If you are upgrading to SQL Server 2008, you’ll
likely want to install Service Pack 1 as well and possibly the latest
cumulative update. In the past, this meant running the upgrade and then
running the Service Pack 1 (SP1) install and cumulative update
separately. This process
can be tedious and time consuming. Fortunately with the release of SP1,
SQL Server 2008 supports Slipstream installations and upgrades. As
mentioned previously, slipstreaming is a method of integrating a SQL
Server 2008 update with the original installation media so that the
original media and the update are installed at the same time.
Because slipstreaming
was introduced with SQL Server 2008 SP1 and not with the initial
release, a slipstream upgrade must be run from the setup.exe
program provided with SQL Server 2008 SP1. If you run from the SP1
media folder, you need to specify the location of the SQL Server 2008
installation media using the MEDIASOURCE parameter, as shown in the following example:
setup.exe /PCUSource=C:\SQLServer2008SP1 /ACTION=UPGRADE /MEDIASOURCE=D:\
/INSTANCENAME=MSSQLSERVER
The /PCUSource parameter is used to specify the location of the SP1 package. You use the /CUSource parameter to specify the location of a Cumulative Update package you want to apply as well, if any.
Note
A slipstream install cannot be used to update a SQL Server 2008 instance to SQL Server 2008 R2.
Upgrading from SQL Server 7 or SQL Server 6.5
SQL Server supports upgrading
from SQL Server 2000 SP4 and later and SQL Server 2005 SP2 and later.
Unfortunately, upgrading directly from SQL Server 7.0 or earlier
versions is not supported. The supported migration path is to first
migrate your SQL Server 7.0 (or earlier) databases to SQL Server 2000
SP4 or 2005 SP2 (upgrades that are supported) and then upgrade from one
of these versions to SQL Server 2008 or 2008 R2.
If you have a SQL Server 2000
SP2 or SQL Server 2005 SP4 instance available, the easiest way to
upgrade your SQL Server 7.0 or earlier databases is to detach them from
the source server and then attach the databases to an instance running
either SQL Server 2000 SP2 or SQL Server 2005 SP4. When the database is
attached, it is upgraded to that version, and then you can upgrade the
database to SQL Server 2008 R2. Generally, this is the preferred method.
Another option is to use the SQL
Server Import and Export Wizard to copy data from a 7.0 or earlier
instance of SQL Server. The main disadvantage of this approach is that
it brings over only tables and data. You have to manually script your
stored procedures, functions, triggers, views, and other database
objects and re-create them on the upgraded target database.
