SQL Server Telemetry - Advanced SQL Data

Cloudamize can collect two types of Microsoft (MS) SQL Server data: Basic data and Advanced data.

Basic data is collected from the Windows registry by the Cloudamize Agent and Agentless data collectors.

Advanced data is collected from MS SQL Server and can be used for detailed SQL Server performance analysis and licensing optimization.

The SQL Server Telemetry data collector is a command line interface (CLI) utility to collect Advanced data. It can collect data from multiple SQL Servers and is especially useful when Cloudamize agents cannot collect this data. Collected data is saved to a file that can be uploaded to the Cloudamize console.

The SQL Server Telemetry data collector is available for the following platforms:

For other operating systems and build targets, please contact helpdesk@cloudamize.com.

Use Cases

MS SQL Server Advanced data can be collected in a variety of ways data based on the customer’s environment and SQL Server configuration.

The Cloudamize Windows Agent and the Cloudamize Agentless data collector will automatically collect advanced SQL Server data from SQL Server if the SYSTEM account has access to the SQL Server instances.
- Requires PowerShell 5.1 or higher
- Data is automatically sent to Cloudamize with no additional user action
The Cloudamize Agentless data collector can also collect advanced SQL Server data from SQL Server if the User account specified in the Agentless UI has access to SQL Server instances.
- Requires PowerShell 5.1 or higher
- Data is automatically sent to Cloudamize with no additional user action
The Cloudamize SQL Telemetry tool can collect advanced SQL Server data from SQL Servers if the Cloudamize Windows Agent and the Cloudamize Agentless data collector cannot collect this data because the specified account does not have access to SQL Server or PowerShell 5.1 or higher is not installed.
- Does not require PowerShell
- The user can provide different credentials for each instance of SQL Server on each machine
- Data must be uploaded to the Cloudamize console by the user.

More information about what is included in the Basic data and Advanced data can be found at: https://support.cloudamize.com/kb/basic-and-advanced-ms-sql-collected-by-agent-based .

How to Use

Download the latest version of the SQL Telemetry data collector using the link for your operating system above and save it to a directory on your system.
Create a servers.csv file with the SQL Server instances you want to collect data from (details below)
Run sqlserver-telemetry via the Terminal, Command Line, or Powershell (examples below)
Upload the telemetry.json file that is produced to the Cloudamize console

`servers.csv` (Input File)

In the directory where you downloaded the application, create a new file called servers.csv with the connection strings for all of the SQL Server instances you would like to collect data from. This file can be created with Notepad, Excel, or any text editor. One SQL Server instance should be one per line, there is no limit to the number of SQL Servers.

The recommended connection string format is:

CODE

sqlserver://username:password@host:port/instance

The following connection string URL formats are also supported

sqlserver://username:password@host/instance?param1=value&param2=value
sqlserver://username:password@host:port?param1=value&param2=value
sqlserver://sa@localhost/SQLExpress?database=master&connection+timeout=30 // SQLExpress instance.
sqlserver://sa:mypass@localhost?database=master&connection+timeout=30 // username=sa, password=mypass.
sqlserver://sa:mypass@localhost:1234?database=master&connection+timeout=30 // port 1234 on localhost.
sqlserver://sa:my%7Bpass@somehost?connection+timeout=30 // password is "my{pass"

The connection string can also be provided in ADO and ODBC format, examples as follows:

server=localhost\\SQLExpress;user id=sa;database=master;app name=MyAppName
server=localhost;user id=sa;database=master;app name=MyAppName
odbc:server=localhost\\SQLExpress;user id=sa;database=master;app name=MyAppName
odbc:server=localhost;user id=sa;database=master;app name=MyAppName
odbc:server=localhost;user id=sa;password={foo;bar} // Value marked with {}, password is "foo;bar"
odbc:server=localhost;user id=sa;password={foo{bar} // Value marked with {}, password is "foo{bar"
odbc:server=localhost;user id=sa;password={foobar } // Value marked with {}, password is "foobar "
odbc:server=localhost;user id=sa;password=foo{bar // Literal {, password is "foo{bar"
odbc:server=localhost;user id=sa;password=foo}bar // Literal }, password is "foo}bar"
odbc:server=localhost;user id=sa;password={foo{bar} // Literal {, password is "foo{bar"
odbc:server=localhost;user id=sa;password={foo}}bar} // Escaped } with }}, password is "foo}bar"`

Run `sqlserver-telemetry`

Windows

In your Windows command prompt of preference (Command Prompt or Powershell), change the directory to where you downloaded the file and saved the servers.csv file.
Run the following command.

CODE

sqlserver-telemetry.exe servers.csv

Linux

In your Linux terminal, change the directory to where you downloaded the file and saved the servers.csv file.
Run the following command.

CODE

./sqlserver-telemetry servers.csv

If you have issues with the command, you may need to run the following first (and only once)

CODE

chmod a+x sqlserver-telemetry

`telemetry.json` (Output File)

This utility will run for ten minutes, and generate a JSON file called telemetry.json which is a machine and human-readable list of all of the output for the telemetry commands run against each of the listed DSN connection strings in the servers.csv file. For each connection string, it will capture the following information as accessible from within SQL Server AND the permissions allowed to the connection string account:

Host
SQLServerVersion
SQLServerEdition
OperatingSystem
AvailabilityGroups
Roles
ClusterInfo
Mirroring
LogShipping
Memory
HostCores
VisibleCores
I/O Performance
Enterprise Level Features Used
Errors

In order to make this more resilient, any errors identified during the execution of this utility will be silently captured and stored in the Errors field. This allows for maximal telemetry gathering without having to repeatedly trial and error within a customer's site. It is important to note that the output will NOT have any sensitive credential information and can therefore be exported with minimal to no risk associated.

Upload SQL Telemetry Report

Follow these steps in the Cloudamize Console to upload the SQL Telemetry output file:
- When the above process completes, there will be a telemetry.json file in the Downloads folder
- Log into the Cloudamize Console
- Navigate to the Settings page
  Settings Option
- On the Settings Page > External Data option, you will see a tab called SQL Telemetry
  SQL Telemetry Option
- Select SQL Telemetry and then click on the Upload SQL Telemetry Report option to upload the telemetry.json file.
We will fill in the following data collected from the above process where the data was not collected by the agent or agentless data collector.
- On-Prem Server Name (REQ'D)
- On-Prem SQL Server Edition(REQ'D)
- On-Prem SQL Server Version(RCM'D)
- On-Prem Operating System(REQ'D)
- SQL Cluster Name
- Passive Instance Using Log Ship, DB Mirroring(Non-Cluster)
- SQL Availability Group
- SQL Availability Group Role
- SQL Max Server Mem in MB
- SQL DB Mirroring Present
- SQL I/O Performance
- SQL Enterprise Level Features Used

Note: When the agent is collecting the telemetry data, It will be stored inside a Cloudamize folder and will be in encrypted format which users cannot see.

I/O Performance data can be viewed by clicking the button in the “Other SQL Info” column: