Microsoft SQL Server cookbook release – 5.4.0

Hello and Happy New Year Chef’s! It is 2018 and what better way to start the new year off than with an exciting cookbook release. I’m happy to announce that we have just released version 5.4.0 of the sql_server cookbook. Now, I know you’re thinking that this is not a major release. However, it comes with some very new and exciting features that we want to share with you.

New Custom Resources

One of the great features of Chef is that it easily extends through the use of custom resources. Custom resources provide a way to make a complicated and opinionated task, like installing SQL server, and make it simpler to understand and use. With the new sql_server cookbook we introduced two new custom resources for that very purpose: the install resource and the configure resource.

Support for installing more SQL features and versions

One of the questions that I often get about the sql_server cookbook is how to install an Enterprise edition of SQL or install an Enterprise feature. With this version, we have made this process easier to not only use but to understand. We have also added support for all versions of SQL Server 2017.

Dynamic Feature Installation

In the latest version of the cookbook the ConfigurationFile.ini has been reworked to allow for a dynamically built ConfigurationFile.ini that is based on the feature property in the install custom resource. If the feature is listed, it’s subsequent configuration will be added at install. In the previous version of the cookbook, the way to get this behavior often involved using the edit_resource and your own ConfigurationFile.ini. As another major addition, we have included a comprehensive readme that lists by version the features and appropriate acronym. The readme also now includes examples of how to take advantage of this feature.

Where to get it?

With these new changes we hope that the sql_server cookbook with make installing SQL server easier. The cookbook is currently available on the Supermarket or on GitHub. You can also just depend on the sql_server cookbook in the metadata.rb file of you wrapper cookbook and use the new resources in your recipe. If you have any questions or find any issues with the cookbook be sure to let us know on the issues page.

John Snow

John Snow is a Customer Engineer with Chef's Advanced Customer Engineering Team. He works to help customers get the most out of their Chef implementation through community contributions, and co-operative development. Prior to Chef he worked as a Microsoft focused Systems Engineer for the Department of Defense.