Default mdf/ldf directory at the server level

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Default mdf/ldf directory at the server level

JKSQL

SSCrazy Eights

Points: 8323
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May 15, 2013 at 3:05 pm

#293965

I need this for an outside application to create a DB using the default. Currently we use:
DECLARE @SQL_path nvarchar(256)
SELECT TOP 1 @SQL_path = SUBSTRING(filename, 1, CHARINDEX(N'master.mdf', LOWER(filename)) - 1)
FROM [master].[sys].[sysdatabases]
This is not really effective if the master is on another drive from the default. We can't use cmdshell to get to the settings. Command shell could be turned off in the instance I am trying to install a database to. Is this the best I can do or is there a way to get at that server mdf/ldf default when creating the database?

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Lowell SSC Guru Points: 323504 More actions · Answer 1

BACKUP default directory

http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1319398-1550-1.aspx

/*

In case it was not clear in Jason's post, the @key parameter value remain consistent

across all of your instances. The proc he is calling does proper registry resolution

for us depending on the instance we run it from. That is the beauty of master.sys.xp_instance_regread, as opposed to master.sysxp_regread

which requires the literal path to the registry location you want.

If you were using master.sys.xp_regread your calls would need

to be different across all of your 5-10 instances.

*/

EXECUTE [master].dbo.xp_instance_regread

N'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE',

N'SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSSQLServer\MSSQLServer', N'BackupDirectory'

Lowell

--help us help you! If you post a question, make sure you include a CREATE TABLE... statement and INSERT INTO... statement into that table to give the volunteers here representative data. with your description of the problem, we can provide a tested, verifiable solution to your question! asking the question the right way gets you a tested answer the fastest way possible!

JKSQL SSCrazy Eights Points: 8323 More actions · Answer 2

That got me to the right spot with that link

Declare @datadir nvarchar(4000)

,@logdir nvarchar(4000)

EXEC master.dbo.xp_instance_regread

N'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE'

, N'Software\Microsoft\MSSQLServer\MSSQLServer'

, N'DefaultData'

, @datadir output;

IF @datadir IS NULL

BEGIN

EXEC master.dbo.xp_instance_regread

N'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE'

, N'Software\Microsoft\MSSQLServer\Setup'

, N'SQLDataRoot'

, @datadir output;

END

EXEC master.dbo.xp_instance_regread

N'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE'

, N'Software\Microsoft\MSSQLServer\MSSQLServer'

, N'DefaultLog'

, @logdir output;

SELECT @datadir as Data_directory, ISNULL(@logdir,@datadir) as Log_directory

That being said it is magic. I am not sure how it is coming back with the right answer. I searched the registry and did a search for the result and both came back empty. I am going to give this a try and see if it gets past testing. Thanks