Feature suggestion: Reset clone to a point in time (as well as existing clone reset functionality)
Hi, I am posting here because I do not see a SQL Clone forum on User Voice.
Currently SQL Clone allows you to reset your clone, i.e. undo any changes to data, schema, etc. My suggestion is to enable the creation of a second reset point, so that instead of undoing all of your work on a clone you could e.g. just quickly undo the results of a failed experiment. Ideally the user should have the ability to reset back to this 'custom' point, or undo all changes on the clone like is currently possible.
I find in my work, I often need to get a clone to a certain state before I can continue my development/testing and this process is not trivial. It would be great to be able to do this once, then set a new reset point as described above, to use that as the starting point for testing etc.
I appreciate best practice would be to ensure the clones are always exactly as required, but when deploying many small changes incrementally it can become too time consuming to constantly create new images, especially when working with any database of a reasonable size.
Happy to post this to User Voice if someone could please direct me to the correct section? Otherwise I look forward to hearing opinions.
Thanks.
Currently SQL Clone allows you to reset your clone, i.e. undo any changes to data, schema, etc. My suggestion is to enable the creation of a second reset point, so that instead of undoing all of your work on a clone you could e.g. just quickly undo the results of a failed experiment. Ideally the user should have the ability to reset back to this 'custom' point, or undo all changes on the clone like is currently possible.
I find in my work, I often need to get a clone to a certain state before I can continue my development/testing and this process is not trivial. It would be great to be able to do this once, then set a new reset point as described above, to use that as the starting point for testing etc.
I appreciate best practice would be to ensure the clones are always exactly as required, but when deploying many small changes incrementally it can become too time consuming to constantly create new images, especially when working with any database of a reasonable size.
Happy to post this to User Voice if someone could please direct me to the correct section? Otherwise I look forward to hearing opinions.
Thanks.
Answers
Thank you for your suggestion, there isn't currently a User Voice for SQL Clone so this is the best place to share feedback.
Supporting workflows for 'point-in-time' clones is a candidate for our roadmap and so your input is very helpful.
An option that may work for you in the meantime is to save the modifications you make as scripts and use these as clone templates to modify your clones while they're being created. You can learn more about this here: https://documentation.red-gate.com/clone4/modifications-during-provisioning/clone-modifications
Please let me know your thoughts on this, thanks,
James
Product Manager - SQL Clone
Redgate