I have an ASP.NET web application that includes code for enforcing its own database schema ; this code runs on application start.
I've recently started using LINQ to SQL, and I've added a pre-build event to run SqlMetal on my database so that I get objects representing my db tables.
What would be really cool is if I could enforce the database schema in the pre-build event, and then run SqlMetal. As it is, if the schema changes (e.g. I add a field to a table), I have to (a) build and run the website once so that application start fires and the schema is enforced, and then (b) build it again so that SqlMetal runs.
So: What are my options for running code that lives in my web application, from the command line?
Here's what we do.
We have a local 1-click build that is required to be run before check in (an integration build also runs in a separate environment every check in...).
The NANT script will:
Rebuild the database from scratch using Tarantino (Database change management)
Clean & Compile
Copy DLLs to a separate directory
Run Unit Tests against the DLLs
We have a separate script for SQL Metal, but your question is going to have me look at inserting the call between steps 1 and 2. This way your database changes and linq generated files are always in sync.
You could either write a small program that use CodeDOM to interpret a file in your repository or directly call the compiler executable inside your pre-build event.
Using CodeDOM avoid any problems with having to know where the compiler executable is but if your code can't be contained in one file without any dependency it's unusable and calling the compiler, then executing the result is a better option.
Related
I am in the process of converting our legacy custom database deployment process with custom built tools into a full fledged SSDT project. So far everything has gone very well. I have composite projects that can deploy a base database as well as projects that deploy sample and test data.
The problem I am having now is finding a solution for running some sort of code that can call a web service to get an activation code and add it to the database as the final step of the process. Can anyone point me to a hook that I might be able to use?
UPDATE: To be clearer I am doing this to make it easier to maintain and deploy our sample and test data to a local machine. We can easily use Jenkins to activate the sites when they are deployed nightly to our official testing environments. I'm just hoping to be able to do this in a single step to replace the homegrown database deploy tool that we use now.
In my deployment scenario I wrapped database deployment process in some powershell scripts which do necessary prerequisites. For example:
powershell script is started and then it stops some services
next it run sqlpackage.exe or preproduced sql deployment scripts
finally powershell script starts services.
You can pass some parameters from powershell to sql scripts or sqlpackage.exe as sqlcmd variables. So you can call webservice first, then pass activation code as sqlcmd variable and use the variable in postdeployment script.
Particularly if it's the final step, I'd be tempted to do this separately, using whatever tool you're using to do the deployment: Powershell scripts, msbuild, TFS, Jenkins, whatever. Presumably there's also a front-end of some description that gets provisioned this way?
SSDT isn't an eierlegende Wollmilchsau, it's a set of tools for managing database changes.
I suspect if the final step were "provision a Google App Engine Instance and deploy a Python script", for example, it wouldn't appear to be a natural candidate for inclusion in an SSDT post-deploy script, and I reckon this falls into the same category.
I need some clarification on when to register a Database as a Data Tier Application (DAC). I've looked at all the guides but am stuck on a few points.
The database is NOT registered
Build Database Project to produce DacPac
Publish the Database Project
Check "Register as a Data Tier Application"
Check "Block publish when database has drifted from registered version"
First time round, this works. It registers the database and succeeds.
However, on subsequent publishes is fails as it says the DB has drifted noting two users which have not changed.
Am I following the correct process? i.e. setting the Publish script to re-register each time?
What is the best practice for making changes? By changing the relevant .sql files in the Database Project and then building? The guides talk a lot about being able to version the DB using the DacPac but its not clear how. Should I rename each DacPac and commit it to TFS?
My next step is to publish the Database as part of the overall ASP.Net Solution. When I try to do that (it works fine when the DB publish is not included), it comes up with the following error
Web deployment task failed. (The SQL provider cannot run with dacpac option because of a missing dependency. Please make sure that DacFx is installed. Learn more at: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=221672#ERROR_DACFX_NEEDED_FOR_SQL_PROVIDER.)
However, I have all the required elements installed on the publishing machine. Do they need to be on the SQL Server or IIS VMs?
Any guidance would be much appreciated.
If you want to deploy your changes to a database using a dacpac you would need to register the database as a DAC. This basically creates a snapshot of the database at that point in time. You do this before making a change to create the initial snapshot and then after a deployment.
The reason you do this is to detect drift. Lets say you do a deployment and someone makes a change directly in that database, for instance changing the logic of a stored procedure, you would want to know about that change before making a subsequent deployment. If you deploy your dacpac and ignore this change it will revert their change to whats in the dacpac model. This is where drift occurs. You can generate an xml report on what has drifted through the sdk.
You can enable a setting to disable deployment if drift occurs so that you can retrofit those changes in the database directly in your source code. You would then need to re-register the database as a DAC to create a new snapshot.
Am I following the correct process? i.e. setting the Publish script to re-register each time? Yes
What is the best practice for making changes? By changing the relevant .sql files in the Database Project and then building? Yes
The guides talk a lot about being able to version the DB using the DacPac but its not clear how. Should I rename each DacPac and commit it to TFS? You can set a version within the databse. Have a look at the properties of the database project. You shouldnt rename the dacpac.
