SSIS

Thursday, December 20, 2012

SSRS Interview Questions & Answers SSAS Interview Questions & Answers MSBI FAQs

SSIS INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1. In BIDS, the SSIS project contain 10 packages. But How to deploy only 5
packages in Destination machine eventhough Manifest file contains all 10
packages after the Build?
-Open the Manifest file in any editor like BIDS or Notepad, keep the required 5
packages, remove remaining 5 packages.
-Save and Close the Manifest file.
-Double click on Manifest file to deploy the required 5 package.

2. How would you pass a Parent variable value to Child Package?

We can pass the parent variable to child package by using Package configuration:
Parent Package Variable.
2.1 Create parent variable
FilePath - Parent - String - C:\RK\file.txt
2.2 Drag an 'Execute Package Task' in Control Flow and configure it to start child
package.
2.3 Go to Child Package and create a variable with same name as your parent package
variable.
2.4 Add Package configurations
2.5 "Enable Package Configuration", choose Configuration type as "Parent Package
Variable" and type the name of the variable.

2.6 click 'Next' button and select the 'Value' property of the child package variable.
2.7 click 'Next' and 'OK' buttons
2.8 To test the package, I added sample Script Task with a messageBox to show the
value of the parent package.
3. My Source Table data as follows:

Output Should be as follows:

How to Implement?
Designed SSIS package like:

The script component code:

4. My Source Table Data as follows:

Output should be as follows:

How to Implement?
5. How to pass property value at Run time?
A property value like connection string for a Connection Manager can be passed to the
package using package configurations.
6. Will trigger fire when inserting data through SSIS package?
1.In the data flow task, go to the Advanced Editor of OLEDB Destination, and there
should be a property "FastLoadOptions". Specify FIRE_TRIGGERS as an additional
option.

2. SQL Destination Editor:

3. Bulk Insert Task Editor:

7. What are the different types of Transformations you have worked

AGGEGATE -The Aggregate transformation applies aggregate functions to column values

and copies the results to the transformation output. Besides aggregate functions, the
transformation provides the GROUP BY clause, which you can use to specify groups to
aggregate across.
The Aggregate Transformation supports following operations:
Group By, Sum, Average, Count, Count Distinct, Minimum, Maximum
AUDIT - Adds Package and Task level Metadata - such as Machine Name, Execution
Instance, Package Name, Package ID, etc..
CHARACTER MAP - When it comes to string formatting in SSIS, Character Map
transformation is very useful, used to convert data lower case, upper case.
CONDITIONAL SPLIT – used to split the input source data based on condition.
COPY COLUMN - Add a copy of column to the output, we can later transform the copy
keeping the original for auditing.
DATA CONVERSION - Converts columns data types from one to another type. It stands
for Explicit Column Conversion.
DATA MINING QUERY – Used to perform data mining query against analysis services and
manage Predictions Graphs and Controls.
DERIVED COLUMN - Create a new (computed) column from given expressions.
EXPORT COLUMN – Used to export a Image specific column from the database to a flat
file.
FUZZY GROUPING – Groups the rows in the dataset that contain similar values.
FUZZY LOOKUP - Used for Pattern Matching and Ranking based on fuzzy logic.
IMPORT COLUMN - Reads image specific column from database onto a flat file.
LOOKUP - Performs the lookup (searching) of a given reference object set against a data
source. It is used for exact matches only.
MERGE - Merges two sorted data sets of same column structure into a single output.
MERGE JOIN - Merges two sorted data sets into a single dataset using a join.
MULTI CAST - is used to create/distribute exact copies of the source dataset to one or
more destination datasets.
ROW COUNT - Stores the resulting row count from the data flow / transformation into a
variable.
ROW SAMPLING - Captures sample data by using a row count of the total rows in
dataflow specified by rows or percentage.
UNION ALL - Merge multiple data sets into a single dataset.
PIVOT – Used for Normalization of data sources to reduce analomolies by converting
rows into columns
UNPIVOT – Used for demoralizing the data structure by converts columns into rows
incase of building Data Warehouses.
8. What are the different types of Transaction Options
Required: If a transaction already exists at the upper level, the current executable will
join the transaction. If No transaction at the upper level, a new transaction is created
automatically.
Supported:In any executable, if there is a transaction at upper level, the executable join
the transaction else do not create a new transaction.
Not Supported:The executable of the package do not honour any transaction ie do not
join other transaction nor creates new transaction.
9. Explain about Checkpoints with properties
Checkpoint is used to restart the package execution from the point of failure rather than
from initial start.
Set the following Properties:
CheckpointFileName: Specifies the name of the checkpoint file.
CheckpointUsage: Never, IfExists, Always
SaveCheckpoints: indicates whether the package needs to save checkpoints. This
property must be set to True to restart a package from a point of failure.

FailPackageOnFailure: property needs to be set to True for enabling the task in the
checkpoint.
Checkpoint mechanism uses a Text File to mark the point of package failure.
These checkpoint files are automatically created at a given location upon the package
failure and automatically deleted once the package ends up with success.
10. How to execute SSIS Package from Stored Procedure.
using xp_cmdshell command
11. Parallel processing in SSIS
To support parallel execution of different tasks in the package, SSIS uses 2 properties:
1.MaxConcurrentExecutables: defines how many tasks can run simultaneously, by
specifying the maximum number of SSIS threads that can execute in parallel per
package. The default is -1, which equates to number of physical or logical processor + 2.
2. EngineThreads: is property of each DataFlow task. This property defines how many
threads the data flow engine can create and run in parallel. The EngineThreads property
applies equally to both the source threads that the data flow engine creates for sources
and the worker threads that the engine creates for transformations and destinations.
Therefore, setting EngineThreads to 10 means that the engine can create up to ten
source threads and up to ten worker threads.

12. Package configuration? Different types of Configuration Files

The package can be transferred across various environments like development and unit
testing, system testing, UAT and production. Most packages will have environment
specific variables like connection string to a database or path to a flat file, or user
defined variables etc. that would be impacted while moving the package across
environments as part of deployment process. Hence, it is mandatory to change these
environment dependent variables when the package is transferred across environments.
Package configurations help in managing such changes without actually opening and
editing the SSIS package in Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS).
After deploying the package to a different machine (using SQL Server or file system
deployment mode) it is mandatory to copy the related package configuration files on to
that machine. If the package is scheduled to run through a SQL Agent job,
the configuration file should be added while creating the job so that package will read
the information from the configuration file. While executing the job, SQL Agent will take
the design time values for connection strings if the package configuration file is not
supplied.

