What a waste of time

Microsoft released SQL Server 2005 sometime ago (last year, I’d imagine). I’ve completely ignored it until now, because we had yet to receive a copy of it with our Action Pack Subscription. However, with the last update package, which we received in mid-January, we finally got a copy.

At the same time, I’m starting a new project. At our hosting company, SQL Server 2005 has replaces SQL Server 2000 as the default DB package to install. So without noticing, I created a SQL Server 2005 for this new project. When I went to upload my development copy of the DB to the new server, it didn’t work – I wasn’t even allowed to connect with the SQL2000 Enterprise Manager to the server.

“Right,” thought I, “here’s an excuse to upgrade my local to SQL2005.” So I got out the discs, read the install instructions, and proceeded. I first had to do some “minor” updates to my system – 45 minutes gone, after a restart. So then I try to install SQL2005. I had to close all my apps in order to give it enough memory to run. Then I clicked through the wizard steps, which took another 45 minutes (after debating options, waiting for pre-loaders, etc). Finally I’m all set to install. It takes just under 30 minutes to install the system. Based on recommendations, I try to run the “Surface Area Configuration Wizard” (whatever that is). I should have been suspicious when it told me that there was no server to connect to. But, I wasn’t. So I opend the “Management Studio”, which appears to have replaced the Enterprise Manager. The interface is new, and confusing, sure, but I could figure it out. And, I can see my server! Or so I think. It turns out that I can see my SQL2000 instance. But nary a SQL2005 instace. And I can’t any way to create a SQL2005 instance. But I figure out how to connect to my new DB for the new site, and I connect to it (for the record, I really don’t like the method of doing this compared to the SQL2000 method – although it’s possible that I’m doing something wrong here). Great! So then I try to export my local DB to the remote one. But SQL2005’s export wizard is complete unable to connect to the SQL2000 instance to do this. Something about remote connections not allowed – a long, meaningless-to-me error message at any rate. So then I spent nearly 2 hours futzing around with help docs, attempts to reinstall, etc, and end up back at square one. But nothing works. In the end, I dejectedly delete the new SQL2005 DB for the site, install a SQL2000 DB. Within 5 minutes, I have it configured, and loaded up with all the data from my dev site. And now the site works.

I guess the moral of the story is never upgrade unless I have LOTS of time to figure things out? What’s annoying is that the SQL7 to SQL2000 upgrade was really easy and painless. But it looks like SQL2005 has been radically reconfigured. So it’ll be back to the drawing board for me when I finally have to upgrade.

I’ll be buying a new computer for work sometime in the next month or so. Perhaps with that box I’ll do a fresh install of SQL2005, rather than trying to upgrade, with more luck than I had today.

The really shitty thing is that I completely wasted my afternoon doing this, when I needn’t have. And now I’m behind, which might mean I have to work on the weekend, etc, etc, etc. As you’ve probably all guessed, my workload is so high that I’m only just managing to keep my head above it. Now, now I have to swim back up to the surface again, only this time, with a extra couple pounds of lead weight attached to me.

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