Let’s start with the basics. MSDN says “Trace flags are used to temporarily set specific server characteristics or to switch off a particular behavior. Trace flags are frequently used to diagnose performance issues or to debug stored procedures or complex computer systems.”

There are two types of trace flags in SQL Server.

• Session
• Global

We can enable trace flag for the context of a specific query that we can run under a session. Session trace flags can be enabled for a connection and are visible only to that connection. This type of trace flag never affects another session running on your database server and the effect of the trace flag is lost when that connection logs out.

Global trace flags are set at the server level and must be enabled globally. If you will try to enable global trace flag for a particular session then there will not be any impact of this trace flag. Let’s go ahead and understand how we can check the status of trace flags running on your SQL Server instance.

Check Trace Flag Status

We use DBCC TRACESTATUS command to check all running or active trace flags on database system. We can also check the status of a specific trace flag using this DBCC command. The output of this DBCC command has four columns. First column is the trace flag number, second column shows the status of trace flag, third and fourth columns are showing whether the trace flag is enabled at the global level or session level.

The status column of this DBCC command has two values. The value shows whether the trace flag is ON (1) or OFF (0). You can see the below screenshot to understand the trace flags and their status.

DBCC TRACESTATUS

We can run above DBCC command in different ways to get distinct outputs about trace flags status. Here, I am giving you few examples to use DBCC TRACESTATUS command.

Run below command to display the status of all trace flags that are currently enabled globally.

DBCC TRACESTATUS(-1);  
GO

We can even get status of multiple specific trace flags by executing below command. Run below command to get the status of trace flags 8690 and 1118.

DBCC TRACESTATUS (8690, 1118);  
GO

If you want to list all the trace flags that are enabled for the current session then you can get it by running below command.

DBCC TRACESTATUS();  
GO

If you want to check whether trace flag status for specific trace is enabled globally or not then you can run below command.

DBCC TRACESTATUS(8690, -1)

Enable Trace Flag

We enable trace flags to gather more information about certain logs during some transactions. We use DBCC TRACEON command to enable SQL Server trace flags. Here, I will show you different uses of DBCC TRACEON command to enable trace flags.

Remember, all trace flags enabled using DBCC TRACEON command will be disabled once you restart the SQL Server service. If you want to enable any trace flag permanently then we recommend that you should enable them at startup, by using the -T command line option. This ensures the trace flag remains active after a server restart. You can launch SQL Server Configuration Manager and open the Properties window of SQL Server service. Here you can click on Startup Parameters tab. Here you can add your trace flag number along with -T and then click on Ok button to close the window.

If we need to enable a trace flag globally then we need to run below command with -1 option as shown in below screenshot.

DBCC TRACEON (8690, -1)

Now we can check the trace flag status whether it’s been enabled globally on our database system or not.

If you want this trace to be enabled for current connection only then you should run below command. You can remove -1 from above command.

DBCC TRACEON (8690);  
GO

Even you can enable multiple trace flags by running single command. You can run below command to enable trace flag 8690 and 1117 globally. If you want to enable it for current connection only then you can remove -1 from below command.

DBCC TRACEON (8690, 1117, -1);  
GO

Run below DBCC command to check the status of the trace flag that we have enabled by running above command.

DBCC TRACESTATUS

You can see trace flag 8690 is showing along with its value set as 1 for session as well as global in below screenshot.

If you want to check trace flag status for specific trace number then you can run below command. Below command will let you know whether trace flag 8690 is enabled globally or not.

DBCC TRACESTATUS(8690, -1)

Disable Trace Flag

Similarly, we can disable trace flag 8690 that we have enabled in above section by executing another DBCC command known as DBCC TRACEOFF. Run below command to disable trace flag. If we will use -1 value along with DBCC TRACEOFF command that means it will disable this trace flag globally.

DBCC TRACEOFF(8690, -1)

If you want to disable it for current connection only then we will remove -1 from above command and run below command.

DBCC TRACEOFF(8690);   
GO

Now we can again check the status of trace flag 8690 whether this trace is still active or it has been deactivated by above command.

