Windows Live Writer 2009 Released

... and yes this blog post was made with the newest non-Beta version of the tool.  I usually just stick to post regarding SQL Server, but this one has nothing to do with SQL Server aside from the fact that I use Windows Live Writer to Blog about SQL.  If you have a blog, are new to blogging, or are planning on blogging in the future, give Live Writer a look test.  It is free, and it connects to most public blogging sites without any real configuration.  All you have to do is install it, point it to your blog, provide your username and password and it is ready to publish anything you type up.

http://download.live.com/writer

Some reasons I use Live Writer:

1. I can start a new blog entry and save it locally when I get ideas that I'd like to blog about but don't have the time to dedicate to writing the entry.
2. It has a Microsoft Word like interface that is familiar.
3. It accepts plugins that allow you to do things like add tag clouds, insert videos, pictures, formatted code (this doesn't work out so hot with blogger.com as I learned a few months back due to CSS issues and overlaps).

You can also manage multiple blogs with a single install of Live Writer.  I think it is one of the better tools I have in my blogging toolbox.

Time to Rant : Applications and Administrator Rights

It is 2009, and I am shocked to find that applications today still show up with a requirement to be a sysadmin on SQL Server, and in the case of one particular application I am helping troubleshoot today, a Local Administrator on the SQL Server machine.  As an application developer myself, I understand the due diligence required to properly design an application to follow proper security best practices, and it isn't hard to do if you do it up front.  Since I am not one to roll over on security I am willing to spend the hours/days to figure out the appropriate rights necessary for an application to work in SQL without being a sysadmin, but I don't know many people who can/will do that much leg work.

So why does the app need to be a sysadmin in the first place?  All to often it is just because that is how it was written, and it makes it easiest.  Often there is absolutely no need to be a sysadmin.  SecurityAdmin and DBCreator roles are initially needed to do the install so that the login can create the database for the app and setup security properly for it.  After this, DBO rights to the database is all that it actually needs, and you can drop the server level roles from the login.

Another place I see that apps need elevated rights is where the application has builtin administrative functions.  One app I have seen has a console that will allow the user to change max server memory for SQL Server from the application.  Thank you no, that is my job, and I don't want/need some application admin playing with my server configuration.  Why do application developers think that this kind of thing is a good idea?  We already have applications to manage SQL Server with.  I think that this is one of the reasons that the quality of applications that are out there has decreased in recent years.  Rather than create a focused application that solves one problem, it seems like application vendors want to do it all, which generally only means one thing, they won't do any of it very good.

So that leaves a question for the community of readers:  What do you do with applications like this?  I know in past discussions on SQL Server Central that some people use virtualized SQL Servers to solve this problem, and isolate the database on its own VM, but is that really a solution?  Now you get server sprawl and added licensing costs because the application, for lack of a better word, sucks?

oPass User Group Presentation

This thread is a place holder for the Presentation Slide Deck and Demo Code from the oPass User Group.  It will be updated with complete information after the Session.

SQL Server 2008 Express SQL Agent won't start

Yep, you read that right.  I did say SQL Server 2008 Express SQL Agent, and so will your services snapin if you install SQL Server 2008 Express, but you won't be able to use it.  Apparently there was some miscommunication/ lack of communication at Microsoft regarding the installation of SQL Agent with SQL Express, and the result is a disable SQL Agent Service that won't start no matter what you try to do.  This is documented in the following connect feedback:

https://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=351806&wa=wsignin1.0

If you attempt to start the service you will receive the following error message:

The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it. [0x80070422]

and trying to enable the service to start automatically will result in:

The request is not supported. [0x80070032]

This is by design according to the connect response from Microsoft, though it is not the ideal situation and is certain to cause a lot of confusion in the community.  If you want to use the SQL Agent, you need to install one of the pay versions of SQL Server.  You can still however, use sqlcmd.exe, batch files, and the Windows Task Scheduler to replace the SQL Agent free, or for a lot less than the cost of a single license for SQL Standard hope over to the SQL Sentry site, and purchase a copy of SQL Sentry Event Manager.

Now I will be quite honest and say that I haven't yet tried the Event Manager, but SQL Sentry has a great reputation for creating top quality applications and comes highly recommended by colleagues that I trust and respect.