Updated First Responder Kit and Consultant Toolkit for March 2019

This month, just half a dozen bug fixes, plus a new parameter for sp_BlitzCache to search the plan cache for specific strings. To get the new version:

• Download the updated FirstResponderKit.zip
• Azure Data Studio users with the First Responder Kit extension:
  ctrl/command+shift+p, First Responder Kit: Import.
• Download the updated Consultant Toolkit in your account
• EU customers: check your email for the updated version from Gumroad

Consultant Toolkit Changes

• Improvement: new “CPU Now” tab shows the last few hours of CPU % along with a chart.
• Improvement: more query plans without deep dive. By default, if you run the app without the deep dive switch, as long as it’s running quickly (less than 3 minutes), it’ll populate more of the plan cache tabs. It uses sp_BlitzCache’s @SkipAnalysis = 1 parameter, so the plans are gathered, but we don’t run the time-intensive analysis rules to tell you what’s wrong with each plan. If you want all the tabs & columns populated, use the deep dive switch.
• Fix: size tab now populates even if user database collations don’t match system databases.
• Fix: uptime tab no longer shows “RTM” for patch level on 2017/2019.
• Plus all of the First Responder changes below:

sp_Blitz Changes

• Fix: ignore backups-on-same-drive rule on Linux since it’s harder to detect mount points over there. (#1995, thanks UCJonathan for the bug report and Brandon (bsquidwrd) for the code.)

sp_BlitzCache Changes

• Improvement: new @SlowlySearchPlansFor parameter lets you look for strings in the plan cache. Useful for when you wanna figure out what query is asking for a particular missing index, find out which query is using an index, or which query is calling a function. This one’s very new and untested, so if you find stuff, drop us a line in a new issue. (#2000)

sp_BlitzFirst Changes

• Fix: when calling sp_BlitzCache, it was passing an invalid @SortOrder parameter, and since sp_BlitzCache started purposely throwing sev 16 errors in the #1945 enhancement, that caused the sp_BlitzFirst Agent jobs to fail.(#1983, thanks Bill Mrazik for the bug report.)

sp_BlitzIndex Changes

• Fix: saving results to table was broken in last month’s release. Doh! (#1988, thanks Matthew Monroe for the report & fix.)
• Fix: simplified missing index recommendations – they no longer say “with high impact” or “with low impact.” (#1991)

sp_DatabaseRestore Changes

• Fix: the @StopAt value was not being honored when @ContinueLogs = 1. (#1986, thanks Troy Jennings for the report & fix, and ZLThomps1 for the assist.)
• Fix: if you asked to restore diffs and logs, but no diffs were taken yet, the logs were being skipped too. (#1998, thanks Frederik Vanderhaegen.)

For Support

When you have questions about how the tools work, talk with the community in the #FirstResponderKit Slack channel. If you need a free invite, hit SQLslack.com. Be patient – it’s staffed with volunteers who have day jobs.

When you find a bug or want something changed, read the contributing.md file.

When you have a question about what the scripts found, first make sure you read the “More Details” URL for any warning you find. We put a lot of work into documentation, and we wouldn’t want someone to yell at you to go read the fine manual. After that, when you’ve still got questions about how something works in SQL Server, post a question at DBA.StackExchange.com and the community (that includes us!) will help. Include exact errors and any applicable screenshots, your SQL Server version number (including the build #), and the version of the tool you’re working with.