sp_helpserver (Transact-SQL)

Reports information about a particular remote or replication server, or about all servers of both types. Provides the server name, the network name of the server, the replication status of the server, the identification number of the server, and the collation name. Also provides time-out values for connecting to, or queries against, linked servers.

Topic link iconTransact-SQL Syntax Conventions

Syntax

sp_helpserver [ [ @server = ] 'server' ] 
  [ , [ @optname = ] 'option' ] 
  [ , [ @show_topology = ] 'show_topology' ]

Arguments

  • [ @server = ] 'server'
    Is the server about which information is reported. When server is not specified, reports about all servers in master.sys.servers. server is sysname, with a default of NULL.
  • [ @optname = ] 'option'
    Is the option describing the server. option is varchar(35), with a default of NULL, and must be one of these values.

    Value Description

    collation compatible

    Affects the Distributed Query execution against linked servers. If this option is set to true, SQL Server 2005 assumes that all characters in the linked server are compatible with the local server, with regard to character set and collation sequence (or sort order).

    data access

    Enables and disables a linked server for distributed query access.

    dist

    Distributor.

    dpub

    Remote Publisher to this Distributor.

    lazy schema validation

    Skips schema checking of remote tables at the beginning of the query.

    pub

    Publisher.

    rpc

    Enables RPC from the specified server.

    rpc out

    Enables RPC to the specified server.

    sub

    Subscriber.

    system

    Identified for informational purposes only. Not supported. Future compatibility is not guaranteed.

    use remote collation

    Uses the collation of a remote column instead of that of the local server.

  • [ @show_topology = ] 'show_topology'
    Is the relationship of the specified server to other servers. show_topology is varchar(1), with a default of NULL. If show_topology is not equal to t or is NULL, sp_helpserver returns columns listed in the Result Sets section. If show_topology is equal to t, in addition to the columns listed in the Result Sets, sp_helpserver also returns topx and topy information.

Return Code Values

0 (success) or 1 (failure).

Result Sets

Column name Data type Description

name

sysname

Server name.

network_name

sysname

Network name of the server.

status

varchar(70)

Server status.

id

char(4)

Identification number of the server.

collation_name

sysname

Collation of the server.

connect_timeout

int

Time-out value for connecting to linked server.

query_timeout

int

Time-out value for queries against linked server.

Remarks

A server can have more than one status.

Permissions

No permissions are checked.

Examples

A. Displaying information about all servers

The following example displays information about all servers by using sp_helpserver with no parameters.

USE master;
GO
EXEC sp_helpserver

B. Displaying information about a specific server

The following example displays all information about the SEATTLE2 server.

USE master;
GO
EXEC sp_helpserver 'SEATTLE2'

See Also

Reference

Database Engine Stored Procedures (Transact-SQL)
sp_adddistpublisher (Transact-SQL)
sp_addserver (Transact-SQL)
sp_addsubscriber (Transact-SQL)
sp_changesubscriber (Transact-SQL)
sp_dropserver (Transact-SQL)
sp_dropsubscriber (Transact-SQL)
sp_helpdistributor (Transact-SQL)
sp_helpremotelogin (Transact-SQL)
sp_helpsubscriberinfo (Transact-SQL)
sp_serveroption (Transact-SQL)
System Stored Procedures (Transact-SQL)

Help and Information

Getting SQL Server 2005 Assistance