Introduction
Sometimes you face interesting challenges with unusual environment. One of my customer needed a automated and flexible backup solution. Said like that nothing very complex you will say. But if I mention that some databases were 60TB big with more than 30 filegroups and around 600 database data files each and moreover synchronized in an AlwayOn availability group, it is not the same story and you can easily imagine that working with standard backup strategy will not be viable. Therefore I was working on implementing solution using partial full, partial differential and read-only filegroups backups to minimize the time needed.
Well this post is not explaining the whole solution, but only a way to collect the last backup information of my databases, especially for the ones being in an AlwaysOn availability group and which filegroup states changed.
If you already worked with partial backups and read-only filegroups backups you know that the backup sequence is very important, but if you don’t you will quickly notice it if you need to restore, and you can easily understand why this last backup information is crucial. As the backups always have to run on the primary replica, you have to collect the information on all replicas if failover occurred and the primary changed to ensure that you execute the right backups at the right moment and not make unnecessary backups (remember the data volumes).
Explanation of the solution and code
Another thing to mentioned, because of security policies, it was forbidden to use linked server, but hopefully xp_CmdShell was possible. I wanted each replica to work independently, and needed a way to query the remote replicas to collect the last backup information on each SQL Server instances involved. Because backup history might be cleans, I need to store this information in local tables. I created 2 tables, one to stored last database backups information and the other to store last read-only filegroup backups information. Additionally I created 2 tables to collect temporarily the information coming from all replicas.
Creation of the last backup information tables:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 | --########################################################--###Backup generator - backup last date info temporary table--########################################################USE [<YourDatabaseName>]GO/*if OBJECT_ID('[dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_databases_temp]') is not null drop table [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_databases_temp]*/create table [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_databases_temp] ( ServerName sysname not null, SqlInstanceName sysname not null, SqlServerName sysname not null, ServiceBrokerGuid uniqueidentifier not null, DatabaseCreationDate datetime not null, DatabaseName sysname not null, BackupType char(1) not null, LastBackupDate datetime not null, LastBackupSize numeric(20,0) not null, is_primary bit null, insertdate datetime not null)GOcreate unique clustered index idx_bakgen_backuplastdt_databases_temp on [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_databases_temp](DatabaseCreationDate,DatabaseName,BackupType,ServerName,SqlInstanceName)--########################################################--###Backup generator - backup last date info--########################################################USE [<YourDatabaseName>]GO/*if OBJECT_ID('[dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_databases]') is not null drop table [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_databases]*/create table [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_databases] ( ServerName sysname not null, SqlInstanceName sysname not null, SqlServerName sysname not null, ServiceBrokerGuid uniqueidentifier not null, DatabaseCreationDate datetime not null, DatabaseName sysname not null, BackupType char(1) not null, LastBackupDate datetime not null, LastBackupSize numeric(20,0) not null, is_primary bit null, insertdate datetime not null)GOcreate unique clustered index idx_bakgen_backuplastdt_databases on [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_databases](DatabaseCreationDate,DatabaseName,BackupType,ServerName,SqlInstanceName) |
I finally decided to work with a stored procedure calling a PowerShell scripts to remotely execute the queries on the replicas.
The stored procedure lists the existing replicas and collects the last database backup information, then the read-only filegroup backup information creating 2 different queries to execute locally on the server and store the data in the temp tables first. It will create similar queries, excluding the databases not involved in availability groups and execute them on the remote replicas using xp_CmdShell running PowerShell scripts. The PowerShell scripts are dynamically created using the TSQL queries generated. They used one function of the well-known DBATools. So you will have to install it first.
You will notice that in order to log the scripts generated are nicely formatted in order to read and debug them easier. But before executing you PowerShell script through xp_CmdShell you need to apply some string formatting like the 2 lines I added to avoid the execution to fail:
set @PSCmd = replace(replace(@PSCmd, nchar(13), N”), nchar(10), N’ ‘)
set @PSCmd = replace(@PSCmd, ‘>’, N’^>’)
Do not forget to escape some characters, otherwise the execution will fails, in my case omitting to escape the ‘>’ sign raise an “Access is denied” message in the output of the xp_CmdShell execution.
