SQL CLone image modification script progress

ArtW

Is there a way to track progress of the image modification script as it is being applied? I understand thas sql clone can't tell how long the script will take to run or what it is doing exactly, but is there a way to capture what's being send to the "messages" tab (for example using print statements etc?) as the script executes? We are using powershell to create our images and clones. Are there any features, planned or existing, in New-SqlCloneImage that would help with something like this?

Jessica R

Hi @ArtW ,

Sorry to say there isn't a way to track progress of the modification script as it's being applied, and we don't have any plans for this at the moment.

We've passed on a request for this to our developers so that they're aware, and if anyone would like to see this, please add your feedback below!

ArtW

Thank you for your answer.

I have another question related to the modification scripts. One of our modification scripts fully de-identifies the PHI information on the image being created and the process can take a while to complete. It appears that while the modifications are taking place a temporary database is mounted on the server and that database is assessible by users who have access to that server.

Are there any features built into sql clone that would prevent anyone from accessing the database as the image is being created? If not are there any best practices or steps recommended for something like this by red-gate? 

Jessica R

Hi @ArtW!

There isn't a built-in feature unfortunately, but you could change the temporary database to single user, something like the following:

SET SINGLE_USER
WITH ROLLBACK IMMEDIATE; 
GO
....
their modification script
....
ALTER DATABASE xxxx 
SET MULTI_USER; 
GOALTER DATABASE xxxxx 

Alternatively, you could have a dedicated agent on a separate instance just for image creation and no one else would have access to that instance.

Hope that may help!