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Error Locating Server/Instance Specified - Tried everything I can find
Hello SQL experts, I am sort of at my wits end at this point and was hoping someone from the community could help me, I have referenced several discussions on this community and still have not found a solution that worked for my situation. I am trying to set up a automatic backup solution for a SQL Express Server so I can't use the SQL Agent to schedule a backup. Below is a batch script for sqlcmd I am trying to use to create the backup and as soon as I have it working, I plan on scheduling it as a task that will be executed weekly. I have also included the SQL query that works just fine when run from inside SSMS and creates the backup as expected. Batch file script: Echo off REM ================================================================ REM BackupDatabase.bat REM ================================================================ REM --- Configuration --- SET SERVER_NAME=.\FTVIEWX64_SRSS SET USER_NAME=xxxxxx SET PASSWORD=xxxxxx SET SQL_SCRIPT=C:\Users\Public\Documents\xxxx_BackupDatabase.sql REM --- display timestamp --- echo [%date% %time%] Starting database backup... REM --- Run SQLCMD --- sqlcmd -S %SERVER_NAME% -U %USER_NAME% -P %PASSWORD% -i "%SQL_SCRIPT%" IF %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 0 ( echo [%date% %time%] Backup completed successfully. ) ELSE ( echo [%date% %time%] Backup FAILED! Error code: %ERRORLEVEL% ) pause SQL Query being used: -- BackupDatabase.sql DECLARE @BackupFileName NVARCHAR(255); SET @BackupFileName = N'D:\SQLdbBackup\XXXX_' + CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 112) + N'.bak'; BACKUP DATABASE XXXX TO DISK = @BackupFileName WITH NOFORMAT, NOINIT, NAME = N'Full Backup of XXXX', SKIP, NOREWIND, NOUNLOAD, STATS = 10; GO When I run the batch file I get this in the sqlcmd window as an error code: The necessary services all seem to be running fine as you can see below: The sqlcmd version is as follows: SQL server version is as follows: Connections for the server are configured as follows: Any and all help would be greatly appreciated so I can resolve the issue and get regular backups scheduled for this server. Thanks and Kind Regards, DanExporting a database: "Choose a data source." What???
I'm trying to export a SQL Server database, and things aren't going well. I hope someone can help. First, the problem I've solved. I mention it because it may be a clue to what went wrong next. I started SSMS (version 21.5.14+6.36429.23, if that matters), right clicked the database I want to export, and selected Tasks > Export Data. Whoops... Export Data was disabled. I researched this and learned that I must need to install the Import/Export Wizard. Which made no sense, because Import was enabled, and I have imported a database before. (If I hadn't, I'd have none to export!) I tried to (re)install the Wizard, and that fixed the problem, although I still don't understand how it could have. So, I clicked Export Data and got a Welcome screen. I clicked Next and got a screen titled Choose a Data Source. This is incomprehensible to me. I'm running the SQL Server Import/Export Wizard. I got there by right-clicking a particular database in a particular server. The only possible data source is that database. But the Wizard wasn't happy with that, and offered me a dropdown list of 13 options that meant nothing to me. I figured I couldn't go wrong with the default, but I did. The default was "Net Framework Data Provider for Odbc." When I clicked Next, I got an error box that said, "The operation could not be completed. / The ConnectionString property has not been initialized. (System.Data)" I could look up the meaning of the message, but I'm not sure that's what I want to know. Or I could look up the meanings of all 13 options in the dropdown and try to figure out which one to use to export a database, but I've got other things I need to do today. I came here.I need to find a string in a database without knowing table or field
I have a database that contains approximately 130 tables. It's tied to a proprietary application, and I have no way to find its structure except by reverse engineering. But I only need to find the table that contains one particular field in the application's UI, so I thought I'd take a shortcut: use Windows Explorer to search the Microsoft SQL Server directory (and children) for a file that contains a string that I know is in the database. I did this, and got zero matches. I checked how SQL Server stores CHAR and VARCHAR fields. I found that it stores them in UTF-8 encoding. OK, I thought, perhaps Windows Explorer can't find strings encoded in UTF-8. Or perhaps it's programmed to ignore files in the SQL Server folder, like it ignores files in Git repositories. So I tried searching for the string with Notepad++'s Find in Files function. And again, found nothing. What is going on here? Is there any way I can search the raw database files without using SQL Server itself? Alternatively, is there some way I can search an entire database for a string without knowing what column or table it is in?
