SSMS 18.0 Public Preview 5 released

We are very excited to announce the release of Public Preview 5 of SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) 18.0. This release has a number of new features and capabilities and several bug fixes across SQL Server Management Objects (SMO), UI, etc.

You can download SSMS 18.0 Public Preview 5 here.

New features include:

  • Static Data Masking
  • Query Tuning Assistant
  • Ability to launch Azure Data Studio from SSMS

SSMS improvements include:

  • SSMS – Exposed “Maximum size for error log files” under “Configure SQL Server error logs”
  • SSMS/Object Scripting – Adding new menu items for “CREATE OR ALTER” when scripting objects
  • Database Compatibility Level Upgrade – New option under <Database Name> Tasks > Database Upgrade. This will start the new Query Tuning Assistant to guide the user through the process of:
    • Collecting a performance baseline before upgrading the database compatibility level
    • Upgrading to the desired database compatibility level
    • Collecting a second pass of performance data over the same workload
    • Detecting workload regressions and providing tested recommendations to improve workload performance

 

  • SSMS – Query Store
    • Improved usability of some reports
    • New Query Wait Statistics report

  • Vulnerability Assessment – Enabled Vulnerability Assessment tasks menu on SQL Azure Data Warehouse
  • SSMS/Managed Instance – Improved support for Azure Active Directory logins, SMO Filegroup objects, and UI for credentials and audits

In addition, we also have several bug fixes in the following areas:

  • Crashes/hangs
  • AG dashboard
  • Attach Database wizard
  • Scripting of SMO Filegroups objects

For a full list of changes, please see the Release Notes.

SSMS 18.0 Public Preview 5 can be installed side-by-side with SSMS 17.x for testing purposes. As a reminder, the use of pre-GA software in production environments is not supported.

We’d love to hear from you with any questions, comments or feature suggestions.