Hi Gurus,

 sql server 2012 evaluation edition expired,

Here i don't have any backups and when i browsed few blogs suggest to upgrade to another edition from Evaluation edition.

1)Do upgrading the edition keeps all  the user databases the same and how about the logins and jobs and other data in system databases.

2) Am having a developer edition 2012 can i attach the data files ( .mdf ) to the instance using attach database method from Evaluation Edition Instance 2012   to    Developer Edition 2012.

3)If i uninstall the Evaluation edition 2012 can i have any loss of data.

4)Please suggest me the best practice if any thing available.

Thanks in advance..

PLease have a look at this link: 

Evaluation Period Has Expired

Yes, you can upgrade to another edition. The only caveat is that if you upgrade to something else than Enterprise and Developer Edition, and you have used features only available in these editions, you will not be able to use the databases with these features. Your logins etc will me maintained.

You can also attach the databases to your existing DevEdition instance. In this case you will not get the logins, and there may be a mismatch between user names in the databases and the logins on server level. This applies particularly for SQL login.

Uninstalling the instance will leave the user databases, but it never hurts to take a backup.

Hi Gurus,

 sql server 2012 evaluation edition expired,

Here i don't have any backups and when i browsed few blogs suggest to upgrade to another edition from Evaluation edition.

1)Do upgrading the edition keeps all  the user databases the same and how about the logins and jobs and other data in system databases.

2) Am having a developer edition 2012 can i attach the data files ( .mdf ) to the instance using attach database method from Evaluation Edition Instance 2012   to    Developer Edition 2012.

3)If i uninstall the Evaluation edition 2012 can i have any loss of data.

4)Please suggest me the best practice if any thing available.

Thanks in advance..

Lets take your question point wise

1. In place upgrade will take care of all Logins,jobs and other objects. But before running inplace upgrade its advisable to run SQL Server upgrade advisor

2. Yes you can do it perfectly. As Erland said this will not transfer logins and you might have orphaned users

3. Since Eval edition has expired and if you uninstall it you might loose all data. This is not a correct approach please either do an in place upgrade to licensed version( like developer edition) or first install developer edition and move database by backup restore or attach detach method. I would say to use inplace upgrade.

4 Best practice would be to do an inplace upgrade. Since Developer edition is same as enterprise and Evaluation edition you dont need to worry about features. Just run the Developer edition setup by running setup.exe file and then select maintenance on window which pops up in maintenance select edition upgrade and then follow the process to upgrade evaluation to developer edition. Below link would help

http://www.sqlcoffee.com/Troubleshooting073.htm

Thanks all..

For your time and the best solutions.

And after all working on the issue expired  evaluation instance what the process i implemented is :

My expired evaluation instance is Default and the services are down, tried to restart the instance but got a pop up as The Evaluation Edition is expired.

There with system databases i have a database called Test ( Which is the DB i really needed and don't have a backup ).

Luckily when i went through the path (C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL11_50.MSSQLServer\MSSQL\DATA) found data files of Test database as DATA File (Test ) and LOG File ( Test_Log ).

Steps i have implemented is:

 1) I have installed a named instance from evaluation setup.exe.

 2) Then i created a Database with the same name Test in named instance ( Where my database name is Test in the expired evaluation edition which is default instance ).

 3) Then i stopped a named instance (by Cmd Prompt).

 4) Went to the data file path of Named instance and deleted Test database Data and Log Files.

 5) Then from a default instance i copy and pasted the Test DB Data File (Test) and Log File (Test_Log).

 6) Then i started the named instance (by Cmd Prompt).

 7)The database Test is available with all the objects(SP's,Table's,.....).But lost the logins.

Am so happy that i got my 340 Gb database  available again.

Thanks all again for your valuable replies.

_______________________________________

Please mark this reply as answer if it solved your issue or vote as helpful if it helped so that other forum members can benefit from it 

• Edited by Satish Reddy G Monday, August 25, 2014 12:32 PM

Here , i tried  doing  the Copy and paste the Master,MSDB,Model databases Data Files and Log Files

from Default Instance to Named Instance (as the same i did for Test Database) , i havent went for the TempDB database as it get refresh when ever the instance is restarted.

When, i tried to restart the instance after replacing the default instance System databases to Named instance.

Using Command Prompt i got error as : net start "sql server (****)"

A Service Specific Error Occurred : 945.

More help is available by typing NET HELPMSG 3547.

Is it because of root directory problem.

Where my default instance root directory is in C:\ Drive.

and my Named Instance root directory is in D:\ Drive.

How can i solve this issue.

Thanks in advance.

• Edited by Satish Reddy G Monday, August 25, 2014 12:57 PM

Hi Satish,

Based on my understanding, your SQL Server 2012 evaluation edition which was default instance expired and services were down. Then you installed a named instance from evaluation setup.exe. And you copied old system databases data files and log files from default instance to named instance. Then SQL Server service for the named instance could not be started with error message A Service Specific Error Occurred: 945.

When SQL Server 2012 evaluation edition expires, we usually do an edition upgrade on the existing SQL Server 2012 evaluation instance to fix this issue. 

Copy and replace system database files directly to a new instance is not supported. Some errors will be logged in the Windows Application log.

Besides, there are only two ways to move system databases to another instance of SQL Server or to another server, use the backup and restore or detach and attach operations. For more information, you can refer to this article: Move System Databases (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms345408.aspx).

Best regards,
Qiuyun Yu

• Marked as answer by tracycaiMicrosoft contingent staff, Moderator Monday, September 01, 2014 8:46 AM

Thanks bro @ Qiuyun Yu.

Yes there is good way to extend SQL Server 2012 evaluation copy without uninstall it and loos your data

Kindly follow the details steps in this article 

Evaluation Period expired for SQL Server 2012 , How to extend it ?

Mohamed El-Kassas

Senior Solutions Consultant

• Proposed as answer by Heba Kamal 10 hours 12 minutes ago

Yes there is good way to extend SQL Server 2012 evaluation copy without uninstall it and loos your data

Kindly follow the details steps in this article 

Evaluation Period expired for SQL Server 2012 , How to extend it ?

Mohamed El-Kassas

Senior Solutions Consultant

• Proposed as answer by Heba Kamal Friday, September 04, 2015 8:57 PM