Merge pull request #19 from jpomfret/repl-remove

Repl remove

blog/assets/jsconfig.json

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   "baseUrl": ".",
   "paths": {
    "*": [
-    "../../../../tmp/hugo_cache/modules/filecache/modules/pkg/mod/github.com/!cai!jimmy/hugo-theme-stack/[email protected]/assets/*"
+    "..\\..\\..\\..\\Users\\jpomf\\AppData\\Local\\hugo_cache\\modules\\filecache\\modules\\pkg\\mod\\github.com\\!cai!jimmy\\hugo-theme-stack\\[email protected]\\assets\\*"
    ]
   }
  }

blog/content/post/2024/dbatools-repl-get/index.md

@@ -271,13 +271,3 @@ This is part of a series of posts covering how to use the dbatools replication c
 - dbatools Replication: Tear down replication with dbatools
 
 You can also view any posts I've written on Replication by heading to the [Replication Category](/categories/replication/) page of this blog.
-
-## Presentation at SQLBits
-
-Also don't forget I'm presenting 'managing replication with dbatools' at SQLBits 2024 in just a few weeks!
-
-{{<
-  figure src="/sqlbits.png"
-         alt="I'm Speaking at SQLBits"
-         link="https://sqlbits.com/attend/the-agenda/friday/#Managing_replication_with_dbatools"
->}}

blog/content/post/2024/dbatools-repl-remove/index.md

@@ -2,19 +2,39 @@
 title: "dbatools replication - tear down replication"
 slug: "dbatools-repl-remove"
 description: "Remove all the pieces and parts of replication with dbatools."
-date: 2024-03-06T10:31:31Z
+date: 2024-03-14T10:31:31Z
 categories:
     - dbatools
     - replication
 tags:
     - dbatools
     - replication
-image:
-draft: true
+image: chris-j-davis-PT_9ux0j-x4-unsplash.jpg
+draft: false
 ---
 
+If you've been following along in this [dbatools](https://dbatools.io) [replication](/categories/replication/) series, thanks for joining us on this ride! I'm not going to commit to this being the final post in the series, but this is the one where we destroy everything. If you need to tear down replication - this is the post for you.
+
+As I mentioned this is part of a series, so if you want to review the other posts I've written before this one you can see them here:
+
+- [dbatools - introducing replication support](/dbatools-replication)
+- [dbatools Replication: The Get commands](/dbatools-repl-get)
+- [dbatools Replication: Setup Replication](/dbatools-repl-setup)
+
+In fact if you want to follow along with this post, I'd at least recommend the previous post on setting up replication, so you have something ready to tear down.
+
+---
+
+In the [Setup Replication](/dbatools-repl-setup) post we started with enabling the server components needed for replication and then we created a publication, added articles and then finally added a subscription - in that order. To remove replication we will reverse that order, removing the dependencies we created in reverse.
+
+First we will remove the subscriptions.
+
 ## Remove Subscription
 
+In replication, subscribers are where the data is replicated too. Let's remove the subscription we added in the last post from the `testPub` publication on `sql1` to `sql2`. I can accomplish this with the `Remove-DbaReplSubscription` command.
+
+>Just a reminder, when we're dealing with subscriptions we will still target the publisher as the `-SqlInstance` parameter. This is because SQL Server stores the information on the publisher, so for us to find the subscriptions we need to go there first.
+
 ```PowerShell
 $sub = @{
     SqlInstance           = 'sql1'
@@ -26,14 +46,20 @@ $sub = @{
 Remove-DbaReplSubscription @sub
 ```
 
+When I run this PowerShell I get a prompt, 'Are you sure?!?'. This command is destructive, and with any dbatools commands that remove items you get a second chance to back out. In this case, I am sure, so I will press `Y` to continue and remove the subscription. I can skip this confirmation, for example when running in an automated fashion, I'll come back to this a little later.
+
 ```text
 Confirm
 Are you sure you want to perform this action?
 Performing the operation "Removing subscription to testPub from sql1.AdventureWorksLT2022" on target "sql2".
 [Y] Yes  [A] Yes to All  [N] No  [L] No to All  [S] Suspend  [?] Help (default is "Y"): y
 ```
 
-## remove article
+Note there is no output from this command executing successfully, since we removed the object we were aiming at.  However, no errors, so we can presume we're good here. We could also use `Get-DbaReplSubscription` to double check if we wanted to.
+
+## Remove Article
+
+It isn't required to remove articles from a publication before you delete a publication. However, to keep this in order I'll show you how to remove an article from a publication next. The command for this is `Remove-DbaReplArticle` and you will specify the publisher instance again, `sql1` in this case. With the parameters below, I'm removing a particular article `SalesLT.Customer` from the `testpub` publication.
 
 ```PowerShell
 $article = @{
@@ -42,15 +68,18 @@ $article = @{
     Publication = 'testpub'
     Schema      = 'salesLT'
     Name        = 'customer'
+    WhatIf      = $true
 }
-Remove-DbaReplArticle @article -WhatIf
+Remove-DbaReplArticle @article
 ```
 