About the ASP.Net publish, I would need a bit more detail around the project structure and environment setup.
I have a ASP.NET project with my own Development, Staging and Production servers.
In all environements, I move code manually. So everytime I have to promote a change, I perform the following steps:
Get my latest code from SVN.
Merge the code between lower and to be promoted environment using tools like Beyond Compare.
Then I move the respective ASPX and DLL files and any Stored Procedures or table data manually to Production.
This is a very time consuming process and I would like to get some automated methods for code moves.
Is there a way I can get the code moved from SVN to my Servers using some automated tools or in a automated packages.
I am using ASP.NET 2.0 with IIS 7 and SQL Server 2008.
msbuild can help you with getting the code from svn and building it. You will need to create simple batch files to run it, alternatively you can use Cruisecontrol for that.
Manual merges should be avoided. If you are using VS2010, you can use xsd to transform your config files to production version
I am not a big fan of storedprocs. If you can encapsulate your stored procs with the code there is less room for errors and rolling back changes etc as well as making the deployment easier. Database schema updates should be done in a batch file and applied automatically.
There are multiple ways to deploy: webdeploy or msi file. It depends on how much work is required during the deployment process
I would look into continuous integration. My favorite because it is simplest to use is TeamCity.
You will still have to do some work with MSBuild.
You can set up the builds to be a button push from the site.
Have the code pushed when you check into svn.
Just about any way you can think of.
I would strongly urge you to use it to ALWAYS build you code and run unit tests on each SVN check it. It does not have to deploy but TeamCity will provide to you constant feedback on the state of your solution.
How can I automate the web-application build process, that includes following steps:
Change connection string.
Recreate database by scripts.
Deploy web-site by ftp.
Copy some files to server in addition to application.
And may be perform some initialize operations.
Should I write any script/programm, use Visual Studio or any another program?
Personally I use a Continuous Integration tool to do this kind of work.
The one I mainly use is Team City by JetBrains.
This kind of software can look at your Source Control repo for new checking, perform builds, publish builds to servers as well as running pre/post build events.
You've to start learning MSBuild. It is VERY simple and straightforward, so just start and you'll see ;)
In adddition to built in features it has Community Pack with many tasty things so you will be able to:
Replace connection string in config file using regex or replace whole config with predefined connection string (FileUpdate or Copy task)
Execute database scripts (MSBuild.Community.Tasks.SqlServer.ExecuteDDL)
Deploy site using Copy task
And many other...
You can run pre and post events in Visual Studio. To do this, simply right click on the project and in the project properties navigate to the 'Build Events' options. Here you can specify the pre and post build events (you can also specify when the event runs - on successful build or otherwise).
Once the project has been successfully built, the post build event can be set up to perform the tasks specified. You can detail the steps either in a separate file or in Visual Studio project's build events itself.
More information
Pre/Post Build event command line arguments
How to: Specify Build Events (C#)
Much along the continuous integration concept Jamie mentions, we use BuildMaster internally for all of our applications since we develop it :)
Now that we have a version offered for free, I'll share some thoughts on each of your bullet points:
Change connection string
This is something that is handled uniquely by the tool. Each environment would get its own "instance" of a configuration file and in a deployment plan you can use the "deploy configuration files" action to put them in any environment. This means there are no transforms to worry about since the config file is stored and versioned within the tool.
Recreate database by scripts
This is another major feature we have. Object code (stored procs, views, etc.) can be run every time with a DROP/CREATE combo, but adding indexes, dropping columns, can only be done once (you can't bring a column's data back without a restore!)
BuildMaster handles these types of change scripts differently - they can only be run at most once against an environment's instance of your database. This makes it super easy to bring any new or existing initialized database schema up-to-date.
Deploy web-site by FTP
Just add an action to your deployment plan, and you click Create Build or Promote Build, it will do that.
Copy some files to server in addition to application
If the process is repeatable you can do this easily, if need be by using a manual action that will remind you to do it.
And may be perform some initialize operations
This sounds like a "change control" to me, a one-time change when you release. We support these as well but not in the free version unfortunately.
I am trying to create a setup procedure which installs my entire web application. I am using Visual Studio's Setup and Deployment Project. So far I've gotten it to deploy my website to the Inetpub folder, and I've also added some custom actions which allow it to run some SQL and setup my database.
The last thing I have to integrate into the setup process is my two SSIS packages. Not only do these need to be installed, they also need to be scheduled to run nightly.
The packages are simple, and don't reference anything unusual. They are just 2 .dtsx files.
So far, I've seen that I can use something called dtutil in order to create a dtsinstall.exe file which can be run to install the SSIS packages to either the file system or the database.
First of all, is this the easiest way to do it? And secondly, how would I go about scheduling the packages to be run nightly?
One caveat is that I need this to install silently, without prompting the user for any input.
First, create a new job in SQL Agent. In the steps panel, click New, give it a name, and for the job type, select SQL Server Integration Services Package. For the Package source, select File system, and point it to where you want the file to live.
Then you can select Schedules from the left panel, and configure how often you want it to run.
After that, you should be able to handle deployment of the SSIS package by copying the .dtsx file to the location you specified when you created the job.