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I was wondering if anyone know what are the (undocumented) switches that the SSAS engine (msmdsrv.exe) is using. If I use the -? switch, I can see the following options and their descriptions:

c = console mode
azure = start server with functionality limmited to AS Azure
n <Name> = instance name
i = install (register) MSSQLServerOLAPService service
r = remove (unregister) MSSQLServerOLAPService service
t = registry for event log
s <Dir> = config file directory
f = initialize config file
d <Dir> = root data directory
l<number> = server locale #no space
q = unregistry for event log
b = backup file name
k = encryption password used to create backup file
g = extraction directory pathname
j = test backup file only

However, this isn't the exhaustive list - according to the first line of the output of the -? switch there's also the following switches for which I don't know what they do and how they're used:

m
v <String>
x
x <String>
e <c> <file> #experimented a bit with it, defaults to looking for "deploy_script.xml"; and what is <c> in the first place?
u <c>

I tried disassembling the executable with IDA to see if there's anything useful in there, but I couldn't find anything that would look interesting (I looked at the code surrounding words like "azure", "deploy_script", etc.). With IDA, I can see the output generated by the -? switch but then that's also about it. I should also note that I've never used IDA before...

Alternatively, I'd appreciate if someone could point me to an online resource explaining these switches in detail (I wasn't able to find anything like that).

Thanks!

akavalar
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  • The only one I have ever heard explained before is verifying a backup. Possibly an example here though I haven't tried. https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/ee8106ef-90c6-4892-b83f-fb88ee041112/ssas-backup-question?forum=sqlanalysisservices – GregGalloway Apr 06 '16 at 23:01
  • Thanks! Yes, verifying a backup is one example (mentioned here: http://geekswithblogs.net/darrengosbell/archive/2008/09/13/ssas-verifying-backups.aspx). Here's another example showing how one can start the SSAS engine as a console application: http://www.dbaglobe.com/2015/08/start-sql-server-analysis-service-in.html. What I'm looking for is something similar, i.e. I'd like to first restore the backup of my database and then start the engine, all from the command line (without using SQL Server Management Studio and without SSAS running as a Windows service all the time)... – akavalar Apr 07 '16 at 16:54
  • I was able to do what I wanted even though in the end my solution didn't have much to do with the msmdsrv.exe (the Analysis Services executable) itself - see http://stackoverflow.com/q/34846090/5803031 – akavalar Apr 27 '16 at 02:14
  • Have you tried this: to extract .ABF file use: msmdsrv -g -b [-k ] – milang Nov 24 '16 at 13:09

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