After that the code is comparing what has been collected in the temp tables with the final information and update information if needed.
Here is the complete code of the stored procedure:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 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528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 | use [<YourDatabaseName>]if OBJECT_ID('dbo.bakgen_p_getbakinfo') is not null drop procedure dbo.bakgen_p_getbakinfo goCREATE PROCEDURE dbo.bakgen_p_getbakinfo AS/************************************* dbi-services SA, Switzerland ************************************** Group/Privileges..: DBA Script Name......: bakgen_p_getbakinfo.sql Author...........: Christophe Cosme Date.............: 2019-09-20 Version..........: SQL Server 2016 / 2017 Description......: Get the backup information locally but also on the replica involved Input parameters.: Output parameter: Called by........: Stored Procdedure : [dbo].[bakgen_p_bakexe]************************************************************************************************ Historical Date Version Who Whats Comments ---------- ------- --- -------- ----------------------------------------------------- 2019-09-30 1.0 CHC Creation************************************************************************************************/ BEGINBEGIN TRY set nocount on declare @ErrorMessage NVARCHAR(4000), @ErrorSeverity INT, @ErrorState INT; declare @ModuleName sysname, @ProcName sysname, @InfoLog nvarchar(max), @Execute char(1) set @ModuleName = 'BakGen' set @ProcName = OBJECT_NAME(@@PROCID) set @Execute = 'A' set @InfoLog = 'Retrieve backup information' execute dbo.bakgen_p_log @ModuleName = @ModuleName, @ProcedureName = @ProcName, @ExecuteMode = @Execute, @LogType = 'INFO', @DatabaseName = null, @Information = @InfoLog, @Script = null --###variable to store error message declare @errmsg varchar(4000) --###variable with the current datetime declare @cdt datetime = getdate() --###variabler to store the sql and powershell commands to execute declare @sqllocalDB nvarchar(4000), @sqllocalFG nvarchar(4000), @sqlremoteDB nvarchar(4000), @sqlremoteFG nvarchar(4000), @PSCmd nvarchar(4000) --###variable to store the local SQL server name declare @LocalSqlServerName sysname --###variable to store the list of replicas declare @TAgReplica table (AgReplicaName sysname) --###variable for the cursors declare @AgReplicaName sysname --###set the local SQL Server name set @LocalSqlServerName = lower(convert(sysname,serverproperty('ServerName'))) --############################################################################ --### check if tables exist --############################################################################ if object_id('[dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_databases_temp]') is null begin set @errmsg = 'Get Backup info : table not found' set @errmsg += ' table name = [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_databases_temp]' raiserror (@errmsg,11,1); end if object_id('[dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_fgreadonly_temp]') is null begin set @errmsg = 'Get Backup info : table not found' set @errmsg += ' table name = [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_fgreadonly_temp]' raiserror (@errmsg,11,1); end if object_id('[dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_databases]') is null begin set @errmsg = 'Get Backup info : table not found' set @errmsg += ' table name = [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_databases]' raiserror (@errmsg,11,1); end if object_id('[dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_fgreadonly]') is null begin set @errmsg = 'Get Backup info : table not found' set @errmsg += ' table name = [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_fgreadonly]' raiserror (@errmsg,11,1); end --############################################################################ --### select the replicas involved adding first the local server --############################################################################ insert into @TAgReplica (AgReplicaName ) select @LocalSqlServerName --###check if alwayson feature is activated if (serverproperty('IsHadrEnabled') = 1) begin insert into @TAgReplica (AgReplicaName ) select lower(agr.replica_server_name) from sys.availability_replicas agr where agr.replica_server_name <> @LocalSqlServerName end --############################################################################ --### construct the SQL command to execute on the local SQL Server --############################################################################ set @sqllocalDB = '' set @sqllocalDB +=' declare @Tbi table ( ServerName sysname, SqlInstanceName sysname, SqlServerName sysname, ServiceBrokerGuid uniqueidentifier, DatabaseCreationDate datetime, DatabaseName sysname, BackupType char(1), LastBackupDate datetime, is_primary bit null, insertdate datetime ) insert into @Tbi ( [ServerName], [SqlInstanceName], [SqlServerName], [ServiceBrokerGuid], [DatabaseCreationDate], [DatabaseName], [BackupType], [LastBackupDate], [is_primary], [insertdate]) select lower(convert(sysname,serverproperty(''machinename''))) as ServerName, lower(convert(sysname,serverproperty(''InstanceName''))) as SqlInstanceName, lower(convert(sysname,serverproperty(''ServerName''))) as SqlServerName, db.service_broker_guid as ServiceBrokerGuid, db.create_date as DatabaseCreationDate, bs.database_name as DatabaseName, bs.type as BackupType, max(bs.backup_finish_date) as LastBackupDate, sys.fn_hadr_is_primary_replica(bs.database_name) as is_primary, ''' + convert(varchar,@cdt,120) + ''' from msdb.dbo.backupset bs inner join sys.databases db on db.name = bs.database_name where bs.type in (''D'',''I'',''P'',''Q'') and bs.is_copy_only = 0 and coalesce(sys.fn_hadr_is_primary_replica(bs.database_name),-1) in (-1,0,1) group by db.service_broker_guid, db.create_date, bs.database_name, bs.type, sys.fn_hadr_is_primary_replica(bs.database_name) insert into [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_databases_temp] ( [ServerName], [SqlInstanceName], [SqlServerName], [ServiceBrokerGuid], [DatabaseCreationDate], [DatabaseName], [BackupType], [LastBackupDate], [LastBackupSize], [is_primary], [insertdate]) select t.[ServerName], t.[SqlInstanceName], t.[SqlServerName], t.[ServiceBrokerGuid], t.[DatabaseCreationDate], t.[DatabaseName], t.[BackupType], t.[LastBackupDate], bs.[backup_size], t.[is_primary], t.[insertdate] from @Tbi t inner join msdb.dbo.backupset bs on bs.backup_finish_date = t.LastBackupDate and bs.database_name collate database_default = t.DatabaseName collate database_default and bs.type collate database_default = t.BackupType collate database_default' set @sqllocalFG = '' set @sqllocalFG +=' insert into [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_fgreadonly_temp] ([ServerName], [SqlInstanceName], [SqlServerName], [ServiceBrokerGuid], [DatabaseCreationDate], [DatabaseName], [BackupType], [filegroup_name], [file_logicalname], [filegroup_guid], [file_guid], [LastBackupDate], [LastBackupReadOnlyLsn], [is_primary], [insertdate]) select lower(convert(sysname,serverproperty(''machinename''))) as ServerName, lower(convert(sysname,serverproperty(''InstanceName''))) as SqlInstanceName, lower(convert(sysname,serverproperty(''ServerName''))) as SqlServerName, db.service_broker_guid as ServiceBrokerGuid, db.create_date as DatabaseCreationDate, bs.database_name as DatabaseName, bs.type as BackupType, bf.filegroup_name, bf.logical_name as file_logicalname, bf.filegroup_guid, bf.file_guid, max(bs.backup_finish_date) as LastBackupDate, max(bf.read_only_lsn) as LastBackupReadOnlyLsn, sys.fn_hadr_is_primary_replica(bs.database_name) as