Fasthosts Customer Support

MSSQL
Quick Start
Guide
This guide will help you add a MSSQL database to your
account, set up users and their permissions. As well as
backing up and restoring your database.
Customer Support | MSSQL Quick Start Guide

Contents
Introduction ......................................................................................... 1
Before you start .................................................................................. 1
Fasthosts database management screen .......................................... 2
Add an MS SQL database to your account .................................... 3
Find your Database ............................................................................ 4
Add users to your database ............................................................... 5
Setting your user permissions ............................................................ 7
Connect to your database ................................................................ 12
Move an existing Database to Fasthosts ......................................... 13
Back up your MS SQL database ...................................................... 16
Back up your database content .................................................... 16
Backing up stored procedures and functions ................................ 19
Importing MS SQL database content ............................................ 21

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Customer Support | MSSQL Quick Start Guide

Introduction
SQL databases provide many benefits to the web designer, allowing you to
dynamically update your web pages, collect and maintain customer data and
allowing customers to contribute to your website with content of their own. In
addition many software applications, such as blogs, forums and content
management systems require a database to store their information.

SQL stands for Structured Query Language, which is a standard interactive

programming language used for many popular databases.

We offer two types of database: MySQL and Microsoft SQL Server. Most popular
web applications require one of these database types. You can find out which
database type you need on your chosen application's website.

MS SQL is a database designed by Microsoft to be compatible with standard

SQL commands.

Before you start

Microsoft developed SQL Server Management Studio to help you manage your
database easily and quickly. Some of the tasks described within this guide
require the installation of this software on your own computer.

Through the Graphical User Interface (GUI) you are able to create tables,
schema, objects and users. You can also set permissions and run scripts directly
on your database.

Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio is available as a free download at:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=42299

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Important: Previous Microsoft database software, such as

SQL Server Management Studio Express 2005, Enterprise
Manager and Query Analyzer, will not work with modern MS
SQL databases. However SQL Server Management Studio
2008 and newer has all the features of these early tools, with
extra functionality to make administering your database
easier than ever before.

Fasthosts database management screen

Step 1
Log in to your account and select
Manage Packages from the
Website menu.

Step 2
Click on your domain name in your domains list.

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Step 3
Click on the Configure in the Databases tile.
You will see a list of all MSSQL and MySQL
databases associated with the hosting package.

Add an MS SQL database to your account

When you add a database to your account, it is created on one of our dedicated
database servers but you can easily access it from your web space.

Step 1
Follow the steps above to navigate to Fasthosts database management screen.

Step 2
Click Add New database.

Step 3
Choose MS SQL Server as
the database type, and enter a
name for the new database.
This name must be unique on
our system, so you may be
asked to try again if another
customer has already chosen that name.

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Quick tip: The username must be unique, so try using your

domain name in the user name. For example, if your domain
is myonlineshop.com, then you could call your database
myonlineshopdb and the user could be
myonlineshopdbuser.

Note: Database names are case sensitive.

Click Add Database when you’ve entered a name for your database.

Step 4
Confirm your order, if necessary, by clicking the Order Now button. The
database will be added to your package, and you will see an on-screen
confirmation message.

Find your Database

Your MS SQL database is hosted on a specialised server optimised for MS SQL
databases. To connect to your database you must use the database server’s IP
address.

Important: You cannot connect to your database using

localhost.

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Once you have created a database the Database name and IP address are
shown on the Database management screen. Follow the steps shown in the
section entitled “Fasthosts database management screen” to view your database
details.

Add users to your database

Once you have added your new database, you need to create at least one user
to connect to it.

If you'd like to give other people, or software, access to your database, but want
to restrict what they can do, create a new database user with different
permissions.

Step 1
Follow the steps shown in the section entitled “Fasthosts database management
screen”

Step 2
In the list of databases, click the database name.

Step 3
Click the Add User
button.

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Step 4
Choose a username for this user and
enter it into the Username text box.

Select the Give this user DBO access

box if you want this user to be a
Database Owner. Database Owners
have full permission to add, modify,
and remove tables and data within the
database. If you do not tick this box
you can modify the user’s permissions
later.

