Blogs

Setting a Custom Variable in an Azure DevOps Pipeline with PowerShell

Here’s a quick post on something simple which stumped me for a while, in the hopes that search engines help someone else who gets confused in the same way.

Recently, I was doing a bit of work in Azure DevOps Services, preparing a demo for an upcoming webinar. I ran into a simple but frustrating problem.

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Git Command Line Tutorial with SQL Change Automation for SSMS (video)

I’m really excited for Redgate’s new SQL Change Automation plugin for SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). SQL Change Automation lets DBAs and developers use a migrations-first approach to create precise scripts to apply changes to your database. If you’re curious about what I mean by “migrations-first”, read more about this approach, and how it compares to a state-first approach here.

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Key Findings for Database Professionals from the Accelerate State of DevOps Report 2019

The Accelerate: State of DevOps Report 2019 has just been published. This report is the latest in six years of research. With more than 31,000 survey responses, Accelerate is the longest running study of DevOps in academia or industry. In the 2019 edition, research continues to show that DevOps drives business value: high performers at DevOps are “twice as likely to meet or exceed their organizational goals.” While this isn’t a new finding, it’s very important that this continues to be true: why invest in improving at DevOps if it doesn’t drive business value?

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Azure DevOps: How to Set a Custom Release Branch Folder Filter in Build Pipeline Triggers (video)

This is the first in a series of posts about simple things that I had a hard time figuring out in Azure DevOps services.

It can be very useful to enable Continuous Integration for multiple folders in your DevOps pipeline – say, for every branch created under releases/ or features/. But configuring this can be strangely confusing!

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How to Persuade Your Company to Change

Like a lot of developers and database administrators, I do a fair amount of short-term problem solving during the course of my normal work week.

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Managing Cross-Database Dependencies in Builds (Redgate video)

Building your database code is an essential practice to ensure that it compiles from source and that dependencies are met. But things can get tricky when you have objects in some databases which is dependent upon objects in other databases – or even circular dependencies.

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How Developers and DBAs Collaborate in a DevOps World (video)

You’re a DBA, and your development team is all-in on doing DevOps, and they want to include the database. Should your DBA team limit the permissions or options for automation? Or should you instead re-think how your two teams work together?

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A letter to my 20 year-old self

This post is a part of #tsql2sday, a monthly community ritual where a topic is proposed by a community member and everyone is invited to join in. This month’s topic is from Mohammad Darab, who encouraged us to: “Write your 20 year old self a letter. If you could go back in time and give yourself advice, what would it be?” The advice I would give to my 20 year old self is the same advice I give to myself today, more than 20 years later:

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DBAs: Stop Denying Sysadmin to Developers

I recent chatted with some folks who have a permissions problem in SQL Server. The permissions problem isn’t technical – it’s a process problem.

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