Automating SQL Server with dbatools

This is the repository for the LinkedIn Learning course Automating SQL Server with dbatools. The full course is available from LinkedIn Learning.

If you want to learn more about automating SQL Server, you’ve come to the right place. Did you know you can use the open-source PowerShell module dbatools to manage your SQL Server estate? In this course, instructor Jess Pomfret covers the skills you need to know to automate SQL Server with dbatools, helping you optimize your workflow, database performance, and overall server management experience.

Learn about the history of dbatools and why it should become one your trusted go-to tools, as Jess shows you how dbatools can accomplish most of the tasks available in SQL Server Management Studio. Find out how to handle multiple instances, databases, and logins at the same time, as well as gather and set information, change configurations, and migrate instances. Upon completing this course, you’ll be prepared to keep building on your new skills so you can become a more effective and efficient database administrator.

Instructions

This repository has branches for each of the videos in the course. You can use the branch pop up menu in github to switch to a specific branch and take a look at the course at that stage, or you can add /tree/BRANCH_NAME to the URL to go to the branch you want to access.

Branches

The branches are structured to correspond to the videos in the course. The naming convention is CHAPTER#_MOVIE#. As an example, the branch named 02_03 corresponds to the second chapter and the third video in that chapter. Some branches will have a beginning and an end state. These are marked with the letters b for "beginning" and e for "end". The b branch contains the code as it is at the beginning of the movie. The e branch contains the code as it is at the end of the movie. The main branch holds the final state of the code when in the course.

When switching from one exercise files branch to the next after making changes to the files, you may get a message like this:

error: Your local changes to the following files would be overwritten by checkout:        [files]
Please commit your changes or stash them before you switch branches.
Aborting

To resolve this issue:

Add changes to git using this command: git add .
Commit changes using this command: git commit -m "some message"

Installing

1. To use these exercise files, you must have the following installed:

   • Docker
   • git
   • VSCode
   • Remote Development Extension for VSCode

2. Clone this repository into your local machine using the terminal (Mac), PowerShell (Windows), or a GUI tool like SourceTree.

   # change directory to where you'd like the repo to go
   cd C:\GitHub\
   
   # clone the repo from GitHub
   git clone https://github.com/LinkedInLearning/automating-sql-server-with-dbatools-3068745.git
   
   # move into the folder
   cd .\automating-sql-server-with-dbatools-3068745\
   
   # open VSCode
   code .

3. Once VSCode opens, there should be a toast in the bottom right that suggests you 'ReOpen in Container'.

4. The first time that you do this it may take a little time, and you'll need an internet connection, as it'll download the container images used in the demos.

5. Open a pwsh console and start your adventure... (Note it is better in a vanilla pwsh session than in the Integrated Terminal!)

Rebuild

The beauty of using a dev container for this demo environment is we can quickly destroy the containers and rebuild a brand new environment - no need to worry while you are practicing about accidentally breaking anything!

The only way to fully rebuild though is to ensure that all volumes etc are removed as well.

In a seperate PowerShell console:

cd .devcontainer
docker-compose -f "docker-compose.yml" -p "automating-sql-server-with-dbatools-3068745_devcontainer" down

Instructor

Jess Pomfret

Check out my other courses on LinkedIn Learning.