SQL Job Commander Documentation

Introduction

What is SQL Job Commander?

SQL Job Commander is a powerful SQL Server® Agent job management tool that delivers familiar SSMS functionality while adding unique capabilities for enhanced job manipulation and control.

Here are the key features of SQL Job Commander:

Purpose-built for SQL Server® Agent job management over the traditional SQL Server® Management Studio (SSMS).
Intuitive, feature-rich environment including the ability to copy jobs between instances and scripting multiple jobs concurrently.
All-in-one interface for managing multiple SQL Server® Agent instances.
Per-instance metrics showing succeeded, failed, cancelled, and actively running jobs along with the instance job success rate.
Clear, per-job running indicator with threshold breach visualization.
Per-job coloring indicative of job type.
Per-instance job filtering for those larger estates, finding a job or group of jobs quickly.
Full job history showing executions by status and the most recent 100 executions by duration visualizations.
Script output with full T-SQL syntax highlighting.

Download & Installation

Overview

SQL Job Commander is a desktop application for managing and executing SQL Server Agent jobs. It is available in two distribution packages: a standard (framework-dependent) build and a self-contained build.

System Requirements

Requirement	Standard Build	Self-Contained Build
.NET 8 Desktop Runtime	Required	Not required (bundled)
Operating System	Windows	Windows

Detailed system requirements for SQL Job Commander

Download Packages

There are 3 download options available depending on your environment.

Signed and distributed from the Microsoft® Store, or,
A smaller unsigned distribution direct from brentec.ca which requires the .NET 8.0 desktop runtime installed prior to execution, or,
A larger unsigned distribution direct from brentec.ca in which .NET 8.0 is bundled and not requiring installation to run SQL Job Commander.

1. From the Microsoft Store

This distribution is signed by Microsoft®

2. Standard Build (Framework-Dependent)

Note: Requires the .NET 8 Desktop Runtime to be installed on the client machine.

Field	Value
Filename	`sjc-0.1.2606.0.zip`
SHA256 Hash	`1eaf980d5bbd20bf144878a0e5dc3eab5789f23229d32c8eb6b454ebcac31416`
Features Expiry	January 1, 2027
Download	Download SQL Job Commander
Virus Scan	Verify on VirusTotal

3. Self-Contained Build

Note: The .NET 8 Desktop Runtime is not required. The runtime is bundled within the executable.

Field	Value
Filename	`sjc-0.1.2606.0-sc.zip`
SHA256 Hash	`a99ca21b3a633eea465d882062df07a64bafa0df53a096d2729a30d23f7373c4`
Features Expiry	January 1, 2027
Download	Download SQL Job Commander (Self-Contained)
Virus Scan	Verify on VirusTotal

Installation

Download the appropriate .zip file for your environment (see above).
Verify the file integrity using the SHA256 hash provided (see Verifying the Download below).
Extract the contents of the .zip file to a folder of your choice.
If using the standard build, ensure the .NET 8 Desktop Runtime is installed before launching.
Run SQLJobCommander.exe from the extracted folder.

Verifying the Download

To confirm your download has not been tampered with, verify the SHA256 hash of the .zip file before extracting it.

Using PowerShell (Windows):

Get-FileHash .\sjc-0.1.2606.0.zip -Algorithm SHA256

Compare the output against the SHA256 hash listed in the download table above. Alternatively, you can submit the hash directly to VirusTotal using the links provided.

Feature Expiry Notice

Warning: Features Expiry Date: January 1, 2027 After this date, some features of SQL Job Commander will cease to function. However, the core execution functionality will continue to work beyond the expiry date. It is recommended to check the downloads page for an updated version before this date.

Which Build Should I Choose?

Scenario	Recommended Build
Installation and updates to be handled by Microsoft®	Microsoft® Store
.NET 8 Desktop Runtime is already installed	Standard Build (smaller download)
Deploying to a machine where installing runtimes is restricted or to get up and running quicker	Self-Contained Build
Unsure	The Microsoft® Store, for ease of installation and updates

Licensing

Documentation forthcoming.

Release Notes/Changelog

Release notes for SQL Job Commander

Roadmap

Future plans for SQL Job Commander

Getting Started

About

The About dialog provides version information, licensing details, and the End User License Agreement (EULA) for SQL Job Commander. It is shown on program startup and it can be accessed from the application's main toolbar.

The dialog contains three tabs: General, License, and EULA.

General Tab

The General tab displays product and copyright information.

In addition, the General tab also lists the third-party libraries, frameworks, and utilities that SQL Job Commander is built upon:

License Tab

The License tab displays the details of the license associated with the current installation.

