"Database cannot be started in this edition of SQL Server" error when restoring a Microsoft Dynamics CRM database

This article provides a resolution for the issue that you can't restore a Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 with Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise edition database to a server with Microsoft SQL Server Standard edition.

Applies to:   Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011
Original KB number:   2567984

Symptoms

When trying to restore a Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise database to another server running Microsoft SQL Server Standard, you get the following error:

Restore failed for Server 'SQLServerName'.

Additional information:
An exception occurred while executing a Transact-SQL statement or batch. (Microsoft.SqlServer.ConnectionInfo)
Database 'Org_MSCRM' cannot be started in this edition of SQL Server because it contains a partition function 'AuditPFN'. Only Enterprise edition of SQL Server supports partitioning. Database 'Org_MSCRM' cannot be started because some of the database functionality is not available in the current edition of SQL Server. (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 905)

Cause

When Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is installed using a Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise edition, a partition is created for the auditing functionality of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. The AuditBase table uses partitioning that is only available for Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise.

Resolution

Use the following Steps and Script to remove the partitioning. The following script recreates all the indexes on the Primary partition and then drops the partition.

Be sure to have a database backup of the 'Org_MSCRM' before performing the following steps.

1. Restore the 'Org_MSCRM' database to a Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise edition. It is recommended to back up and restore the database instead of running the script on the production database.

2. Run the following script against the restored database.

   IF Object_id('tempdb..#indexesScript', 'U') IS NOT NULL
     DROP TABLE #indexesScript
   
   IF EXISTS (SELECT NAME
              FROM   sys.partition_schemes
              WHERE  NAME = 'AuditPScheme')
     BEGIN
         SELECT CASE WHEN ind.type != 1 THEN 'DROP INDEX [dbo].[AuditBase].' +
                Quotename(ind.NAME) + ' ' ELSE ' ' END + 'CREATE ' + CASE is_unique
                WHEN
                1 THEN
                'UNIQUE '
                ELSE '' END + ind.type_desc + ' INDEX '
                + Quotename(ind.NAME COLLATE sql_latin1_general_cp1_ci_as )
                + ' ON [dbo].'
                + Quotename(Object_name(object_id)) + ' ('
                + Reverse(Substring(Reverse(( SELECT NAME + CASE WHEN
                sc.is_descending_key = 1
                THEN ' DESC' ELSE ' ASC' END + ',' FROM sys.index_columns sc JOIN
                sys.columns c
                ON sc.object_id = c.object_id AND sc.column_id = c.column_id WHERE
                Object_name(
                sc.object_id) = 'AuditBase' AND sc.object_id = ind.object_id AND
                sc.index_id =
                ind.index_id ORDER BY index_column_id ASC FOR xml path(''))), 2,
                8000
                )) +
                ')' +
                CASE WHEN ind.type = 1 THEN
                ' WITH (DROP_EXISTING = ON) ON [PRIMARY]'
                ELSE ' '
                END AS Script
         INTO   #indexesScript
         FROM   sys.indexes ind
                JOIN sys.partition_schemes ps
                  ON ind.data_space_id = ps.data_space_id
         WHERE  Object_name(object_id) = 'AuditBase'
                AND ps.NAME = 'AuditPScheme'
                AND is_unique_constraint = 0
   
         SELECT *
         FROM   #indexesScript
   
         DECLARE @recreateScript NVARCHAR(max)
         DECLARE indscript CURSOR FOR
           SELECT script
           FROM   #indexesScript
   
         OPEN indscript
   
         FETCH next FROM indscript INTO @recreateScript
   
         WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0
           BEGIN
               BEGIN TRANSACTION t1
   
               EXECUTE Sp_executesql
                 @recreateScript
   
               IF @@ERROR > 0
                 BEGIN
                     ROLLBACK TRAN t1
   
                     DECLARE @message VARCHAR(max)
   
                     SET @message = 'Audit history recreate index failed. SQL: '
                                    + @recreateScript
   
                     RAISERROR (@message,10,1)
                 END
               ELSE
                 BEGIN
                     COMMIT TRAN
                 END
   
               FETCH next FROM indscript INTO @recreateScript
           END
   
         DROP partition scheme auditpscheme
   
         DROP partition FUNCTION auditpfn
   
         CLOSE indscript
   
         DEALLOCATE indscript
   
         DROP TABLE #indexesScript
     END 
   ```
   
   

3. Once the script is complete, you can back up the database and now you should be able to restore the database to a Microsoft SQL Server Standard edition.

More information

The auditing feature is still functional on Microsoft SQL Server Standard edition, however when using the Standard edition the ability to delete an entire partition of the audit history is not available.