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SQL Server 2005 SP2 has been released

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It's been a long road filled with many shouts of "Are we there yet?", so I'm happy to say that yes, we're there now. SP2 has finally be released. You can find the SQL Express SP2 bits on the SQL Express download page along with several other related downloads. As of this writing, we were having some problems with our publication system, so you may see that the page still says SP1, but the Download links themselves are updated and will actually download SP2. We'll get the page updated as soon as possible so it actually says what you're downloading.

The most significant thing in SP2 for Express is that we have added the ability to provision the installing user as a SysAdmin on SQL Express, which is a requirement when you are running on Windows Vista with UAC turned on. You can read more about this in my previous blog post on the topic.

I mentioned quite awhile ago that we would be putting SP2 on Microsoft Update. Organizing this takes a few extra weeks, but you can expect that the SQL Express SP2 update will be offered via Microsoft Update by the end of March if not sooner. When updating from Microsoft Update, all instances of SQL Express will be updated together rather than having to do them one at a time as you have to do with the UI based version.

Finally, I'm working on creating a new manifest for the VS Generic Bootstrapper that will allow developers to embed SQL Express SP2 with their applications rather than the RTM version that ships with VS 2005. I know many people have been waiting on this update and I hope to have it out by mid-March. I'll post more information in the blog when it's available.

- Mike

Comments

  • Anonymous
    February 20, 2007
    SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 was released yesterday, and I've just downloaded and installed the Express

  • Anonymous
    February 21, 2007
    SQL Server 2005 SP2 は、Microsoft Update からも提供予定(らしい)

  • Anonymous
    February 22, 2007
    Question: I have been running silent installations of Visual Studio 2005 on Windows XP and Windows Server

  • Anonymous
    February 22, 2007
    We are redistributing SQL server express 2005 SP1 edition with our product. Our product supports Windows 2000, Windows 2003 , Windows XP and windows Vista both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. We would like to know if the enduser has installed SP2 (By launchine setup / using windows update) will that effect existing applcations which are already installed on that machine (Like our application). In another case if the user machine already has SQL Server Express 2005 with SP2 and tries to install our application what might happen?

  • Anonymous
    February 23, 2007
    Until the SQL Express team is releases the bootstrapper for SP2, I created a workaround the performs the following:

  1. Check if which version, if any, of SQL Express is installed
  2. If SQL Express is not installed, install SQL Express SP2
  3. If SQL Express RTM is installed, upgrade to SP2
  4. If SQL Express SP1 is installed, upgrade to SP2
  5. If SQL Express SP2 or later is installed, take no actiion It has worked for me on Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista Business installs. If you want to learn how to create the workaround you can read the details here: http://blogs.rbaconsulting.com/agrocholski/PermaLink,guid,d5b577b9-120f-43f7-b0f3-2adc80f393f5.aspx

  • Anonymous
    February 23, 2007
    Reply to agrocholski - Thanks for posting this! This is a great example of what I'm striving for in building a community around SQL Express. I am working on the "official" release, but there is no reason folks can roll their own using the instructions provided on ag's blog.

  • Anonymous
    February 23, 2007
    Reply for ursvenky: We strive to ensure that each Service Pack release is backwards compatible, but the ultimate responsibility for ensuring your application works with new releases is yours. As I mentioned in my earlier post about the use of Micorosoft Update (http://blogs.msdn.com/sqlexpress/archive/2006/07/27/680810.aspx), SQL Server releases our product as a Community Technology Preview (CTP) prior to the final public release as a way to allow developers to test it and provide feedback. Our hopes are that you take advantage of the CTP as the time to test your products with the update and let us know about any issues by sending feedback through MS Connect (http://connect.microsoft.com). Using the CTP in this way allows us the change to address issues you find before we declare the final release of a Service Pack.