Field	Description
Type	The license type (e.g., Trial, Full).
Concurrent Instances	The number of simultaneous connected SQL instances permitted under the license.
Company	The company name associated with the license, if applicable.
E-mail	The e-mail address associated with the license from the company noted earlier, if applicable.
Feature Expiry Date	The date and time at which the license or licensed features expire.
Days Until Expiry	The number of days remaining before the license or licensed features expire.
Enabled Feature	One or more rows listing the feature keys enabled under the current license.

Note: A Trial license is limited in duration. To obtain a full license, contact Brentec at info@brentec.ca.

EULA Tab

The EULA tab displays the full text of the End User License Agreement between the user and Brentec I.T. Solutions. Users should read this agreement carefully before using the software.

Key points of the EULA include:

The software is licensed, not sold, on a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, and revocable basis.
Installing, downloading, copying, or otherwise using the software constitutes acceptance of the agreement.

The EULA was last updated in February 2026. The full text is available within the application on the EULA tab.

System Information

At the bottom of the dialog, the following runtime details are displayed:

Executed as – The Windows user account and machine name under which the application is running.
Operating System detected – The version of Windows detected on the current machine.

Accepting the EULA

At the bottom of the About dialog, a toggle switch is provided:

I accept the terms of the End User License Agreement (EULA) noted above.

When the toggle is off, the OK button is disabled and the dialog cannot be confirmed.
When the toggle is on, the OK button becomes active, allowing the user to close the dialog, proceed accepting the EULA, and to continue using SQL Job Commander.

Clicking Cancel or pressing ESC closes the application, assuming no acceptance of the EULA.

Main Window

Documentation forthcoming.

Preferences

The Global Preferences pane allows you to configure application-wide settings that apply across all connections and sessions.

Settings

Setting	Description
Encrypt Connection by Default	When enabled, all new connections will have encryption turned on by default. This setting pre-populates the Encrypt Connection toggle in the Connect to an Instance pane. This setting does not override the option previously saved from selecting a recent connection.
Trust Server Certificate by Default	When enabled, all new connections will trust the server certificate by default without validation. This setting pre-populates the Trust Server Certificate toggle in the Connect to an Instance pane. This setting does not override the option previously saved from selecting a recent connection.
Log Heartbeats to Session Log	When enabled, heartbeat events are written to the session log. This can be useful for monitoring connection activity and diagnosing connectivity issues over time. By default, for each SQL connection, a log entry is written every 10 seconds. For some users, heartbeat messages can be noisy and to reduce heartbeat logging, turn this preference off.

Note: Changes to Global Preferences apply to new connections and sessions going forward. Existing open connections are not affected.

Connecting to a SQL Server® Instance

The Connect to an Instance pane allows you to establish a connection to a SQL Server instance. It can be accessed from the main application interface and supports both Windows and SQL Server Authentication.

Connection Settings

Field	Description
Server	The name or address of the SQL Server instance to connect to (e.g., SQLDEV, SQLDEV\INSTANCE2, or DESKTOP-SQLDEV).
Windows Authentication	When enabled (default), the application connects using the current Windows user's credentials. When disabled, the SQL User and SQL Password fields become available.
SQL User	The SQL Server login username. Only available when Windows Authentication is disabled.
SQL Password	The password for the specified SQL Server login. Only available when Windows Authentication is disabled.
Encrypt Connection	When enabled, the connection to the server is encrypted. Enabling this option is recommended for security.
Trust Server Certificate	When enabled, the server's SSL certificate is trusted without validation. Useful in environments using self-signed certificates.

Connecting

Once the desired settings have been entered:

Enter the target SQL Server name or address in the Server field.
Select the appropriate authentication method using the Windows Authentication toggle.
- If using Windows Authentication, no further credentials are required.
- If using SQL Authentication, enter the SQL User and SQL Password.
Optionally adjust the Encrypt Connection and Trust Server Certificate settings.
Click Connect to establish the connection, or Cancel to terminate a connection attempt that is in progress.

Recent Connections

The bottom section of the pane contains three tabs: Recent Connections, Actions, and Errors.

The Recent Connections tab displays a list of previously used connections. Each entry shows the server name and the credentials used (e.g., the Windows user or SQL login). Selecting an entry from the list will populate the connection fields above automatically.

Note: Single-clicking a recent connection prepopulates all of the aforementioned fields while double-clicking a recent connection, prepopulates all of the aforementioned fields as well as attempts the connection by selecting the Connect button automatically.

Attention: After a successful connection to a SQL instance, the credentials are stored encrypted in a local json file located in the following location %appdata%\Brentec\SQL Job Commander.
It is not recommended to manually edit this file.

The Actions and Errors tabs provide additional context on connection activity and any errors encountered during connection attempts.

Dashboard

Available from version 0.2.2609.0

Documentation forthcoming.

