Free schema snapshot utility: SQL Snapper

David Atkinson · July 21, 2008 11:28AM

SQL Snapper is a free utility that creates a SQL Compare schema snapshot of a SQL Server database. This snapshot can then be used as a database source in Redgate's SQL Compare. You will find SQL Snapper useful when you have databases deployed at a customer's site, and you need to use SQL Compare to compare the schema of a remote databases with your reference database. If the remote database cannot be accessed from your machine, you can ask your customers to use SQL Snapper to create a SQL Compare snapshot of their database's schema, and send the snapshot file to you. You can then load the snapshot into SQL Compare, and generate the appropriate upgrade script for the customer.

This release of Snapper generates SQL Compare snapshots that work with SQL Compare 7.0 or later.

SQL Snapper can be found in your SQL Compare install director.y

David Atkinson
Redgate Software

Stefano Paparesta · July 22, 2008 6:14AM

:lol: THANKS for this tool,
you have any plain to add the command line interface ? :oops:

Stefano Paparesta

foths · July 22, 2008 7:45AM

very usefull tool, ive been expecting it!

some more things we need:

-deployment:
--self extracting single zip exe file
-configuration of behaviour
--command line options
--config file

it would be nice for me to be able to send to the client 2 files:
-the single self-extracting zipped exe file for the deployment
-a .BAT file, with command line arguments, already there by me, so the client wont have to do anything at all, only double click the .bat file i will send to him (provided of course, i know at least the database name and server).

thanks!

Stefano Paparesta · July 22, 2008 9:07AM

Yes, for me too the config file and the command line is fundamental. I don't wont my client insert any config data (server name and db name), and i want integrate the generation of snapshot in a simple pipeline :
1 - Generate snapshot
2 - create email msg
3 - attach snapshot to email
4 - send email

for this operation :shock: i need a command line interface like SqlCompare Pro and xml file config.
Regards

Stefano

aperregatturv · July 22, 2008 10:33AM

when RedGate released 6.0. I created my own utility [SnapshotCreator] to create snapshot because of the same reason Red Gate created SQLSnapper for.

The only problem i have with this SQLSnapper utility is that when i send this utility to customers I want them to see the utility is created by us and not RedGate.

If its possible to add config file to Show/Hide the Image and of course a commandline interface will be a big help.

for deployment for such small utility i use Inno Setup [freeware installer]
which is almost like a Self extractor.
http://www.jrsoftware.org/isdl.php
If someone needs it i can send you the script file for it.

Thanks
Arun[/url]

Stefano Paparesta · August 28, 2008 8:49AM

Hi guys,
any news on command line interface for the snapper ?
Thanks

Stefano

David Atkinson · August 28, 2008 9:01AM

We're still waiting for more user feedback on SQL Snapper before considering what may go into the next version. So it's unlikely that we'll put any serious effort into it until that point.

Do you want a command line version or simply a UI version that is auto-populated based on values you've provided in a config file?

David Atkinson
Red Gate Software

aperregatturv · August 28, 2008 9:20AM

Top priority for me will be Commandline
SQLSnapper -sServer -dDatabase -uUser -pPwd -snp Snapshot path.

or even Config file will be great but i don't want to add user id or password in there.
I can create a utility to call SQLSnapper with command line parameters.

Thanks

jerryhung · August 28, 2008 9:27AM

I think I'll go for a Command Line option too, just so I can schedule it (and possibly download automatically to be used for comparison in DEV/UA/STAGING)

It is a great product though, I can compare a Production DB without actually download & restoring them

Stefano Paparesta · September 1, 2008 12:35PM

For me Commandline version + xml config it's very important feature

Thanks

elliotm · September 5, 2008 6:20AM

We have had a number of requests to provide a command line for SQL Snapper. Below is the text of the help associated with the command line and I hope you can give feedback on whether this is appropriate for your needsâ€¦

Elliot Matthew

Red Gate Software

SQL Snapper V1.0.0.0
==============================================================================
Copyright Copyright © Red Gate Software Ltd 2008

RedGate.SQLSnapper.exe -

Options
=======

/database:<database> (Alias: /db)
The name of the database to create a snapshot of.

/username:<username> (Alias: /u)
The username for the database.

/password:<password> (Alias: /p)
The password for the database.

/server:<server> (Alias: /s) [Default: (local)]
The name of the SQL server.

/makesnapshot:<makesnapshot> (Alias: /mksnap)
Creates a snapshot of the database with the path specified.

jerryhung · September 5, 2008 1:30PM

Command line syntax help look good to me for our current usage
perhaps support Windows Authentication on top of user/password as well

now the question is when we can expect it

Stefano Paparesta · September 8, 2008 3:40AM

For me this command line args it's ok...

Stefano Paparesta · September 23, 2008 3:15PM

Hi,
when you release the command line interface ??
Thanks
Stefano

David Atkinson · October 22, 2008 7:54AM

SQL Snapper with command line capability is now available from our labs page:

http://labs.red-gate.com/index.php/Red_Gate_Snapper

Please let us know what you think.

Thanks,

David Atkinson
Red Gate Software

jerryhung · October 22, 2008 9:31AM

Downloaded, thanks
Version: 7.5.0.28

RedGate.SQLSnapper.exe /?