-`-WhatIf`
+You'll notice I've added an extra parameter to this command, `-WhatIf`, this is also available on all destructive dbatools commands (and other PowerShell commands if they are written to make use of it). This means that the command will just output what it would do if you didn't have `-WhatIf` set to `$true`. In this case:
 
-`What if: Performing the operation "Removing the article SalesLT.Customer from the testPub publication on [sql1]" on target "customer".`
+```text
+What if: Performing the operation "Removing the article SalesLT.Customer from the testPub publication on [sql1]" on target "customer".
+```
 
-remove whatif
+If I now remove `-WhatIf` and rerun the command I'll get another prompt to confirm I'm sure, and then if I am, the article will be removed and this time the output below will show it was removed.
 
 ```Text
 Confirm
@@ -68,25 +97,34 @@ Status       : Removed
 IsRemoved    : True
 ```
 
-instead we can use piping
+This is good if I want to remove one article, but there isn't really much benefit to using PowerShell over just finding that publication in SSMS and removing a single article.
+
+However, if I wanted to remove all articles, from all publications on the publisher instance, or maybe even from multiple instances - this would be a pain in SSMS (unless you generate some T-SQL code), but in PowerShell - all we need is a single line.
+
+In PowerShell we have a concept called [Piping](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.core/about/about_pipelines?view=powershell-7.4), where the output from one command is passed through the 'pipe' (`|`) symbol onto the next command. The output will then be acted upon by the next command you specify.
+
+If I run the following code. First, `Get-DbaReplArticle` will retrieve all the articles for publications on `sql1` and then they will be passed along the pipeline to `Remove-DbaReplArticle` to be removed. However, I've again added `-WhatIf` so we can preview what would happen.
 
 ```PowerShell
 Get-DbaReplArticle -SqlInstance sql1 | Remove-DbaReplArticle -WhatIf
 ```
 
+The output shows that two articles were found and will be removed from the `snappy` and `mergey` publications respectively.
+
 ```text
 What if: Performing the operation "Removing the article SalesLT.Address from the snappy publication on [sql1]" on target "address".
 What if: Performing the operation "Removing the article SalesLT.Product from the mergey publication on [sql1]" on target "product".
 ```
 
-remove whatif and run it for real
+Now, I'm sure I want to remove all these articles so if I remove `-WhatIf` and instead replace it with `-Confirm`, I won't be asked if I'm sure - this skips the confirmation prompt.
 
-```text
-Confirm
-Are you sure you want to perform this action?
-Performing the operation "Removing the article SalesLT.Address from the snappy publication on [sql1]" on target "address".
-[Y] Yes  [A] Yes to All  [N] No  [L] No to All  [S] Suspend  [?] Help (default is "Y"): y
+```PowerShell
+Get-DbaReplArticle -SqlInstance sql1 | Remove-DbaReplArticle -Confirm:$false
+```
+
+The output below shows that two articles were removed.
 
+```text
 ComputerName : sql1
 InstanceName : MSSQLSERVER
 SqlInstance  : [sql1]
@@ -96,11 +134,6 @@ ObjectSchema : SalesLT
 Status       : Removed
 IsRemoved    : True
 
-
-Confirm
-Are you sure you want to perform this action?
-Performing the operation "Removing the article SalesLT.Product from the mergey publication on [sql1]" on target "product".
-[Y] Yes  [A] Yes to All  [N] No  [L] No to All  [S] Suspend  [?] Help (default is "Y"): y
 ComputerName : sql1
 InstanceName : MSSQLSERVER
 SqlInstance  : [sql1]
@@ -113,15 +146,21 @@ IsRemoved    : True
 
 ## Remove Publication
 
+The final objects we have to clear up are any publications. I'll call `Remove-DbaReplPublication` with the following parameters to remove the `TestPub` publication from the `sql1` instance.
+
 ```PowerShell
-    $pub = @{
-        SqlInstance = 'sql1'
-        Database    = 'AdventureWorksLT2022'
-        Name        = 'TestPub'
-    }
-    Remove-DbaReplPublication @pub
+$pub = @{
+    SqlInstance = 'sql1'
+    Database    = 'AdventureWorksLT2022'
+    Name        = 'TestPub'
+}
+Remove-DbaReplPublication @pub
 ```
 