  • Anonymous
    February 23, 2007
    Happy to help. For those readers who aren't ready to move to service pack 2, I have instructions on how to create the bootstrapper for SP1 as well. You can get the instructions here: http://blogs.rbaconsulting.com/agrocholski/PermaLink,guid,876806fd-5ea1-4193-bea8-8e49a2c1c045.aspx.

  • Anonymous
    March 07, 2007
    Any progress on the VS Generic Bootstrapper?  We are really looking forward to being able to deploy SP2 via ClickOnce updates.

  • Anonymous
    March 09, 2007
    Still working on it, but it will get done. Small team blues.

  • Mike

  • Anonymous
    March 19, 2007
    I would like to Update the existing Bootstrapper package for SQL Express SP2.  I have already updated the SQL Express prerequisite package once for SP1 and also to include patch 2175 which had to be slipstreamed into the main SQL Express installation.  Would you provide the public key for the signed file and download URL (HomeSite) for sqlexpr.exe and sqlexp32.exe?  Or provide assistance on how to obtain this information?  I really need the information for sqlexpr.exe more than sqlexp32.exe, but I would like to get both. Thanks, Shane

  • Anonymous
    March 29, 2007
    I found the information I was looking for.  The public key for SQL 2005 Express SP2 (sqlexpr.exe) is the same as the public key for SP1.  The download link for sqlexpr.exe is http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=83387. I hope this helps some others. Shane

  • Anonymous
    May 21, 2007
    So I have been monitoring this blog to see if there was an going to be an official release for a bootstrapper package of SQL Express SP2.  According to "sqlexpress" the plan was to have it done in March, but I see no follow up posts other than "it will get done".  Anyway, there is a huge flaw in "agrocholski's" package.  His  SqlExpressSP2Chk.exe app requires the .NET Framework to be installed before it can run.  Thus if you run a bootstrapper on a machine that doesn not have .NET, you get an error (allow the bootstrapper will continue to run after clicking ok on the error dialog).  Any updates on a official boostrapper package?

  • Anonymous
    May 21, 2007
    You're correct there is an issue with my SqlExpressSP2Chk.exe. To resolve this issue and remove the dependency on .NET Fx 2.0 I removed SqlExpress SP2Chk.exe altogether. Instead of using this I modified the product.xml filed to include the following registry check: <InstallChecks>    <RegistryCheck Property="SQLExpressVersion" Key="HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftMicrosoft SQL ServerTCFFSNGMSSQLServerCurrentVersion" Value="CurrentVersion" /> </InstallChecks> I then modified the InstallConditions element within the package.xml file to process based on the value stored within SQLExpressVersion. I thought I had cross-posted this previously, but obviously not. Sorry for the delay.

  • Anonymous
    May 21, 2007
    Thanks agrocholski, that will work.  How did you know to check that key in the registry?  I need to create a generic bootstrapper package for MS Report viewer SP1 and short of just doing a registry diff on a clean machine, I am not sure how to determine what registry keys to look for.  Thanks for the quick response.

  • Anonymous
    May 21, 2007
    Actually the registry check for the default instance of SQLExpress should be: <InstallChecks>   <RegistryCheck Property="SQLExpressVersion" Key="HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftMicrosoft SQL ServerSQLEXPRESSMSSQLServerCurrentVersion" Value="CurrentVersion" /> </InstallChecks> The check I posted previously was for the named instance my current project is using. As far as knowing which key to check I believe I came across while looking at a post on TechNet. It was some time back, so I don't recall all the details. Sorry I can't be of more help.

  • Anonymous
    May 21, 2007
    Hmmm, checking for the default instance of SQLExpress may not be the best way to go.  What was your custom app looking at to return the various install codes?

  • Anonymous
    May 29, 2007
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    August 23, 2007
    I've waited far too long to communicate this disappointing news to everyone, so here it is… I'm not going

  • Anonymous
    August 23, 2007
    I&#39;ve waited far too long to communicate this disappointing news to everyone, so here it is… I&#39;m