I've got SCCM 2012 R2 installed at a client with SQL Server 2012 SP1 installed in evaluation mode (as the client could not find their install key). I've heard that SQL Server licensing is included with System Center these days, but when the client (a smaller education institution) accesses their licensing, they see a large list of SQL Server versions listed, but every version says 'This version of the product does not require a key'.
Now I'm concerned, because leaving the installation in Evaluation mode will mean that SQL Server will fold up shop and not open after 180 days. Is there some special mechanism that bypasses licensing for SQL Server when ConfigMgr is installed? Why do I not see any valid license keys for SQL Server on the clients Software Assurance / Education licensing page?
Did I use the wrong version of SQL Server?
I found the answer, for anyone else stuck in the same problem.
If you use the ISO that you download from your volume license page, the SQL Server ISO should include the 'free SCCM' license baked in.
However, if you try to run this installer side-by-side on a server with a pre-existing install, SQL Server Setup will detect the other instance of SQL and not actually display the key. It will instead revert to displaying the 'Choose Evaluation or enter key screen'.
I found a way around though, wrote it up here: SCCM's SQL Stuck in Eval mode? How to fix!
In summary: download the SQL Server ISO found in the Volume License Center under System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, and run the installer on a clean server. This time you'll be able to see the pre-filled key, copy it and use this as your upgrade key using SQL Edition Upgrade from the SQL Setup. You'll get a warning stating 'Unsupported Upgrade Path' since the evaluation mode defaults to Enterprise, and the 'free' key is for Standard only, but it will still work.
Related
Is it possible to upgrade a Microsoft SQL Server to a new Version without any Downtime? I read about Availability Groups, but have no practical Experience and i am confused now. Please help me to understand. And must i buy the Enterprise Edition?
You do not need to buy Enterprise Edition to upgrade the SQL server but keep your databackup handy when upgrading the SQL server.
To upgrade to a different edition of SQL Server
Insert the SQL Server installation media. From the root folder, double-click setup.exe or launch the SQL Server Installation Center from Configuration Tools. To install from a network share, locate the root folder on the share, and then double-click Setup.exe.
To upgrade an existing instance of SQL Server to a different edition, from the SQL Server Installation Center click Maintenance, and then select Edition Upgrade.
If Setup support files are required, SQL Server Setup installs them. If you are instructed to restart your computer, restart before you continue.
The System Configuration Checker runs a discovery operation on your computer. To continue, click OK.
On the Product Key page, select a radio button to indicate whether you are upgrading to a free edition of SQL Server, or whether you have a PID key for a production version of the product. For more information, see Editions and Components of SQL Server and Supported Version and Edition Upgrades.
On the License Terms page, read the license agreement, and then select the check box to accept the licensing terms and conditions. To continue, click Next. To end Setup, click Cancel.
On the Select Instance page, specify the instance of SQL Server to upgrade.
The Edition Upgrade Rules page validates your computer configuration before the edition upgrade operation begins.
The Ready to Upgrade Edition page shows a tree view of installation options that were specified during Setup. To continue, click Upgrade.
During the edition upgrade process, the services need to be restarted to pick up the new setting. After edition upgrade, the Complete page provides a link to the summary log file for the edition upgrade. To close the wizard, click Close.
The Complete page provides a link to the summary log file for the installation and other important notes.
If you are instructed to restart the computer, do so now. It is important to read the message from the Installation Wizard when you are done with Setup. For information about Setup log files, see View and Read SQL Server Setup Log Files.
If you upgraded from SQL Server Express, you must perform additional steps before you can use your upgraded instance of SQL Server:
Enable the SQL Server Agent service in Windows SCM.
Provision the SQL Server Agent service account by using SQL Server Configuration Manager.
In addition to the steps above, you may need to do the following if you upgraded from SQL Server Express:
Users that were provisioned in SQL Server Express remain provisioned after the upgrade. Specifically, the BUILTIN\Users group remains provisioned. Disable, remove, or reprovision these accounts as needed. For more information, see Configure Windows Service Accounts and Permissions.
Sizes and recovery mode for the tempdb and model system databases remain unchanged after the upgrade. Reconfigure these settings as needed. For more information, see Back Up and Restore of System Databases (SQL Server).