DBCC TRACESTATUS

We can see trace 8690 is disabled now and this trace flag cannot be active in below image.

If you want to check trace flag status for a individual trace then you can run below command.

DBCC TRACESTATUS(8690, -1)

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Read More:

• Find Total no of Running Traces files on your Database Server
• Understanding Database Shrink Operation
• How to Avoid Page Split in SQL Server?

The post How to Enable, Disable or Check SQL Server Trace Flags? appeared first on Techyaz.com.

The server network address “TCP://ServerName.abc.local:5022″ cannot be reached or does not exist. Check the network address name and that the ports for the local and remote endpoints are operational. (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 1418)

Reason behind Error 1418

Main reason behind database mirroring error 1418 is because the specified server network address cannot be reached or does not exist. The server network address cannot be reached because of multiple reasons. Some of them are given below.

• Principal, Mirror and Witness servers are not talking to each other.
• Wrong network address name, mirror server instance name or port number.
• Mirror database is not ready for mirroring.
• Principal or mirror server instance is behind a firewall.
• You are using local system account to run SQL Server services and not using certificates for authentication.
• SQL Server services are running with different domain accounts on Principal and Mirror server and service accounts don’t have enough permission on endpoints.
• Different endpoint encryption value set on Principal, Mirror and Witness server.
• Endpoints are not started on the partner servers.
• Principal server instance is not listening on the port assigned to its database mirroring endpoint.

We need to verify each option mentioned above carefully to fix this error.

Solution

The solution of this issue may vary case to case depending on the nature of issue. To fix this issue we need to find out the main root cause behind error 1418. The root cause may be anything that is given in above section. Here I will describe each probable reason given above and its solution to fix this issue. Make sure to go through with each point given in this article.

Principal, Mirror and Witness Servers Should be Accessible

Make sure that SQL Server Instances installed on Principal, Mirror & Witness servers are accessible to each other. If remote login for any SQL Server instance is not enabled then you might get this issue. You can enable remote connectivity by enabling TCP/IP and Named Pipes protocols in SQL Server Configuration Manager. Each system must access the ports of the other SQL Server instances over TCP. You can try telnet the SQL Server ports of other partners.

Verify Correct System Details 

Sometimes we entered wrong details that end up with throwing errors. Make sure to verify the network address name, mirror server instance name and its port numbers are correct. You can recheck all the details whether you have entered them correctly or not.

Mirror Database Preparation

Verify that the mirror database is ready for database mirroring. We should prepare mirror database before configuring or during configuring database mirroring. It is suggested to keep identical drive path for mirror database files. Below are the steps you should take care for preparing your mirroring database.

• Run full backup and subsequent transactional log backup of the Principal database and copy it to the Mirror server.
• Restore database with same name in norecovery state on Mirror server with the copied backup files from above step. You must ensure that restored database on mirror server should be in restoring mode before starting database mirroring configuration.

Firewall/Ports

One of the probable reason to get error 1418 is partner servers are behind firewall. Make sure that the principal server instance and destination mirror server instance is not behind a firewall and they should talk to each other. Principal server, Mirror server and witness server should be accessible to each other.

Verify that SQL Server port and endpoint ports are enabled and accessible via telnet. If not or you are not able to telnet any of the partner instance from any server participating in mirroring then you should ask your network admins to open these ports to establish the connectivity over given port.

Endpoints

Make sure that endpoint has been created on principal, mirror and witness servers. Verify that the endpoints are started on each partner server instances. You can check endpoint status by running below T-SQL query on each instance.

SELECT state_desc FROM sys.database_mirroring_endpoints

If either endpoint is not started, execute below ALTER ENDPOINT statement to start it.

#Change the name of your endpoints. Here endpoint name is Mirroring
ALTER ENDPOINT Mirroring
STATE = STARTED
AS TCP (LISTENER_PORT = <port_number>)
FOR database_mirroring (ROLE = ALL);
GO

Recheck that the principal server instance is listening on the port assigned to its database mirroring endpoint and the mirror server instance is listening on its port. If a partner is not listening on its assigned port, modify the database mirroring endpoint to listen on a different port.

