Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 Administrative Command Line Utilities (Part 2)
September 12, 2002
Now we continue covering Microsoft SQL Server command line utilities as started in Part 1 of this article. Let's jump right in ...
Scm - A utility used to start/stop SQL Server and/or Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) services from a command prompt or a batch file (similar
to using net start and net stop commands). Note, that the Scm utility can only be used with services installed by SQL Server.
Snapshot - The Replication Snapshot Agent utility configures
and starts a replication Snapshot Agent, which prepares snapshot files
of published tables and stored procedures, stores the files on the Distributor
and records information about the synchronization status in the distribution
Sqlagent - This utility is used for starting the SQL Server Agent service from your operating
system command prompt. sqlagent should be run from the command prompt
only when diagnosing SQL Server Agent issues (SQL Server Agent should normally be run from the SQL Server Service Manager or by using SQL-DMO
methods in an application).
Sqldiag - A tool that can be used for reports generation and collecting diagnostic information on current database server/Windows NT configuration parameters. Sqldiag gathers information even if Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 services have stopped. Hardware and software information about operating system configuration can be saved in the < Windows_NT_Server_NetBIOS_Name >.txt file report as generated by Sqldiag. A Sqldiag diagnostic report contains the following information:
Sqlftwiz - A command prompt utility that allows the DBA to execute the Full-Text Indexing Wizard. The Full-Text Indexing Wizard is used to define full-text indexing on Microsoft SQL Server text-based columns. The Full-Text Indexing Wizard also creates or modifies population schedules that determine when the information stored in the full-text catalog is updated.
Sqlmaint - A maintenance utility that performs a specified
set of tasks as specified by the DBA on one or more databases (for example, backup databases,
update statistics, rebuild indexes, DBCC check, etc.). All database maintenance
activities generate a report that can be sent to a designated text file,
HTML file, or e-mail account.
Sqlservr - A utility used to start, stop, pause, and continue
Microsoft SQL Server from an operating system command prompt.
Textcopy - A utility for copying large arrays of text and binary
data to Text and Image data type fields. This undocumented utility (run
it with the /? option to receive a set of acceptable command line parameters). The example of usage Textcopy command can be found in Pubimage.bat and Pubtext.bat files (both files are located in the %sqlroot%\install
Vswitch - A utility for switching between SQL Server 7.0 and SQL Server 6.x as the active version of SQL Server. Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 can be installed alongside SQL Server 6.x on the same computer, but only one version can be active at a time. To switch from one version to the other, use the Microsoft SQL Server-Switch application on the Start menu or run Vswitch.exe in the %sqlroot%\Binn directory.
The utility does not allow both versions of SQL Server to be run simultaneously,
and it is only intended to be used during the migration phase, not in daily
production. The utility copies the current registry value to either the
MSSQLSERV6.x or 7.0 registry key and then moves the desired
version information (6.x or 7.0) to the MSSQLServer entry. Additionally,
it changes the PATH statement to reflect the Mssql or Mssql7 directory.
Wiztrace - The Index Tuning Wizard workload generator.
Xfragent - A transfer agent that is part of the SQL Server replication subsystem. Xfragent is used for transferring some or all objects from one database to another. Transfers can be started immediately or can be scheduled to occur either once or on a recurring basis.