Note: SQL Server experts might want to skip today’s lesson, as it’s aimed at beginners.

Before starting, you will need to copy the SQL backup file (typically has a .BAK extension) to a local hard drive on the destination SQL Server machine.

Open SQL Server Management Studio and login to the SQL Server you want to restore the database to. It is best to either login as a Windows Administrator or as the SQL ‘sa’ user.

Once logged in, right click on the Databases folder and select ‘Restore Database’.

Click the ellipses button next to ‘From device’ under the ‘Source for restore’ section.

Set ‘File’ as the backup media and then click ‘Add’.

Browse to the SQL backup (BAK) file you want to restore.

In the Restore Database dialog, type or select the name of the database you want this backup restored to.

• If you select an existing database, it will be replaced with the data from the backup.
• If you type a database name which does not currently exist in your SQL Server installation, it will be created.

Next, select the restore point you want to use. Since a SQL backup file can hold multiple backups you may see more than one restore point listed.

At this point, enough information has been entered for the database to be restored. However, SQL backup files store information about where data files are copied so if there are any file system problems such as a the destination directory not existing or conflicting data file names an error will occur. These problems are common when restoring a backup created on a different SQL Server installation.

To review and change the file system settings, click the Options page on the left in the Restore Database dialog.

On the options page, you will want to make sure the ‘Restore As’ column points to valid folder locations (you can change them as needed). The the files do not have to exist, however the folder path must exist. If the respective files do exist, SQL Server follows a simple set of rules:

• If the ‘To database’ (from the General page) matches the restore database backup (i.e. restoring to matching databases), the respective files will be overwritten as part of the restore.
• If the ‘To database’ does not match the restore database backup (i.e. restoring to a different database), the ‘Overwrite the existing database’ will need to be checked for the restore process to complete. Use this function with caution as you can potentially restore database backup information on top of data files from a completely different database.

Generally, you can tell the databases differ based on the ‘Original File Name’ which is the internal name SQL Server uses to reference the respective files.

Once your restore options are set, click Ok.

Conclusion

SQL Server Management Studio makes the restore process simple and is ideal if you seldom perform database restores. This process works in every version of SQL Server from Express to Enterprise. If you are using the Express version, you can download SQL Server Management Studio Express to get access to this interface.

Links

Download SQL Server Management Studio Express from Microsoft

While this can be done by developing a Maintenance Plan inside of SQL Management Studio, the free Express editions of SQL Server do not offer this interface. To work around this, you can easily backup your databases by running the command below while logged in as a Windows Administrator:

SqlCmd -E -S Server_Name –Q “BACKUP DATABASE [Name_of_Database] TO DISK=’X:\Path\To\Backup\Location\[Name_of_Database].bak’”

The examples below will help.

Default SQL Server instance:

SqlCmd -E -S MyServer –Q “BACKUP DATABASE [MyDB] TO DISK=’D:\Backups\MyDB.bak’”

Named SQL Server instance:

SqlCmd -E -S MyServer\MyInstance –Q “BACKUP DATABASE [MyDB] TO DISK=’D:\Backups\MyDB.bak’”

The above create a fully restorable backup copy of “MyDB” to the file “D:\Backups\MyDB.bak” which can be used for disaster recovery. Of course, you can change the backup location and file to whatever you need, but make sure you specify a folder location which exists on the local machine. This backup file can then be copied to a tape drive or another external backup location.

A common question is “Can a backup file be created to a mapped drive or UNC location?” and the quick answer is no. The reason is because the SQL Server Windows Service runs as a user account which only has access to the local machine. You could change the account the service runs as, but this is highly discouraged for security reasons.

Restoring a Database Backup from the Command Line

To restore a database from a backup file, simply use the command:

SqlCmd -E -S Server_Name –Q “RESTORE DATABASE [Name_of_Database] FROM DISK=’X:\Path\To\Backup\File\[File_Name].bak’”

For example:

SqlCmd -E -S MyServer –Q “RESTORE DATABASE [MyDB] FROM DISK=’D:\Backups\MyDB.bak’”

The above command will restore a backup of “MyDB” from the data stored in the backup file “D:\Backups\MyDB.bak”. Any changes made to MyDB since the backup file was created will be lost.

An important thing to remember when using the above command is that it is intended to be used on the same SQL Server that the respective backup file was created on. SQL backup files store ‘behind the scenes’ information that control where and how the data files in the backup file are copied. If you are restoring a backup from a different SQL Server, the path locations in the backup file may not match the server you are restoring to and an error will result. While this can be worked around, it is much easier to restore backups created on another SQL Server using the SQL Management Studio tool.

