Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Quick Trick: Where Is SQL Server Configuration Manager After Updating To WS2012 R2?

Issue
A SQL 2012 Server running Windows Server 2012 RTM was successfully upgraded to Windows Server 2012 R2. All was well after the upgrade. SQL Server functioned just fine. But at a certain moment I required SQL Server Configuration Manager for some additional configuration tasks.

However, it turned out SQL Server Configuration Manager was missing!

Cause
SQL Server Configuration Manager is nothing but a snap-in for the MMC, residing in the ~\Windows\System32 folder. Even though the file itself (SQLServerManager11.msc) is still present, the registration was gone during the upgrade to Windows Server 2012 R2.
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Solution
Since the snap-in worked a repair of the installation wasn’t required. None the less, I wanted this SQL Server to be in good order. So I used this quick and dirty approach to remedy it:

  1. On a SQL server running the same version of SQL Server (2012 SP1) and installation features I opened the folder C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Microsoft SQL Server 2012;
  2. Copied the folder Configuration Tools to the same folder on the SQL Server with the missing link to SQL Server Configuration Manager.

After this all was fine again and all the correct links (with the correct icons!) were back again.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Thank you! I experienced this exact same phenomenon when upgrading a server from Windows Server 2008 R2 to Windows Server 2012 R2, with SQL Server 2012 sp1 already installed. The SQL Server Configuration Manager simply disappeared from the menu. Fortunately, I had another Win2012R2/SQL2012sp1 system that had been fresh installed, not upgraded, where everything was fine, and I copied the shortcut as you described: problem solved.

--Matt