Sometimes this issue got fixed by dropping the existing endpoint and recreate it again on partner servers.

Service Accounts

Do not use local system account to run SQL Server services. If you don’t have any choice and want to use local system then ensure to use certificates for authentications.

Make sure that service accounts that you are using to run SQL Server services must have CONNECT permission to mirroring endpoints. Also, if you are configuring database mirroring between two domains then the login of one account must be created in master database on the other computer, and that login must be granted CONNECT permissions on the endpoint.

It’s always advisable to use same service accounts to run SQL Server services on all three Instances on Principal, Mirror and Witness server.

You can comment us your experience about fixing this issue. We will update this article with your solution that you have used to fix this issue.

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Read More:

• Fix Error 15141: The server principal owns one or more endpoints and cannot be dropped
• Fix AOAG Error 35250: Joining database on Secondary Replica resulted in an error
• How to Upgrade or Patch Availability Group Instances?
• SQL Server Always On Interview Questions and Answers

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A connection was successfully established with the server, but then an error occurred during the login process. (provider: Shared Memory Provider, error: 0 – No process is on the other end of the pipe) (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 233)

You can see the screenshot of this error that I had received while making a database connection.

SQL Server Error 233 No process is on the other end of the pipe – Root Cause

Above SQL error 233 suggests the provider name as Shared Memory Provider. We know Shared Memory is a protocol used in SQL Server along with TCP/IP and Named pipe. We decided to check the settings and values for all protocols in SQL Server Configuration Manager.

I launched SQL Server Configuration manager and expanded SQL Server Network Protocols from left side pane. Here, you can see an option “Protocols for MSSQLSERVER”.  MSSQLSERVER is the name of SQL Server Instance as default instance has been installed there. If you have named instance installed on your machine then you might get “Protocols for <INSTANCENAME>.

Now click on this option “Protocols for MSSQLSERVER”, you can see all three protocols used in SQL Server in right side pane as shown in below image.

Here we can see Shared Memory protocol is set as Enabled but Named Pipes is set as Disabled that should be enabled to make successful database connection. This was the main reason for getting this error. Keep reading this article to fix this issue in next section.

I have also written another aspect of SQL Server Error 233 in below article. You might get this error if your SQL Server Instance has exceeded the total number of user connections set in server configurations. Have a look at this article as well.

• Fix SQL Server Error 233: User Connections Server Configuration option in SQL Server

Solution

We get error 233 ( SQL Server no process is on the other end of the pipe )because SQL Server client cannot connect to the server. This error could occur because the server is not configured to accept remote connections. To fix this issue, we will use the SQL Server Configuration Manager tool to allow SQL Server to accept remote connections. Here, in our case one of the protocol Named Pipe was disabled that’s why we were getting error. We will go ahead and fix this issue by enable the Named Pipe protocol. You might get this issue due to any protocol being disabled.

Make sure to enable Shared Memory, TCP/IP and Named Pipe protocols. Launch SQL Server Configuration Manager. Expand SQL Server Network Configuration from left side pane and click on Protocols for MSSQLSERVER. MSSQLSERVER is SQL Server Instance name. Now you will see all protocols in to right side pane. Right click on given protocols that is disabled and select Enable button to enable that protocols.

Named Pipe protocol was disabled in my case so I have launched Properties window of this protocol and selected Enabled option as Yes from dropdown as shown in below screenshot. Now click on Apply and Ok button to apply this change on SQL Server. It will ask you to restart the SQL Server service to apply these changes in to effect. Restart SQL Server services from SQL Server Configuration manager. Once services will come online, try to connect to your SQL Server instance, this time you will not face error 233 and you will be able to make successful database connection.

If you are still facing same issue ( no process is on the other end of the pipe )then you can also check “Allow Remote Connections” settings for this SQL Server instance. This setting must be enabled to connect to databases remotely. Connect to SQL Server Instance in SSMS locally on database server. Right click on SQL Server instance name in SSMS and choose Properties. You will get Server properties window. Click on Connections from left side pane and tick the check box on Allow remote connections to this server option from right side pane.

