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SQL Updates Newsletter – September 2017

Recent Releases and Announcements

Issue Alert

  • Critical : Do NOT delete files from the Windows Installer folder. C:\windows\Installer is not a temporary folder and files in it should not be deleted. If you do it on machines on which you have SQL Server installed, you may have to rebuild the operating system and reinstall SQL Server.
  • Critical: Please be aware of a critical Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 runtime pre-requisite update that may be required on machines where SQL Server 2016 will be, or has been, installed.
    • https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/sqlcat/2016/07/28/installing-sql-server-2016-rtm-you-must-do-this/
    • If KB3164398 or KB3138367 are installed, then no further action is necessary. To check, run the following from a command prompt:
    • powershell get-hotfix KB3164398
    • powershell get-hotfix KB3138367
    • If the version of %SystemRoot%\system32\msvcr120.dll is 12.0.40649.5 or later, then no further action is necessary. To check, run the following from a command prompt:
    • powershell "get-item %systemroot%\system32\msvcr120.dll | select versioninfo | fl"
  • Important: If the Update Cache folder or some patches are removed from this folder, you can no longer uninstall an update to your SQL Server instance and then revert to an earlier update build.
    • In that situation, Add/Remove Programs entries point to non-existing binaries, and therefore the uninstall process does not work. Therefore, Microsoft strongly encourages you to keep the folder and its contents intact.
    • https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3196535
  • Important: You must precede all Unicode strings with a prefix N when you deal with Unicode string constants in SQL Server
  • Important: Default auto statistics update threshold change for SQL Server 2016
  • Backup Compression for TDE-enabled Databases: Important fixes in SQL 2016 SP1 CU4 and SQL 2016 RTM CU7

Recent Blog Posts and Articles

Recent Training and Technical Guides

Monthly Script and Tool Tips

  • Get the most out of your Azure portal experience
  • Five more reasons why you should download the Azure mobile app
    • The Azure mobile app allows you to quickly check your resources status at a glance
    • Use Bash and now even PowerShell on Cloud Shell to take full control of your Azure resources.
    • "Favorite" your most important resources across subscriptions and keep them in your Favorites tab for easy access.
    • Share a direct link to the Azure resource via email, text message or other apps with the click of a button.
    • The Azure mobile app can even help you track Azure Health incidents. Just scan the QR code from the portal and track the incident from your phone
    • https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/five-more-reasons-why-you-should-download-the-azure-mobile-app/
  • DSC Future Direction Update
    • As a Windows product, Windows PowerShell Desired State Configuration will continue to be supported and security fixes will be released for it but all new features and functionality will be driven in and released in DSC Core.
    • Windows PowerShell DSC: Requires WMI; Requires Windows PowerShell 4.0, 5.0, 5.1; Cmdlets use WinRM or CIM for remote connections
    • DSC on Linux: Requires OMI; Is separate open source code base; Is not at feature parity with Windows DSC
    • DSC Core: A soon to be released version of DSC that aligns with PowerShell Core; No dependency on WMI; Xcopy-able package; Runs on Windows and Linux; Requires (includes in package) PowerShell Core and .NET Core
    • Azure Automation DSC is the recommended pull server solution for enterprise and cloud environments. It supports both Windows PowerShell Desired State Configuration and will support DSC Core.
    • https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/powershell/2017/09/12/dsc-future-direction-update/
  • Run your Hive LLAP & PySpark Job in Visual Studio Code
  • SQL Server Database Objects and Dependencies Report

 

Fany Carolina Vargas | SQL Dedicated Premier Field Engineer | Microsoft Services