1.
Which system can install SQL Server 2012?
a.
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise - Operating Systems:
Windows Server 2008 SP2+
b.
SQL Server 2012 Standard - Operating Systems:
Windows Server 2008 SP2+ & Windows 7 SP1 + Vista SP2
2.
Installation Process
a.
Setup.exe is written in native code, not
depending on other components
b.
Setup.exe will check if there are other
installations on the server, if yes and the cached version is equal or greater,
the installation will use the cached setup.exe to support slipstream.
c.
ScenarioEngine.exe is used to check Global Rule
and new patches. It is written in C#.
d.
If there are errors, check the installation logs
(search for “error” and “exception” in the summary and detail log files) and
then Windows log.
3.
Installation on a Standalone Machine
a.
Choose the right collation
i. It’s
possible to change after installation
1.
Backup all databases
2.
Backup logins and jobs
a. SSMS|Security|Logins|Script Login as|CREATE To
b. SQL
Server Agent|Jobs|Script Job as|CREATE To
3.
Detach all user databases
4.
Install with a new installation
ii. But
as the system database, everything in the master and msdb is gone, they need to
be re-created.
b.
Do not install on domain controller, if you have
to, use a domain account as no local or network service account
c.
Slipstream for 2008+， Product Update replaces
SlipStream in 2012 – Microsoft Update or Windows Server Update Services scan
the update (remotely and locally)
d.
Installation Methods: GUI, cmd with parameters,
cmd with configuration .ini file (setup.exe /ConfigurationFile =
ConfigurationFile.ini)
e.
Installation Errors
i. The OS is English, SQL Server is
Chinese – change the OS region and language to Chinese
ii. SQL Server setup hang - SQL Server 2008/R2 setup hangs on a x64 system with
more than 32 logical processors (http://support2.microsoft.com/kb/2276255 and http://support2.microsoft.com/kb/2251397, http://support2.microsoft.com/kb/2276255) - msconfig|Boot|Advanced Options|set
Number of Processors to 1, then install, set it back after installation.
iii. If user profile causes the error,
delete the folder c:\users\theServiceAccount
iv. WMI error? – test it: Run wbemtest.
If not WMI error, need to uninstall SQL Server completely
v. MSI or MSP is missing when install a
patch – Solution: see How to restore the
missing Windows Installer cache files and resolve problems that occur during a
SQL Server update (see http://support2.microsoft.com/kb/969052)
vi. Summary: starting with the
installation summary and detail reports.
vii. Windows Small Business Server 2008
Premium Edition includes 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Microsoft® SQL
Server® 2008 Standard Edition for Small Business, which enables you to run
line-of-business applications in the Windows SBS 2008 network. SQL
Server 2008 Standard Edition for Small Business Server can be installed
only in the Windows SBS 2008 network. It is not the same as the regular
SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition. If there are errors, you can further
diagnose them with the following method:
The
requirements to install SQL 2008 Standard Edition for Small Business are
documented on this post:
Under
certain circumstances, you may encounter the block even though all the
requirements seem to be met, here is a checklist of things to verify:
Make sure you are logged in as a domain administrator on
the server where you are attempting the install. The SQL setup must be
run while logged in to the domain with valid
domain credentials. The user needs to have domain administrator and local administrator rights.
domain credentials. The user needs to have domain administrator and local administrator rights.
Confirm the domain environment health, the verification
process needs to be able to talk to all your domain controllers.
If using SBS, do not use the SBS console to count the
number of computers and users, you will have to rely on what is showing in the
native Active Directory Users and Computers mmc.
You
can also enable verbose logging to get detailed output of which test is failing
so you can take corrective action.
To
enable verbose logging perform the following steps:
After you have experienced the block the first time,
close the SQL setup.
Open notepad as an administrator and save the following
contents:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <configuration> <system.diagnostics> <trace autoflush="true" /> <sources> <source name="SBSADCheck" switchType="System.Diagnostics.SourceSwitch" switchValue="Verbose"> <listeners> <add name="myListener" type="System.Diagnostics.TextWriterTraceListener" initializeData="log.txt" /> </listeners> </source> </sources> </system.diagnostics> </configuration>
Save the file in %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft
SQL Server\100\Setup Bootstrap\Release\x64\Setup100.exe.config
(if you are installing SQL
Server 2008 R2 for Small Business the path will be: %programfiles%\microsoft sql
server\100\setup bootstrap\sqlserver2008r2\x64\Setup100.exe.config)
Launch the SQL setup and run through to the block.
Collect the Verbose log from %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft SQL
Server\100\Setup Bootstrap\Release\x64\log.txt or %programfiles%\microsoft sql
server\100\setup bootstrap\sqlserver2008r2\x64\log.txt
4.
Installation and Upgrade in Cluster
a.
SQL Server 2005 can run installation simultaneously
on all nodes，but
SQL 2008+, starts with the main node, then one by one.
b.
Some services must start
i. Remote
registry
ii. Task scheduler
iii. Cryptographic
iv. Server
v. Cluster
c.
All
disks in the cluster must be online, no matter whether they are used by SQL
Server installation – use “Cluster res” to check the status.
d.
Network
– two nodes can ping NETBIOS, FQDN
e.
Shared
files – two nodes can visit the shared files
f.
Cluster
Network Name needs to have privilege to create SQL Server Network Name
g.
Common
errors
i. Not all disks are online
ii. SQL Network Name (xxx): Unable to
create computer account: Access is denied.
iii. Different versions of SQL Server 2005
on the two nodes (SQL Server 2008+ does not have the problem as we can upgrade
the node with the lower version directly as it requires does not simultaneous
installation)
iv. Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS) cluster
verification errors (see http://support2.microsoft.com/kb/953748)
v. Summary
1.
Collect
installation logs from all nodes
2.
Determine
the nodes with errors
3.
Check
the detailed errors from the installation log on the nodes
4.
Identity
the cause of the errors
5.
Google
if necessary
5.
Upgrade
a.
Different
from install patches, for patch installation, we can uninstall them (for SQL
2008+ only), upgrade cannot be uninstalled after installation
b.
Back
up first before upgrade!
c.
Then Evaluations
i. Any big differences between the old and
new versions make application no long working? – use Upgrade Advisor and then input
a trace or a batch file to evaluate if there are any compatibility issues after
upgrade.
ii. Stable on the old version, but decrease in
the new version? – test! Re-design the query/table/database if necessary
iii. Any risks for online upgrade, if problems
occur, is it possible to rollback? – No, you need to back up all of the
databases before upgrade
iv. What is the upgrade sequence for DB
mirroring, replication, log shipping, and cluster?
1.
DB
Mirroring
2.
Replication
a.
Secondary
server first, then primary, otherwise, the backup from the primary cannot be
restored to secondary.
3.
Log
Shipping
a.
Distributor's version is higher than the Publisher's
b.
Publisher
and subscribers can have different versions
c.
Make
sure all of the publications are replicated to distributors (sp_reolcmds should
be empty)
d.
Close
the connections with sp_replflush
e.
Upgrade
f.
For
merge replications, the version of the subscribers should be lower than that of the publisher
4.
Cluster
a.
All disks
must be online
b.
Upgrade
the passive node first
c.
Switch
to the upgraded node
d.
Upgrade
other nodes
e.
Finally
switch back to the active node
v. What to do after upgrade?
1.
Make sure
the compatibility level is a new version now
2.
Rebuild
indexes on the databases
3.
Upgrade
statistics