There are 5 configuration types available with package configurations.

13. Logging. Different types of Logging files

Logging is used to log the information during the execution of package.
A log provider can be a text file, the SQL Server Profiler, a SQL Server relational
database, a Windows event log, or an XML file. If necessary, you can define a custom log
provider (e.g., a proprietary file format).

14. How to debug a package

For debugging a package, we have 3 options:
-Setting breakpoints in a package, container or Task
-Using Data Viewer in the Data flow task
-Setting Error redirection in the Data Flow task
15. What is the LoggingMode property?
SSIS packages, tasks and containers have a property called LoggingMode. This property
accepts 3 possible values:
Enabled - to enable logging of that component
Disabled - to disable logging of that component
UseParentSetting - to use parent's setting of that component to decide whether or not to
log the data.

16. Error handling in SSIS package

I have created a package like below:

Select 'Load to sql Table' Data flow Task. Navigate to 'Even Handlers' Tab.

Drag and Drop 'Execute Sql Task'. Open the Execute Sql Task Editor and in Parameter
Mapping' section, select the system variables as follows:
Create a table in Sql Server Database with Columns as: PackageID, PackageName,
TaskID, TaskName, ErrorCode, ErrorDescription.

The package will be failed during the execution.

The error information is inserted into Table.

17. Difference between Merge and UnionAll Transformations
The Union All transformation combines multiple inputs into one output. The
transformation inputs are added to the transformation output one after the other; no
reordering of rows occurs.

The Merge transformation combines two sorted datasets into a single dataset. The rows
from each dataset are inserted into the output based on values in their key columns.
The Merge transformation is similar to the Union All transformations. Use the Union All
transformation instead of the Merge transformation in the following situations:

-The Source Input rows are not need to be sorted.

-The combined output does not need to be sorted.
-when we have more than 2 source inputs.
18. Multicast, Conditional Split, Bulk Insert Tasks
Multicast Transformation is used to extract output from single source and places onto
multiple destinations.
Conditional Split transaformation is used for splitting the input data based on a specific
condition. The condition is evaluated in VB Script.

Multicast Transformation generates exact copies of the source data, it means each
recipient will have same number of records as the source whereas the Conditional Split
Transformation divides the source data based on the defined conditions and if no rows
match with this defined conditions those rows are put on default output.

Bulk Insert Task is used to copy the large volumn of data from text file to sql server
destination.
19. Incremental Load in SSIS
Using Slowly Changing Dimension
Using Lookup and Cache Transformation
20. How to migrate Sql server 2005 Package to 2008 version
1. In BIDS, by right click on the "SSIS Packages" folder of an SSIS project and
selecting "Upgrade All Packages".
2. Running "ssisupgrade.exe" from the command line (default physical location C:\
Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\DTS\Bin folder).
3. If you open a SSIS 2005 project in BIDS 2008, it will automatically launch the SSIS
package upgrade wizard.
21. Difference between Synchronous and Asynchronous Transformation
Synchronous T/F process the input rows and passes them onto the data flow one row at
a time.
When the output buffer of Transformation created a new buffer, then it is Asynchronous
transformation. Output buffer or output rows are not sync with input buffer.
22. What are Row Transformations, Partially Blocking Transformation, Fully
Blocking Transformation with examples.
In Row Transformation, each value is manipulated individually. In this transformation,
the buffers can be re-used for other purposes like following:
OLEDB Datasource, OLEDB Data Destinations
Other Row transformation within the package, Other partially blocking
transformations within the package.
examples of Row Transformations: Copy Column, Audit, Character Map
Partially Blocking Transformation:
These can re-use the buffer space allocated for available Row transformation and get
new buffer space allocated exclusively for Transformation.
examples: Merge, Conditional Split, Multicast, Lookup, Import, Export Column
Fully Blocking Transformation:
It will make use of their own reserve buffer and will not share buffer space from other
transformation or connection manager.
examples: Sort, Aggregate, Cache Transformation

23. Difference between FileSystem and Sql server Deployment

File System Deployment: We can save the package on a physical location on hard drive
or any shared folder with this option, and we should provide a full qualified path to
stored package in the FileSystem option.
Sql Server Deployment: SSIS packages will be stored in the sysssispackages table of
MSDB Database.
24. Difference between Lookup and Fuzzy Lookup transformation
Lookup Transformation finds the exact match.
Fuzzy Lookup transformation matches input table with reference table. It finds the
closest match and indicates the quality of the match.
25. Difference between Full Cache and Partial Cache
Partial Cache: The lookup cache starts off empty at the beginning of the data flow. When
a new row comes in, the lookup transform checks its cache for the matching values. If
no match is found, it queries the database. If the match is found at the database, the
values are cached so they can be used the next time a matching row comes in.
Full Cache: The default cache mode for lookup is Full cache. The database is queried
once during the pre-execute phase of the data flow. The entire reference set is pulled
into memory. This approach uses most of the memory. Caching takes place before any
rows are read from the data flow source. Lookup operations will be very fast during
execution.
26. Cache Transformation
Cache Transformation: to cache the data used in the Lookup transform.
When to use Full cache mode:
When you're accessing a large portion of your reference set
When you have a small reference table
When your database is remote or under heavy load, and you want to reduce the number
of queries sent to the server
When to use Partial cache mode:
When you're processing a small number of rows and it's not worth the time to charge the
full cache.
When you have a large reference table.
When your data flow is adding new rows to your reference table.
When you want to limit the size of your reference table by modifying query with
parameters from the data flow.

27. Explain Slowly Changing Dimesnion

The SCD concept is basically about how the data modifications are absorbed and
maintained in a Dimension Table.
The new (modified) record and the old record(s) are identified using some kind of a flag
like say IsActive, IsDeleted etc. or using Start and End Date fields to
indicate the validity of the record.
Types:
Type 1 - update the columns in the dimension row without preserving any change
history.
Type 2 - preserve the change history in the dimension table and create a new row
when there are changes.
Type 3 - some combination of Type 1 and Type 2, usually maintaining multiple instances
of a column in the dimension row; e.g. a current value and one or more previous values.

