This week, I had a co-worker that was stuck. They no longer use SSMS and needed to rename a database. They asked if I had a script and so I wrote one. Here it is:

USE master /*Use the master database when renaming a database*/
GO

DECLARE @SQL VARCHAR(8000)

SELECT @SQL=COALESCE(@SQL,'')+'Kill '+CAST(spid AS VARCHAR(10))+ '; '
FROM sys.sysprocesses
WHERE DBID=DB_ID('DatabaseName')

EXEC(@SQL) /*This will kill all the connections to the database, which will allow it to be renamed*/

ALTER DATABASE DatabaseName /*This is the start of the rename*/
SET SINGLE_USER /*keep everyone out while we rename*/
WITH ROLLBACK IMMEDIATE;
GO
ALTER DATABASE DatabaseName MODIFY NAME = NewDatabaseName /*All the magic has been preparing for this moment, the rename*/
GO
ALTER DATABASE NewDatabaseName /*Make sure to use the new name*/
SET MULTI_USER; /*Back to letting others into the newly named database*/
GO

So useful, I had to save it.

The song for this post is Goin’ Down by the Monkees.

Now a story about the song. The Monkees’ TV Show came back on the air when I was little. I was immediately hooked and LOVED their music. I could relate a lot to Micky Dolenz because he was a prankster like me and my family. Goin’ Down was a song I didn’t pay much attention to because I could hardly understand what Micky was singing.

Recently, I read a new story about a time that Micky was doing a concert and there were deaf people in the audience. There was an ASL interpreter that had done a wonderful job with all the songs. Just as Micky was getting ready to sing this one, he looked over at the interpreter and said, “Good Luck”. After the first few lines, she gave up and just clapped along. He ended up standing next to her while singing the rest of the song. How awesome is that?

The story made me want to listen to the song more and it has been one of my favorite fast moving songs the last few weeks.