is_primary, ''' + convert(varchar,@cdt,120) + ''' from msdb.dbo.backupset bs inner join msdb.dbo.backupfile bf on bf.backup_set_id = bs.backup_set_id inner join sys.databases db on db.name = bs.database_name where bs.backup_finish_date >= db.create_date and bs.type in (''F'') and bs.is_copy_only = 0 and coalesce(sys.fn_hadr_is_primary_replica(bs.database_name),-1) in (-1,0,1) and bf.is_present = 1 and bf.is_readonly = 1 and bf.file_type = ''D'' group by db.service_broker_guid, db.create_date, bs.database_name, bs.type, bf.filegroup_name, bf.logical_name, bf.filegroup_guid, bf.file_guid, sys.fn_hadr_is_primary_replica(bs.database_name)' --############################################################################ --### construct the SQL command to execute on the remote SQL Server --############################################################################ set @sqlremoteDB = '' set @sqlremoteDB +=' declare @Tbi table ( ServerName sysname, SqlInstanceName sysname, SqlServerName sysname, ServiceBrokerGuid uniqueidentifier, DatabaseCreationDate datetime, DatabaseName sysname, BackupType char(1), LastBackupDate datetime, is_primary bit null, insertdate datetime ) insert into @Tbi ( [ServerName], [SqlInstanceName], [SqlServerName], [ServiceBrokerGuid], [DatabaseCreationDate], [DatabaseName], [BackupType], [LastBackupDate], [is_primary], [insertdate]) select lower(convert(sysname,serverproperty(''machinename''))) as ServerName, lower(convert(sysname,serverproperty(''InstanceName''))) as SqlInstanceName, lower(convert(sysname,serverproperty(''ServerName''))) as SqlServerName, db.service_broker_guid as ServiceBrokerGuid, db.create_date as DatabaseCreationDate, bs.database_name as DatabaseName, bs.type as BackupType, max(bs.backup_finish_date) as LastBackupDate, sys.fn_hadr_is_primary_replica(bs.database_name) as is_primary, ''' + convert(varchar,@cdt,120) + ''' from msdb.dbo.backupset bs inner join sys.databases db on db.name = bs.database_name where bs.type in (''D'',''I'',''P'',''Q'') and bs.is_copy_only = 0 and coalesce(sys.fn_hadr_is_primary_replica(bs.database_name),-1) in (0,1) group by db.service_broker_guid, db.create_date, bs.database_name, bs.type, sys.fn_hadr_is_primary_replica(bs.database_name) select t.[ServerName], t.[SqlInstanceName], t.[SqlServerName], t.[ServiceBrokerGuid], t.[DatabaseCreationDate], t.[DatabaseName], t.[BackupType], t.[LastBackupDate], bs.[backup_size], t.[is_primary], t.[insertdate] from @Tbi t inner join msdb.dbo.backupset bs on bs.backup_finish_date = t.LastBackupDate and bs.database_name collate database_default = t.DatabaseName collate database_default and bs.type collate database_default = t.BackupType collate database_default' set @sqlremoteFG = '' set @sqlremoteFG +=' select lower(convert(sysname,serverproperty(''machinename''))) as ServerName, lower(convert(sysname,serverproperty(''InstanceName''))) as SqlInstanceName, lower(convert(sysname,serverproperty(''ServerName''))) as SqlServerName, db.service_broker_guid as ServiceBrokerGuid, db.create_date as DatabaseCreationDate, bs.database_name as DatabaseName, bs.type as BackupType, bf.filegroup_name, bf.logical_name as file_logicalname, bf.filegroup_guid, bf.file_guid, max(bs.backup_finish_date) as LastBackupDate, max(bf.read_only_lsn) as LastReadOnlyLsn, sys.fn_hadr_is_primary_replica(bs.database_name) as is_primary, ''' + convert(varchar,@cdt,120) + ''' from msdb.dbo.backupset bs inner join msdb.dbo.backupfile bf on bf.backup_set_id = bs.backup_set_id inner join sys.databases db on db.name = bs.database_name where bs.backup_finish_date >= db.create_date and bs.type in (''F'') and bs.is_copy_only = 0 and coalesce(sys.fn_hadr_is_primary_replica(bs.database_name),-1) in (0,1) and bf.is_present = 1 and bf.is_readonly = 1 and bf.file_type = ''D'' group by