+Again since I didn't specify `-Confirm:$false` I will have to confirm I'm sure, and then the publication will be removed.
+
+In the text output below, you'll notice there are actually two confirmation prompts from running this command. First to remove the publication, and second to remove the SQL Agent job that is associated with this publication.
+
 ```text
 Confirm
 Are you sure you want to perform this action?
@@ -143,13 +182,18 @@ Status       : Removed
 IsRemoved    : True
 ```
 
+## Disable Publishing
 
-## disable publishing
+At this point all the publications, articles and subscriptions have been cleared up, but the `sql1` instance is still enabled for publishing, and is setup as a distributor. Let's put things back to how they were by disabling these components.
+
+First, I'll disable publishing on `sql1` with the following command.
 
 ```PowerShell
-Disable-DbaReplPublishing -SqlInstance sql1 -force
+Disable-DbaReplPublishing -SqlInstance sql1
 ```
 
+Again, our friendly confirmation prompt, but then you might also notice a warning. The warning states that there are databases still enabled for replication, this is a bug within RMO, the library dbatools uses, and needs further investigation to resolve. The good news is that although we get this message the command does successfully disable publishing.
+
 ```text
 Confirm
 Are you sure you want to perform this action?
@@ -159,18 +203,19 @@ WARNING: [15:33:35][Disable-DbaReplPublishing] Unable to disable replication pub
 Changed database context to 'distribution'.
 ```
 
-## disable distribution
+Once this is complete we can move onto the final step.
+
+## Disable Distribution
+
+Again, one more line of PowerShell to disable distribution for `sql1`, this also cleans up the `distribution` database (or whatever special name you gave it when you set it up). This time I will specify `-Confirm:$false` to skip the confirmation prompt.
 
 ```PowerShell
-Disable-DbaReplDistributor -SqlInstance sql1
+Disable-DbaReplDistributor -SqlInstance sql1 -Confirm:$false
 ```
 
-```text
-Confirm
-Are you sure you want to perform this action?
-Performing the operation "Disabling and removing distribution on sql1" on target "sql1".
-[Y] Yes  [A] Yes to All  [N] No  [L] No to All  [S] Suspend  [?] Help (default is "Y"): y
+The output of this command is the same as what `Get-DbaReplServer` would return at this point. It shows that `IsDistributor` and `IsPublisher` are both set to 'False' and our `sql1` instance is back to how it looked before we started to build out replication in the last post.
 