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Read More Articles on SQL Server Connection Issues:

• Fix SQL Server Network Interfaces Error 28: Server doesn’t support requested protocol
• Error 40: A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server
• Fix Error 53: Could not open a connection on SQL Server
• Fix Error 4064: Cannot open user default database
• Error 233: How to set the user connections server configuration option in SQL Server

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You can also get below error similar to error 53 under below details.

An error has occurred while establishing a connection to the server. When connecting to SQL Server, this failure may be caused by the fact that under the default settings SQL Server does not allow remote connections. (provider: Named Pipes Provider, error: 40 – Could not open a connection to SQL Server) (.Net SqlClient Data Provider)

Root Cause

Microsoft SQL Server Error 53 looks very much like the Error 40: A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server at first look. Like SQL Server error 40, here also SQL Server client cannot connect to the SQL Server Instance. This error could occur because either the client cannot resolve the name of the server or the name of the server is incorrect.

You might get this issue due to other reasons as well although main reason is the wrong server name or port name. I have given all those possible reasons behind the Microsoft SQL Server error 53 in below points.

1. Wrong SQL Server Instance name while establishing database connection.
2. Entering wrong port no can be one of the reason for SQL Server error 53.
3. SQL Server Instance is not accessible due to firewall or any reason.
4. Telnet port 1433 or port no on which SQL Server is running. These ports might be blocked.
5. TCP/IP or Named Pipes protocol is disabled in SQL Server Configuration Manager.
6. Remote Connection is disabled for this SQL Server Instance.
7. SQL Server Browser service is stopped.

Solution

We need to check and validate multiple factors to rectify Microsoft SQL Server error 53. Check all factors given in below step by step points to fix all possibilities for this error.

1. Sometimes, we enter wrong server details by mistake. Make sure to enter correct SQL Server instance name while making database connection otherwise you will face sql error 53.
2. Try to connect using ip address and port number instead of putting server name in connection string.
3. Make sure SQL Server services are running fine and its accessible.
4. Check firewall details. Firewall should open between your client machine and database server. Port 1433 and 1434 should be enabled. Telnet both ports to make sure ports are open.
5. Make sure to enable TCP/IP and Named Pipes. Launch SQL Server Configuration Manager. Expand SQL Server Network Configuration from left side pane and click on Protocols for MSSQLSERVER. MSSQLSERVER is SQL Server Instance name. Now you will see all protocols in to right side pane. Right click on given protocols and select Enable button to enable both protocols.
6. Check TCP/IP name resolution, you can use the ping command in the Windows operating system. You can also right-click on TCP/IP and select Properties in SQL Server Configuration Manager. Verify that, under IP2, the IP Address is set to the computer’s IP address on the local subnet. Scroll down to IPAll. Make sure that TCP Dynamic Ports is blank. Make sure that TCP Port is set to 1433 or your identified port no.
7. Remote connection must be enabled to connect to databases remotely. Connect to SQL Server Instance in SSMS. Right click on SQL Server instance name in SSMS and choose Properties. You will get Server properties window. Click on Connections from left side pane and tick the check box on Allow remote connections to this server option from right side pane.
8. SQL browser service should not be stopped if your security policy allows it. If you have disabled this service to apply hardening then make sure to pass port no along with SQL Server instance name/IP while making database connection.

You can fix SQL error 53 by applying above solutions on your SQL Server instance. I hope you like this article. Please follow our Facebook page and Twitter handle to get latest updates.

Related Articles:

• Fix Error 28 – Server doesn’t support requested protocol
• Error 40: A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server
• Error 4064: Cannot open user default database. Login failed.
• Fix Login Drop issue Error 15138 and Error 3729

The post Fix SQL Server Error 53: Could not open a connection on SQL Server appeared first on Techyaz.com.

The error details are given below.

A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: Named Pipes Provider, error:40 – Could not open a connection to SQL Server) (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 2)

Below is the screenshot of above Microsoft SQL Server error 40.

Sometimes, we get same error under below error text.

