Search

SSMS : Expose "Connect to Server" MRU list to users by aaronbertrand

Closed
as Fixed Help for as Fixed

102
0
Sign in
 to vote
Type: Suggestion
ID: 424800
Opened: 3/18/2009 7:52:27 AM
Access Restriction: Public
0
Workaround(s)
Currently there is no supported or documented way to prune the list of servers in SSMS' "Connect to Server" dialog. If you connect to a lot of different servers, this list essentially manages itself; if you don't, stale entries for servers that have been retired or renamed will be there forever.

In SQL Server 2005, the undocumented method was to close SSMS, delete the file mru.dat, and restart SSMS.

In SQL Server 2008, you can do something similar with the file SqlStudio.bin.

However, it is unclear what other effects this might have (now, but more importantly in future versions), or what your options are if this approach makes SSMS unusable (uninstall/reinstall client tools I presume).
Details (expand)
Product Language
English

Category

Tools (SSMS, Agent, Profiler, etc.)

Proposed Solution

I don't think we need to come up with a new way to store the data (e.g. continue using SqlStudio.bin, continue encrypting credentials, etc). But I think we need a way to access the current list of server names so that we can remove some or all of the entries, or even add entries manually for servers we haven't yet connected to (but will).
.
In addition, perhaps the list should start out by automatically contain all of the user's registered servers.
.
Dictating the order they appear in the list would be a nice bonus, but certainly not esssential functionality.

Benefits

Faster Development
Improved User Interface
Improved Administration

Other Benefits

 
File Attachments
0 attachments
Sign in to post a comment.
Posted by GearWorld on 4/23/2012 at 12:56 PM
SP1 :)
Posted by GearWorld on 4/23/2012 at 12:55 PM
Oh did I mention that this bug is in SQL 2008 R2 ?
Posted by GearWorld on 4/23/2012 at 12:54 PM
There's even a bug in that dialog where if you create a login and use it in the dialog
then you decide to delete this user, the user still get the default selection in the Login dialog and doesn't even exist anymore

This would be handy to have an option in SQL to either clear the list delete some in there and making also an option to select the one by default.
Posted by ejstrehl on 11/10/2011 at 7:28 AM
So this fix is only in Denali? Any where to vote for a fix to previous versions? I don't see our corporate install moving off of 2008R2 for a while...
Posted by Microsoft on 8/11/2011 at 2:04 AM
Hi Aaron,
Thanks for the reply and feedback. We did the fix this way because of time constraints. I would recommend you to file a seperate suggestion for getting access to the list.
Based on customer vote counts, responses and other constraints we will then take a call on the suggestion.

Also, we will update the blog for VM scenerio. Thanks for catching it for us.
Thanks
Devesh Nagpal
Posted by aaronbertrand on 8/9/2011 at 8:48 AM
I did read this back in July, obviously:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sqlrem/archive/2011/07/13/deleting-old-server-names-from-quot-connect-to-server-quot-dialog-in-ssms.aspx

...and left a comment that it would be much more powerful to give us access to the list, because I could have four entries to the same server, and only one of them is good... but which one? I can't tell because the list only shows the server name. Perhaps a compromise would be to show the auth type and login name in a tooltip? And considering contained databases it may be useful to show the database name as well. Should I file this as a separate suggestion?

As it turns out I couldn't get it to work as advertised because in a VM you have to use FN+delete.
Posted by aaronbertrand on 8/9/2011 at 8:32 AM
Can you explain here how this functionality is supposed to work? Not sure if it simply isn't present in CTP3 or if I'm doing it wrong. Thanks!
Posted by aaronbertrand on 4/21/2011 at 7:38 AM
This is great news, thanks Devesh!
Posted by Microsoft on 4/18/2011 at 12:39 AM
hi,
This will be fixed in upcoming release. You will be able to delete the names from the last connected Server's name in the drop down list.

