Microsoft SQL and ”Auto Close” option

MS SQL database properties have an option called Auto Close. Microsoft describes this option:

When set to ON, the database is shut down cleanly and its resources are freed after the last user exits. The database automatically reopens when a user tries to use the database again.

This can be nice in some occasions, but it’s also quite annoying when you look at the logs on the server. There can be hundreds or thousands of lines related to opening a database, just because this setting is ON by default. In Windows Server 2012 when using ADFS services with WID (Windows Internal Database) this option should be switched to FALSE.

The change in pretty simple in all. Just open your Microsoft SQL Management Studio as Administrator and connect to:

\\.\pipe\Microsoft##WID\tsql\query

Then open your database properties and modify the Auto Close option to False.

SQL Server best practice states that it should be switched off.

Synchronize DSRM password with a domain account

Directory Services Restore Mode (DSRM) password is one of the most critical logins in Windows environments. With this password a user can restart a domain controller, copy or change the Active Directory database and many other actions completely anonymously. This is why this password should be protected efficiently.

The password can be change using ntdsutil.exe and the credential is server based, so you have to change the password to every server if you wish to keep the status somewhat organized.

Since Windows Server 2008 SP3 (hotfix) there has been a chance to sync this DSRM password with a Domain User account’s password. This is very useful because managing the password policy of a domain user is much more easier than DSRM password.

The sync can be implemented using ntdsutil.exe by running the tool with the following arguments where dsrmuser is the account name of the desired user:

“set dsrm password” “sync from domain account dsrmuser” q q

To further expand the possibilities you can automate the process using Task Scheduler to schedule the sync on every DC. You can also implement this scheduled task via Group Policy Preferences.

8, 2012

It’s been a while for my last post. Bee busy here and there but I try to make it up this fall. Numbers 8 and 2012 have some significance to the world of IT infrastructure. Windows 8 RTM was released to the professionals subscribers of TechNet and MSDN few weeks back and today was the hyped release of Windows Server 2012 RTM. I was probably not the only one that didn’t get the chance to watch the webcast since the site was pretty jammed at the time I tried. Well that was not entirely bad because I noticed that the Server was released to TechNet so it was time to DOWNLOAD!

In the coming days I hope I have some spare time to look at the product more closely and re-image my entire lab to 2012 platform. At the mean time go check out the Server 2012 and download your own evaluation copy from Microsoft.com.

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