Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 8.0 has been updated with a completely new user interface. There are now tile that surface the most relevant SQL Server deployment information, such as which version of SQL Server do I have deployed and which editions of SQL Server do I have deployed.

MAP Toolkit 8.0 Beta is available for download here

Your participation and feedback is very important to make the MAP Toolkit work better for you. We encourage you to participate in the beta program and provide your feedback at mapfdbk@microsoft.com or through one of our surveys.

The MAP Toolkit 8.0 will give you a quick look at the different versions of SQL Server that you have deployed throughout your enterprise in a single tile, he is an example of the tile below:

You can drill into the details of the SQL Server editions that were discovered by clicking on the SQL Server Products summary tile. Here is an example of different editions that the MAP Toolkit discovered in my environment.

Perform an inventory:

1. To perform an inventory against a single machine or across a complete environment, choose Perform an Inventory to launch the Inventory and Assessment Wizard as shown below:

2. After the Inventory and Assessment Wizard launches, if you are just interested in discovering SQL Server, select SQL Server. Click Next to Continue.

HINT: If you care about completely inventorying a machine, select the Windows Computers scenario. If you want the MAP Toolkit to capture the details about the databases with each SQL Server instance, select the SQL Server with Database Details scenario.

3. On the Discovery Methods page, select how you want to discover computers and then click Next to continue.

Description of Discovery Methods:

• Use Active Directory Domain Services -- This method allows you to query a domain controller via the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) and select computers in all or specific domains, containers, or OUs. Use this method if all computers and devices are in AD DS.
• Windows networking protocols --  This method uses the WIN32 LAN Manager application programming interfaces to query the Computer Browser service for computers in workgroups and Windows NT 4.0–based domains. If the computers on the network are not joined to an Active Directory domain, use only the Windows networking protocols option to find computers.
• System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) -- This method enables you to inventory computers managed by System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM). You need to provide credentials to the System Center Configuration Manager server in order to inventory the managed computers. When you select this option, the MAP Toolkit will query SCCM for a list of computers and then MAP will connect to these computers.
• Scan an IP address range -- This method allows you to specify the starting address and ending address of an IP address range. The wizard will then scan all IP addresses in the range and inventory only those computers. Note: This option can perform poorly, if many IP addresses aren’t being used within the range.
• Manually enter computer names and credentials -- Use this method if you want to inventory a small number of specific computers.
• Import computer names from a files -- Using this method, you can create a text file with a list of computer names that will be inventoried.

4. On the All Computers Credentials page, enter the accounts that have administrator rights to connect to the discovered machines. This does not need to a domain account, but needs to be a local administrator. I have entered my domain account that is an administrator on my local machine. Click Next after one or more accounts have been added.

NOTE:

The MAP Toolkit primarily uses Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) to collect hardware, device, and software information from the remote computers. In order for the MAP Toolkit to successfully connect and inventory computers in your environment, you have to configure your machines to inventory through WMI and also allow your firewall to enable remote access through WMI. The MAP Toolkit also requires remote registry access for certain assessments. In addition to enabling WMI, you need accounts with administrative privileges to access desktops and servers in your environment.

5. On the Credentials Order page, select the order in which want the MAP Toolkit to connect to the machine and SQL Server. Generally just accept the defaults and click Next.

6. On the Enter Computers Manually page, click Create to pull up at dialog to enter one or more computer names.

7. On the Summary page confirm your settings and then click Finish.

After clicking Finish the inventory process will start, as shown below:

SQL Server Discovery Results

After the inventory progress has completed, you can review the results under the Database scenario. On the SQL Server tile, you will see a count of SQL Server instances for each version that was discovered as shown below:

If you click the SQL Server Products tile, you will see which SQL Server editions were discovered and can generate the SQL Server reports.

When you select the Standard SQL Server Reports, the following reports are generated:

• SQL Server Proposal (SQLServerProposal*.doc): A nicely formatted Microsoft Word document that provide a summary of the SQL Server components discovered.
• SQL Server Assessment (SqlServerAssessment*.XLS): A Microsoft Excel file that provides detailed information about the instances of SQL Server that were discovered and their environment.
• SQL Server Usage Tracking (SQLServerUsageTracker*.XLS): A Microsoft Excel file that provides information on the usage and licensing tracking of SQL Server.

