[sims] Sims.net... before I go and look stupid on the Capita forum

[indiegirl]

Guess who has "lost" the SQL password for SIMS

(on our system: user = sa)?

 

Guess who swears that he told me it, and swears that I've written it down (if I had - I would've made an electronic copy or emailed it to him, and I haven't).

 

Guess who is having a paddy in the office right now and pointing the finger at me...

 

... and guess who is trying to find it and calm him down? *sigh*

 

Is he stuffed if he's really forgotten it? Can it be retrieved?

[Guest]

Hiya do you know if it has been changed by "BOSSMAN" since I left?

[indiegirl]

I don't think it has - I wondered if you'd remember it... but then it was a long time ago.

 

I'll (no, actually HE'll) owe you a pint if you remember it... PM me!

[Geoff]

The MS SQL event log (assuming you have auditing enabled) should reveal when/who changed the password.

 

To reset the sa password, you can do the following:

 

1. Login to the SQL Server box as the Administrator.

2. Run SQL Server Enterprise Manager.

3. Right-click the server name and choose 'Edit SQL Server Registration properties'.

4. Choose 'Use Windows authentication' and click OK button.

5. Expand a server, expand a Security and click Logins.

6. Double-click the sa login and specify new password on the General tab.

 

I've no idea if this will break Sims.Net though.

[webman]

Who = your apparently, according to your blog, incompetent boss?

[indiegirl]

You really think that my "wonderful" boss would forget a thing like that...????

[webman]

You really think that my "wonderful" boss would forget a thing like that...????

 

........ yes? 8)

[NetworkGeezer]

The MS SQL event log (assuming you have auditing enabled) should reveal when/who changed the password.

 

To reset the sa password, you can do the following:

 

1. Login to the SQL Server box as the Administrator.

2. Run SQL Server Enterprise Manager.

3. Right-click the server name and choose 'Edit SQL Server Registration properties'.

4. Choose 'Use Windows authentication' and click OK button.

5. Expand a server, expand a Security and click Logins.

6. Double-click the sa login and specify new password on the General tab.

 

I've no idea if this will break Sims.Net though.

 

I think Geoff is right as Capita don't ask for an SA paasword when you send them your data. It is probably best check with them. If you are using integrated authentication you might be even luckier as this hould be either an admin account on the server or domain admin.

 

Why do you need the SA password anway, IndieGirl?

[Norphy]

Indiegirl, I've sent you a PM

[pete]

posting this from home, so check before you try it.

 

IIRC, there's a .exe in \path\to\sql\bin folder called ChangeSAPW.exe (or similar) - does what it says on the tin providing you have local or domain admin rights on the server in question. You don't need to provide the old password to use it.

[NetworkGeezer]

IIRC, there's a .exe in \path\to\sql\bin folder called ChangeSAPW.exe (or similar) - does what it says on the tin providing you have local or domain admin rights on the server in question. You don't need to provide the old password to use it.

 

This proabably does the same thing as what Geoff suggested but for people using MSDE where there is no Enterprise Management Console.

 

Then again if IG's blog is to be believed it wouldn't be surprising if MSDE was the preferred option

[pete]

@Network Geezer

 

well, we're still using MSDE. We've only had <5 users of SIMS until recently and we're moving to sql server for electronic registration but up until now we haven't had a reason to change.

 

..... and when you inherit a ~6yr old sims installation with undocumented and long-forgotten hacks you do not touch it unless you need to.

[NetworkGeezer]

@Network Geezer

..... and when you inherit a ~6yr old sims installation with undocumented and long-forgotten hacks you do not touch it unless you need to.

 

There is some mileage in "If aint broke don't fix" but for DR you should be able to regenerate the system from backups of the L/.MDF and S:\SIMS.

[pete]

@network geezer

yeah, I know. I've swapped the install to newer hardware (& from NT4 to 2003) and the dotNet / sql stuff has been done by me. It's the leftover stuff from pre dotNet days that occasionally rears its head and bites us.

 

If I had to I could easily rebuild it from scratch (we've done test builds on random hardware). I haven't because I'm only 75% certain that we no longer need the hacked-together stuff and it isn't causing us any real harm atm.

[Norphy]

IIRC, there's a .exe in \path\to\sql\bin folder called ChangeSAPW.exe (or similar) - does what it says on the tin providing you have local or domain admin rights on the server in question. You don't need to provide the old password to use it.

 

This proabably does the same thing as what Geoff suggested but for people using MSDE where there is no Enterprise Management Console.

 

Then again if IG's blog is to be believed it wouldn't be surprising if MSDE was the preferred option

 

If you're using MSDE with no Enterprise Manager, The Microsoft SQL Management Studio Express is your friend

[quietriot1983]

The MS SQL event log (assuming you have auditing enabled) should reveal when/who changed the password.

 

To reset the sa password, you can do the following:

 

1. Login to the SQL Server box as the Administrator.

2. Run SQL Server Enterprise Manager.

3. Right-click the server name and choose 'Edit SQL Server Registration properties'.

4. Choose 'Use Windows authentication' and click OK button.

5. Expand a server, expand a Security and click Logins.

6. Double-click the sa login and specify new password on the General tab.

 

I've no idea if this will break Sims.Net though.

 

 

Sorry to bump an age old thread, but I need to have my sa password to migrate the database to a new machine, inherited the system so no idea what it is. I tried the above method and I get an error saying password change failed because either the account does not exist or I do not have permission. I'm logged onto the machine as administrator.

 

Any ideas?

[rad]

You can reset the password via a cmd prompt. We had it reset by the LEA so might be worth speaking to them.

[vikpaw]

you could try the changesapwd executable mentioned but you'll probably run into the same permissions problem.

i'm not sure, but i think it's possible to have windows authentication setup so that a user other than administrator has admin rights, BUT, the actual administrator account doesn't. If this is the case you could try an old user's account - longshot i know.

 

on the other hand, what type of migration are you doing? if you have a .bak backup file of teh DB you can just create a new SQL server, choose your own SA password and restore using dbattach. Even if you have the mdf/ldf you can copy them to new server and dbattach.