An error has occurred while establishing a connection to the server. When connecting to SQL Server, this failure may be caused by the fact that under the default settings SQL Server does not allow remote connections. (provider: Named Pipes Provider, error: 40 – Could not open a connection to SQL Server) (.Net SqlClient Data Provider)

Microsoft SQL Server Error 40 – Root Cause

We get SQL error 40 because SQL Server did not respond to the client request. This issue occurs due to multiple reasons. I have given all those possible reasons behind Microsoft SQL Server error 40 in below points.

1. Server is probably not started and shutdown.
2. SQL Server Service is down.
3. SQL Server Instance is not accessible due to firewall or any reason.
4. Telnet port 1433 or port no on which SQL Server is running. These ports might be blocked.
5. TCP/IP or Named Pipes protocol is disabled in SQL Server Configuration Manager.
6. Remote Connection is disabled for this SQL Server Instance.
7. SQL Server browser service is stopped.
8. Wrong SQL Server Instance name while establishing database connection

Solution

We need to check and validate multiple factors to rectify Microsoft SQL Server error 40. Check all factors given in below step by step points to fix all possibilities for this error.

1. Make sure that database server is up and running fine.
2. Make sure SQL Server services are running fine and its accessible.
3. Check firewall details. Firewall should open between your client machine and database server.
4. Port 1433 and 1434 should be enabled. Telnet both ports to make sure ports are open.
5. Make sure to enable TCP/IP and Named Pipes protocols. Launch SQL Server Configuration Manager. Expand SQL Server Network Configuration from left side pane and click on Protocols for MSSQLSERVER. MSSQLSERVER is SQL Server Instance name. Now you will see all protocols in to right side pane. Right click on given protocols and select Enable button to enable both protocols.
6. Remote connection must be enabled to connect to databases remotely. Connect to SQL Server Instance in SSMS. Right click on SQL Server instance name in SSMS and choose Properties. You will get Server properties window. Click on Connections from left side pane and tick the check box on Allow remote connections to this server option from right side pane.
7. SQL browser service should not be stopped if your security policy allows it. If you have disabled this service to apply hardening then make sure to pass port no along with SQL Server instance name while making database connection.
8. Sometimes, we enter wrong server details. Make sure to enter correct SQL Server instance name while making database connection.

Related Articles

• Fix Error 28 – Server doesn’t support requested protocol
• Fix Error 233: How to set user connections server configuration in SQL Server?
• Error 4064: Cannot open user default database. Login failed.

Here, I have given different solutions to fix sql error 40 in SQL Server. I hope you like this article. Please follow our Facebook and Twitter handle to get latest updates.

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Microsoft SQL Server Error 28

This is very common error that most of the people have gone through. Microsoft SQL Server Error 28 details are given below:

Sometime you might get same error as below description.

Root Cause

Generally, we get SQL Network Interfaces Error 28 while connecting to SQL Server instance either using SQL Server Management studio or using any other way. There might be several reasons behind generating Microsoft SQL Server Error 28. I have tried to capture all such reasons in below points..

• A specified SQL Server instance name is not valid. Wrong SQL Server Instance Name can lead to generate Microsoft SQL Server Error 28.
• Remote access is not enabled for your SQL Server instance.
• The firewall on the server has refused the connection because ports used by SQLBROWSER.EXE and SQLSERVR.EXE is still blocked.
• The SQL Server Browser service (sqlbrowser) is not started.

Solution

We need to check and validate multiple factors to fix Microsoft SQL Server error 28. Check all factors given in below step by step points to fix all possibilities for this SQL error 28.

• Validate whether server on which SQL Server is hosted is reachable from your client machine or not. Run ping and telnet to make sure server connectivity.
• Make sure SQL Server is running fine on your server. Check SQL Server services.
• Firewall ports 1433 for SQL Server and 1434 for SQL Server Browser services should be opened.
• Verify correct SQL Server Instance name. Check the spelling of the SQL Server instance name that is specified in the connection string.
• Make sure to enter full SQL Server Instance name in case you have named instance like SERVERNAME\SQL2017.
• Make sure that the SQL Server Browser service is started on the server.
• Enable Remote connection for your SQL Server Instance. Most of the people face Microsoft SQL Server error 28 because remote connection was disabled on the SQL Server Instance. Use the SQL Server Configuration Manager tool to enable SQL Server to accept remote connections over the TCP or named pipes protocols. Below steps you can follow to enable remote connections.

