at the Book of Redgate 15 years later.

April 25, 2025
Can I Change a Primary Key Value? #SQLNewBlogger
I heard someone say recently that you can’t change a primary key value in a row. That’s not the case, so I decided to show a quick proof of that.

Another post for me that is simple and hopefully serves as an example for people trying to get blogging as #SQLNewBloggers.

The Scenario

Let’s set up a simple table with some data.
```
CREATE TABLE PKChangeTest (

ImportantNumber VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL CONSTRAINT PKChangeTestPK PRIMARY KEY

, CustomerName VARCHAR(50)

, StatusValue INT)

GO

INSERT dbo.PKChangeTest
   (ImportantNumber, CustomerName, StatusValue)

VALUES
   ('1234567', 'Steve', 1)

,  ('2345678', 'Andy', 1)

,  ('3456789', 'Brian', 1)

,  ('1235667', 'Leon', 1)

,  ('1265567', 'Dave', 1)

,  ('9914567', 'Bill', 1)

GO
```
If I look at this table, I have some unique numbers making up the PKs. If I select from the table, I can see the data.

Now, let’s change some data. I’ll change the PK values with a few statements. Then I’ll select from the table, and we will see things changed.

The ImportantNumber for both Bill and Steve have changed. These are PK modifications.

We can change a PK value. These are not set in stone once inserted.

SQL New Blogger

This is a short look at something that’s a myth among some people. When I heard someone say this, I knew I needed to prove this. The scenario took just about 5 minutes to set up (even without AI), and then it was another 10 minutes to structure and write this post. I actually have 2 more ideas from this on things I can show to prove how PKs work and are malleable.

You can do the same thing. When you wonder about something, or hear something that isn’t true from others, prove it. And blog about it.
April 23, 2025
Monday Monitor Tips: Finding the Hostname for Queries

I was chatting with a customer recently and they wanted to know which host was sending in queries that were causing problems in real time. This post looks at where you can find the hostname for running queries, which is in two places.

This is part of a series of posts on Redgate Monitor. Click to see the other posts.

The Server Overview

There are two places where you can see the host name. From the server overview, you can go to the current activity, or the new Query Executions tab in preview.

Current Activity

In the server overview, there is a lot of data, but most people scroll down to see the list of queries, such as this list from the ssc-db-n3 instance.

There is the database and lots of data, but no hostname. The reason is that these are aggregates. Each of these queries has run many times, possibly from different hosts. This is a historical view.

The better way to look for details on certain problem queries now is to look for current activity. I’ve zoomed in and highlighted this item below.

If I click that, I get an sp_who, or sp_whoisActive view of the server, and I can see the logins listed here. That’s helpful.

Still no hostname, but if I pick a query from a login, and see the details, I see this view.

In the lower left corner, I get the hostname. I’ve zoomed in below.

We could add that in the main box, but we’re trying to surface the most important info, and for most of our customers, that isn’t the hostname. However, we have added it in the detail.

If you’re like it in the main box, or would like to choose which fields are there (maybe host and not program?), send us a note to your rep or to sales@red-gate.com.

Query Executions

For some of our servers, we have a new Query Executions tab that uses Extended Events to get some data. The Workload02 system has this enabled. You can see the tab at the top, and then the view of this below.

If I zoom in to the lower right, you can see the hostname as part of the details for query executions, along with other data. As you are examining the details of those queries which have run for over 5 seconds, you can get the metadata about the host, application, and more.

Summary

Hostnames are available, you just need to learn where to look. Hence this post. Hopefully this gives you a quick tip on how to find them.

Redgate Monitor is a world class monitoring solution for your database estate. Download a trial today and see how it can help you manage your estate more efficiently.

April 21, 2025