SQL Server 2012
Upgrade Technical Guide
Writers:
Ron Talmage, Nigel Sammy, Allan Hirt, Herbert Albert, Antonio Soto, Danilo Dominici,
Régis Baccaro, Milos Radivojevic, Jesús Gil, Dejan Sarka, Johan Åhlén, Simran Jindal, Paul Turley,
Craig Utley, Larry Barnes, Pablo Ahumada
Technical Reviewer:
Erick Ellis, Sarah McDevitt, Michael Rys, Mahadevan Venkatraman,
Chaitanya Medikonduri, Robert Hutchison, Ed Katibah, Milan Stojic, RobAnn Mateja, Umachandar
Jayachandran, Jan Engelsberg, Miles Trochesset, Tobias Ternstrom, Wee Hyong Tok, Nathaniel
Scharer, Krzysztof Kozielczyk, Edward Melomed, Heidi Steen, Jack Richins, Gregory Leake, T.K.
Anand, Sanjay Nagamangalam, Daryush Laqab, Syam Kumar Nair, Joe Yong, Darmadi Komo
Published: May 2012
Applies to: SQL Server 2012
Summary: This technical guide takes you through the essentials for upgrading SQL
Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, and SQL Server 2008 R2 instances to SQL Server 2012.
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SQL Server 2012 Upgrade Technical Guide
Copyright
This document is provided "as-is". Information and views expressed in this
document, including URL and other
Internet Web site references, may change
without notice. You bear the risk of using it.
This document does not provide you with any legal rights to any intellectual
property in any Microsoft product. You may copy and use this document for your
internal, reference purposes.
© 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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SQL Server 2012 Upgrade Technical Guide
Contents
SQL Server 2012 Upgrade Technical Guide ....................................................... 1
Copyright .......................................................................................................................................... 2
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 17
Chapter 1: Upgrade Planning and Deployment .............................................. 18
Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 18
Feature Changes in SQL Server 2012 .................................................................................. 18
Upgrading SQL Server 2008 to SQL Server 2008 R2 .................................................... 19
Preparing to Upgrade ................................................................................................................ 20
Upgrade Strategies ........................................................................................................................................ 20
Upgrade Tools ................................................................................................................................................. 36
SQL Server 2012 Setup................................................................................................................................. 42
Allowable Upgrade Paths ............................................................................................................................ 48
Application and Connection Requirements ......................................................................................... 55
Upgrading Applications that Use the .NET Framework ................................................................... 56
Plan for Backups ............................................................................................................................................. 58
Upgrading Both Windows and SQL Server .......................................................................................... 59
Upgrading Multiple Instances ................................................................................................................... 61
Upgrading Very Large Databases ............................................................................................................ 62
Upgrading High Availability Servers ....................................................................................................... 62
Minimizing Upgrade Downtime ............................................................................................................... 62
Developing an Upgrade Plan ................................................................................................. 64
Treat the Upgrade as an IT Project .......................................................................................................... 64
Minimize Variables Involved in the Upgrade....................................................................................... 68
Create Upgrade Checklists ......................................................................................................................... 71
Test the Upgrade Plan .................................................................................................................................. 72
Develop Acceptance Criteria and Rollback Steps .............................................................................. 75
Post-Upgrade Tasks ................................................................................................................... 76
Integrate the New Instance into Its New Environment.................................................................... 76