Installation

Be careful which node you install a clustered instance from

While installing a clustered SQL Server instance recently I ran across a bit of an annoyance.  When I was going through the SQL Installation process I didn't pay any attention to which node of the cluster currently owned all the disks that I was planning on using for SQL Server.  Because of this...

So I was installing SQL 2008 CU6 for SP1 the other day…

God that sounds boring doesn't it. Anyway, I was installing SQL 2008 CU 6 for SP 1 the other day and I was greeted with the dreaded "some process is running which will cause your SQL Server to reboot after install" screen.  The app which was running was fshost.exe which is part of the Full Text...

SQL 2005 SP3 Failing to install with password length error

When installing SQL Server 2005 SP3 you may get an error about the password being to short, and it may have nothing to do with your sa password.  It's because the Install Scripts are trying to create a certificate with a password which doesn't meet your domain's password requirements. If you...

When clustering SQL 2008, SQL Server may reject the Key

When installing SQL Server 2008 Enterprise onto my new SQL Cluster I downloaded the media from Microsoft and dropped it onto a network share and installed it.  The first node went perfectly, the second node, not so much.  When I went to install on the second node I would get to the screen which...

My Windows 7 Install Experience

Those of us with MSDN or TechNet accounts got access to the new Windows 7 build last night.  So I had my work PC spend the night downloading it, and spent this afternoon installing it today under VMware ESX.  I've recorded the install for posterity.  I paused the recording during the borring...

New Article: Create an upgrade plan for your move to SQL Server 2005

I’ve published a new tip over on SearchSQLServer.com entitled “Create an upgrade plan for your move to SQL Server...

Guide to Installing SQL 2000 and SQL 2005 on the same machine

You can install SQL 2000 and SQL 2005 on the same machine.  I always recommend that they be installed in this order to try and get everything working as best as possible.

1. Install SQL 2000
2. Install SQL 2005
3. Install SQL 2000 SP4 (Or the latest service...

SQL 2008 November CTP

We'll I've finely gotten around to installing the SQL 2008 November CTP.  While walking through the installer I have seen some excellent changes.  Not only is the option to change the paths of the data files no longer hidden, there are more than just two options.  There are at least 7 paths that...