I have to move an entire database from a SQL Server 2008 machine to a SQL Server 2000 machine.
I created a backup using Management Studio 2008, copied it to the hard drive of the 2000 box, and from withing Management Studio 2008, I choose Restore Database to the 2000 box.
I get an error message stating, "The media family on device ... is incorrectly formed. SQL Server cannot restore this media family".
If I use Enterprise Manager 2000 I get the same error.
Is there a way to move a whole database from the newer SQL server to the older?
The only thing I can think of is to recreate the whole structure and then copy data from a live database. So, create scripts that will create the tables, views, and sp's, and then create scripts to copy the data from the existing database.
As others already said there is no default way to do this. It’s just not supported. Here are more extensive details on how to do this properly and avoid any migration issues.
You need to generate scripts for structure and data and then execute these on SQL 2000 (like others already said) but there are couple things to take into account.
Generate scripts in SSMS
Make sure to check option for scripting data for SQL 2000 to avoid issues when trying to create something like geography type column on SQL 2000.
Make sure to review execution order of scripts to avoid dependency based errors
This is a great option for small to medium size databases and requires some knowledge of SQL Server (dependencies, differences between versions and such)
Third party tools
Idea is to use third party database comparison tools such as ApexSQL Diff or Data Diff
Good side is that these will take care of script execution and differences between versions
Not so good is the fact that you’ll need to pay for these after trial ends
I’ve used these two tools successfully but you can’t go wrong with any other tool on the market. Here is a list of other tools in this category.
you can't move backups from a newer version to an older, in that case you can script your database, execute it in the 2000 box, then you can use the standard data transfer to transfer any data you want
Provided you have a network connection between the machines use SSIS. Much easier and a lot less messing around.
You can use Script Generator for your database and then select in the properties form : General-> Script for server version : SQL Server 2000.
The script generator will show you things which not compatible with your server version.
I've heard you can only do it by generating the SQL statement dump from the DB administrator tool and re-running those queries on the target older database.
You can generate a script that will recreate all the objects and transfer all the data...as long as everything in the db is valid in SQL 2000. So no ROW_NUMBER(), no PARTITION, no CTEs, no datetime2, hierarchy or several other field types, no EXECUTE AS, and lots of other goodness. Basically, there's a pretty good chance it's not possible unless your db is pretty basic.
We got a similar situation. A very low-tech but handy solution is:
backup and truncate the tables in SQL 2000.
create a LINKED server in SQL 2008, pointing to SQL 2000
run a select query at sysobjects to generate a query script for insert into LINKED SERVER.table select * from table
execute query script.
Related
I want to migrate a database completely or partially. Right now, I will do a complete database. Partial will be posted as a separate question.
Strategies I am considering:
copy database wizard
convert 2005 database to script. Run script on 2008
simple SQL query
My question - I want to use method 2. Is it even possible to do this? If yes, how to do it? Any limitations/risks ?
NOTE - The source server is a SQL Server 2005 database with one IP. Destination is a SQL Server 2008 instance with another IP.
I don't know if you need to be sysadmin to do this. I am not even sure if I am sysadmin. If yes, then how to check if I am a sysadmin ?
Just RESTORE it on the SQL2008 server and it will be automatically upgraded. And you can check if you're a sysadmin using IS_SRVROLEMEMBER.
My question - I want to use method (2). Is it even possible to do this ? (...) any limitations/risks ?
Option 2 could be a problem if database is too large. Worked for me with up to 2 GB databases.
any limitations/risks ?
You may need to increase SQL's buffer and/or run the script through command line, since a large script in SQL Manager eats up plenty of memory.
If yes, how to do it ?
To generate the script, simply right click and choose generate script. Select both data and model for whole database, and choose appropriate options for others.
As Pondlife said, Just backup the database at SQL 2005, restore as a new database at SQL 2008. You change the compatible mode to SQL 2005 which is version 9, or you can leave it to 2008 which is version 10 or 10.5. I think you want to keep the database as is, so you could set the compatible more to 9.0.xxxx and you all be done.
As usual grant access to users, create them as new if you have to, or migrate them from SQL 2005.
Generating script from 2005 and running on 2008 is a long route. There may be some possibilities for errors and TSQL compatibility.
Hope it helps !!
Most simple way to do this is to restore backup or copy MDF and LDF files to new server. If your servers are in the same network you can do this by creating shared folders on the second server and copying files there.
If that is not an option for any reason then you can zip the backup (make sure to add strong password) upload it to some online storage and then download it from second server.
Final option is to use third party comparison and synchronization tools from RedGage or ApexSQL (there are a lot of these on the market and they all have fully functional trials)
I have a typical dev scenario: I have a SQL 2008 database that I want to copy every so often to my local instance of 2008 Express so that I can do dev, make changes, etc. to the local copy. I have some constraints though: the source db is part of a live e-commerce site in shared hosting so I can't detach it and the hosting service wants me to pay $5 for each ad hoc back up I invoke.
