Getting SQL Server Connection String

If you’d like to contact an SQL Server database via PowerShell, you need a connection string. The connection string contains all pieces of information needed to contact the SQL server instance.

Traditionally, it is not trivial to construct such a connection string correctly. Here is a piece of code that defines a new function called Get-ConnectionString that helps you do this:

#requires -Version 2
function Get-ConnectionString
{ 
    $Path = Join-Path -Path $env:TEMP -ChildPath 'dummy.udl'
  
    $null = New-Item -Path $Path -ItemType File -Force
  
    $CommandArg = """$env:CommonProgramFiles\System\OLE DB\oledb32.dll"",OpenDSLFile "  + $Path 

    Start-Process -FilePath Rundll32.exe -ArgumentList $CommandArg -Wait
    $ConnectionString = Get-Content -Path $Path | Select-Object -Last 1
    $ConnectionString | clip.exe
    Write-Warning -Message 'Connection String is also available from clipboard'
    $ConnectionString
}

When you run Get-ConnectionString, PowerShell opens a dialog, and you can submit and test the connection details. Once you close the dialog window, PowerShell returns the connection string you just created with the help of the UI dialog.

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