SQL Server · careful · free
Free SQL Server Health Check
Run it on your own PC. It runs the full audit and gives you a one-page summary of problems with backups, settings, availability groups and disk space. Nothing is installed on your server and nothing is sent to anyone.
Download
How it works
Unzip it
Right-click the zip and choose Extract All. Any folder is fine; Downloads works.
Double-click Start-HealthCheck
A black window opens. If Windows says it protected your PC, click More info, then Run anyway.
Type your server name and press Enter
Use the name you type to connect in SQL Server Management Studio. Each download checks one server; to check another, download again. Then wait, usually a few minutes, up to about 30 on a busy server. Leave the window open.
You’re done when two things open
Your summary opens in your browser. A folder opens with one locked file in it, ending in .sqlaudit.
Like what you see? Attach that one .sqlaudit file and send it to me by replying to my email. I’ll build the full audit from it, and we can go through it together on a call. Only I can open the file.
Free summary or full audit
| Free summary | Full audit | |
|---|---|---|
| What it covers | Backups, settings, availability groups and disk space. The deep scan is left out. | Every check, including the deep scan. |
| What you get | One page: counts of problems by area, how serious they are, and what happens if you leave them. | Three documents: the full report, a plain-language walkthrough, and a fix estimate in Excel. |
| Names the databases, jobs and logins | No | Yes, with the evidence behind each finding. |
| Says what to fix | No | Yes. Every problem is a line item with estimated hours. |
| A call to go through it | No | Yes. |
| Cost | Free | Lists at $1,200. Free for you: send me your locked results file. |
What the summary looks like
One page: counts of problems by area, how serious they are, and what happens if you leave them. It names no databases or accounts and lists no fixes.
Sample built from fictional data.
The full audit, and fixing what it finds
The full audit names the databases, jobs and logins behind each count and says what to fix. It comes as three documents, each with a sample built from fictional data.
See what the full audit includes
You fix it
Take the list and do it yourself.
Your team fixes it
Hand items to your own IT staff. I’m happy to work with them.
I fix it
Choose the items you want done, and I’ll do those.
Every problem is a line item with an estimate of hours, so you can pick and choose. Open the sample estimate. Hours are an estimate, not a fixed-price quote.
Do you need SA?
Sysadmin (SA) gives the most complete result.
With less access, some checks are skipped. The summary says which ones, so a clean result is never confused with a check that didn’t run.
Is it safe?
Reads, with one small exception
It reads settings and status. For a few checks it creates a small temporary diagnostic procedure in the temporary database (tempdb), one at a time, and removes it straight afterwards. It changes no setting and touches none of your databases.
Stays on your PC
Your results are packed into one locked file on your PC, and the loose files are deleted. Nothing is uploaded and nothing phones home. Only the person you send the file to can open it.
Nothing to install
No agent, no service, no database. To remove it, delete the folder you unzipped.
Questions about what it runs?
The checks only read settings and status. If you want to review them first, reply to my email and I’ll walk you through what each one does.
If something goes wrong
It says it can’t connect to the server
Check the name you typed, then try the same name in SQL Server Management Studio from the same PC. If that fails too, the problem is the network or a firewall, not the script.
The window looks frozen
Some checks take a minute or more. If the prompt hasn’t come back after 45 minutes, close the window and run it again.
Windows blocks the script
Right-click the zip before you extract it, choose Properties, tick Unblock, and extract again. Or click More info, then Run anyway.
The summary says some checks were skipped
That means the account you ran it with didn’t have access to those items. Run it again with a more privileged account for the full result.
Questions, or want help reading the results
Reply to my email.
Link used up
This link has been used 3 times
The download is limited to 3 uses per link, and this one is finished. Nothing is wrong with your computer.
Reply to my email and I’ll send a new link.