28. Different types of File Enumerators

Foreach ADO:
The ADO Enumerator enumerates rows in a table. For example, we can get the rows in
the ADO records.The variable must be of Object data type.
Foreach ADO.NET Schema Rowset:
The ADO.Net Enumerator enumerates the schema information. For example, we can get
the table from the database.
Foreach File:
The File Enumerator enumerates files in a folder. For example, we can get all the files
which have the *.txt extension in a windows folder and its sub folders.
Foreach From Variable:
The Variable Enumerator enumerates objects that specified variables contain. Here
enumerator objects are nothing but an array or data table.
Foreach Item:
The Item Enumerator enumerates the collections. For example, we can enumerate the
names of executables and working directories that an “Execute Process” task uses.
Foreach Nodelist:
The Node List Enumerator enumerates the result of an XPath expression.
Foreach SMO:
The SMO Enumerator enumerates SQL Server Management Objects (SMO). For example,
we can get the list of functions or views in a SQL Server database.

29. How to execute the package from .NET?

We need a reference to Microsoft.SqlServer.ManagedDts.dll to call a package.
using Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Runtime
Application app = new Application();
Package package = null;
package = app.LoadPackage(@"C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\DTS\
Packages\Integration Services Project2\Package.dtsx", null);
Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Runtime.DTSExecResult results = package.Execute();

30. How to schedule a package (Role of Sql Server Agent)

In order for the job to run successfully, the SQL Server agent should be running on the
target machine.
We can start the SQL Server Agent Services in numerous ways like:-

 Starting SQL Server Agent Service from Command Line

 Starting SQL Server Agent Service from Services.MSC console
 Starting SQL Server Agent Service using SQL Server Configuration Manager
 Starting SQL Server Agent Service using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
31. What are containers? (For loop, Sequence Container)
SSIS Containers are controls that provide structure to SSIS packages. Containers
support repeating control flows in packages and they group tasks and containers into
meaningful units of work. Containers can include other containers in addition to tasks.

Container
Container Description Purpose of SSIS Container
Type
To repeat tasks for each element in a
collection, for example retrieve files
Foreach
This container runs a Control Flow from a folder, running T-SQL
Loop
repeatedly using an enumerator. statements that reside in multiple
Container
files, or running a command for
multiple objects.
For Loop This container runs a Control Flow To repeat tasks until a specified
Container repeatedly by checking conditional expression evaluates to false. For
expression (same as For Loop in example, a package can send a
programming language). different e-mail message seven times,
 one time for every day of the week.
This container group tasks and
containers that must succeed or fail
Groups tasks as well as containers as a unit. For example, a package can
Sequence
into Control Flows that are subsets of group tasks that delete and add rows
Container
the package Control Flow. in a database table, and then commit
or roll back all the tasks when one
fails.

32. What are precedence constraints

A task will only execute if the condition that is set by the precedence
constraint preceding the task is met. By using these constraints,it will choose different
execution paths depending on the success or failure of other tasks.

Success – Workflow will proceed when the preceding container executes successfully.
Indicated in control flow by a solid green line.
Failure – Workflow will proceed when the preceding container’s execution results in a
failure. Indicated in control flow by a solid red line.
Completion – Workflow will proceed when the preceding container’s execution
completes, regardless of success or failure. Indicated in control flow by a solid blue line.
Expression/Constraint with Logical AND – Workflow will proceed when specified
expression and constraints evaluate to true. Indicated in control flow by a solid color line
along with a small ‘fx’ icon next to it. Color of line depends on logical constraint chosen
(e.g. success=green, completion=blue).
Expression/Constraint with Logical OR – Workflow will proceed when either the specified
expression or the logical constraint (success/failure/completion) evaluates to true.
Indicated in control flow by a dotted color line along with a small ‘fx’ icon next to it.
Color of line depends on logical constraint chosen (e.g. success=green,
completion=blue).

33. Performance Optimization in SSIS

1. Avoid Asynchronous Transformation (Sort T/F) wherever possible. Sort T/F required
all the incoming rows to be arrivaed before start processing. Instead of using Sort T/F,
we get sorted rows from datasource using ORDER By clause.
2. Pulling High Volumes of Data
Drop all Non-Clustered Indexes and Clustered Index if exists, then Transfer and load the
data into Destination Table. Create Clustered Index and Non-clustered indexes.
3. Avoid SELECT *
DataFlow Task uses buffer oriented architecture for data transfer and transformation.
When data transfer from Source to Destination, the data first comes into the buffer,
required transformations are done in the buffer itself and then written to Destination.
The size of buffer depends on the estimated row size. The estimated row size is equal to
the maximum size of all columns in the row. So the more columns in a row means less
number of rows in a buffer. Hence select only those columns which are required at the
destination.
Even if we need all the columns from source, we should use the column name specifically
in the SELECT statement, otherwise it takes another round for the source to gather
meta-data about the columns when u are using SELECT *.

4. Effect of OLEDB Destination Settings

There are couple of settings with OLEDB destination which can impact the performance
of data transfer as listed below.
Data Access Mode – This setting provides the 'fast load' option which internally uses a
BULK INSERT statement for uploading data into the destination table instead of a simple
INSERT statement (for each single row) as in the case for other options. So unless you
have a reason for changing it, don't change this default value of fast load. If you select
the 'fast load' option, there are also a couple of other settings which you can use as
discussed below.

Keep Identity – By default this setting is unchecked which means the destination table (if
it has an identity column) will create identity values on its own. If you check this setting,
the dataflow engine will ensure that the source identity values are preserved and same
value is inserted into the destination table.
Keep Nulls – Again by default this setting is unchecked which means default value will be
inserted (if the default constraint is defined on the target column) during insert into the
destination table if NULL value is coming from the source for that particular column. If
you check this option then default constraint on the destination table's column will be
ignored and preserved NULL of the source column will be inserted into the destination.

Table Lock – By default this setting is checked and the recommendation is to let it be
checked unless the same table is being used by some other process at same time. It
specifies a table lock will be acquired on the destination table instead of acquiring
multiple row level locks, which could turn into lock escalation problems.
Check Constraints – Again by default this setting is checked and recommendation is to
un-check it if you are sure that the incoming data is not going to violate constraints of
the destination table. This setting specifies that the dataflow pipeline engine will validate
the incoming data against the constraints of target table. If you un-check this option it
will improve the performance of the data load.

