Voice of the DBA

Tag: syndicated

  • Manually Updating Redgate Monitor/SQL Monitor Patch Info

    This post looks at updating the patch information for SQL Monitor/Redgate Monitor without using the automated process. I have other posts on SQL Monitor as well.

    I heard from a customer recently that saw on their SQL Monitor (soon to be Redgate Monitor) Estate screen that the latest patch for SQL Server 2019 was CU24. I knew that was wrong because I’d updated my build list with CU25. On monitor.red-gate.com we show the same thing.

    2024-03-25 13_28_12-Installed versions — Mozilla Firefox

    I suspected that their web server wasn’t updating for some reason, which is possible. We have plenty of customers that wall off their SQL Monitor install from the public Internet, and they have to manually update the system.

    Getting the data

    We store this info in a JSON file that the web server downloads, but you can download it yourself at: https://assets.red-gate.com/products/dba/sql-monitor/assets/files/SqlServerVersions.json?_ga=2.168000097.1575041045.1711384591-1774306502.1648754310

    If you look at the file, you see that there are versions, levels, etc., and in the SQL 2019 area, there is a CU25.

    Once you have this, you drop this on your SQL Monitor web server. The location is: C:\ProgramData\Red Gate\SQL Monitor\SqlServerVersions.json. You can replace the contents of that file with this one.

    SQL Monitor will re-read the file within 6 hours, or if you restart the server, it will re-read the file.

    That’s it. If your system doesn’t have internet access, you can still get up to date info. FWIW, this is documented at the bottom of this page: https://documentation.red-gate.com/sm13/sql-server-versioning-and-patching-195789945.html

    SQL Monitor is a top-notch system for monitoring your SQL Server and PostgreSQL estates. Oracle and MySQL coming soon. If you haven’t tried it, download an eval and give it a go or play with the demo system at monitor.red-gate.com.

  • Bringing the Redgate Seminar to Brisbane

    We’ve been on a Redgate tour this year, running lots of events to interest, educate, and inspire customers. We know that there are challenges in building and operating database software, and our goals are to help you get better.

    I’m heading to Australia in a few weeks. Hopefully on a slightly larger plane (and inside).

    AUS02694

    The Redgate Seminar is in Brisbane on May 2. It’s an all day event where we’ll talk about how Redgate can help you solve your database management challenges, as well as bring DevOps to the database.

    We’ll open the day with a keynote on the state of the database landscape, looking at some of the things we’ve learned from research (our own and industry pieces) as well as from customers. The world of databases is on a journey and I’ll talk through some of that.

    The rest of the day has a number of sessions on products as well as panels where you can hear from not only me, but also industry experts that will join us. We’re also partnering with Octopus Deploy, and you’ll hear from their engineers as well a few of ours.

    If you can get to Brisbane, come join me. Register today and  I promise you a day of fun at the Pacific Hotel in Spring Hill. Redgate Software is a great host at events, and this is a chance to enjoy our hospitality.

  • T-SQL Tuesday #173–The AI Job Helper

    tsqltuesdayThis month I had a new host, Pinal Dave. I was surprised to see he hadn’t hosted, but I didn’t see him in the list. His invite is interesting, as AI has been on his mind. I pinged him after listening to him on a webinar, and his invite reflects the topic: Has AI Helped with Your SQL Server Job?

    It seems that our topics stray a bit further from core SQL topics as the world becomes more complex, and honestly, as more and more of us do things beyond just managing a server.

    In any case, that’s the topic, and if you want to host, ping me.

    AI Assistance

    Has AI helped me? I don’t do a lot of SQL Server work, but I continue to learn about the platform and I do find myself writing code or helping customers find ways to build database software. I also started a short series on AI stuff as I experiment with tools and techniques.

    In general, I don’t find Copilot or ChatGPT (or other tools) that helpful with SQL Server. I think I haven’t spent enough time, but honestly, I struggle to create prompts and work with things. However, I know there is something. If you watch Pinal’s webinar, AI isn’t perfect, but it’s like a coworker making some suggestions of things you might not have thought of.

    Where I have found it useful is doing a question of an AI, often in Bing/Edge chat, and using that as a first search engine for what I want to look for rather than getting a list of results and clicking through them. In that sense, it’s saved some time.

    However, I know I still need to evaluate what comes back and make an informed decision if the suggestion or code will actually work.

    And of course, I need to test it.

  • DevOps Book Recommendations

    I’m out today, coaching in Salt Lake City. However, I’ve been thinking about a few books after discussions with various customers and attendees at a few events. I wanted to give you a few recommendations on books that I think are good reads for thinking about DevOps.

    The Mythical Man Month

    71fCJWIx4UL._AC_UY218_I can’t remember if I read The Mythical Man Month in college or early in my career, but it’s a seminal book in our industry. It talks about a lot of problems with building software in large projects.

    I’ve re-read this a few times, most recently during the pandemic. However, it’s a good once-a-year book to remind yourself of why we try to become better engineers.

    If you’ve never read it, you should pick up a copy and give it a go.

    The Goal

    81Kuc8tojoL._AC_UY218_I read this before The Phoenix Project, and had a sense of deja vu with the Phoenix Project as these are very similar stories. I think The Goal is the better book, and worth a read. I hadn’t read it in a few years, but I restarted it recently because it helped me re-think about how I might approach some of the challenges my customers face.

    The book is set in an analog world, with manufacturing equipment in a factory, but if you think about the machines as your dev systems and the different operators as developers, you start to see how and why bottlenecks occur.

    The Phoenix Project

    2024-03-15 16_07_56-The Phoenix Project_ A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win_ KiA rewrite of The Goal in many ways, The Phoenix Project is the software dev side of the IT world, showcasing, or maybe exaggerating the issues we face. It’s short, easy to read, and funny in places.

    Or maybe sad.

    I found myself remembering similar situations as I read it. I think I’ve read this every year or two to remind myself of how silly we can be.

    Worth picking up for you or your team, especially if you struggle with building software efficiently that meets your clients’ needs.

    The DevOps Handbook

    817CPLV9r4L._AC_UY218_I’ve read a few books that were geared to the more technical side of DevOps or software. There are even more recent books, like Accelerate, tackling the topic, but I liked the DevOps Handbook one best. It breaks down the different stages we struggle with in software, and provides some sort of maturity model to help you think about how to better build software.

    I really enjoyed this book, though it was long. It took my quite some time to get through, but it was worth the time as I had to stop and think about how I might tackle some of these situations.

    There are more focused, and more modern articles/blogs/etc, on the various topics in here, but this is a great general overview of modern software development.