db.service_broker_guid, db.create_date, bs.database_name, bs.type, bf.filegroup_name, bf.logical_name, bf.filegroup_guid, bf.file_guid, sys.fn_hadr_is_primary_replica(bs.database_name) ' --############################################################################ --### delete all records in the backup info tables --############################################################################ delete from [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_databases_temp] delete from [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_fgreadonly_temp] --############################################################################ --### loop for all replicas involved --############################################################################ declare cur_replica cursor static local forward_only for select AgReplicaName from @TAgReplica open cur_replica fetch next from cur_replica into @AgReplicaName while @@fetch_status = 0 begin if @LocalSqlServerName = @AgReplicaName begin set @InfoLog = 'Get database backup information on local SQL Server instance ' + QUOTENAME(@AgReplicaName) execute dbo.bakgen_p_log @ModuleName = @ModuleName, @ProcedureName = @ProcName, @ExecuteMode = @Execute, @LogType = 'INFO', @DatabaseName = null, @Information = @InfoLog, @Script = @sqllocalDB execute sp_executesql @sqllocalDB set @InfoLog = 'Get read-only filegroup backup information on local SQL Server instance ' + QUOTENAME(@AgReplicaName) execute dbo.bakgen_p_log @ModuleName = @ModuleName, @ProcedureName = @ProcName, @ExecuteMode = @Execute, @LogType = 'INFO', @DatabaseName = null, @Information = @InfoLog, @Script = @sqllocalFG execute sp_executesql @sqllocalFG end else begin --############################################################################ --### construct the PowerShell command to execute on the remote SQL Server --############################################################################ set @PSCmd = '' set @PSCmd += 'PowerShell.exe ' set @PSCmd += '-Command "' set @PSCmd += '$qrydb = "' + @sqlremoteDB + '"; ' set @PSCmd += '$qryfg = "' + @sqlremoteFG + '"; ' set @PSCmd += '$rdb = Invoke-DbaQuery -SqlInstance ' + @AgReplicaName + ' -Query $qrydb; ' set @PSCmd += '$rfg = Invoke-DbaQuery -SqlInstance ' + @AgReplicaName + ' -Query $qryfg; ' set @PSCmd += 'if ($rdb -ne $null) { ' set @PSCmd += 'Write-DbaDbTableData -SqlInstance ' + @LocalSqlServerName + ' -Database ' + db_name() + ' -Schema dbo -Table bakgen_backuplastdt_databases_temp -InputObject $rdb;' set @PSCmd += '} ' set @PSCmd += 'if ($rfg -ne $null) { ' set @PSCmd += 'Write-DbaDbTableData -SqlInstance ' + @LocalSqlServerName + ' -Database ' + db_name() + ' -Schema dbo -Table bakgen_backuplastdt_fgreadonly_temp -InputObject $rfg;' set @PSCmd += '} ' set @PSCmd += '"' set @InfoLog = 'Get backup information on replica SQL Server instance ' + QUOTENAME(@AgReplicaName) + ' executing master..xp_cmdshell PowerShell script' execute dbo.bakgen_p_log @ModuleName = @ModuleName, @ProcedureName = @ProcName, @ExecuteMode = @Execute, @LogType = 'INFO', @DatabaseName = null, @Information = @InfoLog, @Script = @PSCmd --###remove CRLF for xp_cmdshell and PowerShell set @PSCmd = replace(replace(@PSCmd, nchar(13), N''), nchar(10), N' ') set @PSCmd = replace(@PSCmd, '>', N'^>') --###Execute the powershell command on the replica and store the result in the temporary tables exec master..xp_cmdshell @PSCmd end fetch next from cur_replica into @AgReplicaName end close cur_replica deallocate cur_replica --############################################################################ --### Update and insert backup information in final tables --############################################################################ --###Update first the database creation date with the local ones Update t set t.DatabaseCreationDate = db.create_date from [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_databases_temp] t