#5 - Effect of Rows Per Batch and Maximum Insert Commit Size Settings:
Rows per batch:
The default value for this setting is -1 which specifies all incoming rows will be treated as
a single batch. You can change this default behavior and break all incoming rows into
multiple batches. The allowed value is only positive integer which specifies the maximum
number of rows in a batch.
Maximum insert commit size:
The default value for this setting is '2147483647' (largest value for 4 byte integer type)
which specifies all incoming rows will be committed once on successful completion. You
can specify a positive value for this setting to indicate that commit will be done for those
number of records. Changing the default value for this setting will put overhead on the
dataflow engine to commit several times. Yes that is true, but at the same time it will
release the pressure on the transaction log and tempdb to grow specifically during high
volume data transfers.

The above two settings are very important to understand to improve the performance of
tempdb and the transaction log. For example if you leave 'Max insert commit size' to its
default, the transaction log and tempdb will keep on growing during the extraction
process and if you are transferring a high volume of data the tempdb will soon run out of
memory as a result of this your extraction will fail. So it is recommended to set these
values to an optimum value based on your environment.
#7 - DefaultBufferSize and DefaultBufferMaxRows :
The execution tree creates buffers for storing incoming rows and performing
transformations.

The number of buffer created is dependent on how many rows fit into a buffer and how
many rows fit into a buffer dependent on few other factors. The first consideration is the
estimated row size, which is the sum of the maximum sizes of all the columns from the
incoming records. The second consideration is the DefaultBufferMaxSize property of the
data flow task. This property specifies the default maximum size of a buffer. The default
value is 10 MB and its upper and lower boundaries are constrained by two internal
properties of SSIS which are MaxBufferSize (100MB) and MinBufferSize (64 KB). It
means the size of a buffer can be as small as 64 KB and as large as 100 MB. The third
factor is, DefaultBufferMaxRows which is again a property of data flow task which
specifies the default number of rows in a buffer. Its default value is 10000.

If the size exceeds the DefaultBufferMaxSize then it reduces the rows in the buffer. For
better buffer performance you can do two things.
First you can remove unwanted columns from the source and set data type in each
column appropriately, especially if your source is flat file. This will enable you to
accommodate as many rows as possible in the buffer.
Second, if your system has sufficient memory available, you can tune these properties to
have a small number of large buffers, which could improve performance. Beware if you
change the values of these properties to a point where page spooling (see Best Practices
#8) begins, it adversely impacts performance. So before you set a value for these
properties, first thoroughly testing in your environment and set the values appropriately.

#8 - How DelayValidation property can help you

SSIS uses two types of validation.
First is package validation (early validation) which validates the package and all its
components before starting the execution of the package.
Second SSIS uses component validation (late validation), which validates the
components of the package once started.

Let's consider a scenario where the first component of the package creates an object i.e.
a temporary table, which is being referenced by the second component of the package.
During package validation, the first component has not yet executed, so no object has
been created causing a package validation failure when validating the second
component. SSIS will throw a validation exception and will not start the package
execution. So how will you get this package running in this common scenario?

To help you in this scenario, every component has a DelayValidation (default=FALSE)

property. If you set it to TRUE, early validation will be skipped and the component will be
validated only at the component level (late validation) which is during package execution

9. Better performance with parallel execution

10. When to use events logging and when to avoid.

11. Monitoring the SSIS Performance with Performance Counters

Launch Performance Monitor:
1. Start -> All Programs -> Administrative Tools -> Performance
2. Load the SSIS related Counters
In the Performance Object, select SQL Server:SSIS Pipeline and SQL Server:SSIS
Service.

SSIS provide a set of performance counters. Among them, the following few are helpful
when you tune or debug your package:
Buffers in use
Flat buffers in use
Private buffers in use
Buffers spooled
Rows read
Rows written

“Buffers in use”, “Flat buffers in use” and “Private buffers in use” are useful to discover
leaks. During package execution time, we will see these counters fluctuating. But once
the package finishes execution, their values should return to the same value as what
they were before the execution. Otherwise, buffers are leaked.

“Buffers spooled” has an initial value of 0. When it goes above 0, it indicates that the
engine has started memory swapping. In a case like this, set Data Flow Task properties
BLOBTempStoragePath and BufferTempStoragePath appropriately for maximal I/O
bandwidth.
Buffers Spooled: The number of buffers currently written to the disk. If the data flow
engine runs low on physical memory, buffers not currently used are written to disk and
then reloaded when needed.

“Rows read” and “Rows written” show how many rows the entire Data Flow has
processed.
12. FastParse property
Fast Parse option in SSIS can be used for very fast loading of flat file data. It will speed
up parsing of integer, date and time types if the conversion does not have to be locale-
sensitive. This option is set on a per-column basis using the Advanced Editor for the flat
file source.
13. Checkpoint features helps in package restarting
34. Upgrade DTS package to SSIS
1. In BIDS, from the Project Menu, select 'Migrate DTS 2000 Package'
2. In the Package Migration Wizard, choose the Source, Sql Server 2000 Server Name,
Destination folder.
3. Select the List of packages that needs to be upgraded to SSIS
4. Specifty the Log file for Package Migration.

35. Events in SSIS

OnError : Runs when a task or container reports an error.
OnExecStatusChanged : Runs for all tasks and containers when the execution status
changes to In Process, Success, or Failed.
OnInformation : Runs when SSIS outputs information messages during the validation
and execution of a task or container.
OnPostExecute : Runs after a container or task successfully completes.
OnPostValidate : Executes after a container or task has successfully been validated.
OnPreExecute : Runs just before a container or task is executed.
OnPreValidate: Runs before the component is validated by the engine.
OnProgress : Executed when a progress message is sent by the SSIS engine, indicating
tangible advancement of the task or container.
OnQueryCancel : Invoked when an Execute SQL Task is cancelled through manual
intervention, such as stopping the package.
OnTaskFailed : Similar to OnError, but runs when a task fails rather than each time an
error occurs.
OnVariableValueChanged: Runs when the value changes in a variable for which the
RaiseChangeEvent property is set to True.
OnWarning Runs: when a task returns a warning event such as a column not being used
in a data flow.

