SQL Server Data Tools Preview update for November 2015

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The SQL Server Data Tools team is pleased to announce an update for SSDT Preview is now available. The SSDT Preview update for November 2015 includes a new connection experience for Microsoft SQL Server and Azure SQL Database. Key improvements are:

  • Easily connect to any database from your history - from Publish, Schema Compare, Data Compare
  • Pin favorite connections for easy access
  • Browse your Azure SQL Databases direct from Visual Studio and simply click to connect
  • Azure firewall rule creation is automatically handled at connection time

Check out the new connection experience in action!

 

The SSDT Preview for November 2015 also includes various enhancements in SSAS and SSIS. Try it out today!

Get it here:

Download SSDT November 2015 Preview for Visual Studio 2015 and Visual Studio 2013

  • The version number for the latest preview in Visual Studio 2015 is 14.0.51128.0
  • The version number for the latest preview in Visual Studio 2013 is 12.0.51127.0

Download Data-Tier Application Framework November 2015 Preview.

  •  The version number for the latest preview is 12.0.50914.0

What's new in SSDT?

  • Preview of improved connection experience for SQL Server and Azure SQL Database.
  • SSIS catalog performance improvement: The performance for most SSIS catalog views for non-ssis-admin user is improved.
  • SSAS enhancements in Tabular model upgrade to SQL Server 2016 compatibility mode and adoption of JSON editor for BIM file. See what's new for SQL Server Analysis Services in this post. 

Known issues:

  • Connection dialog
    • If installing SSDT standalone - without any previous Visual Studio 2015 installation (Community, Pro+, or Express) - Azure login and browse functionality will not be available. To fix, install a version of Visual Studio and update the Azure Tools to version 2.7 or higher.
    • In the Connection Properties, changing the Authentication Type will result in the Database Name being reset.
    • In the History tab, long server or database names may result in the Pin to Favorites button being off-screen and requiring a scroll to the right.
  • SQL Server Object Explorer
    • For users using Active Directory Integrated or Active Directory Password connections who are not server administrators, browsing in SSOX is not working.
  • Setup
    • If a version of SQL Server 2016 CTP is already installed on the machine, setup may be blocked. This is to avoid breaking components shared by the engine.
    • If installing SSMS Preview, SSDT Preview for Visual Studio 2015, or SSDT Preview for Visual Studio 2013 side by side on the same machine, there may be issues unless all are updated to the latest release.
    • Creating an Administrative Install (by calling "SSDTSetup.exe /layout") for English language installation will open a dialog to find the file "CommonAzureTools.CAB". This file is located in payload folder created beside SSDTSetup.exe - choosing the file from there will allow administrative install point to be created successfully.
    • (VS2015) .Net 4.6.1 may not install if there is no version of Visual Studio or the VS Integrated Shell previously installed on the machine. .Net 4.6 will be installed instead.
      • This will result in no Network connections being shown in the new connection dialog.
      • Recommendation is to install .Net 4.6.1 as it contains a number of stability improvements and SQL related fixes.
    • (VS2015) The April 2014 update to Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 Known as KB2919355 is required to install the Visual Studio 2015 Isolated Shell. Please install KB 2919355 before you install SSDT on these operating systems.
    • (VS2015) The SSDT Japanese language installer may fail on the first attempt due to an issue installing the Visual Studio 2015 Japanese language pack. Retrying installation should succeed in installing correctly.

Contact us:

If you have any question of feedback, please visit our forum or Microsoft Connect page. We are fully committed to improve the SSDT experience and look forward to hearing from you!