Is there a way to get read only access to sql - so that you can see everything that a sysadmin would have ?

Question

We are looking to take over support of some sql instances.
Ideally we would like systadmin access in advance so that we can check the setup.
For now the current dba's only want to give us read only access - not sure how they are going to do this.
Is there a way that we can have read only access, but still see everything that a sysadmin access can see (in SSMS) ? i.e. everything.
I cannot think of a way without a lot of bespoke work to grant read only access to all system views

Thanks

Answer 1

There are a bunch of VIEW permissions you can ask for. VIEW SERVER STATE, VIEW ANY DEFINITION and a few more. That should take you a long way.

But there are probably a few things you only can access if you are in sysadmin.

Answer 2

Hi @Greg Booth ,

SELECT ALL USERS SECURABLES  

maybe this permission seems to fit your requirement as well, it is designed to allow a user to view data in all databases he can connect, and the same time, does not grant any permission in any database beyond connent

https://blog.dbi-services.com/sql-server-2014-select-all-users-securables-a-db-admins/

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