How To Find Out What SQL Features Are Installed

Microsoft SQL ServerNo day when you learn something new is a wasted day. I was onsite with a client recently to do some work with them on Microsoft Dynamics GP and got chatting to Den in their IT department.

It turns out that SQL Server has a report you can run which will show which features are installed.

The report is run from the SQL Server Installation Center which is available from the Windows Start menu. Click on Tools and then on Installed SQL Server features discovery report:

SQL Server Installation Center

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How To Install Microsoft SQL Server 2016: Installing SQL Server Management Studio

Microsoft SQL ServerThis is a short series of posts on how to install Microsoft SQL Server 2016; the series index can be found here.

In previous versions of Microsoft SQL Server, SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) was always part of the standard install, but it seems this has changed with SQL Server 2016.

Instead SSMS is now available as a separate download. I’d recommend downloading the GA rather than any release candidate which might be available:

Download SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)

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How To Install Microsoft SQL Server 2016: SSIS Configuration For Named Instances

Microsoft SQL ServerThis is a short series of posts on how to install Microsoft SQL Server 2016; the series index can be found here.

In the last post, I installed SSIS, but if you are using a named Instance of SQL Server, there is a configuration step required.

To make the change, there is a file called MsDtsSrvr.ini which, for SQL Server 2016, is located in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\130\DTS\Binn. The ServerName needs to be changed to include the full SQL Server Instance Name (as highlighted below):

MsDtsSrvr.ini file in Notepad

Once the full SQL Server Instance Name was added and the file saved, SSIS is ready to use.

How To Install Microsoft SQL Server 2016: Installing SQL Server Integration Services

Microsoft SQL ServerThis is a short series of posts on how to install Microsoft SQL Server 2016; the series index can be found here.

When I started the installation of the Analysis Cubes for Microsoft Dynamics GP as part of my Hands On with GP 2016 R2 series, I knew I needed SQL Server Analysis Services (clue was in the name), but I didn’t initially realise that I was going to need SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) although in retrospect it should have been obvious too.

The reason SSIS is needed, is that the Analysis Cubes in SSAS are populated by integration jobs from SSIS (scheduled using SQL Server Agent).

So I had to come back and install SSIS. You do this by launching the SQL Server setup utility and, under Installation click on New SQL Server stand-alone installation or add features to an existing installation:

SQL Server Installation Center

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How To Install Microsoft SQL Server 2016: Installing SQL Server Analysis Services

Microsoft SQL ServerThis is a short series of posts on how to install Microsoft SQL Server 2016; the series index can be found here.

I typically don’t install SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS), but decided to this time as I was installing all of the Microsoft Dynamics GP additional products for my Hands On with Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 R2 series.

To install SSAS, launch the SQL Server setup utility and click on Installation and then on New SQL Server stand-alone installation or add features to an existing installation:

SQL Server Installation Center

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How To Install Microsoft SQL Server 2016: Configuring SQL Server Reporting Services

Microsoft SQL ServerThis is a short series of posts on how to install Microsoft SQL Server 2016; the series index can be found here.

In the last post, I installed the SQL Server Database Engine and the Reporting Services, but I did not configure Reporting Services. I mentioned that I have had problems before when doing this, so always do it separately.

To configure SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), launch Reporting Services Configuration Manager from the Windows Start menu.

Select the Report Server Instance to connect to and click Connect:

Reporting Services Configuration Connection

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How To Install Microsoft SQL Server 2016: Installing SQL Server Database Engine

Microsoft SQL ServerThis is a short series of posts on how to install Microsoft SQL Server 2016; the series index can be found here.

In this post, I am going to step through the installation of the Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Database Engine. As most of my work is with Microsoft Dynamics GP, there will be a little focus on the installation required specifically for Dynamics GP, but the basic install is the same regardless of whether it is for Dynamics GP or not.

Launch the SQL Server setup utility (setup.exe), select Installation and click on New SQL Server stand-alone installation or add features to an existing installation:

SQL Server Installation Center

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How To Install Microsoft SQL Server 2016: Series Index

Microsoft SQL ServerA new version of SQL Server came out last year, and I’ve been creating some new demo machines for use at work. It has become habit to screenshot everything I install or configure, so I decided I might as well post a small series on how to install Microsoft SQL Server 2016 and it’s component parts.