If you select the Detail SQL Server Reports, all of the Standard SQL Server Reports that are listed above are generated and the following:

• SQL Server Database Detail (SQLServerDatabaseDetails*.XLS): A Microsoft Excel file that provides detailed information about the SQL Server instances and database objects. NOTE: For this report to be populated, it is necessary to provide credentials for the MAP Toolkit to connected to each SQL Server instance.

After the reports are generated, select View | Saved Reports and Proposals to view the location of the report.

MAP Toolkit 8.0 Beta is available for download here

Your participation and feedback is very important to make the MAP Toolkit work better for you. We encourage you to participate in the beta program and provide your feedback at mapfdbk@microsoft.com or through one of our surveys.

Submit Feedback:

At any time you can send an email to mapfdbk@microsoft.com with recommendations, questions, or any other feedback you have.

Key features and benefits of MAP 7.0 Beta help you:

• Determine your readiness for Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8
• Virtualize your Linux servers on Hyper-V
• Migrate your VMware-based virtual machines to Hyper-V
• Size your server environment for desktop virtualization
• Simplify migration to SQL Server 2012
• Evaluate your licensing needs for Lync 2010
• Determine active users and devices
  

See these blog posts for more information on the new features and functionality within the MAP 7.0 release::

• MAP Toolkit 7.0 system requirements
• MAP Toolkit 7.0 Setup has been improved
• Discovering SQL Server using MAP Toolkit 7.0
• Planning for Desktop Virtualization using the MAP Toolkit v7.0
• Providing feedback about the MAP Toolkit

Provide us feedback

Your input plays such a big role not only in terms of what we do, but how we design it. Let us know what we we’re doing well and not so well. The team is super passionate about making MAP a great resource for your IT planning and assessment needs and we take your feedback seriously. Here are some of the ways that you can let us know what you think.

• Use the In-App Feedback feature
• Post a comment or question on our forum
• Send us a mail at mapfdbk@microsoft.com

For more information, see the MAP Toolkit blog at https://blogs.technet.com/b/mapblog/archive/2012/04/25/determining-sql-server-2012-core-licensing-using-the-map-toolkit.aspx

Please take some time to complete the survey at https://connect.microsoft.com/site297/Survey/Survey.aspx?SurveyID=13516.

The MAP Toolkit is an agentless inventory, assessment, and reporting tool that can securely assess IT environments for various platform migrations. If you are unfamiliar with the MAP Toolkit, some of the “SQL Server” scenarios includes the following:

• Discovery of SQL Server including SQL Server 7.0, SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 R2, and SQL Server “Denali” across your enterprise.
• Use the MAP Toolkit to full details on your existing database sprawl SQL and non-SQL databases to Migrate to the Database Consolidation Appliance.
• Use the MAP Toolkit to discovery Oracle, MySQL, and Sybase and then use the SQL Server Migration Assistant to migrate to SQL Server.
• SQL Server Usage Tracking to track software usage and client access history in your environment.

In addition to finding SQL Server installations, the MAP Toolkit can help you to prepare for deploying Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Hyper-V, Windows Azure, and Hyper-V Cloud Fast Track

See the MAP toolkit blog at https://blogs.technet.com/b/mapblog/archive/2011/10/30/microsoft-assessment-and-planning-toolkit-6-5-beta.aspx for details on MAP Toolkit 6.5 Beta release.

Back at the end of August, I transition from the SQL Server engineer team working on SQL Server Setup to the MAP (Microsoft Assessment and Planning) Toolkit Team. Since I have been on the new team, I have been working on updating the MAP Toolkit to detect SQL Server “Denali” across your environment. The MAP Toolkit can detect SQL Server 7.0, SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, and SQL Server 2008 R2, including Microsoft Database Engine (MSDE) and SQL Server Express editions. The MAP Toolkit is an agentless inventory, assessment, and reporting tool that can securely assess IT environments for various platform migrations. In addition to finding SQL Server installations, the MAP Toolkit can help you to prepare for deploying Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Hyper-V, Windows Azure, and Hyper-V Cloud Fast Track.

To download and to find more information on the MAP Toolkit, see https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/dd537566.aspx.

If you need help with MAP Toolkit, post your question to MAP Toolkit Forums.

For more information, see here.

Here are some questions I have received on the Product Update functionality.

1. Will the Product Update functionality patch instances and shared features that are already installed?

Answer: No in general, existing instances and shared features will not be patched. However some redistributable components such as SQL Native Client will be patched.