You also need to choose a password, and confirm it in the boxes provided.

Note: The username must be unique on our system.

Click Add Database User to create the new user. You will receive on-screen
confirmation that the user has been created.

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Setting your user permissions

It is good practice to create additional users with limited permissions to connect
to your database for day to day use.

In the following example we have already created a new user, which our website
will use to connect to our database with. For this reason, we will limit the access
this user will have to our database.

Step 1
Open SQL Server Management
Studio.

Step 2
Enter your database IP address in the
text box marked Server name.

Step 3
Select Use SQL Server authentication from the list, enter your database owner
(DBO) username and password in the text boxes provided, and then click
Connect.

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Step 4
In the left hand Object explorer window, open
your database, and then double click on the user
you want to set permissions on.

Important: You should not change the permissions of the

DBO user.

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Step 5
A new window will open. To change the
role of the user across the entire database
select Membership and then tick the
boxes appropriate to the new role of your
user.

In this example we will give our website

user the db_datareader role. So they can
read all the data in the database, but are
unable to make changes.

There are 9 different roles available, these being:

Role Permissions
db_owner Can perform any activity in the database.
db_accessadmin Can add or remove users or SQL Server users in the
database.
db_datareader Can see any data from all user tables in the database.
db_datawriter Can add, delete, or change data in all user tables.
db_ddladmin Can make any data definition language commands in the
database.
db_securityadmin Can manage statement and object permissions in the
database.
db_backupoperator Can back up the database.
db_denydatareader Can deny permission to select data in the database.
db_denydatawriter Can deny permission to change data in the database.

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Quick tip: Permissions errors are often caused by assigning

users more than 1 database role. It is good practice to
restrict each user to a single role.

Now we may want to enable this user to make changes to a particular table
within the database.

Step 6
To set custom permissions
to specific areas of your
database, click
Securables in the top left corner of the screen.

Step 7
Click the Search button to find the objects within your database to set
permissions for. In this example we will set the permissions on two tables within
the database.

Step 8
Select Specific objects then click OK.

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Step 9
Click Object Types… select the objects that you
want to edit and click OK.

Step 10
Enter the object names in the text box provided, or click Browse to choose your
objects from a list. When you have selected all the tables and objects you want to
modify the users’ permissions for,
click OK.

Step 11
You should now be back on the
Securables window. Select the
object you want to modify and use
the check boxes in the lower pane
to set the permissions for your user.

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Connect to your database

Step 1
Open SQL Server Management
Studio.

Step 2
Enter your database IP address in
the text box marked Server name.

Step 3
Select Use SQL Server authentication from the list, enter your database
username and password in the text boxes provided, and then click Connect.

Step 4
Your database can be found in the list titled Object
Explorer.

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Note: Because your database is hosted on a dedicated

database server, you will see the names of other user’s
databases in the list. You will not be able to view or modify
any database other than your own, and other users won’t
have any access to your database and the data held within
it.

Move an existing Database to Fasthosts

If you already have an existing database, either with another hosting company, or
on a development server on your own network, you can move your existing
database to Fasthosts directly using Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio.
The software will allow you to import data directly from another SQL database, a
Microsoft Access database, a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, or a flat text file.

This example will show you how to transfer the data from another Microsoft SQL
database.

Step 1
Open SQL Server Management Studio.

Step 2
Connect to your database using the database
owner username and password (see the
section Connect to your database earlier in
this guide for assistance).

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Step 3
Right click on your database and select Tasks > Import Data from the popup
menu.

Step 4
The Import and Export Wizard will
open, click Next.

Step 5
Select SQL Server Native Client
11.0 from the list, and enter the
database server and connection details required to connect to the source
database. Once you have entered these, select the source Database from the
list, and then click Next.

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Step 6
Enter the details of your MSSQL database as follows:

 Data source: Select SQL

Server Native Client 10.0 from
the drop down menu.
 Server name: Enter the IP
address of your MSSQL
database. This information is
shown within your Fasthosts
control panel.
 Authentication: Select Use SQL Server Authentication and enter your
database username and password. This is the same username and
password you chose when you created your database.
 Database: Select your database from the drop down menu.