The posts will be made over the coming days and show in the series index, below:

How To Install Microsoft SQL Server 2016
Installing SQL Server Database Engine
Configuring SQL Server Reporting Services
Installing SQL Server Analysis Services
Installing SQL Server Integration Services
SSIS Configuration For Named Instances
Installing SQL Server Management Studio

The installation of SQL Server has been broken down into different posts, as I don’t install all components all of the time, but only install the ones which are required at the time.

Analysis Cubes for Microsoft Dynamics GP Configuration Error

Microsoft Dynamics GPAs part of my hands On with Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 R2 series I installed and configured the Analysis Cubes for Microsoft Dynamics GP.

This is the first time I have done this (I tend to hand reporting to other members of my team) and to do it I had to install a couple of extra SQL Server components; namely SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) and SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS).

This all happened quite smoothly, but when I got to the Analysis Cubes configuration step I encountered a Fatal Error:

Fatal Error - Error encountered --> details written to 'C:\Users\iang\AppData\Local\temp\2\ACConfigurationWizard.log'

Fatal Error

Error encountered --> details written to 'C:\Users\iang\AppData\Local\temp\2\ACConfigurationWizard.log'

I navigated to the specified log file and had a look:

Click to show/hide error message

***Fatal Error Encountered***
System.Exception: The SQL Server instance specified in SSIS service configuration is not present or is not available. This might occur when there is no default instance of SQL Server on the computer. For more information, see the topic "Configuring the Integration Services Service" in %SQL_PRODUCT_SHORT_NAME% Books Online.

Login timeout expired
A network-related or instance-specific error has occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. Server is not found or not accessible. Check if instance name is correct and if SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. For more information see SQL Server Books Online.
Named Pipes Provider: Could not open a connection to SQL Server [2].  ---> System.Data.OleDb.OleDbException: Login timeout expired
A network-related or instance-specific error has occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. Server is not found or not accessible. Check if instance name is correct and if SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. For more information see SQL Server Books Online.
Named Pipes Provider: Could not open a connection to SQL Server [2]. 
   at System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnectionInternal..ctor(OleDbConnectionString constr, OleDbConnection connection)
   at System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnectionFactory.CreateConnection(DbConnectionOptions options, DbConnectionPoolKey poolKey, Object poolGroupProviderInfo, DbConnectionPool pool, DbConnection owningObject)
   at System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionFactory.CreateNonPooledConnection(DbConnection owningConnection, DbConnectionPoolGroup poolGroup, DbConnectionOptions userOptions)
   at System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionFactory.TryGetConnection(DbConnection owningConnection, TaskCompletionSource`1 retry, DbConnectionOptions userOptions, DbConnectionInternal oldConnection, DbConnectionInternal& connection)
   at System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionInternal.TryOpenConnectionInternal(DbConnection outerConnection, DbConnectionFactory connectionFactory, TaskCompletionSource`1 retry, DbConnectionOptions userOptions)
   at System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionInternal.OpenConnection(DbConnection outerConnection, DbConnectionFactory connectionFactory)
   at System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection.Open()
   at Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Server.StorageSqlServer.Connect()
   --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
   at Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Server.StorageSqlServer.Connect()
   at Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Server.StorageSqlServer.FolderExists()
   at Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Server.Storage.FolderExists(String folderPath)
   at Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Runtime.Application.FolderExistsOnDtsServer(String sFolderName, String sServerName)
   at Microsoft.Dynamics.GP.AnalysisCubes.WarehouseDB.CreatePackageFolder()
   at Microsoft.Dynamics.GP.AnalysisCubes.WarehouseDB.CreateDrivers(String companyID, String currency, String exchangetable)
   at Microsoft.Dynamics.GP.AnalysisCubes.fMain.ProcessCompanyMasterPackages()
   at Microsoft.Dynamics.GP.AnalysisCubes.fMain.InstallAnalysisCubesProduct()

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Change SQL Query Results Length

Microsoft SQL ServerWhen you execute a query in Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio, you can chooe to output the result to text, but this is limited to 256 characters which can not always be enough (my next planned post will have an example of this).

The setting for this can be changed in Tools >> Options.

Change the field Maximum number of characters displayed in each column from 256 to 8000:

Click OK to save the change; you will need to click the New Query button for the change to take effect.