What I'd like is some tool that I can invoke ad hoc to take a snapshot (complete, not incremental) of the live db that I can then import in my local one. I've tried the SSMS 2008 Copy Database Wizard but it gives me an error saying I can't do that with Express. I tried the Generate Scripts tool and thought that was going to make it - the export to my local disk worked but when I went to import using SQLCMD (the script was 1GB so SSMS errored when I tried to open it there), it told me there was a syntax error a few thousand lines in.
Coming from the MySQL world, this process is trivial. All I want is an analog of mysqldump and then a command-line way to import that file into a db. Surely there's an easy way to do this in the SQL Server world? This seems like the most basic use-case for developers.
[ Yes, I've seen a few other questions here that seem similar but I didn't think they had the same constraints. ]
Best answer: full backup, restore, pay $5. Anything else seems to me like it'd waste a lot more than $5 worth of time.
If they don't charge you to run queries against the database these tools may help. Granted these are not free tools, but are handy on so many fronts it would be worth buying one. These tools can diff your source db and target db both data and structure or just one or the other, and optionally sync the target database to be just like the source.
http://www.innovartis.co.uk/
http://www.red-gate.com/products/sql%5Fdata%5Fcompare/index.htm
Try SQL Dumper.
SQL Server Dumper enables you to dump selected SQL Server database tables into SQL INSERT statements, that are saved as local .sql files and contain all the data required to create a duplicate table, or to be used for backup purposes. You can choose to create an individual .sql file for each table, or combine all selected tables into a single file.
SQL Server Database Publishing Wizard and osql usually do the trick for me with large databases.
In MS SQL Server 2005, how can I create a script consisting off all the objects in the database (tables, stored procedures, views)? I want to use the script to create the database using SMO or to update its objects (alter, drop) if they already exist. I know about the scripting feature in SQL Server Management Studio, I am however not familiar with the configuration options.
If versioning your database schema is what you're getting to, try Wizardby. Although it does not directly support neither views nor sprocs, it supports running native SQL scripts as part of an upgrade/downgrade process.
I use Easy Sql Tools. The deploy version is free. You can generate scripts from schemas, data, indexes, almost everything.
http://www.easysqltools.com
There's a great tool SQL Compare that will actually compare two databases and create a change script for you. It's a great tool for staging purposes. There's also SQL Data Compare tool that will also compare lookup tables and act accordingly.
The downside is, they're not free. :(
We have several SQL Server 2000 databases (I know, we need to upgrade) that have the same structure and have them set up to replicate to another server. The problem is that whenever I have to change the structure (which is usually pretty easy to do on all databases, especially with tools from Red Gate) I have to stop the replication, make the structure changes, and then set up replication again. The steps to set up replication only take a few minutes to do for each database but it's repetitive and drives me crazy. I have the IDE create a script of the replication procedure and then just replace the name of the prior database with the name of the next database and run the script. Still annoying but faster than clicking though the IDE and forgetting an option.
I've tried things like using the "SP_MSFOREEACHDB" but that didn't look very promising.
My guess is I should just use the TSQL that gets generated from the IDE and use that as a starting point to build a new TSQL script have it pass the name of the database as a parameter. And then when something changes with the structure of the database I need to address that in the TSQL replication script and make the changes there. Is this an issue for anyone else? Does 2005 or 2008 have a better "SP_MSFOREACHDB" so I wouldn't have to mainting some crazy script and just have the IDE generate a script when there are changes that I could then use on multiple databases easily?
Are you using SQL Server replication? If so, why aren't you making the changes to the publishing database and letting it push out the schema changes to its subscribers? We do this occasionally on SQL 2005 and it works well for the most part; I don't have any experience with replication on 2000 servers.
If you can use SQL Server Management studio, then the SSMS tools pack has a widget to allow the same script to be run on different databases.
SQLCMD tool can connect to SQL Server 2000 and enable interaction from command line. Using parametrized queries and a fixed set of .bat files (one for each server) can be a good alternative for what you do now.
It seems like the generation of SQL scripts from the SQL Server Management Studio is terribly slow. I think that the old Enterprise Manager could run laps around the newer script generation tool. I've seen a few posts here and there with other folks complaining about the speed, but I haven't seen much offered in the way of alternatives.
Is there a low-cost/free tool for scripting an entire SQL Server 2005 database that will perform better that SSMS? It would be hard to do worse.
See the Database Publishing Wizard that is part of the SQL Server Hosting Toolkit. It generates a single SQL file for both schema and data.
We are using the tools by RedGate which I personally find very useful in any aspect of work with databases. For scripting I would recommend the SQL Compare (you need a pro version for scripting). The SQL Compare is a must have for deploying schema changes from the deployment DB to the live Server and a real timesaver.
Those tools are not free but I think they could save you money in a long run
What kind of scrpt generation are you talking about now?, generating create scripts from the objects in the database is way faster in SSMS compared to EM.
But if you are running an select or something that gives you lots of rows in the grid, it is crazy slow.. like scripts generating inserts statements of all rows in an table, if you got lots of data, it is almost not doable.
I don't know what is "terribly slow" for you, but I have a decent performance with SQL 2005 Management Studio. In either case, RedGate products are very cool. Unfortunately they are not free.