Windows Server Upgrade on a host which has SQL Server running.

udhayan d 181

Hi,

Infra team has plans to upgrade a host from Windows server 2008 to 2016.
We have SQL Server 2008R2 running in that host. What are the implications of this upgrade to the DB.
Since SQL 2008R2 is not supported in Windows 2016, i wanted to upgrade SQL 2008R2 to 2014.
Is it possible to do an in-place upgrade of SQL Server 2008R2 to SQL 2014 after i have upgraded Windows server from 2008 to 2016

Thanks

Cris Zhan-MSFT 6,641 Reputation points

2021-01-26T05:41:57.72+00:00

Hi,
Whether it is to perform an in-place upgrade for the entire instance through the installation wizard (Setup), or use backup/restore, DMA tool, etc. to move and upgrade the database, it is critical to back up the configuration and data on the instance. The implementation of side-by-side upgrade for SQL Server will have a greater chance of rollback in the event of a problem.
But the first thing you are facing is the problem of upgrading windows 2008 to 2016 on the same server. I don't know how to perform this upgrade and whether it will affect any content on this server. Maybe you can check this document and contact an expert in Windows server.
If the system upgrade is successful, the in-place upgrade of SQL Server 2008R2 to SQL 2014 should be work.

Windows Server installation and upgrade
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/get-started/installation-and-upgrade#upgrading-to-windows-server-2016

3 answers

Erland Sommarskog 113.3K Reputation points MVP

2021-01-23T18:31:41.027+00:00

Why upgrade to SQL 2014, a product which is out of mainstream support? Why not SQL 2019? Even SQL 2016 would be a better choice.

First make sure that you have installed SP3 for SQL 2008 R2. Else any attempt to upgrade is likely to fail.

I have not tested, but I would assume that SQL 2008 continues to run on Windows Server 2016, even if it is not supported. Then you can do the upgrade. And don't forget to apply SP3 and CU4 for SP3, if you go for SQL 2014. I would also recommend that you add -T4199 to the startup parameters, to get optimizer fixes. This is particularly important on SQL 2014, as else you do not get the fixes for the issues with the new cardinality estimator. (On the other hand, if you go for SQL 2016 or later, you don't have to bother.)

You should also test the application on SQL 2014 (or which version you go for before the upgrade). There were a few features discontinued with the release of SQL 2012. I don't know what sort of system this is, but there can also be performance regressions. The more important the system is, the more important it is to test.
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Erland Sommarskog 113.3K Reputation points MVP

2021-01-23T19:19:20.277+00:00

I the light of DSPatrick's reply, I should clarify that my expertise is with SQL Server, and I don't have any particular knowledge in the Windows space. Although, I do find the upgrade path a little odd - I would more expect to move on the new hardware.

udhayan d 181 Reputation points

2021-01-25T12:45:29.58+00:00

Thanks Erland.
Let me clear few things. My version in SQL Server 2008R2 SP3
Actually this upgrade is a forced decision since both OS and SQL version of out of support.
This is an app provided by vendor who has certified it only till SQL server 2014. So i think i have only two options now.

Option 1 :
Post OS upgrade to windows 2016, run SQL Server 2014 binary and do an in-place upgrade from SQL 2008R2 to SQL 2014
I am not sure if this will work, because SQL Server 2008R2 version is not supported in Windows 2016

Option 2:
we have to take complete backup of everything in SQL Server 2008R2 instance before we start OS upgrade.
Then we will be able to install SQL Server 2014 and restore all the backups taken from SQL Server 2008R2.

Since I am not sure if option1 will work or not I have planned to take full backup of everything ( logins, permissions, jobs, Databases, instance level settings etc..,) to be prepared for Option 2.

Thanks
Udhayan

Erland Sommarskog 113.3K Reputation points MVP

2021-01-25T22:09:08.213+00:00

Yes, you should absolutely prepre for option 2. Not the least if it turns out that the OS upgrade becomes a mess.

Erland Sommarskog 113.3K Reputation points MVP

2021-01-26T21:59:26.2+00:00

By the way, is server virtualised or not? If this is a physical machine, maybe you should ditch and replace it with a VM.
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Anonymous

2021-01-23T18:36:55.307+00:00

First I'd check here and with manufacturer about support for server 2016.
https://www.windowsservercatalog.com/

Then assuming its supported do not do an in-place upgrade as this is risky and problematic for a number of reasons.

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udhayan d 181 Reputation points

2021-01-25T12:51:55.643+00:00

Thanks Patrick. I dont have any other option.. Whatever I had to do, I have to do with the same host.
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Anonymous

2021-01-25T15:16:36.963+00:00

I dont have any other option.. Whatever I had to do, I have to do with the same host.

Sounds like you need to push back on your Infra team, for clean install on supported hardware.

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Windows Server Upgrade on a host which has SQL Server running.

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