The SQL Sharding Deployment Tool
The SQL Sharding Deployment Tool is an executable that deploys and manages the xDB Collection database and can be used on its own if you want greater control over parameters, such as the number of shards to deploy. The tool must be run from a local machine. It cannot be uploaded and executed from an Azure environment.
The Sitecore Installation Framework (SIF) and the Sitecore Azure Toolkit (SAT) create two shards by default. To change the number of shards you can either re-deploy the xDB Collection database. For SIF, you can also change the JSON files used during the installation process.
Location
The tool is bundled with the xConnect Collection service and is available in the following web deploy packages (WDP):
| Topology name | Example WDP name | Tool location |
|---|---|---|
| XP Single (Developer) - On-Prem | Sitecore 10.0.0 rev. 001250 (OnPrem)_xp0xconnect.scwdp.zip | \Content\Website\App_Data\collectiondeployment\Sitecore.Xdb.Collection.Database.SqlShardingDeploymentTool.exe |
| XP Single (Developer) - Cloud | Sitecore 10.0.0 rev. 001250 (Cloud)_xp0xconnect.scwdp.zip | |
| XP Scaled - On-Prem | Sitecore 10.0.0 rev. 001564 (OnPrem)_xp1collection.scwdp.zip | |
| XP Scaled - Cloud | Sitecore 10.0.0 rev. 001564 (Cloud)_xp1collection.scwdp.zip |
Operations
You can use the SQL Sharding Deployment Tool to:
-
Create the xDB Collection shard cluster (
create). For example: -
Drop the xDB Collection shard cluster (
drop). For example: -
Add a shard to the shard cluster (
addShard). For example:NoteThis command is only available with a cloud environment, and not on-prem.
-
Remove a shard from the shard cluster (
deleteShard). For example: -
Print shard map key ranges (
printMapping). For example: -
Register schema for ShardMapManager (
registerSchema). For example:
Using the SQL Sharding Deployment Tool to add or remove shards does not automatically split and merge existing data. You use the SQL Sharding Deployment Tool as part of performing the split and merge operation.
Registering a schema is one of the prerequisites for the split and merge operation. If schemas are not registered, the split and merge operation cannot migrate the data.
Parameters
The following table describes the parameters used by the SQL Sharding Deployment Tool. Different operations accept a specific set of parameters.
| Parameter name | Required | Description | Values / examples |
|---|---|---|---|
/operation | Yes | Specifies which operation to perform. |
|
/connectionstring | Yes | SQL Server connection string used to create the database. | "user id=sa;password=SamplePassword;data source=.\SQL2016" |
/dbedition | No | Azure SQL DTU-based service tiers . This value is only used if you are deploying to Azure SQL. |
|
/shardMapManagerDatabaseName | Yes | The name of the shard map manager database. | Example: Sample_ShardMapManagerDb |
/shardnumber | Yes | The number of shards to create. | 5 |
/shardnameprefix | No | Format is {Prefix}{Number}{Suffix}. | Example: Sample.Shard |
/shardnamesuffix | No | Format is {Prefix}{Number}{Suffix}. Suffix can be left blank. | Example: _ABC |
/dacpac | Yes | Path to DACPAC file. By default, DACPAC files are in the same folder as the tool. |
|
/log | No | Path to log file. If no log file is specified, output is written to console. | |
/shardConnectionString | Yes | Used by the addShard and /deleteShard operations. | |
/shardDatabaseName | Yes | Used by the /deleteShard operation. | |
/force | No | Optional parameter, used by the /addShard operation. Forces the shard to be added without a schema comparison. | - true- false |
/elasticpool | No | The name of the registered elastic pool to deploy cluster databases within. The argument is SQL Azure specific. | Use with create and addShard. |