SQL Server Pro - May 2013

Migrating to SQL Server 2012
A step-by-step migration guide

The majority of businesses will deploy SQL Server 2012 by upgrading existing instances of SQL Server. Microsoft provides a couple of different methods for upgrading to SQL Server 2012. You can use the installation wizard, or you can use a configuration file. The SQL Server 2012 installation process supports upgrading from SQL Server 2008 R2, SQL Server 2008, and SQL Server 2005. However, it can’t be used to upgrade older versions of SQL Server, such as SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 7.0, and SQL Server 6. 5. I’ll walk you through the process of upgrading a SQL Server 2008 SP2 instance running on Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 x64 to SQL Server 2012 Enterprise using the installation wizard. First, I’ll cover the SQL Server 2012 hardware and software requirements. Then, I’ll step you through the actual upgrade process.

Michael
Otey
is senior technical director for
Windows IT Pro and SQL
Server Pro and author of
Microsoft SQL Server 2008
High Availability with
Clustering & Database
Mirroring (McGraw-Hill).