2. Can Product Update patch SQL Server “Denali” when upgrading from a previous version?

Answer: Yes. The Product Update functionality is available for any SQL Server Setup Action that installs files, including the following: “Install”, “Upgrade”, “AddNode”, “PrepareFailoverCluster”, “InstallFailoverCluster”, and “PreapareImage”

Answer: Our goals was make the UI as simple as possible. Since the file share options is mainly for enterprises that will be putting SQL Server Setup on a share, they can simply create a DefaultSetup.INI for setting the file location. See here for the details.

4. What types of updates will be deployed through Microsoft Update for Product Update?

Answer: In general GDRs and Service Packs will be deployed. Cumulative Updates will not be.

5. On the Product Update dialog, I received an error like the follow, what do I do?

Answer: Most errors show on the “Product Updates” dialog means the Windows Update Service that Setup uses for searching for updates failed. At this point, you can just ignore and continue by clicking Next or troubleshoot the problem with the Windows Update service. To troubleshoot the error from the Windows Update service, try a scan from the Windows Update app in Control Panel. If you continue to receive an error, search for this error code online, within this article https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc720442(WS.10).aspx or refer to this knowledge based article (2528485) for more information.

6. When I originally run Setup, Setup detects two updates. When I run again, only one update is found. Why is Setup behaving this way?

Answer: This is because the update to SQL Setup has already been installed and does not need to be reinstalled. See the screenshot below:

Initially running Setup – Two updates are found

Running Setup again – The Setup Update is no longer display in the UI

7. Will the UpdateSource command line parameter search subfolders?

Answer: No. UpdateSource will only look for updates in the root folder.

Here are the steps:

1. Copy your original SQL Server 2008 R2 source media to C:\SQLServer2008R2_SP1

2. Download the SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 packages from here. You need to download all Service Pack 1 architecture packages:

• SQLServer2008R2SP1-KB2528583-IA64-ENU.exe
• SQLServer2008R2SP1-KB2528583-x64-ENU.exe
• SQLServer2008R2SP1-KB2528583-x86-ENU.exe

3. Extract each of the SQL Server 2008 SP1 packages to C:\SQLServer2008R2_SP1\SP as follows:

• SQLServer2008R2SP1-KB2528583-IA64-ENU.exe /x:C:\SQLServer2008R2_SP1\SP
• SQLServer2008R2SP1-KB2528583-x64-ENU.exe /x:C:\SQLServer2008R2_SP1\SP
• SQLServer2008R2SP1-KB2528583-x86-ENU.exe /x:C:\SQLServer2008R2_SP1\SP

Ensure you complete this step for all architectures to ensure the original media is updated correctly.

4. Copy Setup.exe from the SP extracted location to the original source media location. Here is the robocopy command:

• robocopy C:\SQLServer2008R2_SP1\SP C:\SQLServer2008R2_SP1 Setup.exe

6. Copy all files not the folders, except the Microsoft.SQL.Chainer.PackageData.dll, in C:\SQLServer2008R2_SP1\SP\<architecture> to C:\SQLServer2008R2_SP1\<architecture> to update the original files. Here is the robocopy command:

• robocopy C:\SQLServer2008R2_SP1\SP\x86 C:\SQLServer2008R2_SP1\x86 /XF Microsoft.SQL.Chainer.PackageData.dll
• robocopy C:\SQLServer2008R2_SP1\SP\x64 C:\SQLServer2008R2_SP1\x64 /XF Microsoft.SQL.Chainer.PackageData.dll
• robocopy C:\SQLServer2008R2_SP1\SP\ia64 C:\SQLServer2008R2_SP1\ia64 /XF Microsoft.SQL.Chainer.PackageData.dll

7. Determine if you have a DefaultSetup.INI at the following locations:

• C:\SQLServer2008R2_SP1\x86
• C:\SQLServer2008R2_SP1\x64
• C:\SQLServer2008R2_SP1\ia64

If you have a DefaultSetup.INI at the above locations, add the following lines to each DefaultSetup.INI:

PCUSOURCE=".\SP"

 

If you do NOT have a DefaultSetup.INI, create one with the following content:

;SQLSERVER2008 R2 Configuration File

[SQLSERVER2008]

PCUSOURCE=".\SP"

and copy to the following locations

• C:\SQLServer2008R2_SP1\x86
• C:\SQLServer2008R2_SP1\x64
• C:\SQLServer2008R2_SP1\ia64

This file will tell the setup program where to locate the SP source media that you previously extracted.

