sp_configure missing - need to allow updates!

[serenabarker]

Hi,

I have a database server (SQL 6.5 sp5a on NT4) and it is running ok,
however when I tried to run sp_configure - it doesn't exist! It looks
like a number of stored procedures are missing in the Master database
and in order to recreate them (via script taken from other db server) i
need to change the configuration setting to allow updates. But am in
catch 22 - can't change the allow updates setting to 1 as sp_configure
doesn't exist.

Any ideas with how I can change the allow updates settings without
having to use sp_configure?

I would prefer not to rebuild the Master db if at all possible as it
will incur downtime and as I said the server is running ok at the
moment.

Any help would be fantastic as have run out of ideas..

[Thomas R. Hummel]

You should be able to go to another server and look at the code from
sp_configure, then *very carefully* trace through the code as it would
run if you passed it the proper parameters. Run that code on your bad
server and you should then be able to recreate the stored procedures.

I've never actually tried this, so I suggest that you test it on a test
server until you are comfortable with it.

The important parts of sp_configure are:

---------------------------------------
select @confignum = number
from master.dbo.spt_values,master.dbo.sysconfigures c
where type = 'C'
and (@configvalue between low and high or @configvalue = 0)
and name like '%' + @configname + '%'
and number = c.config
and
((c.status & 2 <> 0 and @show_advance = 1)
OR
(c.status & 2 = 0)
)

update master.dbo.sysconfigures set value = @configvalue
where config = @confignum
---------------------------------------

The rest of the stored procedure deals with error handling and with
determining what to do with parameters that are not a full config name
with a value.

Good luck,
-Tom.