When you've entered the information, click Next.

Step 7
Select the option Copy
data from one or more
tables or views and click
Next.

Step 8
Select the tables you wish to import, and then click Next.

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Step 9
Click Next, and then click Finish to import your data. You will receive
confirmation that your data has been imported to your database.

Back up your MS SQL database

It is highly recommend that you make regular backups of your database, and this
process is easier than ever using SQL Server Management Studio.

Back up your database content

Step 1
Open SQL Server Management
Studio.

Step 2
Connect to your database using the
database owner username and
password (see the section Connect
to your database earlier in this guide for assistance).

Step 3
Right click on your database and select Tasks, then Export Data from the popup
menus.

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Step 4
The Import/Export wizard will open, click Next.

Step 5
In the form provided, enter the following details:

• Data source: Select SQL Server Native Client 10.0 from the drop down
menu.
• Server Name: Enter the IP address of your database server. This is shown
within your Fasthosts control panel.
• Authentication: Select Use SQL Server Authentication, and then enter
your database username and password. This is the username and
password you chose when you created your database.
• Database: Enter the name of your database from the drop down menu.

Click Next once you have entered all the required information.

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Step 6
You will be asked where to
export the database contents
to. Select Flat File Destination
from the drop down menu and
choose a filename and location
for your backup.

In this example we have also

changed the Locale to English
(United Kingdom) and selected
the option marked Column names in the first data row.

Click Next when you are done.

Quick tip: This example shows you how to back up your

content to a .txt file. If you would like to back up your data to
a separate database, select SQL Server Native Client 10.0
from the drop down menu and enter your database details in
the text boxes provided.

Step 7
Select Copy data from one or more
tables or views and click Next.

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Step 8
Finally, choose which tables or views you want to export and select how you
would like the file to be formatted, and click Next.

Step 9
Click Next, and then click Finish to export your file. You will receive confirmation
that your database content has been backed up.

Backing up stored procedures and functions

Step 1
Open SQL Server Management Studio.

Step 2
Connect to your database using the database owner username and password
(see the section Connect to your database earlier in this guide for assistance).

Step 3
Navigate to Tasks in the Object
Explorer and then click Generate
Scripts.

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Note: The information below shows you how to back up

stored procedures, but the principle is exactly the same if
you want to back up any functions.

Step 4
Choose Select specific database objects and the Stored Procedures.

Step 5
Choose a location to save your stored procedure. You can leave all other
options as the default.

Step 6
Review your selections and click Next.

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Step 7
After waiting a few moments, you will see
SQL Management Studio obtain a list of
objects from your database, prepare the
stored procedures and save them to your preferred location.

Importing MS SQL database content

Step 1
Open SQL Server Management Studio.

Step 2
Connect to your database using the database owner username and password
(see the section Connect to your database earlier in this guide for assistance).

Step 3
Right click on your database
and select Tasks > Import Data
from the popup menu.

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Step 4
The SQL Server Import and Export Wizard will open.

Step 5
Choose a data source for the data you
wish to import from the Data source list.

Note: In this example we are importing data from a .txt file

on our computer, however if you would like to import content
from a separate database, select SQL Server Native Client
10.0 from the drop down menu and enter the connection
details for this database in the text boxes provided and skip
to step 7.

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Step 6
Define the formatting of your
data source. You can use this
window to experiment with the
formatting. When the table looks
correct, click Next.

Step 7
Enter the details of your MSSQL database, as follows. Click Next when you
have entered all the required information.

• Destination: Select SQL Server Native Client 10.0 from the drop down
menu.
• Server name: Enter the IP address of your MSSQL database. This
information is shown within your Fasthosts control panel.
• Authentication: Select Use SQL Server Authentication and enter your
database username and password. This is the same username and
password you chose when you created your database.
• Database: Select your database from the drop down menu.

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Step 8
Select the tables you wish to import and then click Next.

Step 9
Click Next, and then click Finish to import your data.

The import process may take a few minutes, and you will receive a confirmation
that the data has been successfully imported.

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