Failure to run query
Hi, ALL, First I believe that this question is more suited for a C++ devs,, but I can't find it. Sorry. I'm trying to run following query: query1= L"SELECT name FROM sys.key_constraints WHERE type = 'PK' AND parent_object_id = OBJECT_ID(?.?.?);"; with the code below: cbLen[0] = cbLen[1] = cbLen[2] = SQL_NTS; ret = SQLAllocHandle( SQL_HANDLE_STMT, m_hdbc, &m_hstmt ); ret = SQLPrepare( m_hstmt, qry.get(), SQL_NTS ); ret = SQLBindParameter( m_hstmt, 1, SQL_PARAM_INPUT, SQL_C_WCHAR, SQL_WCHAR, m_maxIdLen, 0, catalog.get(), 0, &cbLen[0] ); ret = SQLBindParameter( m_hstmt, 2, SQL_PARAM_INPUT, SQL_C_WCHAR, SQL_WCHAR, m_maxIdLen, 0, schema.get(), 0, &cbLen[1] ); ret = SQLBindParameter( m_hstmt, 3, SQL_PARAM_INPUT, SQL_C_WCHAR, SQL_WCHAR, m_maxIdLen, 0, table.get(), 0, &cbLen[2] ); ret = SQLExecute( m_hstmt ); that code errors out with the error message "SQL syntax error near p2". Am I not allowed to arametrize this query like that? Thank you.
Best Practice to migrate data via SFTP
Hi, I am currently working on a project that will be migrating part of an on-premise solution to the cloud (AWS). As a result, we are breaking the link of our reporting tool that feeds directly to the on-premise database (soon to be cloud based database). The database is a microsoft sql server and let's assume it is on a supported version (currently waiting for exact version). For this project, the only approved integration pattern for data transfer between on-premise and cloud is via SFTP. This is the integration pattern approved by architecture governance. We won't be able to connect our reporting tool to the now cloud to be DB (no direct-link, no vpn, etc). Understanding that SFTP may not be the most elegant solution, what would be the best way using Microsoft SQL Server features to produce file(s) that can be sent on-premise via sftp and use these to: 1.- Load directly to the reporting tool. or 2.- Use to populate a replica of the cloud DB on-premise. We would be interested in changes only (not dumping the entire DB every time). Given my limited knowledge on the technology, I can think of a differential backup, send it via sftp, restore on-premise. Have the backup scheduled for every x min? The deltas won't be gigabytes and they will actually be small (at least that is the expectation). Thanks
Temporal Table - Change the ValidFrom Time
Sql Server 2022 - We needed a new 'Bonus' value to be active from 11/01/2025 06:00:00. I created a one time SQL job to update the temporal table for the Bonus value (going from 2.175 to 2.00) to run at 11/01/25 06:00:00. In the temporal table, the valid from is (converted to the local time) 2025-11-02 06:00:00.5656752 -06:00. If I pass FOR SYSTEM_TIME FROM '2025-11-02 06:00:00' TO '2999-01-01 23:59:59.999', I will get the previous since the job was just over a 1/2 second late. I've read articles talking about turn off versioning, then updating the History and current tables, then turning versioning back on. Seems like thats not possible with a generate always ValidFrom. I tried to create a temporal table where Validfrom as GENERATED BY DEFAULT but that didn't work. Is there a way I can get my validFrom to exactly 11/01/2025 06:00:00? Is there a better way in the future to get things set to exactly a desired time?SQL Server 2025 – Native JSON Size Limit?
Hi Guys, I am exploring SQL Server 2025 to store JSON documents using the native JSON data type. I have gone through several Microsoft SQL technical documents but couldn’t find the maximum size of the native JSON data type. I believe it hasn’t been officially published yet. Does anyone have any insights? Thanks, TusharSQL Server - Always On High Availability Group Setup
We have an Always On High Availability Group setup with three database servers — two on the same subnet and one on a different subnet. The application server interacts with these database servers through the AG listener. Currently, this setup is running with application version X, and we have received a new application version Y for upgrade/migration (which includes database changes). To perform the application update, please clarify the recommended approach: Should I remove the database from the Availability Group and point to the primary replica to continue with the application update? or Can I proceed with the application update while the Always On configuration remains active, pointing to the AG listener?
