Metadata Collection - SQL Server Integration Services Design Patterns - page 10

Figure 1-4 . Opening the Variables menu
Add the following variables by clicking the Add Variable icon on the far left of the
Variables menu, as illustrated in Figure 1-5 :
• SQLServerInstance —String data type
• SQLServerList —Object data type
Figure 1-5 . Package-scoped variables
Initialize the SQLServerInstance variable with a server that you have permis-
sions to connect to. For simplicity, we suggest using the server where the dbaCent-
ralLogging database was created. This value will be overwritten at runtime.
Now that you have a place to store your list of instances, you're ready to populate
the variable. Drag a new Execute SQL task from the SSIS Toolbox onto the designer
surface. Rename the task Retrieve SQL Server Instances and double-click it to open
the Execute SQL Task Editor. Click the drop-down under Connection, and then select
<New connection…>, as seen in Figure 1-6 .