Thanks
Devesh Nagpal
Posted by Sankar Reddy on 12/23/2010 at 9:45 PM
Devesh,

Has this fix included in the CTP Denali? I am seeing the behavior in CTP Denali even though the box has only 2 SQL users. [sa + windows login]

See the below image for 10+ connection entries and I don't think its one per connection credentials. Box has only 2 sql users has mentioned above. With 75+ votes, one vote doesn't really make any difference but wanted to get the feedback from MSFT.

http://twitpic.com/3iw30w
Posted by Microsoft on 11/18/2010 at 12:48 AM
Hi,
We will be try to fix this bug in next major release, providing a way for customers to delete option's from drop down of "Server name" in Connection Dialog.

Thanks
Devesh Nagpal
Posted by Cornan The Iowan on 9/26/2010 at 3:20 AM
I also have to deal with several SQL user/password pairs per server, and can neither prune logins from each connection nor make my "favorite" login appear by default.

Therefore I've been searching for a "quick connection switcher" add-in to give me a window or buttons "or something" to bypass the "switch connection" dialog altogether and target the COMBINATION of server and credentials, hopefully with a single click.

I think this is a good idea for Microsoft as well.
Posted by thisisfutile1 on 8/19/2010 at 6:24 AM
I'd like to vote for the option to just highlight the server and press the 'Delete' key to remove it. No fancy interface necessary.
Posted by achamp on 6/8/2010 at 8:31 AM
Well another version of SQL is released and this still isn't fixed. Please for the sake of your many DBA's and developers please get this fixed. It is causes me so much hassle not being able to prune the list. This is my biggest single annoyance with SQL2005, 2008 and SQL2008 R2.
Posted by David Beaver 94028 on 2/20/2010 at 2:22 PM
Related to this, there are (many, many) postings around the 'net, and various bug reports on Connect, around the fact that SSMS frequently fails to "remember passwords" for MRU servers. Many of us are quite frustrated that those issues have been there since SSMS 2005, and are not fixed in 2008. Bill or anyone else from MS who might be reading this, maybe you can fix those bugs in a future release also.
Posted by blogster on 1/11/2010 at 9:28 PM
I have encountered the same problem SSMS2008 where more than one user has connected to the same server, say connect to MYSERVER with user sa, user TESTING and user JOHN. If "remember password" is checked for any of the subsequent (after sa) users, the sa password never works again. When connecting to the server with SSMS, the drop down box is populated correctly and the password is seemingly retrieved, but the connection always fails. This is a very annoying bug and deleting the sqlstudio.bin file also removes many other working connections.
Posted by ChrisDRR on 1/6/2010 at 3:57 AM
As a developer, adding & moving DBs is pretty common, especially if working on multiple projects, after a while making a long and pretty redundant list. Also if you get the name wrong it stores that as well. A delete would be great!
Posted by Steven Wilmot on 7/29/2009 at 3:02 PM
Rather than adding lots of "automatic functionality" (such as auto-adding all local servers, or trying to find servers that haven't been used for a while) just a basic user-editable list (with DELETE ability (even if ADD wasn't present) is better than the current option of not being able to edit anything.
Posted by aaronbertrand on 3/30/2009 at 4:14 PM
Note: as Bill posted on my blog:

"The other things that you lose with this approach includes SSMS specific Tools | Options settings, OE Details List View Customizations, the MRU list for OE Details Search, and MRU for Reports."

Obviously it would be ideal if the solution that is eventually offered allows access to all of those items, not just the MRU server list. :-)
Posted by Microsoft on 3/25/2009 at 10:02 AM
Hi Aaron,
Thank you for your feedback on the need to prune the MRU list. We will consider this for a future release of SQL Server. For now, you can go with the hack.
Thank you,
Bill Ramos
Posted by AlunJ on 3/19/2009 at 3:02 AM
If you select a server that does not exist could it offers to remove it from the list?
Posted by Jack Jackson on 3/18/2009 at 2:51 PM
I wholeheartedly concur. Over time my list of servers gets very large with no longer working values that clutter up the list, making it hard to find the entries that do work.
Sign in to post a workaround.
© 2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft Connect Terms of Use | Trademarks | Privacy Statement