Copy SQL Server Express Database to Another Computer

Question

I am upsizing the back end of a client's Access app tomorrow and need to be ready with a plan for a particular problem with this client. The boss needs to be able to take the data file away from the office where the SQL Server is on a regular basis (usually monthly) and run statistical analyses on the data.

I've looked at Easiest way to copy an entire SQL server Database from a server to local SQL Express, and the solutions there don't work in this scenario because:

1. can't use a one-time solution (Database Publishing Wizard), as this needs to be scriptable.

2. can't use any method that depends on the two computers being networked, as that is not an option -- data has to be transferred via USB thumb drive (so, no replication).

3. can't use any method that depends on running SQL Server management tools from the server console or from the workstation for the backup.

4. can't connect to the SQL Server database directly for the analysis because the data has to be portable to other locations.

What I think I need is some way to call a script that creates a backup file, then copy the result to the USB drive. I then need a second script to copy the backup file from the USB drive and restore it onto the other SQL Server.

The data being transported is read-only (or, any changes made don't need to get back to the main server), and data won't be updated in the second location. It's currently scripted with a plain old batch file to copy the back-end MDB file, and I need something that is as simple for the user.

It can't have any dependencies on, say, Powershell (of SQL Server Management Studio), because I don't want it to have to be installed on the computer the user is running the script from (there are a half dozen workstations the script needs to be runnable from, and I don't want to have to install something on all of those).

I'm going to be setting up the backup agent to create a backup every night, so I could perhaps copy that file without needing to initiate the backup before copying. Thus I might only need to script the restore on the target computer.

Thoughts, suggestions, pointers?

Answer 1

You should definitely be able to create something like that.

One part would be a T-SQL CREATE BACKUP script as a .sql script, and execute that from a standard Windows batch (*.bat) or command (*.cmd) file using the sqlcmd command line tool.

That would be something like this:

backup.sql

BACKUP DATABASE YourDatabase
TO DISK = 'Z:\Backup\YourDatabase.bak'
WITH FORMAT;

The second part would be a .sql file with a T-SQL RESTORE script, basically reading the data from a given location on disk and restoring it to that SQL Server instance there.

restore.sql

RESTORE DATABASE YourDatabase
   FROM AdventureWorks2008R2Backups 
   WITH 
     MOVE 'YourDatabase_Data' TO 'C:\MSSQL\Data\YourDatabase.mdf',
     MOVE 'YourDatabase_Log' TO 'C:\MSSQL\Data\YourDatabase_Log.ldf';
GO

Of course, you need to adapt those names and paths to your own actual requirements - but that should just give you a hint how to get started with this endeavor.

To execute one of those .sql script using sqlcmd, you need something like:

sqlcmd -S (name of server) -U (login) -P (password) -I (name of script file)

e.g.

sqlcmd -S (local) -U someuser -P top$secret -I backup.sql

Resources:

• How to create a full database backup
• T-SQL RESTORE command
• sqlcmd utility