How can I get a SQL dump of a SQL Server 2008 database?

Question

How can I get a SQL dump of a SQL Server 2008 database? That is, a .sql file with inserts to regenerate the data in another database, much like mysqldump.

Solution 1

From SQL Server Management Studio you can use the Generate Scripts command in the Tasks item of the right-click menu on the target database. From here you generate scripts for the structure and data and SPs etc: make sure 'Script Data' is set to True in the scripting options to get the inserts.

Solution 2

Not finding what I needed (scriptable tool dumping SQL statements), I have created a tool called SQL Server Dump which is inspired by mysqldump, but for SQL Server. You will find it on github

Solution 3

I had a hard time finding the 'Script Data' option mentioned in stuartd's answer on SQL Server 2008 R2. I found the 'Types of data to script' option and changed it to 'Schema and Data' and that did the trick