SQL Server Database Migration Steps/Checklists

Being a DBA, multiple times you've got requests to move existing database(s) from one server to another server. At the time of migrating databases, there are chances that we can miss important DBA items/steps (like logins, trustworthy property, dependent jobs, linked server etc.) which can affect SQL Server performance. As a solution, in this blogpost we'll look at all the necessary database migration steps/checklists to avoid making mistakes during migration process and can enhance the db performance after the migration.

Below are the important SQL Server components that you'll need to keep in mind to ensure that your database migration between SQL Servers goes smoothly:

• Data files

• Database objects

• Logins

• Linked Servers

• System DSNs and Drivers

• Extended stored procedures

• Configuration settings

• Security settings

• SQL Server Agent jobs

• SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) packages

• Maintenance Plans

• User-Defined error messages

If you’re migrating to a newer version of SQL Server, make sure that you first run the appropriate upgrade advisor to give you recommended summary or alerts regarding any potential issues that you may encounter between SQL editions, and always verify that your business applications are supported by your vendors at that database level otherwise you may risk voiding your support agreements!

Pre-Migration Checklist :

• Collect the information about the Database properties (Auto Stats, DB Owner, Recovery Model, Compatibility level, Trustworthy option etc).

• Collect the information of dependent applications, make sure application services will be stopped during the database migration.

• Collect the information of database logins, users and their permissions. (Optional).

• Analyze the disk space of the target server for the new database, if the disk space is not enough add more space on the target server.

• Confirm the data and log file location for the target server.

• Check the database for the Orphan users if any.

• Check the SQL Server for any dependent objects (SQL Agent Jobs and Linked Servers).

• Check, if the database is part of any maintenance plan.

Required scripts to collect data :

Script to Check the Disk and Database Size

-- Procedure to check disc space exec master..xp_fixeddrives -- To Check database size
exec sp_helpdb [dbName]
or
use [dbName]
select str(sum(convert(dec(17,2),size)) / 128,10,2)  + 'MB' from dbo.sysfiles
GO

Script to Check Database Properties

select
sysDB.database_id,
sysDB.Name as 'Database Name',
syslogin.Name as 'DB Owner',
sysDB.state_desc,
sysDB.recovery_model_desc,
sysDB.collation_name,
sysDB.user_access_desc,
sysDB.compatibility_level,
sysDB.is_read_only,
sysDB.is_auto_close_on,
sysDB.is_auto_shrink_on,
sysDB.is_auto_create_stats_on,  sysDB.is_auto_update_stats_on,
sysDB.is_fulltext_enabled,
sysDB.is_trustworthy_on
from sys.databases sysDB
INNER JOIN sys.syslogins syslogin ON sysDB.owner_sid = syslogin.sid

Another Script to Check Database Properties

declare @dbdesc varchar(max)
declare @name varchar(10)
set @name='Master'
SELECT @dbdesc = 'Status=' + convert(sysname,DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'Status'))  
SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', Updateability=' + convert(sysname,DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'Updateability'))  
SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', UserAccess=' + convert(sysname,DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'UserAccess'))  
SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', Recovery=' + convert(sysname,DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'Recovery'))  
SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', Version=' + convert(sysname,DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'Version'))  
  
 -- These props only available if db not shutdown  
 IF DatabaseProperty(@name, 'IsShutdown') = 0  
 BEGIN  
  SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', Collation=' + convert(sysname,DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'Collation'))  
  SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', SQLSortOrder=' + convert(sysname,DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'SQLSortOrder'))  
 END  
  
 -- These are the boolean properties  
 IF DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'IsAutoClose') = 1  
  SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', ' + 'IsAutoClose'  
 IF DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'IsAutoShrink') = 1  
  SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', ' + 'IsAutoShrink'  
 IF DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'IsInStandby') = 1  
  SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', ' + 'IsInStandby'  
 IF DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'IsTornPageDetectionEnabled') = 1  
  SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', ' + 'IsTornPageDetectionEnabled'  
 IF DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'IsAnsiNullDefault') = 1  
  SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', ' + 'IsAnsiNullDefault'  
 IF DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'IsAnsiNullsEnabled') = 1  
  SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', ' + 'IsAnsiNullsEnabled'  
 IF DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'IsAnsiPaddingEnabled') = 1  
  SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', ' + 'IsAnsiPaddingEnabled'  
 IF DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'IsAnsiWarningsEnabled') = 1  
  SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', ' + 'IsAnsiWarningsEnabled'  
 IF DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'IsArithmeticAbortEnabled') = 1  
  SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', ' + 'IsArithmeticAbortEnabled'  
 IF DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'IsAutoCreateStatistics') = 1  
  SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', ' + 'IsAutoCreateStatistics'  
 IF DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'IsAutoUpdateStatistics') = 1  
  SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', ' + 'IsAutoUpdateStatistics'  
 IF DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'IsCloseCursorsOnCommitEnabled') = 1  
  SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', ' + 'IsCloseCursorsOnCommitEnabled'  
 IF DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'IsFullTextEnabled') = 1  
  SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', ' + 'IsFullTextEnabled'  
 IF DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'IsLocalCursorsDefault') = 1  
  SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', ' + 'IsLocalCursorsDefault'  
 IF DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'IsNullConcat') = 1  
  SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', ' + 'IsNullConcat'  
 IF DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'IsNumericRoundAbortEnabled') = 1  
  SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', ' + 'IsNumericRoundAbortEnabled'  
 IF DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'IsQuotedIdentifiersEnabled') = 1  
  SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', ' + 'IsQuotedIdentifiersEnabled'  
 IF DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'IsRecursiveTriggersEnabled') = 1  
  SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', ' + 'IsRecursiveTriggersEnabled'  
 IF DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'IsMergePublished') = 1  
  SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', ' + 'IsMergePublished'  
 IF DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'IsPublished') = 1  
  SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', ' + 'IsPublished'  
 IF DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'IsSubscribed') = 1  
  SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', ' + 'IsSubscribed'  
 IF DatabasePropertyEx(@name,'IsSyncWithBackup') = 1  
  SELECT @dbdesc = @dbdesc + ', ' + 'IsSyncWithBackup'  
SELECT @dbdesc

