Sharp as a Marble - Well, no SQL Server Express 2008 for me, I guess

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Well, no SQL Server Express 2008 for me, I guess

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So, for poops and grins, I wanted to upgrade my current SQL Server Express from 2005 to 2008. I mean, how hard could it be?

Turns out, so hard I'm not going to be able to do it without formatting my server and starting over.

I tried the Web Install thingie. Complained that I can't run 2005 and 2008 at the same time. Skipped the web installer and went directly to the setup files. Asked me if I wanted to upgrade. I said sure. It told me to blow it out my ass. So I figured I'd uninstall 2005 first. The uninstaller told me to blow it out my ass as well.

Now I have 2008 tools, but the SQL engine is 2005. There is nothing to 'uninstall' any more for the 2005 (while the uninstaller told me to blow it out my ass, it also added insult to injury by removing itself). 2008 only half works. Won't let me upgrade, install a new instance, mange any other instances besides the 2005 version.

So, went to uninstall the 2008 version. Guess what it told me? Yup – Blow it out my ass (which, by the way is a very technical term).

Now, I have SQL Express Zombie edition. Greeeeeat.

posted @ 9/13/2009 8:22:36 PM

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Comments

WeedNemesis says:

on 9/13/2009 9:38:54 PM

Don't know if you've tried MySQL or not, but they even have a connector for .NET apps. That way you can tell MS SQL Exp. to blow it out its ass.

Justin Buist says:

on 9/13/2009 11:46:47 PM

I don't ever deal with the Expression version of either tool but I've frequently put 2005 and 2008 Developer editions on the same machine. I usually install 2005 under a named instanced and then 2008 under the default instance. Works fine.

If you can get a clean copy of 2008 up and running a backup from 2005 should restore without a problem. Again, I do that one all the time too.

Gabe says:

on 9/14/2009 10:52:46 AM

You should post a .jpg of the Blow It Out Your Ass error pop-up window...

aczarnowski says:

on 9/14/2009 11:07:34 AM

Thanks for the heads up. Express has always been something of a pixie. It's nice when it's working but is a hard to find and evasive little bitch when the planets are slightly out of alignment.

A problem I have when many MS products now that I think about it...

Robb Allen says:

on 9/14/2009 11:16:35 AM

Here's the thing - This is entirely my fault. What I should have done is back up all my databases, uninstalled 2005, then installed 2008. Out of fear of losing everything (again), I tried to do an inline upgrade which... well, didn't work.

It's ok to tell someone to blow it out their ass when they don't follow directions.

I've tried MySQL before and it works fine as a database. But my career path is based on Microsoft products, which generally work just fine. Every product has shortcomings. Where I work, we have crushed Oracle's biggest products repeatedly (I think we had the second worst error Oracle had ever had at some point).

I need to really start learning more of the in depth SQL stuffs. Seems a lot of people really expect you to also be a DBA of sorts.

PeterT says:

on 9/14/2009 3:28:27 PM

I shudder to think what the worst error Oracle ever had might have been, but I'm sure it dealt with mushroom clouds and ugly painful deaths....

Jake says:

on 9/14/2009 6:23:17 PM

"If you can get a clean copy of 2008 up and running a backup from 2005 should restore without a problem. Again, I do that one all the time too."

Here's a thought, from an admitted non-expert:

1) backup the rest of your server setup
2) if you've got room on that drive, split it with a new partition (or use a separate drive, if you've got one big enough)
3) install your server setup on the new partition, using SQL Exp 2008 instead of 2005
4) restore the rest of your server from the backup you made in step 1
5) restore your data from 2005 as Justin indicated above
6) format and delete your original partition, then expand the new partition into that space.

A bit involved, but it should get you a working copy of 2008 installed to run a backup from the 2005 data, if it can be done. As I said, I'm no expert - I probably know just enough to be dangerous, and I leave it to your more experienced eye to review my idea.

Justin Buist says:

on 9/15/2009 12:24:18 AM

A new partition won't help. SQL Server is sort of a tangled mess with inter-dependencies with .Net and the Visual Studio products these days.

Actually, that reminds me. When I went to build this laptop, which is a development box probably like Robb's, I had things borked up enough at one point that I had to uninstall Visual Studio 2008 and 2005, then uninstall my SQL server packages, then re-do everything in the right order. Basically, SQL 2005, SQL 2008, Studio 2005, Studio 2008, THEN start applying service packs to everything.

Reputo says:

on 9/15/2009 10:21:56 AM

What cartridge do you recommend for the MySQL Express Zombie edition? You know, to put it out of its misery and insure it doesn't infect others.

Jake says:

on 9/15/2009 1:51:38 PM

"A new partition won't help. SQL Server is sort of a tangled mess with inter-dependencies with .Net and the Visual Studio products these days."

The new partition is really just a place to start over (by reinstalling everything) without overwriting the original. Then the idea is to recover the SQL Express data from what's left on the original into 2008, you said, and turn the partition into the new system. Would those dependencies carry over with the data he's trying to save? Like I said, I'm not an expert, and maybe I'm misunderstanding the problem.

Since Robb's talking about possibly having to reformat and start over, this may be the best way to do it without losing anything - unless he can run a backup on the 2005 version, in which case it may be easier to do a normal backup of everything, reformat, and start over.

Robb Allen says:

on 9/15/2009 1:59:50 PM

Just FYI - Backups are still running. Everything WORKS, it's just not reporting itself correctly.

The other issue with reformatting is this is my web server, DNS, mail server, etc. It's a pain in the butt to get all that back where it is now. A little more organization on my part would help, of course.

Jake says:

on 9/15/2009 2:09:22 PM

That would make a difference, then. :)

Borepatch says:

on 9/17/2009 9:45:55 AM

Now, I have SQL Express Zombie edition.

Some people say the best way to patch SQL Express Zombie is with .223, but I've always had better luck with 12 gauge. Probably just me.

Ian Argent says:

on 9/26/2009 10:41:38 AM

Stand off and format the disk from orbit - it's the only way to be sure.

Some jobs you can do by inline upgrade; some you're better off nuking from orbit and terraforming again. The problem is you can't tell which one it is until you've gotten halfway into the upgrade.

Robb Allen says:

on 9/26/2009 11:14:43 AM

I got it up and running. Took registry work to remove all the 2005 stuff. Was my fault for trying the inline.

Interestingly, even though I restored the databases from the backup, they weren't version 10. I forgot the command, but I had to set it to 10 in order to get the Full Text Indexing started up.

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