How to migrate a database from SQL Server 2000 to SQL server 2022 without paying for all the versions inbetween

Question

Hi, We're currently running Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and would like to migrate to 2022 but to do this we have to iterate the database through multiple version of SQL server. Is it possible to get temporary licenses of all the version we need to migrate the database the full way or is there a better solution? We don't want to have to buy a license for every version we need.

Thanks

Answer 1

How large is your largest database?

If it's below 10 GB then you can use the free Express Edition.

Answer 2

You would need to get hold of SQL 2005 or SQL 2008 and restore backup from SQL 2000 on these. Then take a new backup and restore it on SQL 2022. (SQL 2022 can read backups from SQL 2005 and up.) The challenge is not to so much to have to pay for SQL 2005/2008, but to get hold of them at all, as they are out of support. If you have Visual Studio subscription, you can find them there. I would talk to Microsoft. After all, they would love to see you on SQL 2022, so they should be interested in helping you.

Answer 3

Hi @Lester Kelly,

You can migrate databases from older versions of SQL Server to SQL Server 2022 (16.x), as long as the source database compatibility level is 90 or higher. Databases with a compatibility level of 90 (for example, on SQL Server 2005 (9.x)), are automatically upgraded to a compatibility level of 100 when migrated to SQL Server 2022 (16.x). If the compatibility level on the source database is 100 or higher, it is unchanged on SQL Server 2022 (16.x).

So you may first need to upgrade to SQL Server2005 first.

See Supported version and edition upgrades (SQL Server 2022)

Regards，

Zoe Hui

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