8. Run setup.exe as you normally would.

How can I tell I am slipstreaming:

1) You should see the "Update Setup Media Language Rule" on the Installation Rules dialog:

2) On the Ready to Install dialog, the Action will indicated (“Slipstream”):

3) You will see the PCUSource parameters specified in the Summary log:

4) Results from SQL Discovery Report launched from Installation Center (first CU for SP1)

You can try out this functionality in the following ways:

1. Windows Update/Microsoft Update Method:

Ensure that you have Internet access and your Windows Update service can connect to Windows Server Update Services. No further configuration is needed, just launch SQL Server Setup like you normally do.

2. Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) Method:

For the CTP3 release, as this is a test update we will not be distributing through the update through Windows Server Update Service (WSUS). However, you can still try out this method by following the instructions below:

1. On the “Updates” node within your WSUS server, right-click and choose “Import Updates”. This will open up the Windows Update Catalog web site. You might need to install the Windows Update Catalog add-on.

2. Within the Search text box, search for SQL Server "Denali" CTP3 Test Update.

3. After the update is found, click on the Add button to add to the basket. Then click on the view basket link.

4. Ensure the “Import directly into Windows Server Update Services” checkbox is checked and then click Import.

5. Approve the imported update.

Note: Once the update is approved, it will be downloaded. This step can take a few minutes. WSUS will report the download status.

6. Once the update is in WSUS, ensure your client machine is pointing to your WSUS server. Now just run Setup as you normally would.

Note: When SQL Server “Denali” releases, security and critical updates will be available through the WSUS channel under the product category “SQL Server 2011 Product Updates for Setup”. After a WSUS administrator approves, any client that is pointed to the WSUS service will see these updates. For this CTP release, you can still verify the WSUS functionality by importing from the Microsoft Update Catalog. To do this, follow these steps:

3. File share Method:

This option is best when your client machine does not have Internet access and you aren’t using WSUS. To try out this method, follow these instructions:

1. Download the update from the Windows Update Catalog, by clicking here.

2. Search for SQL Server "Denali" CTP3 Test Update

3. Add the update and view basket.

4. Download the update to a folder by clicking the Download button. A dialog popups asking you where to save the update. Specify a location and then click Continue

The update is being downloaded.

Note: Several different package will be downloaded. When you point Setup to this share, Setup will determine which package are applicable. Also, the download will put the packages into a folder under the folder you specified. For me, the full path is c:\CTP3TestUpdate\SQL Server –Denali- CTP3 Test Update, your path might be slightly different. After downloading, you can rename this folder. I renamed my folder to 11.00.1515, the version of the update

5. Run Setup and specify the location of the folder, for example:

Note: You can specify this parameter on the command line, within a configuration file, or in the defaultSetup.ini file. See here for more information on the command line parameter options.

Within the Setup user interface, you will see the following:

Product Update is a new feature in Microsoft SQL Server Code-Named “Denali”, Community Technology Preview 3 (CTP 3) Setup. It integrates the latest product updates with the main product installation so that the main product and its applicable updates are installed at the same time. Product Update can search Microsoft Update, Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), a local folder, or a network share for applicable updates. After Setup finds the latest versions of the applicable updates, it downloads and integrates them with the current SQL Server setup process. Product Update can pull in a GDR, cumulative update (CU), service pack, or service pack plus cumulative update. Product Update functionality is an extension of the Slipstream feature that was available in SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1. By default, Product Update searches the Windows Update service on the client computer for applicable updates. To disable the Product Update functionality or to discover updates from a file share or folder, you can launch SQL Server Setup using command line parameters.

You can give Product Update a try using the SQL Server “Denali” CTP3 release. See below for more information.

Using Product Update with SQL Server Setup:

The Product Update feature is integrated with SQL Server Setup. Here is a look the installation wizard, using the default Product Update functionality.

1. Launch Setup from your source media by double-clicking on Setup.exe

2. Select “New SQL Server stand-alone installation…”

3. After the Installation Wizard is launched, Setup will check the system. If there aren’t any failures, click OK. If there are failures, you need to address the failures before continuing.

4. Setup will display the applicable updates that have been found. If you want the updates to be included, just click Next. If there is a failure with searching for updates, ensure a Windows Update scan works.