inner join sys.databases db on db.name collate database_default = t.DatabaseName collate database_default and db.service_broker_guid = t.ServiceBrokerGuid Update t set t.DatabaseCreationDate = db.create_date from [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_fgreadonly_temp] t inner join sys.databases db on db.name collate database_default = t.DatabaseName collate database_default and db.service_broker_guid = t.ServiceBrokerGuid BEGIN TRY begin transaction delete f from [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_databases_temp] t inner join [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_databases] f on f.DatabaseCreationDate = t.DatabaseCreationDate and f.DatabaseName = t.DatabaseName and f.BackupType = t.BackupType and f.ServerName = t.ServerName and t.SqlInstanceName = f.SqlInstanceName where f.LastBackupDate < t.LastBackupDate Insert into [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_databases] ( ServerName, SqlInstanceName, SqlServerName, DatabaseCreationDate, DatabaseName, BackupType, LastBackupDate, LastBackupSize, is_primary, insertdate ) select t.ServerName, t.SqlInstanceName, t.SqlServerName, t.DatabaseCreationDate, t.DatabaseName, t.BackupType, t.LastBackupDate, t.LastBackupSize, t.is_primary, t.insertdate from [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_databases_temp] t where not exists (select 1 from [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_databases] f where f.DatabaseName = t.DatabaseName and f.BackupType = t.BackupType and f.ServerName = t.ServerName and t.SqlInstanceName = f.SqlInstanceName) commit begin transaction delete f from [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_fgreadonly_temp] t inner join [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_fgreadonly] f on f.DatabaseName = t.DatabaseName and f.BackupType = t.BackupType and f.filegroup_name = t.filegroup_name and f.ServerName = t.ServerName and f.SqlInstanceName = t.SqlInstanceName where f.LastBackupDate < t.LastBackupDate Insert into [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_fgreadonly] ( ServerName, SqlInstanceName, SqlServerName, DatabaseCreationDate, DatabaseName, BackupType, filegroup_name, file_logicalname, filegroup_guid, file_guid, LastBackupDate, LastBackupReadOnlyLsn, is_primary, insertdate ) select t.ServerName, t.SqlInstanceName, t.SqlServerName, t.DatabaseCreationDate, t.DatabaseName, t.BackupType, t.filegroup_name, t.file_logicalname, t.filegroup_guid, t.file_guid, t.LastBackupDate, t.LastBackupReadOnlyLsn, t.is_primary, t.insertdate from [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_fgreadonly_temp] t where not exists ( select 1 from [dbo].[bakgen_backuplastdt_fgreadonly] f where f.DatabaseName = t.DatabaseName and f.BackupType = t.BackupType and f.filegroup_name = t.filegroup_name and f.ServerName = t.ServerName and t.SqlInstanceName = f.SqlInstanceName) commit END TRY BEGIN CATCH SELECT @ErrorMessage = ERROR_MESSAGE(), @ErrorSeverity = ERROR_SEVERITY(), @ErrorState = ERROR_STATE(); IF @@TRANCOUNT > 0 ROLLBACK raiserror(@ErrorMessage, @ErrorSeverity, @ErrorState); END CATCHRETURN;END TRYBEGIN CATCH SELECT @ErrorMessage = ERROR_MESSAGE(), @ErrorSeverity = ERROR_SEVERITY(), @ErrorState = ERROR_STATE(); set @InfoLog = '@ErrorState = ' + convert(nvarchar, @ErrorState) + '/@ErrorSeverity = ' + convert(nvarchar, @ErrorSeverity) + '/@ErrorMessage = ' + @ErrorMessage execute dbo.bakgen_p_log @ModuleName = @ModuleName, @ProcedureName = @ProcName, @ExecuteMode = @Execute, @LogType = 'ERROR', @DatabaseName = null, @Information = @InfoLog, @Script = null raiserror(@ErrorMessage, @ErrorSeverity, @ErrorState);END CATCH;RETURNEND |
Other Objects needed
As mentioned above I used the DBATools Write-DbaDbTableData function, so need to install it before being able to run the above stored procedure.