Job Monitor

The Job Monitor component serves as a comprehensive at-a-glance view of all SQL Agent jobs for each connected SQL Server® instance within SQL Job Commander.

Much like SQL Server® Management Studio's Job Activity Monitor, it displays a grid of every job on the connected instance, surfacing key details such as job name, enabled status, current execution status (running, idle, cancelled, or failed), last run outcome, last run date and time, next scheduled run, and the executing step — all in one unified panel. Users can quickly identify stuck, failed, or long-running jobs without needing to query system tables manually, and can take immediate action by right-clicking a job for further actions directly from the grid.

Each Job Monitor supports sorting and filtering, allowing operators to zero in on jobs matching specific criteria — such as all currently running jobs or all jobs that failed within the last cycle. Designed for both at-a-glance monitoring and rapid triage, the Job Monitor transforms what would otherwise be a fragmented, query-heavy workflow into a streamlined, visual operations hub that keeps database administrators firmly in control of their job pipeline.

Right-clicking a job will provide a context menu with the following options:

Option	Description
Create a New Job	A new window will be presented to create a new job.
Start Job at Step	A dialog will appear showing all job steps, allowing the operator to choose the job step at which point to start the job. This option is disabled should the selected job not contain any steps.
Stop Job	Stops the currently selected running job.
View History	Shows the complete execution history for a selected SQL Agent job in a new window. This option is disabled should job history be non-existent for the selected job.
Delete History	This option is disabled should job history by non-existent for the selected job, or, if the job is multi-server in nature.
Scripting Actions	A dialog is shown allowing many different scripting options. Toggle the appropriate checkboxes and click OK to generate the desired scripts.
Copy Job to Another Instance	This option is disabled if there are fewer than two (2) instance connections.
Enable	Enables the selected job. This option is disabled if the current selected job is already enabled.
Disable	Disables the selected job. This option is disabled if the current selected job is already disabled.
Rename	A dialog will appear asking for the new name of the selected job.
Delete	A dialog will appear asking for confirmation before deleting the selected job. Additionally, there are options to Keep Unused Schedules and to Script as Create before confirming the deletion.
Properties	A new window is presented showing all of the job properties, ready to be modified if necessary. When viewing job properties of a multi-server job on a target server, job properties will be read-only, and must be modified on the master.

Session Log

The Session Log tab displays a running record of activity and events that occur during your session in SQL Job Commander. Log entries are colour-coded by severity and can be searched, filtered, copied, and cleared.

Log Entry Types

Each entry in the session log is assigned one of the following severity levels:

Severity	When it appears
Critical	A serious error or failure that requires attention
Warning	A non-fatal issue or notable event worth reviewing
Informational	General activity and status updates

A live count of entries for each severity level is displayed at the top of the log.

Searching and Filtering

Search Box

Type in the search box to filter the log in real time. The search checks all columns — date/time, instance, and message — and shows only entries that contain your search text.

Press ESC to clear the search box.

Searching by Instance

Available from version 0.2.2609.0

To filter by a specific instance name, wrap the instance name in curly braces:

{MyInstanceName}

Only entries whose Instance exactly matches the value inside the braces will be shown. The search is not case-sensitive.

While you are still typing the opening brace and have not yet closed it with }, all entries remain visible.

Filter Checkboxes

Click the Expand/collapse filter pane button to open the filter panel. The following checkboxes are available:

Checkbox	Effect
Hide critical entries	Hides all critical-severity entries
Hide warning entries	Hides all warning-severity entries
Hide informational entries	Hides all informational entries
Hide heartbeat success messages	Hides routine heartbeat messages from the log

Checkboxes and the search box work together — only entries that pass all active filters are shown.

Filter Status

Below the data grid, a status label shows how many entries are currently visible:

If filters are active, it shows how many entries are displayed out of the total, highlighted in red.
If no filters are active, it shows the total number of entries.

Clearing Filters

Click Clear selected filters to reset the search box and uncheck all filter checkboxes, returning the log to its unfiltered state.

Toolbar Buttons

Button	Description
Expand/collapse filter pane	Opens or closes the filter panel
Clear selected filters	Removes all active filters and search text
Size all columns to fit contents	Automatically resizes all columns to fit their content
Copy visible log entries to clipboard	Copies the currently visible log entries to your clipboard as tab-delimited text, including column headers. The button briefly shows a checkmark to confirm the copy was successful.
Clear entire log	Clears all entries from the session log. A single warning entry is added automatically to record that the log was manually cleared.

Copying the Log

The Copy visible log entries to clipboard button copies everything currently visible in the grid (based on your active filters) to your clipboard. The copied data includes the following columns:

Date/Time
Instance
Message

You can paste this directly into a spreadsheet or text editor. Column headers are included in the copied output.

Historical Heatmap

· Available in version 0.2 ·

Documentation forthcoming.