PowerShell is a powerful scripting language that has gained immense popularity in the tech community, especially among SQL Server professionals. In this blog post, we will dive into the world of PowerShell and explore its magic in SQL Server.

First, let’s understand what PowerShell is. PowerShell is a task automation and configuration management framework from Microsoft. It provides a command-line shell and scripting language that enables administrators and developers to automate repetitive tasks and manage systems more efficiently.

One of the key advantages of PowerShell is its ability to interact with SQL Server. With PowerShell, you can perform various SQL Server tasks such as importing data from CSV files, creating tables, and scheduling jobs.

Let’s take a look at an example of how PowerShell can be used to import data from CSV files into SQL Server. In the example, we create 10 CSV files with the same content and then import them into a table in SQL Server.

#Importing synchronously
$DataImport = Import-Csv -Path (Get-ChildItem "c:\SQLAuthority\*.csv")
$DataTable = Out-DataTable -InputObject $DataImport
Write-DataTable -ServerInstance "R2D2" -Database "SQLServerRepository" -TableName "CSV_SQLAuthority" -Data $DataTable

As you can see, with just a few lines of PowerShell code, we can import data from multiple CSV files into SQL Server. This can be extremely useful when dealing with large amounts of data.

But what if you have CSV files that are large in size and you want to import each one asynchronously? PowerShell has got you covered. You can use PowerShell jobs to import each CSV file in the background.

#If you want to do it asynchronously
Start-job -Name 'ImportingAsynchronously' `
-InitializationScript  {Ipmo Functions -Force -DisableNameChecking} `
-ScriptBlock {
    $DataImport = Import-Csv -Path (Get-ChildItem "c:\SQLAuthority\*.csv")
    $DataTable = Out-DataTable -InputObject $DataImport
    Write-DataTable -ServerInstance "R2D2" -Database "SQLServerRepository" -TableName "CSV_SQLAuthority" -Data $DataTable
}

With PowerShell jobs, you can import each CSV file in the background, allowing you to continue working on other tasks without waiting for the import process to complete.

Furthermore, PowerShell can be used to schedule SQL Server Agent jobs. You can create a PowerShell script that imports CSV files and then schedule it to run at specific intervals using SQL Server Agent.

Here’s an example of how to schedule a PowerShell script as a SQL Server Agent job:

#Create a Job Called ImportCSV and a step called Step_ImportCSV and choose CMDexec
Get-ChildItem "c:\SQLAuthority\*.csv" | % {
    Start-job -Name "$($_)" `
    -InitializationScript  {Ipmo Functions -Force -DisableNameChecking} `
    -ScriptBlock {
        $DataImport = Import-Csv -Path $args[0]
        $DataTable = Out-DataTable -InputObject $DataImport
        Write-DataTable -ServerInstance "R2D2" -Database "SQLServerRepository" -TableName "CSV_SQLAuthority" -Data $DataTable
    } -ArgumentList $_.fullname
}
Get-Job | Wait-Job | Out-Null
Remove-Job -State Completed

By scheduling the PowerShell script as a SQL Server Agent job, you can automate the process of importing CSV files into SQL Server, making your life as a SQL Server professional much easier.

PowerShell is a powerful tool that every SQL Server professional should have in their toolkit. It provides a seamless way to automate tasks, manage systems, and interact with SQL Server. So, if you haven’t already, it’s time to embrace the magic of PowerShell in your SQL Server journey.

That’s it for today, folks. Stay tuned for more exciting SQL Server tips and tricks. Until next time, happy scripting!