Note: the commands above will work on SQL 2005 and higher (any edition). For SQL 2000 and earlier, replace ‘SqlCmd’ with ‘oSql’.

For instance, say you ran a cat on a file deep within a folder structure, like this:

cat /home/geek/documents/testfiles/testfile1

If you want to open that file up in vi, you don’t have to retype the whole command (or hit the up key and edit the command). Just type in the following:

vi !*

This would be expanded out to:

vi /home/geek/documents/testfiles/testfile1

Saves some typing, and just a useful command to know.

Configuring PHP

In order for Windows to run PHP code, the PHP binary files need to be copied to your system. No installation is required, however some configuration must be done in order for it to properly run. The first step is to download the PHP Windows Binaries and extract them (i.e. ‘C:\PHP’). For IIS 7, the non thread safe binaries should be used.

Copy the ‘php.ini-production’ file from the extracted files paste it into the Windows directory. In the Windows directory, rename this file to ‘php.ini’.

Open the ‘php.ini’ file in Notepad and configure it as needed. Out of the box, the production configuration we copied is preconfigured for what the PHP Team feels is good for a production server. There are a few changes you will need to make to configure PHP for your IIS 7 system:

• Uncomment and set the key, cgi.force_redirect = 0
• Uncomment the key, fastcgi.impersonate = 1
• Uncomment and set the key, extension_dir to the ‘ext’ folder in the path PHP was extracted to (i.e. ‘C:\PHP\ext’).
• Set the key, date.timezone to the time zone of your server (the URL on the line above this key lists the accepted values).

At this point, your Windows system can run PHP scripts from the command line using the ‘php.exe’ tool.

Configuring IIS 7 to Run FastCGI

Internet Information Services (IIS) 7 includes the FastCGI framework as part of the installation package. To make sure it is enabled in your IIS 7 installation, check the Role Services under Server Manager > Roles > Web Server.

Make sure the “CGI” option is installed under the “Application Development” section. If it is not, enable this feature and update your IIS 7 installation.

Once IIS is set, install the IIS 7 Administration Pack. If you do not use the “Typical” setup then make sure you have the “FastCGI” option set to install. This package installs the FastCGI configuration interface inside the IIS Manager.

Configuring IIS to Run PHP via FastCGI

Once IIS 7 is setup with all the required features, we just need to configure it to run PHP. First, we configure FastCGI to work with PHP under the “FastCGI Settings” option (this feature is installed as part of the IIS 7 Administration Pack).

In the FastCGI Settings screen, add an application.

Set the path to the ‘php-cgi.exe’ executable located in the folder where you extracted the PHP Windows binaries. Additionally, change the “InstanceMaxRequests” to a value higher than the default (i.e. 5000). Under the “EnvironmentVariables” setting, click the ellipses button to configure additional options.

Add a new variable named “PHP_MAX_REQUESTS” and set the value to the same amount as the “InstanceMaxRequests” setting above.

Apply all settings until you get back to the primary IIS Manager screen.

Next, we have to map how PHP scripts are executed by IIS which is configured in “Handler Mappings”.

In the Handler Mappings, add a new module mapping.

Set the module’s request path to PHP files (*.php) with the module interface “FastCgiModule”. Set the executable to the same file as what was configured in the FastCGI settings above. Assign a friendly name to this mapping, such as PHP, and click Ok.

When you get the confirmation prompt, answer “Yes” to confirm you want PHP to run as a FastCGI application.

Apply all your changes, close and restart IIS to make sure the new settings take effect.

Once this is done, there is a Microsoft hotfix available (a link is available in the links section) which addresses some issues with PHP when running under IIS 7. These should be installed on your web server to ensure PHP functions properly through FastCGI.

Testing PHP

At this point, your server is ready to go, but just to be sure we can confirm your PHP setup through IIS pretty easily. Create a text file in the directory ‘C:\Inetpub\wwwroot’ named ‘phpinfo.php’ which simply contains the line:

<?php phpinfo(); ?>

Finally, browse to the address: ‘http://localhost/phpinfo.php’ on your server and you should see the PHP information page. If the page loads successfully, PHP is now up and running on your machine.

Conclusion

Once you have PHP up and running on your Windows system, you can take advantage of the multitude of PHP based applications available as well as develop and deploy your own.