Template databases remain on the computer after the upgrade.
Reference: Solution from Microsoft Official website
Red Gate's SQL Source Control product documentation (http://documentation.red-gate.com/display/SOC3/Requirements) states:
SQL Source Control doesn't support SQL Server 2000, SQL Express, SQL Azure or SSMS Express
I have been evaluating their product and assumed based off this statement that "doesn't support" meant "will not work". However, I have made admittedly trivial changes to a central SQL Server Standard Edition database FROM a local SQL Express edition installation.
SQL Server edition differences notwithstanding - I am wondering what pitfalls this kind of architecture would have, again, strictly from a SQL Source Control perspective. We are looking for a way to bridge the gap between our planned upgrade to SQL Server 2012 from 2008 R2, and do not want to purchase 2008 dev edition licenses knowing that we have months until we start on our upgrade path.
Is anyone implementing a dedicated database development model with SQL Express on developer machines?
I'm a pre-sales engineer for Redgate. We use SQL Express for most of the machines that we use in our own training courses for the same reason - licencing.
While it will probably work fine we don't officially support Express. The SQL Server editions that we say we support are the ones we test against. Given the number of SQL Server editions out there we only test against the ones we list on our website as officially supported. Hence we try to make it clear if you are using an edition that we do not test against.
However, assuming your dev databases are disposable and that your source of truth is your source code - which can be rolled back - and on the proviso that you understand our disclaimer that it is not officially supported, I'd unofficially say that it will probably work well enough.
Sorry for not answering this a year ago. I've just started making an effort to be more pro-active on Stack!
I was using SQL Sever 2012 Evaluation edition. As it was about to expire, we purchased a Standard edition license.
I was told that I don't need the lisence key as it was embedded in the ISO installation file. However, when trying to run the installation file, I get the message - There are no SQL Server instances or shared features that can be updated on this computer.
The reason for this is that the edition that I was trying to install was 2012 SP1, which is the version that I was already on.
When trying to do the upgrade using the Configuration manager and then choosing maintainance -> Upgrade, I get asked for the product key, which I don't have.
The advice from the Microsoft account manager was to let my product expire and then try the upgrade again. However after the product expired I still have exactly the same issue.
Any advice besides uninstalling SQL and reinstalling?
Thanks,
Niel
You should be able to run an 'Edition Upgrade' of an existing SQL Server instance, even on an expired evaluation, you can do it via the SQL Server setup from the Installation media, and SQL Server Installation Center, by clicking on 'Maintenance', then 'Edition Upgrade' and follow the rest of the installation from there.
The error message is generally caused by applying incorrect versions (patched up, language incorrect etc.) on an instance that is different. The 'Select features' page has a description message on the top right side of the page explaining what is ocurring. I'd suggest taking a look there first of all.
Please check this post, although it relates to 2008 R2, the error fix is the same in 2012 :-
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/sqlserver/en-US/c82da968-bbfb-4803-a9b2-876776f033d6/there-are-no-sql-server-instances-or-shared-features-that-can-be-updated-on-this-computer?forum=sqlsetupandupgrade
This should have the answers that you need.
Regards,
Dave
In his excellent and popular comparision chart, ErikEJ draws a distinction between SQL Server Express 2012, and SQL Server 2012 LocalDB. However, I can't find such a distinction anywhere else in the MSDN documentation ("LocalDB" isn't even mentioned in the official MS SS12 book or on the MSDN SQL Edition comparison page.) This leads me to suspect that Express and LocalDB aren't really two separate products as ErikEJ suggests, but rather just two different terms for the same thing (which would explain why, on this MSDN page, it is called "SQL Server 2012 Express LocalDB").
If there really is a difference between the products, can anyone point me to some official documentation comparing them?
OK, I think I have found the answer to my own question. (It was buried under the tabs on the SS Express product page.)
Here is a summary of the distinctives of LocalDB I found on that page:
LocalDB is a lightweight deployment option for SQL Server Express Edition with fewer prerequisites and quicker installation.
LocalDB has all of the same programmability features as SQL Express, but runs in "user mode"* with applications and not as a service.
LocalDB is not intended for multi-user scenarios or to be used as a server. (If you need to accept remote connections or administer remotely, you need SQL Server Express.)
