Everpure FlashArray Management Extension for SQL Server Management Studio

Microsoft Platform Guide
Audience
Public
Source Type
Documentation

The Everpure® FlashArray Management Extension for SQL Server Management Studio (aka FA SSMS Extension) is a database backup and restore extension for SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). SSMS is the main administration tool for SQL Server. The extension supports creating Volume Shadow Copy Management using the Everpure Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) Hardware Provider. The extension can be used from the SSMS GUI or automated using the included Everpure Backup SDK Windows PowerShell module. Database Administrators (DBAs) can manage backup and restore operations on local and remote databases from a centralized SSMS deployment.

End of Life Notice: SQL Server Management Studio Plugin for FlashArray

Effective Date: June 2025

Overview

Everpure is announcing the end of life (EOL) for the SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) Plugin for FlashArray. This plugin will no longer receive updates, bug fixes, or technical support after the EOL date.

What This Means

After the EOL date, the SSMS Plugin for FlashArray will:

  • No longer receive software updates or patches

  • No longer be supported by Everpure Technical Support

  • No longer be compatible with future versions of SQL Server Management Studio

Support and Resources

For questions about this EOL notice, please contact Everpure Support.

The FA SSMS Extension will appear in SSMS as a top level menu item and also as an individual database context menu.

Releases

Click the release version to download.

v2.5.521.0

9/29/2022

Release Notes & User Guide (included in archive)

Fixes:

  • Fixed a problem where VSS was crashing when there is a disk with invalid or incomplete Vendor information.

v2.5.510.0

12/13/2021

Release Notes & User Guide (included in archive)

Improvements:

  • Support databases stored in vVol disks
  • Validate backup configuration before saving
  • Request confirmation in PowerShell commands before deleting all backup configurations or all history items
  • Allow specifying Datastore to use when mounting RDM disks
  • Invoke-BackupJob returns detailed information instead of $true/$false to indicate success/failure
  • Dependent component (PureStorageRequester) installed by the SDK can be uninstalled using built in Windows "Add/Remove Programs"

v2.0.433.0

11/2/2021

Release Notes & User Guide (included in archive)

Fixes:

  • Fixed issue where mounting to a remote server failed when using mount points.

Improvements:

  • When removing an entry from the Backup History, in both the GUI and Remove-PFABackupHistory cmdlet, an option is available to also destroy the snapshot on the FlashArray.
  • A new Credential Manager is added, where you can list all of the credentials, add new credentials, edit credentials, remove credentials, and test credentials.

  • AllowPartial (during restore only): If a backup set includes more than 1 pure volume, and 1 or more of the pure volumes is missing the snapshot, the restore will fail. If the administrator prefers to allow a partial restore on the volumes where the snapshots exist, an allowpartial override can be used during the restore.

  • Pods: In ActiveCluster and ActiveDR configurations that utilize FlashArray Pods, snapshots that are mounted will be created inside of the POD.

Note: See Release Notes for more details.

v1.1.100.0

10/25/2021

Release Notes & User Guide (included in archive)

Fixes:

  • In some configurations during restore, the "norecovery" flag was not honored.

Note: See Release Notes for more details.

v1.1.96.0

9/17/2021

Release Notes & User Guide (included in archive)

Fixes:

  • Mounting a snapshot to a server connected to the FlashArray with Fibre Channel would fail. Fixed a null termination issue that showed up as a bad HostID from the provider. Fixed an issue where the HostId returned by the provider had undefined characters.

  • Fixed assertion in GetVDSLunInfo()

  • Improved build numbers in various binaries.

  • Keep original registry entries after updating or installing the VSS provider.

  • Show Install-VSS window if a newer VSS Provider is available in SSMS. This prompts the user to update the provider version.

  • Code sign all files. Some files were unsigned.

Note: See Release Notes for more details.

v1.1.76.0

Release Notes & User Guide (included in archive)

Fixes:

  • DB enumeration succeeds with named instances
  • Changed the string matching to exit code checking, to check if the requestor is returning a good result which fixes some workflows where the language is not set to English.
  • Support for Protection Group snapshots. Volumes can only be part of a single, or no Protection Group. If any volume belongs to more than 1 Protection Group, the backup will fail.

Note: See Release Notes for more details.

v1.0.444.0

Release Notes & User Guide (included in archive)

Fixes:

  • Fixes an issue in v1.0.440 where some configurations will fail to honor the "no recovery" flag when a restore is performed in SSMS. Invoking the restore with PowerShell honors the "no recovery" flag in both versions.

Known Issues:

  • DB enumeration fails with named instances.

v1.0.440.0

Original release (no longer available for download)