36. Difference between Control Flow and Data Flow

1.Control flow consists of one or more tasks and containers that execute when the
package runs. We use precedence constraints to connect the tasks and containers in a
package. SSIS provides three different types of control flow elements: Containers that
provide structures in packages, Tasks that provide functionality, and Precedence
Constraints that connect the executables, containers, and tasks into an ordered control
flow.
2.Control flow does not move data from task to task.
3.Tasks are run in series if connected with precedence or in parallel.

1. A data flow consists of the sources and destinations that extract and load data, the
transformations that modify and extend data, and the paths that link sources,
transformations, and destinations. The Data Flow task is the executable within the SSIS
package that creates, orders, and runs the data flow. Data Sources, Transformations,
and Data Destinations are the three important categories in the Data Flow.
2. Data flows move data, but there are also tasks in the control flow, as such, their
success or Failure effects how your control flow operates
3. Data is moved and manipulated through transformations.
4. Data is passed between each component in the data flow.
37. Different ways to execute SSIS package
1. Using the Execute Package Utility (DTEXECUI.EXE) graphical interface one can
execute an SSIS package that is stored in a File System, SQL Server or an SSIS Package
Store.

DTEXECUI provides a graphical user interface that can be used to specify the various
options to be set when executing an SSIS package. You can launch DTEXECUI by
double-clicking on an SSIS package file (.dtsx). You can also launch DTEXECUI from a
Command Prompt then specify the package to execute.

2. Using the DTEXEC.EXE command line utility one can execute an SSIS package
that is stored in a File System, SQL Server or an SSIS Package Store. The syntax to
execute a SSIS package which is stored in a File System is shown below.
DTEXEC.EXE /F "C:\BulkInsert\BulkInsertTask.dtsx"

3. Test the SSIS package execution by running the package from BIDS:
-In Solution Explorer, right click the SSIS project folder that contains the package which
you want to run and then click properties.
- In the SSIS Property Pages dialog box, select Build option under the Configuration
Properties node and in the right side panel, provide the folder location where you want
the SSIS package to be deployed within the OutputPath. Click OK to save the changes in
the property page.
-Right click the package within Solution Explorer and select Execute Package option from
the drop down menu

4. Sql Server Agent:

Drill down to the SQL Server Agent node in the Object Explorer. Right click on the Jobs
node and select New Job from the popup menu.

The first step to setting up the proxy is to create a credential (alternatively you could
use an existing credential). Navigate to Security then Credentials in SSMS Object
Explorer and right click to create a new credential

Navigate to SQL Server Agent then Proxies in SSMS Object Explorer and right click to
create a new proxy

38. How to execute a Stored Procedure from SSIS

using Execute SQL Task

39. How to deploy packages from one server to another server

1.To copy the deployment bundle

Locate the deployment bundle on the first server.

If you used the default location, the deployment bundle is the Bin\Deployment folder.
Right-click the Deployment folder and click Copy.
Locate the public share to which you want to copy the folder on the target computer and
click Paste.
2: Running the Package Installation Wizard
1. On the destination computer, locate the deployment bundle.
2. In the Deployment folder, double-click the manifest file,
Project1.SSISDeploymentManifest.
3. On the Welcome page of the Package Installation Wizard, click Next.
4. On the Deploy SSIS Packages page, select either File sytem or SQL Server
deployment option, select the "Validate packages after installation" check box, and
then click Next.
5. On the Specify Target SQL Server page, specify (local), in the Server name box.
6. If the instance of SQL Server supports Windows Authentication, select Use Windows
Authentication; otherwise, select Use SQL Server Authentication and provide a user
name and a password.
7. Verify that the "Rely on server storage for encryption" check box is cleared.
Click Next.
8. On the Select Installation Folder page, click Browse.
9. On the Confirm Installation page, click Next.
10. The wizard installs the packages. After installation is completed, the Configure
Packages page opens.

40. How to deploy a package

Right click on the Solution in Solution Explorer and choose properties in the
Menu.
 When the build /rebuild is successful, navigate to the directory is
referred
in DeploymentOutputPath
Deploying the Package:
Double click the Manifest File to start the deployment. The Package
Installation wizard begins and Deploy SSIS Packages step is the first
screen that is presented.
This screen lets you select where shall the packages be deployed, as mentioned in the
Dialog Box, deploying in SQL Server is more secure, since SQL Server stores the
packages internally compared to File System where additional security measures needs
to taken to secure the physical files.
41. What is the use of Percentage Sampling transformation in SSIS?
Percentage Sampling transformation is generally used for data mining. This
transformation builds a random sample of set of output rows by choosing specified
percentage of input rows. For example if the input has 1000 rows and if I specify 10
as percentage sample then the transformation returns 10% of the RANDOM records from
the input data.
42. What is the use of Term Extraction transformation in SSIS?
Term Extraction transformation is used to extract nouns or noun phrases or both noun
and noun phrases only from English text. It extracts terms from text in a transformation
input column and then writes the terms to a transformation output column. It can be
also used to find out the content of a dataset.
43. What is Data Viewer and what are the different types of Data Viewers in
SSIS?
A Data Viewer allows viewing data at a point of time at runtime.
The different types of data viewers are:
1. Grid
2. Histogram
3. Scatter Plot
4. Column Chart
44. What is Ignore Failure option in SSIS?
In Ignore Failure option, the error will be ignored and the data row will be directed to
continue on the next transformation. Let’s say you have some JUNK data(wrong type of
data ) flowing from source, then using this option in SSIS we can REDIRECT the junk
data records to another transformation instead of FAILING the package. This helps to
MOVE only valid data to destination and JUNK can be captured into separate file.
45. How do we convert data type in SSIS?
The Data Conversion Transformation in SSIS converts the data type of an input column
to a different data type.
46. Explain Audit Transformation ?
It allows you to add auditing information. Auditing options that you can add to
transformed data through this transformation are :
1. Execution of Instance GUID : ID of execution instance of the package
2. PackageID : ID of the package
3. PackageName : Name of the Package
4. VersionID : GUID version of the package
5. Execution StartTime
6. MachineName
7. UserName
8. TaskName
9. TaskID : unique identifier type of the data flow task that contains audit
transformation.
47. what are the possible locations to save SSIS package?
1.File System: We can save the package on a physical location on hard drive or any
shared folder with this option, and we should provide a full qualified path to stored
package in the FileSystem option.
2. Sql Server: SSIS packages will be stored in the MSDB database, in the
sysssispackages table.

