mysqldump Similar Utility for SQL Server

November 21st, 2008
SQL Server | No Comments

If you are using SQL Server (specifically Express 2005) and you are looking for a quick way to export your entire database into a single file, the following tool will do the trick.

Export Your Database

Grab a fresh copy of the free tool.

http://www.eggheadcafe.com/articles/20040913.zip

Once you have downloaded the zip file you can open the pre-built application in the following folder:

<extracted directory>\bin\Debug\WindowsApplication1.exe

If you are using SQL Express use the following Server string:

server\SQLEXPRESS

OR for local connections:

.\SQLEXPRESS

The only downside I see to this utility is that you cannot use Windows Authentication.

Enter the server information to connect to your database. Select your database, the objects you wish to export and click EXPORT.

Once the export process is complete it will ask you where you wish to save the file.

Import Your Database

Now that you have a full SQL file representation of your database you can use SQL Server Management Studio Express to create your exported database.

Fire up SQL Server Management Studio Express and log in.

NOTE: If you are migrating your data to a server that does not have a matching database you must first create a database with the same name from your export.

Open your fresh database export file.