Run Database Experimentation Assistant at a command prompt

Note

This tool will be retired on December 15, 2024. We will stop supporting this tool for any issues that arise, and will not issue any bug fixes or further updates.

This article describes how to capture a trace in Database Experimentation Assistant (DEA) and then analyze the results, all from a command prompt.

Note

To learn more about each DEA operation, run the following command:

Deacmd.exe -o <operation> --help

An operation name is required. Valid operations are Analysis, StartCapture, and StopCapture.

Start a new workload capture by using the DEA command

To start a new workload capture, at a command prompt, run the following command:

Deacmd.exe -o StartCapture -n <Trace FileName> -x <Trace Format> -h <SQLServerInstance> -f <database name> -e <Encrypt Connection> -m <Authentication Mode> -u <user name> -p <password> -l <Location of Output Folder> -d <duration>

For example:

Deacmd.exe -o StartCapture -n sql2008capture -x 0 -h localhost -f adventureworks -e --trust -m 0 -l c:\test  -d 60

When you start a new workload capture with the Deacmd.exe command, you can use the following options:

Option	Description
-n, --name	Required. Trace file name.
-x, --format	Required. Format of the trace (0 = Trace, 1 = XEvents).
-d, --duration	Required. Maximum duration for the capture, in minutes.
-l, --location	Required. Location of output folder for storing trace or XEvent files on the host computer.
-t, --type	Default: 0. Type of the SQL Server (0 = SqlServer, 1 = AzureSQLDB, 2 = Azure SQL Managed Instance).
-h, --host	Required. SQL Server host name or instance name to start the capture.
-e, --encrypt	Default: True. Encrypt connection to SQL Server instance.
--trust	Default: False. Trust server certificate while connecting to SQL Server instance.
-f, --databasename	Name of the database to filter your traces, if not specified the capture starts on all the databases.
-m, --authmode	Default: 0. Authentication mode (0 = Windows, 1 = Sql Authentication).
-u, --username	User name for connecting to the SQL Server.
-p, --password	Password for connecting to the SQL Server.

Replay a workload capture

If you're using Distributed Replay, perform the following steps.

1. Sign in to the Distributed Replay controller computer.

2. To convert the workload trace that you captured using the DEA command to an IRF file, run the following command:

   DReplay preprocess -m "dreplaycontroller" -i "Path to first trace file" -d "<Folder path on controller>\IrfFolder"
   

3. Start a trace capture on the target computer running SQL Server using StartReplayCaptureTrace.sql.

   a. In SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), open <Dea_InstallPath>\Scripts\StartReplayCaptureTrace.sql.

   b. Run Set @durationInMins=0 so that the trace capture doesn't stop automatically after a specified time.

   c. To set the maximum file size per trace file, run Set @maxfilesize. The recommended size is 200 MB.

   d. Edit @Tracefile to set a unique name for your trace file.

   e. Edit @dbname to specify a database name if the workload must be captured only on a specific database. By default, the workload on the entire server is captured.

4. To replay the IRF file against the target SQL Server instance, run the following command:

   DReplay replay -m "dreplaycontroller" -d "<Folder Path on Dreplay Controller>\IrfFolder" -o -s "SQL2016Target" -w "dreplaychild1,dreplaychild2,dreplaycild3,dreplaychild4"
   

   a. To monitor the status, run the following command:

   DReplay status -f 1
   

   b. To stop the replay, for example if you see that the pass percentage is lower than expected, run the following command:

   DReplay cancel
   

5. Stop the trace capture on the target SQL Server instance.

6. In SSMS, open <Dea_InstallPath>\Scripts\StopCaptureTrace.sql.

7. Edit @Tracefile to match the trace file path on the target computer running SQL Server.

8. Run the script against the target computer running SQL Server.

Using InBuilt Replay

If you're using InBuilt Replay, you won't have to set up Distributed Replay. The ability to use InBuilt Replay at the command prompt is on the way. Currently, you can use our GUI to run replay using InBuilt Replay.

Analyze traces using the DEA command

To start a new trace analysis, run the following command:

Deacmd.exe -o analysis -a <Target1 trace filepath> -b <Target2 trace filepath> -r reportname -h <SQLserverInstance> -e <encryptconnection> -u <username>

For example:

Deacmd.exe -o analysis -a C:\Trace\SQL2008Source\Trace.trc -b C:\ Trace\SQL2014Trace\Trace.trc -r upgrade20082014 -h localhost -e

To view the analysis reports of these trace files, you need to use the GUI to view charts and organized metrics. However, the analysis database is written to the SQL Server instance specified, so you can also query the generated analysis tables directly.

When analyzing traces using the DEA command, you can use the following options:

Option	Description
-a, --traceA	Required. File path to the event file for the A instance. Example: C:\traces\Sql2008trace.trc. If there's a batch of files, select the first file and DEA checks for rollover files automatically. If files are in blob, provide the folder path where you want the event files stored locally. Example: C:\traces\
-b, --traceB	Required. File path to the event file for the B instance. Example: C:\traces\Sql2014trace.trc. If there's a batch of files, select the first file and DEA checks for rollover files automatically. If files are in blob, provide the folder path where you want the event files stored locally. Example: C:\traces\
-r, --ReportName	Required. Name for current analysis. The analysis report that gets generated is identified by this name.
-t, --type	Default: 0. Type of the SQL Server (0 = SqlServer, 1 = AzureSQLDB, 2 = Azure SQL Managed Instance).
-h, --host	Required. SQL Server host name or instance name.
-e, --encrypt	Default: True. Encrypt connection to SQL Server instance.
--trust	Default: False. Trust server certificate while connecting to SQL Server instance.
-m, --authmode	Default: 0. Authentication mode (0 = Windows, 1 = Sql Authentication).
-u, --username	User name for connecting to the SQL Server.
--p	Password for connecting to the SQL Server.
--ab	Default: False. Storage location of trace A is in blob. If used, must also specify --abu (Trace A Blob Url)
--bb	Default: False. Storage location of trace B is in blob. If used, must also specify --bbu (Trace B Blob Url)
--abu	Blob URL for A instance with SAS key.
--bbu	Blob URL for B instance with SAS key.

See also

• For more information about using DEA, see Overview of Database Experimentation Assistant.