SQL Snapper V7.5.0.28
==============================================================================
Copyright Copyright c Red Gate Software Ltd 2008

RedGate.SQLSnapper.exe -


Options
=======
/help &#40;Alias: /?&#41;
    Displays this help message. Use in conjunction with /verbose for more
    detailed information.
/html
    Causes help to be output as HTML.
/quiet &#40;Alias: /q&#41;
    Quiet mode - no output.
/verbose &#40;Alias: /v&#41;
    Verbose mode.
/database:&lt;database&gt; &#40;Alias: /db&#41;
    The name of the database to create a snapshot of.
/username:&lt;username&gt; &#40;Alias: /u&#41;
    The username for the database.
/password:&lt;password&gt; &#40;Alias: /p&#41;
    The password for the database.
/server:&lt;server&gt; &#40;Alias: /s&#41; &#91;Default: &#40;local&#41;&#93;
    The name of the SQL server.
/makesnapshot:&lt;makesnapshot&gt; &#40;Alias: /mksnap&#41;
    Creates a snapshot of the database with the path specified.

I do have a question regarding user
- does it support Windows Authentication? if so how?
The GUI interface supports Mixed mode so that's why I asked

AndrewMurphy · October 28, 2008 6:33AM

Spam from Kate???

Brian Donahue · October 28, 2008 6:59AM

Thanks Andrew! I've deleted the previous post and killed the katei4 user account as it's only been used to create spam.

DBNovice · November 12, 2008 5:46AM

Hi,

I am interested if the RG snapshot is compatible with SQL SERVER snapshot format?

When I said that I meant:
Can I use RG snapshot from MSSMS, or can I use MSSMS snapshot from RG tool.

If yes please confirm, if no: What are your future plans regarding snapshots?
Do you have plans to use
a) the same format for snapshots as Microsoft?
b) compatible format with Microsoft snapshots?

MS SMS stands for Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio
Thanks

David Atkinson · November 12, 2008 6:09AM

SQL Compare schema snapshots are not the same thing as SQL Server Snapshots. Admittedly the naming is a little unfortunate.

SQL Compare will read from its own snapshot, which doesn't store any data. The other supported formats are:

1) database
2) backup
3) set of scripts

I'd be curious to know what sort of compatibility you had in mind?

Kind regards,

David Atkinson
Red Gate Software

DBNovice · November 12, 2008 6:25AM

Hi,

Thanks for the kind reply, I am getting the picture now.

Unfortunately I cannot say it precisely because I don't have enough knowledge regarding snapshots (RG ones nor Microsoft's), but I can share with you that I believed it is possible to use only Microsoft snapshots in RG tool as snapshots Data Soruce.

I also believe that probable the Microsoft snapshot format is not optimal for the purpose you need in RG, so you needed something better than that.

Thanks,

Simon C · November 12, 2008 8:22AM

Just to be clear, a SQL Server snapshot is treated as a separate database within SQL Server, but is actually stored as the differences from the snapshotted database from a particular point in time (when the snapshot was created), and overwritten data on the source database is copied into the snapshot as it gets updated - see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms175158.aspx and http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms187054.aspx .

A SQL Compare snapshot is a binary file containing a serialized version of the whole schema information from a database.

Does that make things a bit clearer?

DBNovice · November 12, 2008 2:14PM

Simon,

Good links.

Thanks, for the clarification.

stevepatches · January 27, 2009 9:21PM

Are there any plans to support the directory of scripts snapshot format in addition to the binary format? This would be very useful to me. Yes I know you get can them through SQL Management Studio but the RG tools are so much faster :-)

David Atkinson · January 28, 2009 4:27AM

stevepatches wrote:

Are there any plans to support the directory of scripts snapshot format in addition to the binary format? This would be very useful to me. Yes I know you get can them through SQL Management Studio but the RG tools are so much faster :-)

Hi Steve,

We have no 'immediate' plans to do this, although we will consider this as an option if enough people ask for it. It helps us to understand how the functionality would be used. If you can describe the scenario and the problem you'd be solving with this, we will raise an enhancement request.

Kind regards,

David Atkinson
Product Manager
Red Gate Software

Stefano Paparesta · March 3, 2009 4:22AM

Hi all,
now with the release of sql compare 8.0 you align the snapper with this version ? The snapshot format file product from snapper its ok for sql cmapre 8.0?
Regards

Stefano Paparesta

Alice E · March 3, 2009 9:29AM

Hi Stefano,

Yes, snapshots generated by SQL Snapper should be compatible with SQL Compare 8.0 (please tell us if they aren't

)

Tobias279 · January 10, 2014 4:45AM

Hi,

i have just found your toll SQLSnapper. Its fantastic for us because many of our customers have an own server that we can not reach from our systems. But if i use the snapper, i am missing the procedures an functions.
Is there a chance to get them with SQL Snapper?

regards

Tobias

bsleik · April 4, 2014 5:34PM

What DB privileges are required to run SQL Snapper? I don't get the object permissions generated in my SQL Snapshot. I know I used to get it when I had full database owner.

The DBA may be willing to add read permissions to system tables or views if required.

mmoore · May 12, 2017 1:08PM

I know this is old and has been asked, but see no response from anyone. We also would like a command line version of SqlSnapper.
Thanks

Mark J · May 12, 2017 2:51PM

@mmoore I'm not sure if it was added in the meantime, but the Snapper included in SQL Compare v12 does include a commandline - if you run

RedGate.SQLSnapper.exe /help

you can see more details.

Free schema snapshot utility: SQL Snapper

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