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  • Working with SQL Server Database Master Keys

    SQL Server uses an encryption hierarchy to protect secrets such as credentials, asymmetric keys and certificates. At the database level, that hierarchy is anchored by the database master key (DMK). Because all other encrypted objects depend on it, losing access to the DMK can render those objects unusable. This post walks through how to: It also…

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  • Check SQL Server Connection Encryption and Protocol

    Modern SQL Server environments often use encrypted connections by default, but that does not always mean what people think it means. When troubleshooting connectivity problems, certificate errors, performance questions, or unexpected client behaviour, DBAs usually need to answer one very specific question: What protocol and encryption is this connection actually using right now? This post…

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  • How to Check SQL Server Version

    Knowing exactly which SQL Server version and build is running is foundational DBA work. It comes up during patching, incident response, audits, upgrades, and when engaging Microsoft support. SQL Server exposes version information in several ways. Some are fast and visual, others are scriptable, and a few provide deeper installation detail when you need it.…

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  • sqlcmd Examples for SQL Server

    sqlcmd is a command line utility for connecting to SQL Server and executing Transact-SQL without a GUI. It is commonly used for automation, scripting, remote administration, and incident response, especially in environments where SSMS is unavailable, inappropriate, or too heavy. This post covers sqlcmd usage from a DBA perspective, how to find or install it,…

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  • Install and Update SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)

    🛠️Part of the SSMS Complete Guide, installing, configuring and fixing SQL Server Management Studio. SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is the primary management tool for SQL Server and Azure SQL, and it’s also the official download and update path for SSMS going forward. In recent releases it’s changed significantly, not in how it looks, but…

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  • SSMS Certificate Chain Not Trusted Error (Trust Server Certificate Fix)

    🚨Part of the SQL Server Errors series, the exact messages and what actually causes them. If you have upgraded SSMS or a driver recently and a connection that worked yesterday has stopped working today, this is almost certainly what you are looking at. Nothing changed on the server. The client got stricter, and it is…

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  • SQL Server Default Ports

    SQL Server listens on TCP 1433 by default, and on a box running a single default instance that is usually the end of it. It stops being true as soon as anything else is going on. A named instance takes a dynamic port that can change when the service restarts, which is the whole reason…

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  • Check When SQL Server Was Last Restarted

    Knowing when SQL Server last restarted is one of the simplest checks a DBA can perform, and one of the most useful. It immediately answers questions around patching, failovers, configuration changes, and unexplained behaviour. Before assuming anything else, confirming uptime is always worth doing first. This post shows the most reliable way to check SQL…

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  • Using PowerShell to Get Last SQL Failover Time

    When reviewing availability events on SQL Server, one of the first questions is often: Did the cluster move, and when? This post shows how to use PowerShell to retrieve the last Windows Failover Cluster role movement for a SQL Server instance by querying cluster event logs. It’s a fast, reliable way to confirm node-level failovers…

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  • Enabling TCP Connections in SQL Server

    TCP/IP must be enabled in SQL Server for remote connections to work. If it’s disabled, applications can’t connect; even if authentication, ports, and firewall rules are all correct. This post shows two reliable ways to enable TCP connections in SQL Server: Both approaches require a service restart before changes take effect. When You Need to…

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