Are You the Primary Replica?

UPDATED — Jul 3, 2015 — To verify database exists, per comments by Konstantinos Katsoridis. Thanks for finding the bug!

In my recent adventures with AlwaysOn Availability Groups, I noticed a gap in identifying whether or not a database on the current server is the primary or secondary replica. The gap being Microsoft did not provide a DMO to return this information. The good news is the documentation for the upcoming release of SQL Server 2014 looks to include a DMO, but that doesn’t help those of us who are running SQL Server 2012.

I’ve developed a function, dbo.fn_hadr_is_primary_replica, to provide you with this functionality. This is a simple scalar function that takes a database name as the input parameter and outputs one of the following values.

• 0 = Resolving
• 1 = Primary Replica
• 2 = Secondary Replica
• -1 = Database Does Not Exist

The return values correspond to the role status listed in sys.dm_hadr_availability_replica_states.

In this example, I have setup 2 SQL Servers (SQLCLU1SPIRIT1 and SQLCLU2SPIRIT2) to participate in some Availability Groups. I have setup 2 Availability Groups; one for AdventureWorks2012 and a second for the Northwind database.  SQLCLU1SPIRIT1 is the primary for AdventureWorks2012 and secondary for Northwind.  SQLCLU2SPIRIT2 is the primary for Northwind and secondary for AdventureWorks2012.

First let’s run the function for both databases on SQLCLU1SPIRIT1.

On this server, the function returns 1 because it’s the primary for AdventureWorks2012, and returns 2 because it’s the secondary for Northwind.

Now let’s run it again on SQLCLU2SPIRIT2.

As expected we get the opposite result.

This function does not take into account the preferred backup replica; it only returns information based on whether it is the primary or secondary replica.  It was created to use within other scripts to help determine a database’s role if it’s part of an Availability Group. I hope this script can help you as well.

IF OBJECT_ID(N'dbo.fn_hadr_is_primary_replica', N'FN') IS NOT NULL
    DROP FUNCTION dbo.fn_hadr_is_primary_replica;
GO

CREATE FUNCTION dbo.fn_hadr_is_primary_replica (@DatabaseName SYSNAME)
RETURNS TINYINT
WITH EXECUTE AS CALLER
AS
/********************************************************************

  File Name:    fn_hadr_is_primary_replica.sql

  Applies to:   SQL Server 2012

  Purpose:      To return either 0, 1, 2, or -1 based on whether this
                @DatabaseName is a primary or secondary replica.

  Parameters:   @DatabaseName - The name of the database to check.

  Returns:      0 = Resolving
                1 = Primary
                2 = Secondary
               -1 = Database does not exist

  Author:       Patrick Keisler

  Version:      1.0.1 - 07/03/2015

  Help:         http://www.patrickkeisler.com/

  License:      Freeware

********************************************************************/

BEGIN
    DECLARE @HadrRole TINYINT;

    IF EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM sys.databases WHERE name = @DatabaseName)
    BEGIN
        -- Return role status from sys.dm_hadr_availability_replica_states
        SELECT @HadrRole = ars.role
        FROM sys.dm_hadr_availability_replica_states ars
        INNER JOIN sys.databases dbs
            ON ars.replica_id = dbs.replica_id
        WHERE dbs.name = @DatabaseName;

        -- @DatabaseName exists but does not belong to an AG so return 1
        IF @HadrRole IS NULL RETURN 1;

        RETURN @HadrRole;
    END
    ELSE
    BEGIN
        -- @DatabaseName does not exist so return -1
        RETURN -1;
    END
END;
GO