Links

Download PHP Windows Binaries (non thread safe)

Download IIS 7 Administration Pack

Download PHP Hotfix for IIS 7 FastCGI (x86 / x64)

As a better solution, we have created a batch script which will automatically update the Sysinternals tools you have on your system. All you have to do is put the batch script file into the folder where your Sysinternals tools are located and the script does the rest, no configuration is needed.

Here is how it works:

• The current list of tools from Sysinternals is downloaded and compared to the files on your system.
• If a match is found, the current version from Sysinternals is copied to your system.
• If a tool is currently running, it is closed and then restarted once the script completes.

The Script

@ECHO OFF
TITLE Sysinternals Updater
ECHO Sysintenals Updater
ECHO Written by: Jason Faulkner
ECHO SysadminGeek.com
ECHO.
ECHO.

SETLOCAL ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION

SET SysInternalsTools="%Temp%\SysInternalsTools.tmp.txt"
SET CurrentTasks="%Temp%\CurrentTasks.tmp.txt"
SET StartWhenFinished="%Temp%\StartWhenFinished.tmp.txt"

ECHO Detected directory: %~dp0
%~d0
CD %~p0
ECHO.
ECHO.

ECHO Downloading current tool list...
SET LiveShare=\\live.sysinternals.com\tools
START /MIN %LiveShare%
DIR %LiveShare% /B > %SysInternalsTools%
TASKLIST > %CurrentTasks%
ECHO ;Terminated tools > %StartWhenFinished%

ECHO.
ECHO Updating installed SysInternals tools
FOR /F %%A IN ('DIR /B') DO (
   FOR /F "usebackq" %%B IN (%SysInternalsTools%) DO (
      IF /I [%%A]==[%%B] (
         ECHO Updating %%A
         FOR /F "usebackq" %%C IN (%CurrentTasks%) DO (
            IF /I [%%A]==[%%C] (
               ECHO %%C is currently running, killing process - queue restart
               ECHO %%C >> %StartWhenFinished%
               TASKKILL /IM %%A /T /F
            )
         )
         XCOPY %LiveShare%\%%B %%A /Y
         ECHO.
      )
   )
)

ECHO.
ECHO Resuming killed tasks
FOR /F "usebackq skip=1" %%A IN (%StartWhenFinished%) DO (
   ECHO Starting %%A
   START "Sysinternals Tool" "%%A"
)

IF EXIST %SysInternalsTools% DEL %SysInternalsTools%
IF EXIST %CurrentTasks% DEL %CurrentTasks%
IF EXIST %StartWhenFinished% DEL %StartWhenFinished%

ENDLOCAL

ECHO.
PAUSE

Links

Download Sysinternals Updater Script from Sysadmin Geek

Configuring PHP

In order for Windows to run PHP code, the PHP binary files need to be copied to your system. No installation is required, however some configuration must be done in order for it to properly run. The first step is to download the PHP Windows Binaries and extract them (i.e. ‘C:\PHP’). For IIS 6, the non thread safe binaries should be used.

Copy the ‘php.ini-production’ file from the extracted files paste it into the Windows directory. In the Windows directory, rename this file to ‘php.ini’.

Open the ‘php.ini’ file in Notepad and configure it as needed. Out of the box, the production configuration we copied is preconfigured for what the PHP Team feels is good for a production server. There are a few changes you will need to make to configure PHP for your IIS 6 system:

• Uncomment and set the key, cgi.force_redirect = 0
• Uncomment the key, fastcgi.impersonate = 1
• Uncomment and set the key, extension_dir to the ‘ext’ folder in the path PHP was extracted to (i.e. ‘C:\PHP\ext’).
• Set the key, date.timezone to the time zone of your server (the URL on the line above this key lists the accepted values).

At this point, your Windows system can run PHP scripts from the command line using the ‘php.exe’ tool.

Installing the IIS 6 FastCGI Extension

In order for Internet Information Services (IIS) 6 to execute and serve PHP scripts, some additional configuration is required. In this guide, we will install PHP on IIS using the FastCGI interface which provides a good balance of stability and performance. Since FastCGI is not included with IIS 6 be default, we need to download and install it.

The FastCGI installer does not require any configuration, however once the FastCGI extension is installed we need to configure it to run PHP.

Open the file ‘C:\WINDOWS\system32\inetsrv\fcgiext.ini’ in Notepad and find the ‘Types’ section and enter the configuration information:

[Types]
php=PHP

[PHP]
ExePath=C:\PHP\php-cgi.exe
InstanceMaxRequests=5000
EnvironmentVars=PHP_MAX_REQUESTS:5000

Revise these values as needed according to your environment, but it is important that all of settings have the correct values. Once you are finished, save this file.

