Load Red Gate SSMS Addins for Select Users
djs191
Posts: 2 New member
We are deploying SSMS18 with Red Gate products to a Windows Server 2016 Remote Desktop Services environment. Only a select set of users are licensed for Red Gate.
Is there a way to configure Red Gate or SSMS to selectively load the Red Gate addins on SSMS startup?
Is there a way to configure Red Gate or SSMS to selectively load the Red Gate addins on SSMS startup?
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Answers
Hi @djs191
Thank you for reaching out on the Redgate forums,
Unfortunately there isn't a simple way to selectively enable/disable the Redgate SSMS add-in directly.
As a first possible option you can disable the Redgate menu in SSMS so the add-ins can't be viewed for the user. This can be accessed by right-clicking on the tool-bar and de-selecting 'Redgate'
The add-ins would still load but remove them from view
Otherwise for a better solution it may be possible to prevent add-in/extensions from loading by moving their files out of SSMS's extension folder.
This location has changed through various versions but I believe for SSMS18 onwards it is found in
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio 18\Common7\IDE\Extensions
By moving the Redgate product folders from this location when SSMS starts it should prevent them from loading.
It may be possible to script something that moves the files, starts SSMS and puts the files back. The folder should be scanned when SSMS starts
Having users disable the addin is an option, but as you say the addins still load and there are a number of remnants that the tools are loaded visible to the user.
The root issue here is in a shared Remote Desktop Services environment where some users are licensed for the tools and some are not. A license could be consumed by an unintended recipient. Of course, a license admin could revoke the license, etc, but this is overhead that is not desirable.
Moving the executables is not even an option that can be considered in a shared RDS environment as other users may actively be using those executables.
Agree, the tools usage within SSMS do suffer in shared RDS environments where there isn't a full coverage of licenses for users.
I would suggest at this point the possibility of posting a request on our UserVoice page to enhance how the tools are deployed within SSMS so it can better handle mixtures of licensed & unlicensed users in a RDS environment.
The UserVoice site is viewed by our product and development teams to get feedback from users on how to shape the future direction of our software. Providing insight into the blockers you find in the tools raises their visibility and potentially allows new functionality to be added to make your development processes easier.
The SQL Toolbelt UserVoice can be accessed here:
https://redgate.uservoice.com/forums/936348-sql-toolbelt-essentials