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Publishing your SQL 2008 database to the WinHost SQL 2008 Server

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 01:10:26 GMT

Note: before you attempt the following, make sure you have created a database in Control Panel using the MS SQL Manager tool.
If you are running SQL 2008 R2, you will not be able to use the Restore tool in the control panel. However, this procedure is an alternative to migrate your SQL 2008 R2 database to our SQL 2008 Server.

Required applications: Visual Web Developer 2008 or Visual Studio 2008, and SQL Server 2008 Express (see: http://www.microsoft.com/express/product/default.aspx for downloads).

Open Visual Web Developer Express 2008
Open Database Explorer (View -> Database Explorer) (in Visual Studio 2008 you will open "Server Explorer").
The Database Explorer should show up on the right side of the IDE.
Right click Data Connections and select Add Connection.
Enter the server name in the first text box (type the name of your local SQL Server).
Type the name of the database in the database name field and click "OK."
In Database Explorer you will see your local database. Right click on it and choose Publish to Provider.

To generate the script that will create the backup of your database follow the steps listed below.

Click "Next" on the welcome screen of Publishing Wizard.
Insure that your database is selected, check Script all objects in the selected database and click "Next."
Choose the Script to file option and type the name of the script you will be generating. Click "Next."
Leave the default Publishing Options and click "Next."
Click "Finish."

To run the script that will publish your database to our SQL 2008 Server you will use SQL Server Management Studio Express or SQL Server 2008. Follow the steps below to publish the database to the WinHost SQL 2008 Server:

Open your database in SQL Server Management Studio 2008.
Click File/Open/File and navigate to the SQL script you just created from your SQL Server.
Type the SQL database name provided for you in Control Panel under Site Manager/MS SQL Manager/Manage.
Choose SQL Server Authentication in the "Authentication" drop down box.
Enter your database login and password from Control Panel (see #3).
Once the script is opened, navigate to the very top of the page and type:
- USE [database name] (without the brackets)
- GO
Click the "Execute" button.

How to transfer your local SQL database to a WinHost SQL database

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 00:47:26 GMT

To transfer your local SQL database to a WinHost database, you will need to:

1. Backup your local database with Management Studio
2. Upload the backup of your database with .BAK extension to your web site via ftp
3. Use restore tools in WinHost control panel to restore the backup to your WinHost database

Please use Microsoft Book Online for the instructions on how to backup your local database or see this community forum post for instructions.

Important notes: 1) Microsoft SQL databases cannot be attached or restored to previous versions of SQL Servers. That means that SQL Server 2008 R2 database can only be attached/restored to R2 (or later), etc. 2) SQL 2000 databases cannot be attached/restored to a SQL 2012 database. If you need to attach/restore a SQL 2000 database to SQL 2012, you will first have to convert the SQL 2000 database to SQL 2005 or later. 3) Restore backup is available on all WinHost plans, but the attach tool is a premium feature that is only available on the WinHost Ultimate plan.

After you have backed up your local database and uploaded the backup file with .BAK extension to your web site, please follow the instructions below to restore the backup to your database on the WinHost SQL Server:

Upload the backup file with .bak extension you want to restore to your site via ftp
Log in to the WinHost Control Panel at https://cp.winhost.com
In the navigation menu click the "Sites" tab
In "Your Sites" section click "Manage" link next to the site you'd like to manage
In the "Site Tools" section click on "MS SQL Manager" icon
Click the "Manage" link next to the database you'd like restore your backup to
Click the "Restore" button next to the "Tools" label
Click the "Browse" link next to the "Backup File to Restore" text box and locate your backup file on your site
When the .bak file is located, click on it and click the "Select" button
Click the "Restore Backup" button

Getting started with an MS SQL database

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 00:04:46 GMT

1. Access the Manage Site Info page.

2. Click the MS SQL Manager icon.

3. If no database is present, click the "Add" button.

3. Enter the database name and quota assignment and click "Create."

I get a "Filegroup is full" error when attempting to run a SQL query

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 23:42:29 GMT

When attempting to run an SQL query, an error similar to the following is returned:

Could not allocate space for object 'xxxxx' in database 'SQL2012_xxxxx_xxx' because the 'PRIMARY' filegroup is full. The statement has been terminated.

This error indicates that your database size has exceeded the allocated amount. To increase the amount of space allocated to your database:

Go to the MS SQL tool in Control Panel
Click the "Manage" link for the appropriate database
Click "Edit" in the Assigned Quota line
Enter a value larger than the Assigned Quota in the New Quota field
Click the "Update" button

NOTE: If you are on the WinHost Basic plan, you have a maximum database quota of 200mb. In order to use more database space you must upgrade to he WinHost Max plan, which provides 1000mb of database space (and up to 10 SQL databases).

How do I generate (or restore) a backup of my MS SQL database?

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 23:37:36 GMT

You can generate a backup of your database that will be placed into your account and made available for download via FTP. The file created will have a .bak extension, and can be used for maintaining safety copies of your database or for use in your local development environment. Note however that the backup files are intended for restoration to our servers, and we cannot provide support for using the database backup on your local system.

To create a database backup

Go to the MS SQL section in Control Panel
Click the "Manage" link for the database you wish to back up
Click the "Backup" link

The backup file is created in the following format: [DatabaseName]_backup.bak
Backup will be placed in the /App_data directory (if /App_data does not exist, it will automatically be created)
The backup process will fail if a backup file with the same name already exists in the /App_data directory. You must rename or download any existing backups before creating a new backup.

How do I restore a backup file to my WinHost database?

Make sure the backup file is in the /App_data directory
and the name is in the following format: [DatabaseName]_backup.bak (restoration will fail if you attempt to restore a database that does not conform to this naming convention)

Go to the MS SQL section in Control Panel
Click the "Manage" link for the database you wish to back up
Click the "Restore" link

Note that the existing database will be overwritten and all existing data will be replaced!

The database restoration tool is intended to be used with backups generated in Control Panel only. If you create a backup on your local system and attempt to restore it to the live database the restoration may fail.

Attach Database Feature

NOTE: The Attach Database feature is only available if your account is on the Ultimate plan.

To use the Attach Database feature please refer to this Knowledge Base article.

Attach Database Tool

Do you support databases?

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 23:22:54 GMT

Yes, we support MS SQL 2012, MS SQL 2008 R2, MS SQL 2008, MS Access, and MySQL databases.

Attach Database Tool

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 23:15:22 GMT

NOTE: The Attach Database Tool is a premium feature, and only available for sites on the Ultimate plan.

The Attach Database Tool is available in Control Panel on the MS SQL 2008 tab:

Home >> Sites List >> Site Manager >> MS SQL Manager >> Manage

On the Tools line click the Attach link to get started.

The file that you intend to attach to the SQL database must be an MDF file. Before attaching you must rename your MDF file using the name specified in the MDF File to Attach line in the attach tool. Then upload the MDF file to the App_Data directory of your site.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Any data in the target SQL database will be overwritten when you use the attach tool.