msdbctl

Cross-platform GUI and CLI for SQL Server administration. Aims for SSMS-level coverage of admin workflows on Linux and macOS (where SSMS doesn't run), and fixes the rough edges SSMS has even on Windows — backups being the canonical example.

Status: early development. See CLAUDE.md for architecture and conventions.

In scope (examples)

• SQL Server Agent jobs, steps, schedules, history, live activity
• Backup and restore — scripted, bulk, with actually-usable history and filtering
• Alerts, operators, Database Mail
• Maintenance plans
• Linked servers
• Logins, users, roles, permissions (server- and database-level)
• Server configuration surfaces (sp_configure, trace flags)
• Connection management across multiple SQL Server instances

Not in scope (and won't be)

• Query editor / SQL IDE / intellisense / result-grid features — use DataGrip or DBeaver
• Schema migration tooling — use Flyway, sqlpackage, etc.
• Multi-DBMS support — SQL Server only
• Monitoring/alerting dashboards

Platforms

Linux, macOS, Windows. Primary development on Linux.

Building from source

Prerequisites:

• Rust (stable toolchain)
• Node.js 20+ and pnpm
• Tauri 2.x system dependencies — see the Tauri prerequisites guide
• On Linux/macOS, if you need Kerberos/AD auth: a working Kerberos setup (/etc/krb5.conf, kinit) and GSSAPI development headers

git clone https://github.com/lolopop01/msdbctl.git
cd msdbctl

# CLI
cargo run -p msdbctl-cli -- --help

# GUI (dev)
pnpm install
pnpm tauri dev

Connections

• Config path resolves via directories::ProjectDirs (~/.config/msdbctl/ on Linux, ~/Library/Application Support/dev.msdbctl.msdbctl/ on macOS, %APPDATA%\msdbctl\msdbctl\ on Windows)
• Secrets go in the OS keyring — never in the config file
• For self-signed certs on internal servers, set trust_cert on the connection

Platform	SQL Auth	Windows/AD Auth
Linux	yes	GSSAPI + Kerberos (integrated-auth-gssapi)
macOS	yes	GSSAPI + Kerberos (integrated-auth-gssapi)
Windows	yes	SSPI, current user's credentials (integrated-auth-sspi)

Minimum SQL Server permissions

• Read-only views: SQLAgentReaderRole
• Run/stop jobs: SQLAgentUserRole (own) or SQLAgentOperatorRole (any)
• Create/modify/delete jobs: SQLAgentOperatorRole or sysadmin

See Microsoft's fixed msdb roles docs for specifics.

License

TBD.