SSIS Package Store is nothing but combination of SQL Server and File System
deployment, as you can see when you connect to SSIS through SSMS: it looks like a
store which has categorized its contents (packages) into different categories based on its
manager’s (which is you, as the package developer) taste. So, don’t get it wrong as
something different from the 2 types of package deployment.
48. How to provide security to packages?
We can provide security to packages in 2 ways
1. Package encryption
2. Password protection

1. DonotSaveSensitive: any sensitive information is simply not written out to

the package XML file when you save the package.
2. EncryptSensitiveWithUserKey: encrypts sensitive information based on the
credentials of the user who created the package. It is the default value for
the ProtectionLevel property.
3. EncryptSensitiveWithPassword: requires to specify a password in the
package, and this password will be used to encrypt and decrypt the sensitive
information in the package.
4. EncryptAllWithPassword: allows to encrypt the entire contents of the SSIS
package with your specified password.
5. EncryptAllWithUserKey: allows to encrypt the entire contents of the SSIS
package by using the user key.
6. Server Storage: allows the package to retain all sensitive information
when you are saving the package to SQL Server. SSIS packages are saved to
MSDB database of SQL Server.
You can change the Protection Level of deployed packages by using the
DTUTIL utility.
49. How to track a variable in ssis?
OnVariableValueChanged: This event gets raised when value of the variable is changed.
1.Set the "EvaluateasExpression" property of the variable as True.
2.Set the "RaiseChangedEvent" property of the variable as True.
3.Create an event handler for the "OnVariableValueChanged" event for the container
in which the variable is scoped.
50. FTP Task:
The FTP task downloads and uploads data files and manages directories on servers. For
example, a package can download data files from a remote server.

use the FTP task for the following purposes:

1. Copying directories and data files from one directory to another, before or after
moving data, and applying transformations to the data.
2. Downloading files from an FTP location and applying transformations to column data
before loading the data into a database.

At run time, the FTP task connects to a server by using an FTP connection manager. The
FTP connection manager includes the server settings, the credentials for accessing the
FTP server, and options such as the time-out and the number of retries for connecting to
the server.

The FTP connection manager supports only anonymous authentication and basic
authentication. It does not support Windows Authentication.
Predefined FTP Operations:
Send Files, Receive File,
Create Local directory, Remove Local Directory,
Create Remote Directory, Remove Remote Directory
Delete Local Files, Delete Remote File
Customer Log Entries available on FTP Task:
FTPConnectingToServer
FTPOperation

51. New features in SSIS 2012

1. GUI Improvements - -Sort packages by name -Package visualization -Zoom -Data
flow source/destination wizard -Grouping in data flow
2. CDC (Change Data Capture) Task and Components - -CDC is nothing but Incremental
load loads all rows that have changed since the last load -CDC needs to keep track of
which changes have already been processed. -CDC task does this by storing LSNs in a
tracking table -CDC source component reads from the CDC table function, based on the
LSN it for from the CDC task. -CDC transformation splits records into new rows, updated
rows and deleted rows.

3. Flat File Connection Manager Changes - -The Flat File connection manager now
supports parsing files with embedded qualifiers. The connection manager also by default
always checks for row delimiters to enable the correct parsing of files with rows that are
missing column fields. The Flat File Source now supports a varying number of columns,
and embedded qualifiers.

4. Offline Connection Managers: Integration Services now validates all connections

before validating all of the data flow components when a package is opened and sets any
connections that are slow or unavailable to work offline. This helps to reduce the delay in
validating the package data flow. After a package is opened, you can also turn off a
connection by right-clicking the connection manager in the Connection Managers area
and then clicking Work Offline. This can speed up operations in the SSIS Designer.
5. New Functions/Expressions in SSIS 2012:
LEFT: You now can easily return the leftmost portion of a string rather than use the
SUBSTRING function. Left syntax is the same as we know in T-
SQL: LEFT(character_expression,number)

REPLACENULL: You can use this function to replace NULL values in the first argument
with the expression specified in the second argument. This is equivalent to ISNULL in T-
SQL: REPLACENULL(expression, expression)

TOKEN: This function allows you to return a substring by using delimiters to separate a
string into tokens and then specifying which occurrence to
return: TOKEN(character_expression, delimiter_string, occurrence)

TOKENCOUNT: This function uses delimiters to separate a string into tokens and then
returns the count of tokens found within the string: TOKENCOUNT(character_expression,
delimiter_string)

6. Easy Column Remapping in Data Flow (Mapping Data Flow Columns) -When modifying
a data flow, column remapping is sometimes needed -SSIS 2012 maps columns on name
instead of id -It also has an improved remapping dialog

7. Shared Connection Managers: To create connection managers at the project level that
can shared by multiple packages in the project. The connection manager you create at
the project level is automatically visible in the Connection Managers tab of the SSIS
Designer window for all packages. -When converting shared connection managers back
to regular (package) connection managers, they disappear in all other packages.

8. Scripting Enhancements: Now Script task and Script Component support for 4.0. -
Breakpoints are supported in Script Component

9. ODBC Source and Destination - -ODBC was not natively supported in 2008 -SSIS
2012 has ODBC source & destination -SSIS 2008 could access ODBC via ADO.NET

10. Reduced Memory Usage by the Merge and Merge Join Transformations – The old
SSIS Merge and Merge Join transformations, although helpful, used a lot of system
resources and could be a memory hog. In 2012 these tasks are much more robust and
reliable. Most importantly, they will not consume excessive memory when the multiple
inputs produce data at uneven rates.

11. Undo/Redo: One thing that annoys users in SSIS before 2012 is lack of support of
Undo and Redo. Once you performed an operation, you can’t undo that. Now in SSIS
2012, we can see the support of undo/redo.

52. Difference between Script Task and Script Component in SSIS.

Script Task Script Component

Control The Script task is configured on the Control Flow tab of The Script component is configured on the Data
Flow/Date the designer and runs outside the data flow of the Flow page of the designer and represents a
Flow package. source, transformation, or destination in the
Data Flow task.

