Information about the SQL Server edition of the MPS Reporting tool (883724)

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The Microsoft Product Support (MPS) Reporting tool is a compressed software package that contains one or more scripts and other utilities that you can use to capture critical system information, diagnostic information, and configuration information about your computer.

For additional information about the Microsoft Product Support Reporting tool, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: The previous article, 818742, includes the following information:

• The minimum system requirements to run the MPS Reporting tool on your computer.
• A list of the specialty editions of the tool.
• The download location for the tool.

The MPS Reporting tool includes a SQL Server edition and other versions that are designed for specific support issues. The SQL Server edition of the MPS Reporting tool (MPSRPT_SQL.exe) is intended for use by Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS) customers to gather detailed system status information and configuration information. The information that is collected by the SQL Server edition of the MPS Reporting tool helps PSS support professionals to analyze SQL Server issues that may occur.

The SQL Server edition of the MPS Reporting tool is a self-installing tool that can is supported on the following Microsoft Windows operating systems:

• Microsoft Windows NT 4.0
• Microsoft Windows 2000
• Microsoft Windows XP
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003

How to download the SQL Server edition of the MPS Reporting tool

You can download the SQL Server edition of the MPS Reporting tool from the Microsoft download center.

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

Download the MPSRPT_SQL.exe package now.

For additional information about how to download Microsoft Support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help to prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

How to install the SQL Server edition of the MPS Reporting tool

To install the SQL Server edition of the MPS Reporting tool, either double-click the MPSRPT_SQL.exe file or run the MPSRPT_SQL.exe command at a command prompt. You can run the SQL Server edition of the MPS Reporting tool in quiet mode by using the /Q command-line argument, as in the following example:

MPSRPT_SQL.EXE /Q

You can run the MPS Reporting tool in quiet mode in all the reporting modes that are supported by the MPS Reporting tool. Quiet mode reduces your interaction with the MPS Reporting tool while the MPS Reporting tool runs. The following list describes the reporting modes and the command-line options that you can use to run the MPS Reporting tool:

• Lite reporting mode (default): If you run the MPS Reporting tool and you do not use any command-line options, the MPS Reporting tool runs in the Lite reporting mode. Lite reporting mode is the default mode. You can use the following commands at a command prompt to run the MPS Reporting tool in Lite reporting mode:

  MPSRPT_SQL.EXE
  MPSRPT_SQL.EXE /C:"cmd /c Setup.cmd /Q"
  

• Full reporting mode: If you run the MPS Reporting tool in Full reporting mode, the MPS Reporting tool may take an extended time to gather additional information about your computer. Therefore, run the MPS Reporting tool in Full reporting mode only when a Microsoft support professional requests that you do this. Use the following command at a command prompt to run the MPS Reporting tool in Full reporting mode:

  MPSRPT_SQL.EXE /C:"cmd /c Setup.cmd /F"

  Use the following command at a command prompt to run the MPS Reporting tool in the Full reporting mode and in quiet mode:

  MPSRPT_SQL.EXE /C:"cmd /c Setup.cmd /F /Q"

When you install the MPSRPT_SQL.exe package, the MPS Reporting tool first detects which operating system you are running. By doing this, the MPS Reporting tool can determine the correct commands to use to collect information.

By default, when you install the package on your computer, the installation path is the %SYSTEMROOT% folder. After you install the package on your computer, the %SYSTEMROOT%\MPSReports folder is created. This folder stores the files that correspond to the package. If you want to remove the tool from your computer, you can delete this folder.

You can also provide a different installation path for the package. You can use a folder other than the %SYSTEMROOT% folder as the installation path for the package. To do this, use the /P command-line argument for the Setup.cmd script in the package.

To use this /P command-line argument, make sure that the following conditions are true:

• The folder that you use as the installation path must exist before you install the package.
• The name of this folder must not contain a space character.

After you specify the folder in the /P command-line argument, this folder is the root folder of the tool, and the tool creates the MPSReports folder in this folder. The data that the tool captures is logged to this MPSReports folder by using the typical output structure. For example, you can use the following command to provide a different installation path for the package by using the /P command-line argument:

MPSRPT_SQL.EXE /C:"cmd /c Setup.cmd /P D:\Data"

If you run this command, the tool creates the MPSReports subfolder in the D:\Data folder.

Note The MPS Reporting tool does not make any changes to the operating system or to the Windows registry on your computer.

For additional information about the MPS Reporting tool for SQL Server, visit the following Microsoft Web site to view the MPSRPT_SQL_Readme.txt file:

Use the SQL Server edition of the MPS Reporting tool

To use the MPS Reporting tool, follow these steps:

1. Download the MPSRPT_SQL.exe executable file to your computer.
2. Install and then run the SQL Server edition of the MPS Reporting tool. To do this, either double-click the MPSRPT_SQL.exe file or run the MPSRPT_SQL.exe command at a command prompt.
3. Accept the Microsoft end-user license agreement (EULA).

If your computer is running the 64-bit version of Windows Server 2003 and if you previously installed the reporting tool, run the SQL Server edition of the MPS Reporting Tool by running the MPSRpt.cmd batch file at a command prompt. The MPSRpt.cmd batch file is located in the %SYSTEMROOT%\MPSReports\SQLServer\bin folder.

When you run the MPS Reporting tool, the tool gives you regular updates as it progresses. The reporting tool may appear to stop responding, but the installation process may take from 5 to 15 minutes to complete.

A .cab file that is named Computer name_SQL_MPSReports_Date time_Number.cab is created in the %SYSTEMROOT%\MPSReports\SQLServer\rpt\cab folder. The .cab file contains the reports that are generated by the MPS Reporting tool. Because the size of the .cab file is limited to 4 megabytes (MB), multiple .cab files may be created by the MPS Reporting tool. If a .cab file is not created, you must compress all the files in the %SYSTEMROOT%\MPSReports\SQLServer\rpt folder to a compressed, or zipped, folder. Send the .cab file or the compressed (zipped) file directly to the support professional. If multiple files are created, you can send only one file at a time to the support professional.