INF: SQL Server 7.0 Startup Parameters

• Microsoft SQL Server version 7.0

SUMMARY

SQL Server 7.0 uses several startup parameters. You can set these parameters from the command line, the registry, or the Service Control Applet within the Control Panel. This article lists each parameter in alphabetical order.

The only required parameters are -d, -e, and -l. These are read from the registry, if they are not supplied on the command line. The registry key is:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\MSSQLServer\MSSQLServer\Parameters 

MORE INFORMATION

SQL Server 7.0 Startup Parameters

• -c
  (Optional, default is off)
  Starts SQL Server independent of the Service Control Manager. You decrease the server start-up time by using this parameter, but it skips registering any control handlers used to communicate with the Service Control Manager.



• -d(string)
  (Required)
  Sets path and name of the master device. Typically this value is read from the Registry. See also -l parameter.



• -e(string)
  (Required)
  Sets the error log path and file name. Typically this value is read from the Registry.





• -f
  Starts in minimal configuration mode.

  • Server will be in single-user mode.
  • Max Server Memory = 2,147,483,647 MB
  • Min Server Memory = 0 MB
  • Locks = 0
  • Language in cache = 3
  • Max Async IO = 2
  • Network Packet size = 4096 bytes
  • Index create memory = 704kb
  • Priority Boost = 0
  • Spin Counter = 0 (1 CPU)
  • Max worker threads = 32
  • Resource Timeout = 10 sec.
  • Show advanced options = 1
  • Affinity Mask = 0
  • Login Timeout = 5 sec.
  • Query Timeout = 0 sec.
  • Cursor Threshold = -1
  • Remote Access = 0
  • Parallelism is disabled.
  • Startup will be with smallest possible TempDB and log.
  • DTC resource manager will not start.
  • Autoexec stored procedures are skipped.
  • Allows direct modification of system tables.
  • Prevents generic global task manager thread creation.
  • Database schema version check is skipped during database open.




• -l(string)
  (Required)
  The fully qualified path for the master database log file (*.ldf). Typically this value is read from the Registry.



• -m
  (Optional)
  Starts SQL Server in single-user mode. When you start SQL Server in single-user mode, only a single user can connect and the CHECKPOINT process is not started. CHECKPOINT guarantees that completed transactions are written regularly from the disk cache to the database device. (Typically, this option is used if you experience problems with system databases that should be repaired.) Enables direct modification (Allow Updates) to system tables.



• -n
  (Optional, off by default)
  Does not use the Windows NT application log to log SQL Server events. If you start SQL Server with -n, you should also use the -e startup option. If you do not, SQL Server events will not be logged.





• -p[x]
  Specifies the maximum level of precision to be supported by decimal and numeric data types. By default, SQL Server has a maximum precision of 28. The acceptable values for precision_level are from 1 to 38, however, if no precision_level is supplied, a maximum precision of 38 is assumed.





• -s(string)
  (Optional, Default is MSSQLServer)
  Sets which registry key to look for additional parameters. This Registry Key is on HKLM\Software\Microsoft\MSSQLServer and defaults to MSSQLServer. There must be a Parameters key under this new optional key, for example, HKLM\Software\Microsoft\MSSQLServer\FooMan\Parameters rather than HKLM\Software\Microsoft\MSSQLServer\MSSQLServer\Parameters.



• -t(#) or -T(#)
  (Optional)
  Indicates that SQL Server should be started with a specified trace flag (trace#) in effect. Trace flags are used to start the server with nonstandard behavior.



• -v
  (Optional)
  Reports version information only, does not start SQL Server, should be used with -c to speed output.



• -x
  (Optional)
  Disables the keeping of CPU time and cache-hit ratio statistics. Allows for maximum performance.

Additional query words:

Keywords          : kbnokeyword kbSQLServ700 
Version           : winnt:7.0
Platform          : winnt 
Issue type        : kbinfo 

Last Reviewed: May 11, 1999