Purpose A Script task can accomplish almost any general- You must specify whether you want to create a
purpose task. source, transformation, or destination with the
Script component.
Raising The Script task uses both the TaskResult property and The Script component runs as a part of the
Results the optional ExecutionValue property of the Dts object Data Flow task and does not report results
to notify the runtime of its results. using either of these properties.

Raising The Script task uses the Events property of the Dts The Script component raises errors, warnings,
Events object to raise events. For example: and informational messages by using the
Dts.Events.FireError(0, "Event Snippet", ex.Message & methods of the IDTSComponentMetaData100
ControlChars.CrLf & ex.StackTrace interface returned by the ComponentMetaData
property. For example: Dim
myMetadata as IDTSComponentMetaData100
myMetaData = Me.ComponentMetaData
myMetaData.FireError(...)

Execution A Script task runs custom code at some point in the A Script component also runs once, but
package workflow. Unless you put it in a loop container typically it runs its main processing routine
or an event handler, it only runs once. once for each row of data in the data flow.

Editor The Script Task Editor has three pages: General, Script, The Script Transformation Editor has up to four
and Expressions. Only the ReadOnlyVariables and pages: Input Columns, Inputs and Outputs,
ReadWriteVariables, and ScriptLanguage properties Script, and Connection Managers. The
directly affect the code that you can write. metadata and properties that you configure on
each of these pages determines the members
of the base classes that are autogenerated for
your use in coding.

Interaction In the code written for a Script task, you use the Dts In Script component code, you use typed
with the property to access other features of the package. The accessor properties to access certain package
Package Dts property is a member of the ScriptMain class. features such as variables and connection
managers. The PreExecute method can access
only read-only variables. The PostExecute
method can access both read-only and
read/write variables.

Using The Script task uses the Variables property of the Dts The Script component uses typed accessor
Variables object to access variables that are available through the properties of the autogenerated based class,
task’s ReadOnlyVariables and ReadWriteVariables created from the component’s
properties. For example: string myVar; ReadOnlyVariables and ReadWriteVariables
myVar = properties. For example:
Dts.Variables["MyStringVariable"].Value.ToString(); string myVar; myVar =
this.Variables.MyStringVariable;

Using The Script task uses the Connections property of the The Script component uses typed accessor
Connections Dts object to access connection managers defined in properties of the autogenerated base class,
the package. For example: string created from the list of connection managers
myFlatFileConnection; myFlatFileConnection = entered by the user on the Connection
(Dts.Connections["Test Flat File Managers page of the editor. For example:
Connection"].AcquireConnection(Dts.Transaction) as IDTSConnectionManager100 connMgr;connMgr
String); = this.Connections.MyADONETConnection;

53.Difference between DTS and SSIS?

DTS:
Limited number of transformations.
Limited error handling.
Message box in active-x scripts.
SSIS:
More number of transformations.
Better error handling.
Message box in .NET scripting.
54. How to execute package from command line
1. To execute an SSIS package saved to SQL Server using Windows Authentication:
dtexec /sq pkgOne /ser productionServer
2. To execute an SSIS package that is saved in the file system:
dtexec /f "c:\pkgOne.dtsx"
3. To execute an SSIS package saved to the File System folder in the SSIS Package
Store:
dtexec /dts "\File System\MyPackage"
4. To execute an SSIS package that is saved in the file system and configured
externally:
dtexec /f "c:\pkgOne.dtsx" /conf "c:\pkgOneConfig.cfg"
55. How to unzip a File in SSIS?
Use Execute Process Task in the Control Flow.
From BIDS, drag and drop an "Execute Process Task" to the control flow and configure.
In the Execute Process, perform the following configurations:
Executable: The path of the application that is being used.
Arguments: Need to supply the arguments to extract the zipped files.
Working Directory: The current directory for all process.
56. which service requires to start a job
SQL Server Agent Service
57. Difference between OLEDB Destination, SQL Destination, Bulk Insert
1. OLEDB destination loads the records in batches, where as SQL Server destination
loads all the records at one go.
2. OLEDB Destination uses the 'Fast Load' data access mode.
SQL Server destination uses shared memory for maximum loading speed, must execute
on the same server as the database engine.
Prefer the OLE-DB Destination simply because it gives better flexibility on where you
execute the package.

3. The Bulk Insert task uses the T-SQL BULK INSERT statement for speed when loading
large amounts of data.
58.which services are installed during Sql Server installation
SSIS
SSAS
SSRS
SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER)
SQL Server Agent Service
SQL Server Browser
SQL Full-Text

59. How to run dynamic T-SQL in SSIS?

Option#1: Using Script Component as Destination
Option#2: Using Object Variable and run t-sql with Execute SQL Task

60. What is the use of RecordSet Destination?

The Recordset destination does not save data to an external data source. Instead, it
saves data in memory in a recordset that is stored in variable of the Object data type.
After the Recordset destination saves the data, we use a Foreach Loop container with the
Foreach ADO enumerator to process one row of the recordset at a time. The Foreach
ADO enumerator saves the value from each column of the current row into a separate
package variable. Then, the tasks that you configure inside the Foreach Loop container
read those values from the variables and perform some action with them.
61. Delay Validation, Forced Execution
Delay Validation: Validation take place during the package execution.
Early Validation: Validation take place just before the package execution.
62. Transfer Database Task
used to move a database to another SQL Server instance or create a copy on the same
instance (with different database name). This task works in two modes: Offline, Online.

Offline: In this mode, the source database is detached from the source server after
putting it in single user mode, copies of the mdf, ndf and ldf files are moved to specified
network location. On the destination server the copies are taken from the network
location to the destination server and then finally both databases are attached on the
source and destination servers. This mode is faster, but a disadvantage with mode is
that the source database will not available during copy and move operation. Also, the
person executing the package with this mode must be sysadmin on both source and
destination instances.
Online: The task uses SMO to transfer the database objects to the destination server. In
this mode, the database is online during the copy and move operation, but it will take
longer as it has to copy each object from the database individually. Someone executing
the package with this mode must be either sysadmin or database owner of the specified
databases.

