Installation

Install with CLI Recommended
gh skills-hub install ssma-console

Don't have the extension? Run gh extension install samueltauil/skills-hub first.

Download and extract to your repository:

.github/skills/ssma-console/

Extract the ZIP to .github/skills/ in your repo. The folder name must match ssma-console for Copilot to auto-discover it.

Skill Files (1)

SKILL.md 7.0 KB
---
name: ssma-console
description: "Use when: SSMA console operations โ€” create project, generate assessment report, convert schema, migrate data, Oracle to SQL Server migration, schema conversion, data migration"
---

# SSMA Console โ€” Oracle to SQL Server Migration

Generate XML configs and invoke `SSMAforOracleConsole.exe` directly โ€” no external scripts or wrappers.

**Operations** (run in order for "full migration"):
1. **create-project** โ€” connect source & target, map schema
2. **generate-report** โ€” assessment report
3. **migrate-schema** โ€” convert & deploy schema
4. **migrate-data** โ€” convert, deploy, migrate data end-to-end

## Collect Inputs

Ask for missing parameters. Defaults in parentheses.

**Oracle**: Host (`localhost`), Port (`1521`), Instance *(required, service name)*, User, Password, Schema
**SQL Server**: Server, Database, User, Password, Encrypt (`true`), Trust Server Certificate (`true`), Target Schema (`dbo`)
**Project**: Name (`ssma-migration`), Folder (`.`), Type (`sql-server-2022` โ€” also `2016`/`2017`/`2019`/`2025`/`sql-azure`), SSMA Path (`C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant for Oracle\bin\SSMAforOracleConsole.exe`)

## Generate XML Files

Resolve ALL `{PLACEHOLDER}` tokens before writing. Generate 3 files:

### `ssma-variables.xml`

```xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<variables>
  <variable name="$WorkingFolder$" value="{PROJECT_FOLDER}" />
  <variable name="$ProjectType$" value="{PROJECT_TYPE}" />
  <variable name="$ProjectName$" value="{PROJECT_NAME}" />
  <variable-group name="OracleConnection">
    <variable name="$OracleHostName$" value="{ORACLE_HOST}" />
    <variable name="$OracleInstance$" value="{ORACLE_INSTANCE}" />
    <variable name="$OraclePort$" value="{ORACLE_PORT}" />
    <variable name="$OracleUserName$" value="{ORACLE_USER}" />
    <variable name="$OraclePassword$" value="{ORACLE_PASSWORD}" />
    <variable name="$OracleSchemaName$" value="{ORACLE_SCHEMA}" />
  </variable-group>
  <variable-group name="SQLServerConnection">
    <variable name="$SQLServerName$" value="{SQL_SERVER}" />
    <variable name="$SQLServerDb$" value="{SQL_DATABASE}" />
    <variable name="$SQLServerUsrID$" value="{SQL_USER}" />
    <variable name="$SQLServerPwd$" value="{SQL_PASSWORD}" />
  </variable-group>
  <variable-group name="ReportSettings">
    <variable name="$SummaryReportFile$" value="Reports\Assessment\AssessmentReport.xml" />
    <variable name="$ConversionReportFile$" value="Reports\Conversion\ConversionReport.xml" />
    <variable name="$ConversionReportFolder$" value="Reports\Conversion" />
    <variable name="$DataMigrationReportFile$" value="Reports\Migration\DataMigrationReport.xml" />
    <variable name="$SynchronizationReportFolder$" value="Reports\Synchronization" />
  </variable-group>
</variables>
```

### `ssma-servers.xml`

**CRITICAL**: Use `tns-name-mode` โ€” `standard-mode` treats instance as SID and fails with ORA-12505.

```xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<servers>
  <oracle name="source_oracle">
    <tns-name-mode>
      <connection-provider value="OracleClient" />
      <service-name value="(DESCRIPTION =(ADDRESS_LIST =(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = $OracleHostName$)(PORT = $OraclePort$)))(CONNECT_DATA =(SERVICE_NAME = $OracleInstance$)))" />
      <user-id value="$OracleUserName$" />
      <password value="$OraclePassword$" />
    </tns-name-mode>
  </oracle>
  <sql-server name="target_sqlserver">
    <sql-server-authentication>
      <server value="$SQLServerName$" />
      <database value="$SQLServerDb$" />
      <user-id value="$SQLServerUsrID$" />
      <password value="$SQLServerPwd$" />
      <encrypt value="{ENCRYPT}" />
      <trust-server-certificate value="{TRUST_CERT}" />
    </sql-server-authentication>
  </sql-server>
</servers>
```

### Operation Script XML

Generate one script per operation. All scripts share this common `<config>` block (add `<object-overwrite action="overwrite" />` for migrate-schema/migrate-data, add `<data-migration-connection source-use-last-used="true" target-server="target_sqlserver" />` for migrate-data, use `every-5%` progress for schema/data ops):

```xml
<config>
  <output-providers>
    <output-window suppress-messages="false" destination="stdout" />
    <upgrade-project action="yes" />
    <user-input-popup mode="continue" />
    <progress-reporting enable="true" report-messages="true" report-progress="every-10%" />
    <log-verbosity level="info" />
  </output-providers>
</config>
```

All scripts start with this **preamble** in `<script-commands>`:

```xml
<create-new-project project-folder="$WorkingFolder$" project-name="$ProjectName$"
                    overwrite-if-exists="true" project-type="$ProjectType$" />
<connect-source-database server="source_oracle">
  <object-to-collect object-name="$OracleSchemaName$" />
</connect-source-database>
```

**CRITICAL**: Always include `<object-to-collect>` โ€” without it, `map-schema` fails with "Source namespace was not found".

**Per-operation commands** (after preamble, before `<save-project />`):

| Operation | File | Commands after preamble |
|-----------|------|------------------------|
| create-project | `ssma-create-project.xml` | `connect-target-database` โ†’ `map-schema source-schema="$OracleSchemaName$" sql-server-schema="$SQLServerDb$.{TARGET_SCHEMA}"` |
| generate-report | `ssma-assessment.xml` | `generate-assessment-report object-name="$OracleSchemaName$" object-type="Schemas" write-summary-report-to="$SummaryReportFile$" verbose="true" report-errors="true"` |
| migrate-schema | `ssma-schema.xml` | `connect-target-database` โ†’ `map-schema` โ†’ `convert-schema` (to `$ConversionReportFile$`) โ†’ `synchronize-target object-name="$SQLServerDb$.{TARGET_SCHEMA}"` |
| migrate-data | `ssma-data.xml` | Same as migrate-schema + `refresh-from-database` โ†’ `migrate-data object-name="$OracleSchemaName$.Tables" object-type="category"` (to `$DataMigrationReportFile$`) โ†’ `close-project` |

## Execute

Show resolved XML and command to user. Confirm before running.

```powershell
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path "Reports\Assessment","Reports\Conversion","Reports\Migration","Reports\Synchronization","Logs" | Out-Null
& "{SSMA_CONSOLE_PATH}" -s "{SCRIPT_XML}" -c "ssma-servers.xml" -v "ssma-variables.xml" -l "Logs\{OPERATION}.log"
```

## Report Results

Check exit code (`0` = success), read logs and reports (`Reports\Assessment\`, `Reports\Conversion\`, `Reports\Migration\`), summarize findings.

## Constraints

- No external scripts โ€” no `.ps1`, `.bat`, `.sh`
- Confirm connection details before executing
- Resolve all placeholders โ€” no `{...}` in final XML
- Create output directories before execution

## Known Pitfalls

| Symptom | Fix |
|---------|-----|
| `ORA-12505: SID not registered` | Use `tns-name-mode`, not `standard-mode` |
| `Source namespace was not found` | Add `<object-to-collect>` to `connect-source-database` |
| `not found in metabase` on `force-load` | Use `object-to-collect` instead โ€” `force-load` is unreliable |
| `SQL Server Agent is not running` | Warning only โ€” BCP client-side migration still works |

License (MIT)

View full license text
MIT License

Copyright GitHub, Inc.

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.