I share also the 2 other objects used in the above stored procedure, but of course you can adapt the code to your needs
Creation of the log table:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 | --########################################################--###Backup generator - logs--########################################################USE [<YourDatabaseName>]GO/*if OBJECT_ID('[dbo].[bakgen_logs]') is not null drop table [dbo].[bakgen_logs]*/create table [dbo].[bakgen_logs] ( id bigint identity(1,1) not null, LogDate datetime, SqlServerName sysname, ModuleName sysname, ProcedureName sysname, ExecuteMode char(1), LogType nvarchar(50), DatabaseName sysname null, Information nvarchar(max) null, Scripts nvarchar(max) null,CONSTRAINT [PK_bakgen_logs] PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED ( [id] ASC)WITH (PAD_INDEX = OFF, STATISTICS_NORECOMPUTE = OFF, IGNORE_DUP_KEY = OFF, ALLOW_ROW_LOCKS = ON, ALLOW_PAGE_LOCKS = ON) ON [PRIMARY])GO |
Creation of the stored procedure to write the logs:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 | use [<YourDatabaseName>]if OBJECT_ID('dbo.bakgen_p_log') is not null drop procedure dbo.bakgen_p_log goCREATE PROCEDURE dbo.bakgen_p_log ( @ModuleName sysname, @ProcedureName sysname, @ExecuteMode char(1), @LogType nvarchar(50), @DatabaseName sysname = null, @Information nvarchar(max) = null, @Script nvarchar(max) = null)AS/************************************* dbi-services SA, Switzerland ************************************** Group/Privileges..: DBA Script Name......: bakgen_p_log.sql Author...........: Christophe Cosme Date.............: 2019-09-20 Version..........: SQL Server 2016 / 2017 Description......: write information to the log table to keep trace of the step executed Input parameters.: Output parameter: ************************************************************************************************ Historical Date Version Who Whats Comments ---------- ------- --- -------- ----------------------------------------------------- 2019-10-14 1.0 CHC Creation************************************************************************************************/ BEGINBEGIN TRY --###variable to store error message declare @errmsg varchar(4000) if OBJECT_ID('[dbo].[bakgen_logs]') is null begin set @errmsg = 'bakgen_p_log : table not found - be sure the table exists' set @errmsg += ' table name = [dbo].[bakgen_logs]' raiserror (@errmsg,11,1); end insert into [dbo].[bakgen_logs] ( LogDate, SqlServerName, ModuleName, ProcedureName, ExecuteMode, LogType, DatabaseName, Information, Scripts ) values( getdate(), convert(sysname,SERVERPROPERTY('servername')), @ModuleName, @ProcedureName, @ExecuteMode, @LogType, @DatabaseName, @Information, @Script )RETURN;END TRYBEGIN CATCH declare @ErrorMessage NVARCHAR(4000), @ErrorSeverity INT, @ErrorState INT; SELECT @ErrorMessage = ERROR_MESSAGE(), @ErrorSeverity = ERROR_SEVERITY(), @ErrorState = ERROR_STATE(); -- return the error inside the CATCH block raiserror(@ErrorMessage, @ErrorSeverity, @ErrorState);END CATCH;RETURNEND |
Conclusion
Triggering PowerShell from a stored procedure did the trick for my special case and is very practical. But to find the right syntax to make the script running through xp_CmdShell was not so trivial. I admit to spend sometimes to figure out what was causing the issue.
But I definitely enjoyed the solution for retrieving information outside the local SQL Server instance.
![Thumbnail [60x60]](https://www.dbi-services.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CHC_web-min-min-scaled.jpg)
![Thumbnail [90x90]](https://www.dbi-services.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DWE_web-min-scaled.jpg)
![Thumbnail [90x90]](https://www.dbi-services.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/HME_web.jpg)
![Thumbnail [90x90]](https://www.dbi-services.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/HER_web-min-scaled.jpg)