63. Transfer SQL Server Object Task

Used to transfer one or more SQL Server objects to a different database, either on the
same or another SQL Server instance. You can transfer tables, views, Indexes, stored
procedures, User defined functions, Users, Roles etc.
64. How to Generate an Auto Incremental Number in a SSIS Package?
A script component can be used for the designated task. The steps are as follows:
1. Drag and drop the Script Document to the Data flow and select the Script Component
Type as Transformation.
2. Double click the Script Component.
3. Select the column which is to pass through the script component, in the Input
Columns tab.
4. Add a column with an integer data type, in the Inputs and Outputs tab.
65. Breakpoint in SSIS?
A breakpoint allows you to pause the execution of the package in BIDS during
development or when troubleshooting an SSIS Package. You can right click on the task
in control flow, click on 'Edit Breakpoint' menu and from the Set Breakpoint window, you
specify when you want execution to be halted/paused. For example OnPreExecute,
OnPostExecute, OnError events, etc. To toggle a breakpoint, delete all breakpoints and
disable all breakpoints go to the Debug menu and click on the respective menu item. You
can even specify different conditions to hit the breakpoint as well.
66. What is the DisableEventHandlers property used for?
SSIS packages, tasks and containers have a property called DisableEventHandlers. If
you set this property to TRUE for task or container, then all event handlers will be
disabled for that task or container. If you set this property value to FALSE then the
event handlers will once again be executed.

67. How to create Temporary Table using SSIS?

1. For the connection manager, set the property RetainSameConnection =True so that
temporary table created in one Control Flow task can be retained in another task.
RetainSameConnection means that the temp table will not be deleted when the task is
completed.
2. Create a data-flow task that consumes your global temp table in an OLE DB Source
component.
3. Set DelayValidation=TRUE on the data-flow task, means that the task will not check if
the table exists upon creation.
68. How to Lock a variable in Script Task?
public void Main()
{
Variables vars = null ;
bool fireAgain = true;
Dts.VariableDispenser.LockOneForRead("varName", ref vars);
//Do something with the value...
vars.Unlock();
Dts.TaskResult = (int)ScriptResults.Success;

}
69. How to pass property value at Run time?
A property value like connection string for a Connection Manager can be passed to the
package using package configurations.
70. How to skip first 5 lines in each Input flat file?
In the Flat file connection manager editor, Set the 'Header rows to skip' property.
71. Parallel processing in SSIS
To support parallel execution of different tasks in the package, SSIS uses 2 properties:
1.MaxConcurrentExecutables: defines how many tasks can run simultaneously, by
specifying the maximum number of SSIS threads that can execute in parallel per
package. The default is -1, which equates to number of physical or logical processor + 2.
2. EngineThreads: is property of each DataFlow task. This property defines how many
threads the data flow engine can create and run in parallel. The EngineThreads property
applies equally to both the source threads that the data flow engine creates for sources
and the worker threads that the engine creates for transformations and destinations.
Therefore, setting EngineThreads to 10 means that the engine can create up to ten
source threads and up to ten worker threads.
72. How do we convert data type in SSIS?
The Data Conversion Transformation in SSIS converts the data type of an input column
to a different data type.

73. One Excel file contains 10 rows. 2nd Excel file contains 10 rows. There are 5
matching rows in both excel. How find non-matched rows from both excel and
store in output excel file.

74. Difference between Copy Column and Derived Column Transformations

Both transformations can add new columns.
Copy column can add new columns only through existing columns. Derived column can
be used to create new column with or without help of existing columns.
Derived column supports error output whereas Copy column cannot.
75. Let’s say if we have some reference data in Excel and we want to use that
excel Data in Lookup Transformation, how we can achieve that without loading
into staging or temp table
76.I have a source file that contains 1000 records, I want to insert 15%
records in TableA and remaining in TableB which transformation I can use

77.There is no Union Transformation in SSIS, How to perform UNION operation

by using built-in Transformation

78. Before you create your SSIS Package and load data into destination, you
want to analyze your data , which task will help you to achieve that?
Data Profiling Task

79. In Merge Join Transformation, we can use Inner Join, Left Join and Full
Outer Join, Which Transformation is used to perform Cross Join.

80. Direct Vs. Indirect Configuration in SSIS

Direct configuration
Pros:
-Doesn't need environment variables creation or maintenance
-Scale well when multiple databases (Test or DEV) are used on the same server
-Changes can be made to the configurations files (.dtsconfig) when deployment is made
using SSIS deployment utility

Cons:
-Need to specify configuration file that we want to use when the package is triggered
with DTExec (/conf switch).
-If multiple layers of packages are used (parent/child packages), need to transfer
configured values from the parent to the child package using parent packages variables
which can be tricky (if one parent variable is missing, the rest of the parent package
configs (parameters) will not be transferred).

Indirect configuration
Pros:
-All packages can reference the configuration file(s) via environment variable
-Packages can be deployed simply using copy/paste or xcopy, no need to mess with
SSIS deployment utility
-Packages or application is not dependent of configuration switches when triggered with
DTExec utility (command line is much simpler)

Cons:
-Require environment variables to be created
-Does not support easily multiple databases (TEST and Pre-Prod) to be used on the same
server

81. We get the data from flat file and how to remove Leading Zero, Trailing
Zeros OR Leading and trailing both before insert into destination.
Use the Derived column Transformation to remove Leading/Trailing OR Both zero from
the string. After removing Zeros you can Cast to Any data type you want such as
Numeric, Int, float etc.
Leading Zeros: (DT_WSTR,50)(DT_I8)[YourInputColumn]
Trailing Zeros: REVERSE((DT_WSTR,50)(DT_I8)REVERSE([YourInputColumn]))
Leading and Trailing Zeros:
REVERSE((DT_WSTR,50)(DT_I8)REVERSE((DT_WSTR,50)(DT_I8)[YourInputColumn]))
82. Import Data in SSMS:
We can't apply transformations on source data with "Import Data", "Export Data".
Import and Export Wizard in SSIS:
We can apply transformations on source data
82. Import Data in SSMS:
We can't apply transformations on source data with "Import
Data", "Export Data".
Import and Export Wizard in SSIS:
We can apply transformations on source data
83. Flat file contains following records.
ID
1
2
3
4
In the Conditional Split Transformation, I specified
following 2 conditions:
condition 1: ID <= 3
condition 2: ID >= 3
What is the output from both the conditions?
condition 1: 1,2,3
condition 2: 4