Export SQL Server database objects

Advanced scripting options

Set the following options in the Advanced Scripting Options dialog box.

SQL Server Management Objects (SMO) is a .NET API for programmatically managing SQL Server. You can use SMO with PowerShell or C# to script database objects and generate DDL files for use with an offline source.

Prerequisites

Key scripting configuration

When you use SMO to export scripts for an offline source, configure the following scripting options:

Example PowerShell script

The following script exports all database objects to individual .sql files. Each file contains one CREATE statement for a single database object.

# Export SQL Server database objects using SMO
# Usage: .\Export-Database.ps1 -Database "MyDB" -OutputDir "C:\export\MyDB"

param(
    [string] $ServerInstance = "localhost",         # SQL Server instance name
    [Parameter(Mandatory)] [string] $Database,     # Database to export
    [Parameter(Mandatory)] [string] $OutputDir,    # Output directory for .sql files
    [switch] $TrustServerCertificate               # Skip certificate validation
)

$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"

# Load the SqlServer module (includes SMO assemblies)
Import-Module SqlServer -ErrorAction Stop

# Connect to SQL Server
$srv = New-Object Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.Server($ServerInstance)
$srv.ConnectionContext.EncryptConnection = $true
if ($TrustServerCertificate) {
    $srv.ConnectionContext.TrustServerCertificate = $true
}

# Get the database
$db = $srv.Databases[$Database]
if (-not $db) { Write-Error "Database '$Database' not found."; exit 1 }
if (-not (Test-Path $OutputDir)) { New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $OutputDir -Force | Out-Null }

# Configure scripting options for offline source compatibility
$scripter = New-Object Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.Scripter($srv)
$opts = $scripter.Options
$opts.ToFileOnly             = $true       # Write directly to files
$opts.Encoding               = [System.Text.Encoding]::Unicode  # Unicode encoding
$opts.AppendToFile           = $false      # One object per file
$opts.IncludeHeaders         = $true       # Add descriptive headers
$opts.IncludeDatabaseContext = $true       # Add USE [database] statement
$opts.SchemaQualify          = $true       # Use schema.object format
$opts.AnsiPadding            = $true       # Include ANSI_PADDING settings
$opts.Default                = $true       # Include default constraints
$opts.DriAll                 = $true       # Include all constraints and keys
$opts.Indexes                = $true       # Include indexes
$opts.Triggers               = $true       # Include triggers
$opts.FullTextIndexes        = $true       # Include full-text indexes
$opts.ExtendedProperties     = $true       # Include extended properties
$opts.ScriptDataCompression  = $true       # Include data compression settings
$opts.ScriptDrops            = $false      # CREATE only, no DROP statements
$opts.IncludeIfNotExists     = $false      # No IF NOT EXISTS wrapper
$opts.WithDependencies       = $false      # Do not script dependent objects
$opts.NoCollation            = $true       # Omit collation clauses
$opts.Permissions            = $false      # Omit permissions
$opts.ContinueScriptingOnError = $true     # Skip errors, continue with next object

# Define which object types to export
$collections = [ordered]@{
    "Schemas"               = "Schema"
    "Tables"                = "Table"
    "Views"                 = "View"
    "StoredProcedures"      = "StoredProcedure"
    "UserDefinedFunctions"  = "UserDefinedFunction"
    "Sequences"             = "Sequence"
    "Synonyms"              = "Synonym"
    "UserDefinedDataTypes"  = "UserDefinedDataType"
    "UserDefinedTableTypes" = "UserDefinedTableType"
    "UserDefinedTypes"      = "UserDefinedType"
    "UserDefinedAggregates" = "UserDefinedAggregate"
    "XmlSchemaCollections"  = "XmlSchemaCollection"
    "Rules"                 = "Rule"
    "Defaults"              = "Default"
    "PartitionSchemes"      = "PartitionScheme"
    "PartitionFunctions"    = "PartitionFunction"
    "Assemblies"            = "SqlAssembly"
    "FullTextCatalogs"      = "FullTextCatalog"
    "FullTextStopLists"     = "FullTextStopList"
    "SearchPropertyLists"   = "SearchPropertyList"
    "SecurityPolicies"      = "SecurityPolicy"
    "ExternalDataSources"   = "ExternalDataSource"
    "ExternalFileFormats"   = "ExternalFileFormat"
}

# System schemas to skip
$sysSchemas = 'dbo','guest','INFORMATION_SCHEMA','sys',
    'db_owner','db_accessadmin','db_securityadmin','db_ddladmin',
    'db_backupoperator','db_datareader','db_datawriter',
    'db_denydatareader','db_denydatawriter'

# Export the CREATE DATABASE statement
$dbScripter = New-Object Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.Scripter($srv)
$dbScripter.Options.ToFileOnly = $true
$dbScripter.Options.Encoding = [System.Text.Encoding]::Unicode
$dbScripter.Options.IncludeDatabaseContext = $true
$dbScripter.Options.FileName = Join-Path $OutputDir "$Database.Database.sql"
$dbScripter.Script($db)

# Export each object to a separate .sql file
foreach ($colName in $collections.Keys) {
    $col = $db.$colName
    if (-not $col -or $col.Count -eq 0) { continue }

    foreach ($obj in $col) {
        # Skip system objects
        if ($obj.PSObject.Properties['IsSystemObject'] -and $obj.IsSystemObject) { continue }
        if ($colName -eq "Schemas" -and $obj.Name -in $sysSchemas) { continue }

        # Build the output file name: schema.objectname.type.sql
        $schema = if ($obj.PSObject.Properties['Schema']) { $obj.Schema } else { "" }
        $safeName = $obj.Name -replace '[\\/:*?"<>|]', '_'
        $fileName = if ($schema) { "$schema.$safeName.$($collections[$colName]).sql" }
                    else { "$safeName.$($collections[$colName]).sql" }

        $opts.FileName = Join-Path $OutputDir $fileName
        $scripter.Script($obj)
    }
}