Configuring IIS to Run PHP via FastCGI

With both PHP and FastCGI installed and configured, all that is left is to set up IIS 6. When you open the IIS Management Console, under the Web Service Extensions make sure the “FastCGI Handler” is set to allowed.

Next, go to the Properties settings for the Web Sites group.

On the “Home Directory” tab, click the “Configuration” button.

Add a mapping for files with the .php file extension with the executable set to the FastCGI extension DLL.

Once you have applied all the changes, restart IIS.

Testing PHP

At this point, your server is ready to go, but just to be sure we can confirm your PHP setup through IIS pretty easily. Create a text file in the directory ‘C:\Inetpub\wwwroot’ named ‘phpinfo.php’ which simply contains the line:

<?php phpinfo(); ?>

Finally, browse to the address: ‘http://localhost/phpinfo.php’ on your server and you should see the PHP information page. If the page loads successfully, PHP is now up and running on your machine.

Conclusion

Once you have PHP up and running on your Windows system, you can take advantage of the multitude of PHP based applications available as well as develop and deploy your own.

Links

Download PHP Windows Binaries (non thread safe)

Download IIS 6 FastCGI Extension

echo “!!” > filename

I sometimes use this trick when I’m building a script, but I’m not sure exactly what commands I want… so I type them out on the shell to make sure they execute properly, and then use the same command but with >> to append them to the end of the script I’m working on, like this:

echo “!!” >> scriptname.sh

If you execute another command after the last one, you can save that one like this:

echo “!-2″ >> scriptname.sh

Very useful, or at least fun to learn.

Increasing the Size of the VHD File

With the help of the freely available VHD Resizer tool, you can expand the size of a VHD using it’s simple wizard interface. When opening VHD Resizer the wizard prompts you for the source VHD file to resize.

After selecting the source, set a destination VHD to a new file.

This new file will be an exact copy of the source, only a larger size.

Once selected, set the new size of the destination VHD file. This will be the capacity of the new VHD. Once set, start the resizing process.

Depending on the size of the source and destination file, this can take some time.

Repeat the process for any additional VHD files.

Resizing the Partition of the VHD Drive

After resizing the VHD file, the extra space is recognized by the respective Windows installation as an unallocated partition. In order to assign this extra space to the system drive, we have to link the new VHD file to an existing VHD file and resize it within the virtual machine.

In an existing VHD file, such as the source, link the new VHD file as a second hard disk. This is done through the the properties of the virtual machine.

Once you have the new VHD linked as a secondary drive, start the respective virtual machine.

When you look at the Disk Management, you can see the additional space is unallocated.

In order to resize the system drive on the new VHD file, you use the Windows tool, Diskpart.

Within Diskpart, set the disk (usually disk 1) and respective partition (usually there is only one) and then issue the ‘extend’ command.

After the extend command of Diskpart has run, the previously unallocated space has been combined with the system drive to form a single larger drive.

Once you have resized the new drive, shut down the virtual machine you used to resize the new drive and then remove the new VHD file as the secondary drive.

The new VHD file is ready to use as it’s own virtual machine, so create a new VM based on the newly created file.

Once created, boot up the new virtual machine.

The new VHD file will now have a single drive with the new space available to use as needed.

Conclusion

The ability to resize VHD files is tremendously useful. Since you can never predict what you may need in the future, you can build your VHD files with the size you know you need and then simply expand the size as needed.

Links

Download VHD Resizer from VM Toolkit (requires registration)

Microsoft documentation on Diskpart

svn status | grep "^\?" | awk '{print $2}' | xargs svn add

The svn status part of the command will list out all changes, then we grep for the ? at the beginning of the line indicating that it’s an external file, then run it through awk to grab the filename, and finally pass the lot to svn add using xargs.

Before setting up AWStats, you will need to make sure Perl installed on your Windows Server 2003/IIS 6 or Windows Server 2008/IIS 7 machine.

Configuring Web Site Logging

In order to capture the data AWStats tracks, your sites must log the following fields:

• date
• time
• c-ip
• cs-username
• cs-method
• cs-uri-stem
• sc-status
• sc-bytes
• cs-version
• cs(User-Agent)
• cs(Referer)

IIS 6 Setup

To configure logging in IIS 6, open IIS Manager and right click on the Web Sites folder and select Properties