Creating an index

This recipe shows how to create a nonclustered index with an included column using PowerShell and SMO.

Getting ready

We will use the Person.Person table in the AdventureWorks2014 database. We will create a nonclustered index on FirstName, LastName, and include MiddleName. The T-SQL equivalent of this task is as follows:

CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX [idxLastNameFirstName]
ON [Person].[Person]
(
  [LastName] ASC,
  [FirstName] ASC
)
INCLUDE ([MiddleName])
GO

How to do it...

Let's check out how we can create an index using PowerShell:

1. Open PowerShell ISE as administrator.

2. Import the SQLPS module and create a new SMO Server object:

   #import SQL Server module
   Import-Module SQLPS -DisableNameChecking
   
   #replace this with your instance name
   $instanceName = "localhost"
   $server = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.Server -ArgumentList $instanceName

3. Add the following script and run:

   $dbName = "AdventureWorks2014"
   $db = $server.Databases[$dbName]
   
   $tableName = "Person"
   $schemaName...