SQL Server Tools

What is this?

The SQL Server Tools window (formerly "Guided SQL Server Setup") installs or upgrades SQL Server Express and SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) for Margin Master without needing a technician, and hosts the database utilities: viewing every instance on the computer, renaming, migrating and deleting a database, and the housekeeping tools (Optimize/Shrink, Reset Database, Run Maintenance Scripts) that used to sit under File > Database > Utilities.

It checks what is already on the computer, explains what it will do, asks any questions before starting, then runs the installation in the background while showing live progress.

New SQL Server instances installed by this window are always named MARGINMASTER (connection .\MARGINMASTER), so Margin Master's SQL Server never collides with another application's (such as a point-of-sale system using SQLEXPRESS).

Opening / Accessing

• Main window: File > Utilities > SQL Server Tools (no password required).
• First-run Database Setup window: the SQL Server Tools... button (shown when no SQL Server is detected and in the Management Tools section), or Tools > SQL Server Tools... in that window's menu.
• Installation Scripts dialog (password protected): the SQL Server Tools... button in the header.

1. Tools menu - instances, rename/migrate/delete, the three housekeeping tools, re-check, diagnostics report, log folder, support scripts.
2. Steps - the install/upgrade steps for this computer (empty when nothing is needed).
3. Result panel - what setup found or did, with View Log.
4. Refresh / Try Again / Close.

How setup works

1. Check — the window inspects the computer: every installed SQL Server instance (name, version, whether it belongs to Margin Master), and the SSMS version.
2. Review — it shows what it found and exactly what it will do, for example:
   • No SQL Server at all → install SQL Server 2025 Express as MARGINMASTER, and install SSMS.
   • An older Margin Master SQL Express instance (the only instance) → upgrade it in place, with every database backed up first.
   • SQL Server that belongs to another application → never touched; a separate MARGINMASTER instance is installed alongside it.
   • Everything current → "Nothing needs to be installed."
3. Run — press Start. Windows shows an administrator (UAC) prompt for each step. The left side lists the steps with their status; the right side shows a friendly progress headline for the current phase. The raw installer output is tucked into a Technical details (log) expander (it opens automatically if something fails). Each step typically takes 5–15 minutes.
4. Finish — on success, a green confirmation panel shows "Setup completed successfully" with the server name to connect to (e.g. .\MARGINMASTER), a Migrate a Database... button (when a new instance was installed — the natural next step is getting data onto it), and a View Log button. If a new instance was installed from the main window, Margin Master also offers to set up your database on it right away.

Questions the window may ask

The Tools menu

The window's Tools menu hosts the SQL Server utilities:

The three housekeeping tools act on the active database, so they are disabled when this window is opened from the first-run Database Setup window, where there is no active database yet. Choosing one closes the SQL Server Tools window and runs the tool in the main window.

SQL Server Instances

Shows every instance with columns Instance, Connect To, Version, Edition, Status, and Margin Master? (whether the instance is verified as belonging to Margin Master — hover a row for the ownership detail).

• Remove... appears only for instances verified to have zero databases — a safe way to clean up an empty leftover instance. A failed uninstall restores the instance's services.
• Start Instance appears for stopped instances: a stopped instance can't be verified, so start it and the re-scan classifies it.
• Refresh re-scans the computer.
• Instances that are not Margin Master's are never modified.

Rename Database

Gives a database a name that says which store it belongs to — Vendor_StoreNumber_StoreName_POS, for example Ace_420_Ace_Hardware_Epicor. A database still called MarginMaster3, or one named after a backup file (OlderMM_20260909_160718), tells nobody whose data it holds.

• Instance and Database dropdowns (Margin Master databases only).
• New name is pre-filled from the store information held inside the database being renamed, not from the running app — so a database Margin Master is not connected to still gets the right suggestion. Suggest rebuilds it. The name is always editable, and is checked as you type for illegal characters, reserved names, and names already on the instance.
• Renaming works by backing the database up, restoring it under the new name, then removing the original. The backup file is kept, so a failure at any step leaves the original untouched.
• Renaming the active database is allowed. Margin Master reconnects to the new name automatically when the rename finishes; the original is only removed after the connection has moved. A blue note appears while the active database is selected.

Migrate Database

Moves a Margin Master database between instances (for example, onto a newly installed MARGINMASTER instance):

• From instance / To instance — dropdowns label each instance with its product and version (e.g. "SQL Server 2025 Express").
• Database — only Margin Master databases are offered.
• "Remove the database from the source instance after a successful move" — a backup file is always kept. Disabled when migrating the database Margin Master is currently connected to.
• "Connect Margin Master to the migrated database when the move completes" — checked by default. From the main window this is a live switch: Margin Master closes its connection and reconnects to the migrated database immediately. From the recovery/startup context the switch applies at the next restart instead.
• A yellow banner warns when the selected database is the one Margin Master is actively using.

Delete Database

Permanently removes a Margin Master database (red header — this is the destructive tool):

• Instance and Database dropdowns (Margin Master databases only).
• "Back up the database before deleting" — recommended and kept.
• Confirmation: type the word delete (case-insensitive) into the confirm box, then press Delete.
• The active database cannot be deleted: the guard disables the confirm box and the button and shows a warning banner while the selected database is the one Margin Master is connected to.
• "This cannot be undone (other than restoring the backup)."

Tips

If a restart was required mid-setup, just reopen SQL Server Tools after rebooting — it re-checks the computer and only the remaining steps are run.

An instance the window reports as "belongs to another application or could not be verified" is deliberately left alone. Margin Master never modifies, upgrades, or removes a SQL Server it cannot prove is its own.