1. Launch SQL Server Configuration Manager. Expand SQL Server Network Configuration from left side pane and then click Protocols for InstanceName. If your server has default instance then it will look like “Protocols for MSSQLSERVER”
2. You can see all three protocols in right side pane. Shared Memory, Named Pipes and TCP/IP.
3. Make sure to enable Named Pipes and TCP/IP. Right-click at the protocol name and then click Enable. The icon for the protocol will change to show that the protocol is enabled.
4. You need to restart the SQL Server services to bring the changes into effect so restart your SQL Server services.

Related Articles

• Fix SQL Server Error 40: A Network related or Instance specific Error Occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server
• How to Fix SQL Server Error 53: Could Not Open a Connection on SQL Server?
• Fix Error 4064: Cannot open user default database
• SAP Connectivity Issue After AlwaysON Automatic failover
• Fix Error 976: Cannot connect to Secondary Replica of AOAG

Here, i have shown you how to fix sql error 28. I hope you like this article. Please follow our Facebook page and Twitter handle to get latest updates.

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Read more about auto growth and auto shrink operation in SQL Server. Both are very important activity you should review to improve your database performance.

• Understanding Database Autogrowth in SQL Server
• Why Should You Always Turn Off Database Auto Shrink Property?

What is Instant File Initialization?

Data and log file initialization takes lot of time if you have to create large database files. This can also increase total completion time of large database restore or large amount of data import to the SQL Server. Microsoft has given a feature called Instant file initialization that allows fast data file allocations for all data file operations. This feature reclaims used disk space without filling that space with zeros. Instead, disk content is overwritten as new data is written to the files. But unfortunately, this feature doesn’t work with log files so they cannot be initialized instantaneously. This is not enterprise feature any SQL Server edition can use it.

As we know DELETE operation deallocates the space and a new allocation can reuse that space which may still have data in it. When we do not zero out the existing space in case of instant file initialization there is a possibility that someone could read data that you thought had been deleted. This is a known security risk of this feature that must be considered while enabling it for your SQL Server Instance. Instant File Initialization is not enabled by default in SQL Server because of this security risk.

Enable Instant File Initialization for SQL Server?

Below are the steps you need to perform to enable Instant File Initialization.

Step 1- Login to server where you want to enable Instant File Initialization. This might be your database server or backup server.
Step 2- Open the Local Security Policy application. You can go to Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Local Security Policy. You can also open it directly by putting secpol.msc into run command prompt.

Step 3- In the left pane, expand Local Policies, and then click User Rights Assignment.

Step 4- In the right pane, double-click Perform volume maintenance tasks.

Step 5- Click Add User or Group and add any user accounts that are used to run SQL Server services. You can get SQL Server service account from SQL Server Configuration Manager or from services.msc console.

Now add account Domain\techyaz to above policy. It would be great if you create a group and add this account to that group and then add that group to given policy so that every time you don’t need to add user account here if SQL Server service account got changed.

Step 6- Once SQL Server service account will be added, it will look like below image. Click Apply, and then close all Local Security Policy dialog boxes.

Step 7- Restart SQL Server services to apply this change.

If you need to enable this feature on Cluster environment, make sure to perform this activity on all cluster nodes. If you are running with multiple SQL Server Instances, add all required security logins/group to this policy.

How to Check If instant file initialization is Enabled Or Not?

Now if you think how to know Instant File Initialization is enabled on your SQL Server Instance then here is the answer. You should check SQL Server logs to get the details about Instant File Initialization. When SQL Server service starts, database engine checks all details of SQL Server configurations and capture them into log file. You can see my error log file after restarting SQL Server service. Instant File Initialization is showing as enabled on this server.

2017-06-16 11:16:49.15 Server Database Instant File Initialization: enabled. For security and performance considerations see the topic ‘Database Instant File Initialization’ in SQL Server Books Online. This is an informational message only. No user action is required.