Script to List Orphan Users

sp_change_users_login 'report'
GO

Script to List Linked Servers

select  * from sys.sysservers

Script to List Database Dependent Jobs

select distinct   name, database_name from sysjobs sj INNER JOIN sysjobsteps sjt on sj.job_id = sjt.job_id

Database Migration Checklist

Below are the steps you would go through to make the change.

1) Stop the application services.

2) Change the database to read-only mode (Optional).

-- Script to make the database readonly
USE [master]
GO
ALTER DATABASE [DBName]
SET  READ_ONLY WITH NO_WAIT
GO
ALTER DATABASE [DBName]
SET  READ_ONLY
GO 

3) Take the latest backup of all the databases involved in migration.

4) Restore the databases on the target server on the appropriate drives.

5) Cross check the database properties as per the database property script output, change the database properties as per the pre migration- checklist.

Script to Change DB Owner

This will change the database owner to "sa". This can be used to change to any owner you would like.

 USE databaseName
 EXEC sp_changedbowner 'sa' 

Script to Turn on Trustworthy Option

If trustworthy option was set, this will turn it on for the database.

 ALTER DATABASE database_name
 SET TRUSTWORTHY ON 

Script to Change the Database Compatibility Level

When you upgrade to a new version, the old compatibility level will remain. This script shows how to change the compatibility level to SQL Server 2005 compatibility .

ALTER DATABASE DatabaseName
SET SINGLE_USER
GO
EXEC sp_dbcmptlevel DatabaseName, 90;
GO
ALTER DATABASE DatabaseName SET MULTI_USER
GO

6) Execute the output of Login transfer script on the target server, to create logins on the target server you can get the code from this technet article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/246133. 7) Check for Orphan Users and Fix Orphan Users.

-- Script to check the orphan user
EXEC sp_change_users_login 'Report'
--Use below code to fix the Orphan User issue
DECLARE @username varchar(25)
DECLARE fixusers CURSOR 
FOR
SELECT UserName = name FROM sysusers
WHERE issqluser = 1 and (sid is not null and sid <> 0x0)
and suser_sname(sid) is null
ORDER BY name
OPEN fixusers
FETCH NEXT FROM fixusers
INTO @username
WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0
BEGIN
EXEC sp_change_users_login 'update_one', @username, @username
FETCH NEXT FROM fixusers
INTO @username
END
CLOSE fixusers
DEALLOCATE fixusers

8) Execute DBCC UPDATEUSAGE on the restored database. Run the DBCC UPDATEUSAGE command against the migrated database when upgrading to a newer version of SQL Server.

DBCC UPDATEUSAGE('database_name') WITH COUNT_ROWS
DBCC CHECKDB 
OR
DBCC CHECKDB('database_name') WITH ALL_ERRORMSGS

9) Rebuild Indexes (Optional) As per the requirement and time window you can execute this option.

Index Rebuild : This process drops the existing Index and Recreates the index.

Index Reorganize : This process physically reorganizes the leaf nodes of the index.

-- Script for Index Rebuild
USE [DBName];
GO
ALTER INDEX ALL ON [ObjectName] REBUILD
GO
-- Script for Index Reorganize
USE AdventureWorks;
GO
ALTER INDEX ALL ON [ObjectName] REORGANIZE
GO

10) Update index statistics.

sp_updatestats

11) Recompile procedures, This will recompile a particular stored procedure.

sp_recompile 'procedureName'

12) Start the application services, check the application functionality and check the Windows event logs.

13) Check the SQL Server Error Log for login failures and other errors.

EXEC xp_readerrorlog 0,1,"Error",Null

14) Once the application team confirms that application is running fine take the databases offline on the source server or make them read only.

-- Script to make the database readonly
USE [master]
GO
ALTER DATABASE [DBName] SET  READ_ONLY WITH NO_WAIT
GO
ALTER DATABASE [DBName] SET  READ_ONLY 
GO
-- Script to take the database offline
EXEC sp_dboption N'DBName', N'offline', N'true'
OR
ALTER DATABASE [DBName] SET OFFLINE WITH
ROLLBACK IMMEDIATE

Other Steps :

• Test the process to determine how much time and disk space would be needed by using the backup and recovery process.

• Meet with your technical and business teams to find out how much time is available for the migration and plan the activity

• Design the rollback plan, if the application is not working fine

• Add more migration cases in your checklist, for example check if the database requires any server level change (For example CLR, XP_Cmdshell etc)

• Some of these scripts give you the base command to update a portion of the data, enhance the process to hit each object in your database.

That's all in this post. If you liked this blog and interested in knowing more about SQL Server, Please Like, Follow, Share & Subscribe to www.ImJhaChandan.com .