5. On the next dialog, Setup will provide you the status of the included the Setup update.

6. At this point, continue to navigate through the Installation Wizard. On the Ready to Install dialog, you can see the updates have been included:

7. After the installation completes, on the Complete dialog you can see Setup was successful including the updates:

8. Now, if you run the SQL Server Discovery Report you will see the version of SQL Server “Denali” is a follows:

Default Behavior:

By default, SQL Server searches for product updates through the Windows Update service. This option works well when the client computer has Internet access and corporate policy does not state which updates can be used by SQL Server Setup. In this mode, a user does not have much flexibility on which updates to include. The user can only choose to exclude the discovered updates on the Product Updates page during SQL Server setup. In this default mode, the Windows Update service can obtain updates through WSUS in addition to the live Microsoft Update service. The WSUS administrator controls which updates SQL Server Setup can include, download, and install.

Customizing Product Update

To override the default behavior, such as disabling the Product Update feature or modifying the update search location, you can set the following command-line parameters:

UpdateEnabled

The value of the UpdateEnabled parameter specifies whether SQL Server Setup should search and include product updates. Valid values are TRUE and FALSE or 1 and 0. For example:

Command line Parameter/Value	Description
/UpdateEnabled=True	Includes the applicable updates within the installation. This is the default.
/UpdateEnabled=False	Skips the product updates in the installation.

UpdateSource

The value of the UpdateSource parameter specifies the location where SQL Server Setup searches for product updates. For example:

Command line Parameter/Value	Description
/UpdateSource=MU	“MU” is the default value and specifies to search for updates through the Windows Update service, which can be point to the Live Microsoft Update or Windows Server Update Service.
/UpdateSource=<path to updates>	When you specify a valid path, Setup will search for applicable update within this folder. When you download the SQL Server updates manually to a UNC path or a local share, specify UpdateSource as a UNC path such as \\servername\sharename or a locally valid path such as C:\MyUpdates. Run the Setup.exe file from the source media by specifying the UpdateSource parameter. By using the UpdateSource parameter, you can place all the approved updates into a single folder and rely upon Setup to determine what updates are applicable, based on the version and architecture of Setup that is being run. Examples: /UpdateSource = C:\somefolder /UpdateSource = \\servername\sharename The specified path can also be relative to where you run Setup.exe. For example: /UpdateSource = ".\MyUpdates"   NOTE: It is best practice to put quotes around the specified path, especially if there is a space in the path.

How to use these parameters:

The UpdateSource and UpdateEnabled parameters can be specified on the command line, within a configuration file (e.g. ConfigurationFile.INI), and DefaultSetup.ini. Specifying the parameters within the DefaultSetup.ini is the recommended practice when you want to control the Product Update behavior across an enterprise or multiple installations.

Command line

The following is an example of using the parameters from the command line:

• Setup.exe /UpdateEnabled=TRUE /UpdateSource="C:\MyUpdates"

Configuration File

Example of how to specify the configuration file when running Setup:

• Setup.exe /ConfigurationFile=ConfigurationFile.ini

DefaultSetup.ini

If you have the DefaultSetup.ini file in the \x86 and \x64 folders at the root level of the SQL Server source media, open the DefaultSetup.ini file, and then add the UpdateEnabled or UpdateSource parameters to the file. If the DefaultSetup.ini file does not exist, you can create it and copy it to the \x86 and \x64 folders at the root level of the SQL Server source media.

The following is an example of a DefaultSetup.ini file:

Give Product Update a try using SQL Server “Denali” CTP3 release

We are make a test update available at the end of July, so you can give the feature a try before the final release of SQL Server “Denali”. See here for more information.

1) The current support matrix for OSes is as follows:

• Windows Vista SP2 or later
• Windows Server 2008 SP2 or later
• Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 or later
• Windows 7 SP1 or later

2) Denali will support upgrading from these SQL Server versions:

• SQL Server 2005 SP4 or later
• SQL Server 2008 SP2 or later
• SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 or later

3) The installer is going to block installation on unsupported OSes and it will block unsupported upgrade paths.

If the current support matrix for OSes, the current support matrix for upgrade, or the installation blocks will delay your adoption of of SQL Server called “Denali”, please provide this feedback to us! You can provide us this feedback by adding a comment below or submitting the feedback through the SQL Server Connect.