Here’s the scenario: I have a .BAK file of the database that was hosted on a MSSQL Server 2005 at my previous employers data-center. I need to re-create that database on a hosted MS SQL Server 2005 system at GoDaddy.com. No worries, I thought. I will just create my new database, do a manual back up of it. Then restore it and point it to my .BAK file from the previous server. That concept is old-hat to me, as I’ve done it countless times… on systems that I have complete control and access to. This time it’s on a server that I have limited access to. GoDaddy only permits SQL restores from files that were created by the host system, and stored on it’s local disk. And… I have no rights to place my .BAK file onto the host db server. So, I put on my thinking cap and thunk this one out.

Now, I must fully expose that I am not a SQL DBA in any way, shape, or form. Systems Administration is my background… I can install, configure, and maintain the heck out of a MS SQL database. But, I have extremely limited skills with SQL programming and queries. So, here’s what I came up with:

I have SQL 2005 Express running on my Vista system. Figured I could use that to my advantage here to get the data moved. I’ll break it down into pieces. I have SQL Express connected to my local instance, as well as the remote instance.

• Create a new database (in my local instance, I created a new database… we’ll call it dbFOO)
• Make a back up of dbFOO
• Do a restore of dbFOO, and change it to grab the data from the .BAK file from the old system (this is the step that I would have loved to be able to do on the remote database server)
  • Change the options so that it overwrites the existing database
• On the remote instance, create a new database named dbFOO (db names must be the same since we’re using some queries and we want to limit how much manual editing we need to do)
• On the local instance, right-click on one of the tables and choose “Script Table as… > CREATE To > Clipboard”
• On the remote instance, right-click on the database and choose “New Query”
• In the query window, paste your clipboard contents
  • since your database names are the same, this query will run without issues on the remote instance.
• Execute the query. Boom, the table is now created on the remote instance. Rinse and repeat for the rest of the local instance tables.
  • Tip: keep that query window open, and just replace the sql script with the once for the next table and execute it. A little time-saver.
• Once the tables are created, right-click on the dbFOO database on the remote instance. Choose “Tasks > Import Data”
  • WAIT! SQL Express doesn’t have DTS built in, so how am I able to do this? I once had SQL 2000 Ent. Mgr. installed and I held on to the admin tools, which included DTS. It does spit out some errors when starting up, but I just launch dtswizard.exe and I’m able to use it for my SQL 2005 Express databases.
• Choose the local instance as your source, and your remote instance as your destination. Set up dbFOO as the database, of course.
• Go through all of the wizard steps, choose the option for “copy data from one or more tables or views”.
• Check the boxes for all the tables and make any adjustments. (I had to enable identity inserts)
• Finish the wizard and blam, there is all of the data.

Are there other ways to accomplish what I needed? Maybe so. Is this the most graceful way to accomplish what I needed? Probably not. Do I care? Nope… I got what I needed done. It actually took me longer to write this post than it did to do all the steps listed above.

If you have other ideas or ways that this could have been done, please leave a comment. I love to document this stuff for other out there that could be in the same pickle I was, to give them some ideas or help in their situation.

Keep in mind that all times can be “give or take” 5-10 minutes or so. We don’t quite have it down to an exact science just yet.

• 5:00am
  • wake up
  • check work email (usually via my phone while getting ready to shower)
  • shower
  • shave
• 5:45am
  • try to wake up Melanie
  • get dressed
• 5:50am – 7:00am (the order is dictated by when Brody wakes up)
  • start putting our lunches together
  • eat english muffin with peanut butter, drink some OJ (this is done while doing the previous step)
  • check diaper bag to ensure it contains all items required
  • wake Brody up, if he’s not already squirming
  • change his diaper
  • dress him
  • bring him to Melanie once he’s dressed and ready to go
  • make us both instant coffee for the drive (Melanie takes cinnamon and brown sugar)
  • toast english muffin for Melanie (also with peanut butter)
  • load up the car: lunch bags, diaper bag, coffee mugs, any other misc bags
• 7:00am
  • put Brody into car seat
  • load Brody into car
  • drive to my work
• 8:00am
  • I get to my work
  • Melanie takes over and drives to the sitter’s place
• 8:15am
  • Melanie drops Brody off with sitter
• 8:30am
  • Melanie gets to her work
• 5:00pm
  • Melanie leaves work to pick up Brody from sitter
• 5:15pm
  • Melanie leaves sitter to pick me up from work
• 5:30pm (ish)
  • Melanie picks me up from work, I take over the wheel for the leg home
• 6:30pm (ish)
  • we arrive home
• 6:30pm – 6:45pm
  • bring Brody inside
  • unload all of the stuff from the car
• between 6:45pm and 7:30pm
  • Melanie and I eat dinner
  • feed Brody cereal or some jar food if he seems hungry
• 7:30pm – 8:00pm
  • bathtime for Brody
• 8:00pm – 9:00pm
  • Brody gets fed and falls asleep
  • this could go past 9pm if he doesn’t crash easily
• 9:00pm – 10:00pm
  • do some random chores that need to be done before the next day
  • do anything else that I’d like to spend my free time on… sometimes I can last until 10:30pm if I really want to
• 10:00pm – 10:30pm
  • go to sleep

It’s a really great system and is great to work on as far as administration of the system. I’ve found a good amount of valuable tech support using the ShoreTel support on their site, but I’ve found some equally beneficial help on shoretelforums.com. I value the help that I find on both websites. However, I recently became frustrated when searching for the default username and password for a ShoreTel switch.

I had to telnet into this particular switch to check on most likely add some ip routes. I’d done it before but did not document the login credentials I had used previously. So, I went to the place that I had found it before: shoretelforums.com. I searched for “telnet” and the first result was a post that had a link to the ShoreTel.com support document with the credentials… only this time the link was broken.

After racking my brains for a few minutes, I remembered the password and my colleague recalled the username. I thought is was sort of strange that no one on the forums site had simply posted the credentials. So, I did just that… only to find that my post had been edited and the credentials removed. Here’s what it said:

{edit: this site is open to the public, and for security reasons, I’d rather not have this password openly available. Feel free to PM it to somebody, but not post it openly. Thanks, and hopefully no hard feelings }

Sorry, but I think that’s just plain lame. No, there’s no hard feelings… but I don’t understand the logic in keeping this sort of information ‘secret’ from the public.

I help maintain a network infrastructure with Cisco and HP core switches that I believe are much higher on the importance chain than a VoIP switch. I can go to the manufactures sites for either of these and easily find the default credentials for any of their products. What makes it so important to keep this information ‘secure’ from the public.

Well, since I can’t post the credentials on the shoretelforums.com site, I’m going to post them right here on my site!

**edit**
There is a good reason that the credentials are kept from public view. If you are not familiar with working within the VxWorks CLI, then you should be cautious when using it… perhaps not even take the risk, and just contact your support vendor. Be aware that you may cause irreparable damage to the device. If you’re unsure, you should contact your ShoreTel support vendor.

Default ShoreTel VxWorks login credentials:
Username: anonymous
Password: ShoreTel

Don’t forget to enable telnet to that device before wasting your time trying to log in:
for a phone: phonectl.exe -telneton TARGET_IP_ADDRESS
for a switch: ipbxctl -telneton TARGET_IP_ADDRESS

Now, we’ll just have the interweb search monkeys go an do their voodoo… and before you know it, when you google “shoretel telnet login” or “vxworks credentials”… let’s just see if this post gets a better ranking than the forums.

When it comes down to it, if this post helps just one poor soul quicker than going through the forums or the ShoreTel site, then I’ll be happy.