New-DbaLogScountPackage - based on Microsoft tool Sql Log Scout

[wsmelton]

Summarize Command's Functionality

Basically replicate everything this tool does: SQL LogScount

Is there a command that is similiar or close to what you are looking for?

No

Technical Details

It is a stretch as I'm not sure how doable this would be as it covers a lot of areas. Right now their tool is written around a batch file (cmd) 🤢🤮🤮.

This might be better to do as a separate module that depends on dbatools (@potatoqualitee @andreasjordan )? I have not gone through every piece of the data collection to see what commands may already be covered.

[andreasjordan]

@claude please give me some advice on this.

[claude]

Claude finished @andreasjordan's task in 3m 1s —— View job

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Advice on New-DbaLogScoutPackage

• Research SQL LogScout capabilities
• Audit existing dbatools commands for overlap
• Analyze feasibility and provide advice

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What SQL LogScout Actually Does

SQL LogScout is a diagnostic data collector with these main capability areas:

Category	What it collects
XEvent sessions	Query performance, deadlocks, waits, errors, blocking
Perfmon	CPU, memory, disk I/O, SQL counters via logman
DMV snapshots	Active requests, wait stats, locks, memory, sessions
Error logs	SQL Server ERRORLOG, SQL Agent logs via xp_readerrorlog
System info	msinfo32, ipconfig, Windows Event Logs, cluster logs
OS-level traces	Netsh network traces, Windows Performance Recorder (ETW)
Memory dumps	Via SQLDumper.exe
Scenario-based	Combines above into named profiles: GeneralPerf, AlwaysOn, Memory, Replication, IO, etc.

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What dbatools Already Covers

Significant overlap already exists:

Well covered (use existing commands):

• XEvent sessions — 23 commands (New-DbaXESession, Start-DbaXESession, Watch-DbaXESession, etc.)
• Error logs — Get-DbaErrorLog
• Memory diagnostics — Get-DbaDbccMemoryStatus, Get-DbaMemoryUsage, Get-DbaDbMemoryUsage
• Wait stats — Get-DbaWaitStatistic, Get-DbaWaitingTask
• Latch stats — Get-DbaLatchStatistic
• Query plans/plan cache — Get-DbaExecutionPlan, Get-DbaPlanCache
• Query Store — Get-DbaDbQueryStoreOption
• Diagnostic queries framework — Invoke-DbaDiagnosticQuery

Partial coverage (would need enhancement or wrappers):

• Perfmon — Add-DbaPfDataCollectorCounter, Get-DbaPfDataCollectorCounterSample exist but aren't orchestrated for LogScout-style collection
• Blocking — Get-DbaWaitingTask exists but no dedicated blocking chain collector
• AlwaysOn health — AG commands exist scattered across the module

Gaps (new work required):

• Orchestration layer that starts/stops multiple collectors together
• Timed/interval DMV snapshot loops (e.g., "every 5s for 5 minutes")
• OS-level collection (msinfo32, Windows Event Logs, netsh) — these are Windows-specific
• SQLDumper.exe integration for memory dumps
• ZIP packaging of all output files
• Scenario-based profile system

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Architecture Recommendation

Recommendation: Implement within dbatools as a single orchestrator command, not a separate module, for these reasons:

1. The heavy lifting (XEvents, DMVs, error logs) is already in dbatools — you'd just be calling existing commands
2. A separate module creates dependency management friction for users
3. It fits naturally as a "collection package" command alongside Invoke-DbaDiagnosticQuery

Suggested command design:

Invoke-DbaLogScoutCollection -SqlInstance $server -Scenario GeneralPerf, AlwaysOn -Duration (New-TimeSpan -Minutes 5) -OutputPath C:\Diagnostics

The command would:

1. Accept -Scenario with values like Basic, GeneralPerf, DetailedPerf, AlwaysOn, Memory, Replication, IO
2. Start appropriate XEvent sessions, perfmon collectors based on scenario
3. Run a timed loop collecting DMV snapshots (blocking chains, wait stats) at intervals
4. Stop all collectors and package output to a ZIP

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What Makes This Complex

A few areas genuinely require new work:

1. Parallel collection orchestration — starting XEvents + perfmon + DMV loops simultaneously requires PowerShell jobs or runspaces. dbatools has internal runspace infrastructure but it's not exposed publicly.

2. OS-level data — msinfo32, wevtutil, netsh traces, cluster logs are OS-only and would need Invoke-Command/[System.Diagnostics.Process] calls, making Linux/Mac support irrelevant but still needing graceful skipping.

3. Timed collection loops — a background loop querying sys.dm_exec_requests every 5 seconds for the duration is stateful and needs careful cleanup on Ctrl+C.

4. Memory dumps — SQLDumper.exe integration is Windows-only and carries risk; probably leave this out of dbatools scope.

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Suggested Phased Approach

Phase 1 (achievable now): Point-in-time snapshot

• Get-DbaLogScoutData -Scenario Basic — collect all DMV snapshots once, export to structured CSV/XML files, zip them up
• This is essentially a wrapper around 15–20 existing Get-Dba* commands
• No parallel coordination needed

Phase 2: Add timed collection

• Add -Duration and -SnapshotInterval parameters for repeating DMV snapshots
• Use Start-Job for the background loop

Phase 3: Add XEvent + Perfmon integration

• Wire in New-DbaXESession/Start-DbaXESession for live tracing during the window
• Wire in perfmon data collector sets

Phase 4: Scenario profiles

• Build the GeneralPerf, AlwaysOn, Memory etc. profiles that toggle which collectors run

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Naming Suggestion

The name in the issue (New-DbaLogScoutPackage) implies it creates something. Consider:

• Invoke-DbaLogScoutCollection — more accurate (it collects, not just creates)
• Export-DbaLogScoutPackage — if the ZIP output is the primary artifact
• Get-DbaLogScoutData — simpler, consistent with other Get-Dba* patterns

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Bottom Line

This is feasible and most of the SQL integration already exists in dbatools. The main new work is:

• The orchestration/packaging layer
• The scenario profile system
• Timed background collection

Start with Phase 1 (point-in-time snapshot wrapper) — it would be immediately useful and proves the concept without tackling the parallelism challenges upfront.

[potatoqualitee]

this sounds like a new module, too much for now