To disable enterprise geodatabase tool / procedure

[AlexeyTereshenkov]

Hi all,

I've been testing these new 10.1 GP tools for creating/enabling ArcSDE repository tables in an RDBMS. Things look good; however I was wondering if there is any chance to cancel the procedure of enabling a database in RDBMS to become ArcSDE geodatabase?

I am thinking of having a GP tool "Disable Enterprise Geodatabase" which might be used in case a user chose the wrong database to enable. This tool will wipe out all the triggers, repository tables, users etc. that were created during enabling the database to become the geodatabase. This might be relevant for the situation when a database is used for SDS service (which requires having a non-geodatabase enabled database when authoring feature service).

I understand that one might play with rollback operations on DBMS level and so forth, but was thinking to check with the community if there are any higher-level alternatives.

Thanks!

[BirajaNayak · Accepted solution]

You can use database snapshot to revert back to the stage where you started.
At the same time, you can submit this idea in Esri Ideas site as below to get the user community support to have this tool.

http://ideas.arcgis.com/

[AlexeyTereshenkov]

Thank you, Biraja!

[StephanieSnider]

So if you didn't create a database snapshot before you enabled it as a geodatabase, what then?  Can you deauthorize the enterprise geodatabase?

[VinceAngelo]

You can certainly deauthorize the geodatabase (by manually removing the authorization key).

The best way to revert a backup-less RDBMS instance into which ArcSDE has been added is
to drop all tables using SDE.ST_GEOMETRY or ST_RASTER datatypes, create a new backup
of the instance, drop and recreate the instance, and restore all users except the SDE user.

I have manually deleted the SDE login from SQL-Server, but it was preceded by a long and
painful sequence of object deletion (sometimes multiple times before foreign key constraints
were removed).

Making and verifying backups should always the first step before any major database
change (and both ArcSDE install and upgrade qualify). It's certainly recommended as
"best practice".

- V

[StephanieSnider]

My main goal is to disable or deauthorize the geodatabase so that we will not be responsible for licencing the enterprise database (ArcGIS Server Basic).  I'm ok with the wayward tables and geometry that come with enabling the geodatabase.  We can remove the SDE user and schema.  So do you know how I would go about manually removing the authorization key?  I just want to be legal with ESRI and don't need a perfectlly reverted database.

[VinceAngelo]

UPDATE sde.SDE_server_config
SET char_prop_val = NULL 
WHERE prop_name = 'AUTH_KEY'

(or the Enterprise Manager edit equivalent) ought to do it.

- V

[StephanieSnider]

Thank you!  I'll give it a try.