unable to open SSMS in single user mode

  • 1. Yes, connect to the server as an administrator, issue the BACKUP DATABASE command in T-SQL.

    2. No, any client will work, but you only get one connection. If you use SSMS, you cannot use the object explorer as it will take the connection. You can only use the Query window connection.

  • You mention Object Explorer and Query Analyzer as seperate interfaces, yet so far I have always engaged with them as one whole package aka SSMA. I wouldn't know how to get a session of Object Explorer or Query Analyzer running on it's own if I wanted to.

    If I am in this emergency mode and I type this command: m"Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio - Query" , will I be able to issue backup/restore commands to sql server?

    Thank you.

  • Query Analyzer is a SQL 2000 product, not a SQL 2008 one. Are you using SQL 2008?

    If you run SSMS you have different panes. Some of these panes make separate connections to SQL Server. Each one is essentially a client even though it looks like one program. The pane on the left (typically) is the Object Explorer and shows the various parts of SQL Server in a tree format. The query window is in the center and is where you typically type T-SQL commands.

    Do you have a database in emergency mode? Or are you saying if you start in single user mode? They are two separate things, so I want to be clear about what is happening.

    If you open SSMS, and the Object Explorer opens and connects, you will need to close it. The only thing you want to have open in SSMS is a Query window. Click "New Query" and enter the credentials of "sa" or a sysadmin to connect. From that query window you can enter T-SQL commands.

  • I'm using SQL Server 2008 so I should say Query Editor.

    Until now I thought single user mode and emergency mode were synonomous. Finally, I know better.

    My interest first is in knowing what I can accomplish if I am in emergency mode ie. if I can't open the SSMS interface and I can connect only via DOS command window.

    Can I access all databases to back up and restore them if needed (seems like a plausible situation). Can I do everything that i can in Query Editor if I am in this mode?

    If I know the answer to this I plan to tuck it away for a rainy day. I am not in emergency mode right now.

  • It's not emergency mode. There's no such thing. There is an emergency status for a database, but you are confusing the issue if you call this emergency mode. It's single user mode. That's it.

    You can connect to the server instance and do most anything you normally do, including backups. Typically you do not connect in single user mode for backups. This is usually used when you need to work with the master database. A rebuild or restore of that system database, or other system databases when you do not want anyone else to connect.

    You can send queries to SQL Server using any client, but you only get one connection. One connection being one SPID. Not one client program, not one workstation, one connection. Some programs use multiple connections and they will have errors. Typically people that start in single user mode use SQLCMD to connect to the server and run a script of some sort that's prepared for some situation.

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