"Express with Tools" (which includes SS Management Studio Express, Azure, etc) can be used with LocalDB or without. (The same goes for "Express with Advanced Services".)
UPDATE: I just found this useful description in Windows IT Pro (Jul '12, p.23):
LocalDB isn’t SQL Server Express, nor is it SQL Server Compact.
LocalDB uses the same sqlservr.exe engine as the other editions of
SQL Server, but it runs in user mode—not as a service. LocalDB is
used for offline development by tools such as SSDT to ensure that the
code you develop is 100-percent compatible with your production
SQL Server database.
If I am reading this correctly, LocalDB seems to be more like a configuration option of Express than an entirely separate product. So apparently if I download Express (or Express w/ Tools), I will have the option to install the LocalDB version, which is supposedly easier ("zero-configuration") than the full Express. (Update: with VS2012, LocalDB comes installed by default.)
One other important distinction, according to this post, is that "currently Visual Studio 2010 doesn't really work with LocalDB." (We have to use SS Management Studio instead, at least for now.)
*(The concept of "User Mode" or "User Instances" is a key distinctive of LocalDB. In fact, according to this post, "LocalDB can be seen as an upgrade of the User Instances feature of SQL Server Express." For more about User Instances, refer to the MSDN blogpost "What is a RANU?")
UPDATE - Feb 2021
LocalDB is SQL Server Express edition
From official documentation
Express edition is the entry-level, free database and is ideal for
learning and building desktop and small server data-driven
applications. It is the best choice for independent software vendors,
developers, and hobbyists building client applications. If you need
more advanced database features, SQL Server Express can be seamlessly
upgraded to other higher end versions of SQL Server. SQL Server
Express LocalDB is a lightweight version of Express that has all of
its programmability features, runs in user mode and has a fast,
zero-configuration installation and a short list of prerequisites.
The docs provides a very detailed comparison of features between editions.
I use a table from ErikEJ, which shows: the features and differences between SQL CE 3.5, SQL CE 4, Local DB and SQL Server 2012. According to this table the differences between Local DB and SQL Server 2012 are:
Installation size:
SQL Server 2012: 120 MB download size; 300 MB expanded on disk
Local DB: 32 MB download size; 160 MB on disk
Runs as Service
SQL Server 2012: Yes
Local DB: No (runs as process started by app)
FILESTREAM support
SQL Server 2012: Yes
Local DB: No
Subscriber for merge replication
SQL Server 2012: Yes
Local DB: No
Number of concurrent connections
SQL Server 2012: Unlimited
Local DB: Unlimited (but only local)
NB: Sorry this isn't "official documentation", but hope it's useful to the next bod as it answers the underlying query about the differences.
The major difference are Server Express run as a service while LocalDB doesn't need any server or intensive processing to run.
We have the full version of SQL 2008 Server (first release) installed and licensed from download (a couple years ago). Now we are getting into Reporting Services; however, it seems only the Express version of Reporting Services is installed.
In the control panel under Services, I only see "SQL Reporting Services (SQLEXPRESS)" listed. [Express is ALSO on the server]
I do not think the Reporting Services option was selected when we initially installed. I would like to go back and Change the installation, however I cannot find the SQL 2008 R1 installation disk or download.
Any advice? Thanks.
If you can't find the original SQL Server 2008 installation media and don't have any subscriptions with Microsoft that entitle you to digital downloads of your purchased software, then I think you can try downloading the Enterprise Evaluation copy from here and using your existing license key for Standard in the installation process. After that, you should be able to add the Reporting Services features. Definitely backup your server before trying this, of course.
Failing that, you can install the trial version from scratch and use your license to upgrade it to the non-time-limited version (the upgrade paths allow for this).
Microsoft does not licence Release Candidate (RC) software for production environments or long-term use. Instead, these are basically their version of beta software. In a production environment, you must use RTM software. If you check your license agreement from your initial download, you should see that you should be using the RC1 version of SQL Server 2008 only for testing.
As for how to install Reporting Services on an RTM version, unfortunately you are going to need the media. Since you believe you have a valid license, contact Microsoft and request a copy of the media. Once you have it, just run the setup.exe and it will allow you to modify your SQL installation to include SSRS.