DBDefence can be included in your custom installer. However if you plan to create a non-interactive install process you will need to complete several steps in order to ensure that DBDefence starts together with SQL Server.

Licensing:

Free Version can be used in commercial projects freely. However, the Free Version has a limited database size of up to 77Mb. Read more about obtaining the full version.

DBDefence Autostart

There are two ways to implement the autostart feature, both of which has its own pro's and con's:

SQLBOOT.DLL replacement.

This method provides reliability against security and antivirus scanners. However installing a new service pack or an update to the SQL server requires re-installation of DBDefence (which can be done from Configuration tool) . This method requires higher privileges as it will need to replace the DLL in SQL Server Binn folder.

Your installer will need to rename the original sqlboot.dll from Binn folder to real_sqlboot.dll and copy a NEW sqlboot.dll from the DBDefence installation folder. This newly installed sqlboot.dll is responsible for loading the dbdefence.dll file. If you update your SQL Server with a newer Service Pack it will probably OVERWRITE the new sqlboot.dll and DBDefence will stop loading. To re-enable loading toggle the 'Installed' flag in the Configuration tool on and off. Newer SQL Server sqlboot.dll will be renamed to real_sqlboot.dll and DBDefence sqlboot.dll will be copied instead. Sqlboot.dll from DBDefence distribution is significantly smaller then original (about 4 KB). There is also a sqlboot64.dll for X64 platform which needs to be renamed to sqlboot.dll for X64 SQL Server.

AppInitDLLs key

Note: Many our customers do not like to change registry.

This method is based on default Windows features and does not depend on SQL Server updates. However inserting DLLs into registry values may look suspicious to security and antivirus monitors. This method also requires higher privileges in order to access the system registry. On Vista OS there is also an additional flag to enable AppInitDLLs key.

If you use Windows XP then take a look at registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows\AppInit_DLLs. If you do not have it yet, create it as string. On most computers this key is empty. Add the name of the DLL: dbdefence.dll to that key. If there were values already, separate them by a space. From now on, each starting application will look for dbdefence.dll in system path and in their folder. We do not recommend you to copy dbdefence.dll in system folder in order to avoid frequent load requests. The best place is Binn folder of SQL Server instance.

For Vista OS and Windows 2008 Server you will need to set an additional key called LoadAppInit_DLLs to 1.

Copying dbdefence.dll

There are two DLLs for X86 and X64 platform in the DBDefence installation folder: dbdefence.dll and dbdefence64.dll . Copy the corresponding DLL to SQL Server Binn folder. If you have a redistribution license key, also copy the key to the same folder.

Hiding DBDefence presence.

If you obtain a redistribution license, you will be able to avoid the interactive software activation process.

Database key files beside .dbd_key can have .idx extension.