Advantages

Instant File Initialization improves performance of multiple database activities where large size of data file creation or Autogrow operation will perform. This can vastly speed up these operations as zero-initialization can take a long time for large files. Below are the operations that can take advantage from this feature.

• Data Load/Import
• New Database Creation
• Database Restore
• Autogrow Operation
• Data file size Increase
• Backup file Creation

Limitations

This feature will not work if:

• Your file is a log file.
• The account has not the required privilege.
• It is a sparse file – Database Snapshots.
• Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) is enabled.
• Trace flag 1806 is enabled to disable instant file initialization.

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Read More: 

• SQL Server Error 5009: One or more files listed in the statement could not be found or could not be initialized
• Fix SQL Server Msg 5144 and 5145 for long or failed autogrow of data and log files
• Manage Transaction Log File during Data Load

The post What is Instant File Initialization and How to enable it on SQL Server Instance? appeared first on Techyaz.com.

Error: MMC could not create the snap-in

I faced this issue during launching SQL Server configuration manager. The error details are given below.

This error generally comes when few components are not properly installed on your machine or few of its binaries or dlls have been removed or corrupted on the server. When you launch the particular program it does not find that binary or dll which resulted into this error.

Solution

There are two solution of this error:

• Repair your SQL Server Installation.
• By Copying Missing or Corrupted binary file/DLL

Repair your SQL Server Installation

First and sure shot solution of this issue is to repair your SQL Server installation. If you are facing this issue on production server then you need proper planning before going to repair. Below are the points you should consider if you are going ahead with repair.

1. Make sure to communicate this with all stakeholders as this activity will require downtime.
2. Once you got the downtime window, make sure to Run Full Backup of all databases.
3. Stop SQL Server Services.
4. Make sure you have SQL Server Setup on the server to run repair task. If you don’t have copy it from your repository.
5. Now rename your data folder to Data_old or something else. We will rename it to protect the actual database files. Data folder is the location where all your database files are placed. If you have kept your data and log files on separate drives, make sure to rename all data folders.
6. Go ahead with Repair. Type appwiz.cpl in run command window. Once Add & Remove Program window will appear, click on your SQL Server program and then select Uninstall/Change. You will get below window to go ahead with Repair task. Click on Repair option to proceed. Make sure you should have SQL Server Full Setup for this repair task. if you don’t have setup on server, copy it from your repository to the server. Follow all steps that will come during repair window.

Once Repair will complete, rename the data folder which was created during repair to Data_new and rename back the older data_old folder which we did in step 5 to data to bring all your databases online. If you will face any issue during bringing databases online, make sure to attach it to bring them online.

Now launch SSMS and check your databases, all databases should online and working fine. Issue will fixed here and you will be able to launch SQL Server Configuration Manager. You can see, i am able to launch SQL Server Configuration Manager successfully in below screenshot.

By Copying Missing DLLs

You can see there is a CLSID code given in the error page/window. A CLSID is a globally unique identifier that identifies a COM class object. Launch windows registry and search this code there. I copy this code and paste it in find window of Windows registry.

Once you will press enter, search will stop at the folder matching with this code. You can see this in below screenshot. The path of this code under CLSID folder is showing in below image.

Now click on subfolders of this code. You can see the required DLL in right side pane along with full path which is used for this program/CLSID.

Now copy this DLL path from right side pane and browse it on your server to find the given DLL. We can see this DLL is missing on the server in below image.

Now we will copy this DLL from another server which is running on same build version or from SQL Server Setup and paste it here on the above given path.

Now close the existing SQL Server Configuration Manager and relaunch it again. Your issue will be fixed and configuration manager will launch.

If you are still facing same issue, you need to launch the Microsoft Management Console and check the SQL Server Configuration Manager. Go to Run and type mmc and press enter to launch Microsoft Management Console. Here you need to launch Add or Remove snap-ins. You can check SQL Server Configuration Manager snap-in from available snap-ins from left side pane and add it to mmc console. Once done, click on ok button to proceed.

Now again launch the SQL Server Configuration Manager. It should work this time, if it is still not working you should follow first option to repair the SQL Server installation to fix this issue.

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