+```text
 ComputerName         : sql1
 InstanceName         : MSSQLSERVER
 SqlInstance          : sql1
@@ -180,16 +225,15 @@ DistributionServer   : SQL1
 DistributionDatabase :
 ```
 
-```PowerShell
-Get-DbaReplServer -SqlInstance sql1
-```
+## Series
 
-```
-ComputerName         : sql1
-InstanceName         : MSSQLSERVER
-SqlInstance          : sql1
-IsDistributor        : False
-IsPublisher          : False
-DistributionServer   :
-DistributionDatabase :
-```
+This is part of a series of posts covering how to use the dbatools replication commands, other posts in the series:
+
+- [dbatools - introducing replication support](/dbatools-replication)
+- [dbatools Replication: The Get commands](/dbatools-repl-get)
+- [dbatools Replication: Setup replication with dbatools](/dbatools-repl-setup)
+- dbatools Replication: Tear down replication with dbatools - this post!
+
+You can also view any posts I've written on Replication by heading to the [Replication Category](/categories/replication/) page of this blog.
+
+Header Photo by [Chris J. Davis](https://unsplash.com/@chrisjdavis?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash) on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/photos/a-close-up-of-a-computer-keyboard-on-a-desk-PT_9ux0j-x4?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash)

blog/content/post/2024/dbatools-repl-setup/index.md

@@ -20,17 +20,17 @@ Welcome to another post in my [dbatools](https://dbatools.io) [replication](/cat
 
 ---
 
-This post is focusing on how to setup replication with dbatools. We support all three flavours - [snapshot](https://learn.microsoft.com/sql/relational-databases/replication/snapshot-replication?view=sql-server-ver16&WT.mc_id=AZ-MVP-5003655), [transactional](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/relational-databases/replication/transactional/transactional-replication?view=sql-server-ver16?wt.mc_id=AZ-MVP-5003655) and even [merge replication](https://learn.microsoft.com/sql/relational-databases/replication/merge/merge-replication?view=sql-server-ver16&WT.mc_id=AZ-MVP-5003655)! 
+This post is focusing on how to setup replication with dbatools. We support all three flavours - [snapshot](https://learn.microsoft.com/sql/relational-databases/replication/snapshot-replication?view=sql-server-ver16&WT.mc_id=AZ-MVP-5003655), [transactional](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/relational-databases/replication/transactional/transactional-replication?view=sql-server-ver16?wt.mc_id=AZ-MVP-5003655) and even [merge replication](https://learn.microsoft.com/sql/relational-databases/replication/merge/merge-replication?view=sql-server-ver16&WT.mc_id=AZ-MVP-5003655)!
 
 In this article I'll be creating a transactional publication, but the steps for setup are very similar no matter which flavour you're implementing.
 
 I'll walk through and demonstrate all the steps to setup replication in this article as dbatools allows us to complete them all. However, I won't go into a lot of details on why or how replication works, or provide guidance on best practices. If you need more information on replication as a technology then I recommend visiting the [Microsoft Docs](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/relational-databases/replication/sql-server-replication?view=sql-server-ver16?wt.mc_id=AZ-MVP-5003655).
 
 ## Setup Distributor and Publisher
 
-Alright, step 1! 
+Alright, step 1!
 
-Replication requires a server that is configured as a distributor, and a server that is configured as a publisher. 
+Replication requires a server that is configured as a distributor, and a server that is configured as a publisher.
 
 Good news, these pieces of the puzzle can both be configured on the same server which is what I'll demonstrate in my test environment. In environments where replication has a high throughput and/or requires peak performance you can configure a separate server for distribution to move some of the load off of the publisher.
 
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ You can see the following output is returned, note that the `DistributionDatabas
 
 There is an optional parameter `-DistributionDatabase` if you want to specify a certain name for the database that is created on the distributor, but if you don't specify, the database will be called `distribution` which is the default. Same as if you were to create it through SSMS.
 
-```
+```text
 ComputerName         : sql1
 InstanceName         : MSSQLSERVER
 SqlInstance          : sql1
@@ -179,7 +179,6 @@ More information on this command is available in the dbatools help documentation
 
 - [Add-DbaReplArticle](https://dbatools.io/Add-DbaReplArticle)
 
-
 ## Add a Subscription
 
 Alright, the final piece of this puzzle is to add a subscription.
@@ -223,6 +222,7 @@ Replication relies on executables that live outside of the SQL Server Engine, bu
 Get-DbaAgentJob -SqlInstance sql1 -Category repl-snapshot | 
 Start-DbaAgentJob
 ```
+
 The output of this command shows it found the `SQL1-AdventureWorksLT2022-testPub-1` job and started it.
 
 ```text
@@ -254,7 +254,6 @@ Now these commands aren't specifically related to replication, but all dbatools
 - [Get-DbaAgentJob](https://dbatools.io/Get-DbaAgentJob)
 - [Start-DbaAgentJob](https://dbatools.io/Start-DbaAgentJob)
 
-
 ## Testing time
 
 With transactional replication, the magic is that rows are replicated (in near real-time) as they change on the publisher. Let's prove the replication we've configured is working as expected by inserting a row into the `SalesLT.Customer` table on the `sql1` instance.
@@ -285,6 +284,7 @@ VALUES ('0','Mr.','Bill','Gates','ElzTpSNbUW1Ut+L5cWlfR7MF6nBZia8WpmGaQPjLOJA=',
 ```
 
 > We could also do this using PowerShell and dbatools with the following call to `Invoke-DbaQuery`.
+>
 > ```PowerShell
 >$insertParams = @{
 >    SqlInstance = 'sql1'
@@ -330,14 +330,4 @@ This is part of a series of posts covering how to use the dbatools replication c
 
 You can also view any posts I've written on Replication by heading to the [Replication Category](/categories/replication/) page of this blog.
 
-## Presentation at SQLBits
-
-Also don't forget I'm presenting 'managing replication with dbatools' at SQLBits 2024 in just a couple of weeks!
-
-{{<
-  figure src="/sqlbits.png"
-         alt="I'm Speaking at SQLBits"
-         link="https://sqlbits.com/attend/the-agenda/friday/#Managing_replication_with_dbatools"
->}}
-
 Header Photo by [Gabor Szucs](https://unsplash.com/@gabcsika?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash) on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/photos/body-of-water-surrounded-with-trees-under-white-skies-b4b-5FodP3I?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash)

blog/content/post/2024/dbatools-replication/index.md

@@ -70,13 +70,3 @@ This is an exciting time, but this is just the introductory post for a series on
 - dbatools Replication: Tear down replication with dbatools
 
 You can also view any posts I've written on Replication by heading to the [Replication Category](/categories/replication/) page of this blog.
-
-## "But I want to hear a presentation on the topic!"
-
-Well great news here, I'll be presenting [Managing replication with dbatools](https://sqlbits.com/attend/the-agenda/friday/#Managing_replication_with_dbatools) at [SQLBits 2024](https://sqlbits.com/) on Friday 22nd March in Farnborough, I'll link to the recording if\when it becomes available.
-
-{{<
-  figure src="/sqlbits.png"
-         alt="I'm Speaking at SQLBits"
-         link="https://sqlbits.com/attend/the-agenda/friday/#Managing_replication_with_dbatools"
->}}