Supported Version and Edition Upgrades
You can upgrade from SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, and SQL Server 2008 R2 to SQL Server 2012. This topic lists the supported upgrade paths from these SQL Server versions, and the supported edition upgrades for SQL Server 2012.
Pre upgrade Checklist
Before upgrading from one edition of SQL Server 2012 to another, verify that the functionality you are currently using is supported in the edition to which you are moving.
Before upgrading SQL Server, enable Windows Authentication for SQL Server Agent and verify the default configuration: that the SQL Server Agent service account is a member of the SQL Server sysadmin group.
To upgrade to SQL Server 2012, you must be running a supported operating system. For more information, see Hardware and Software Requirements for Installing SQL Server 2012.
Upgrade will be blocked if there is a pending restart.
Upgrade will be blocked if the Windows Installer service is not running.
Unsupported Scenarios
Cross-version instances of SQL Server 2012 are not supported. Version numbers of the Database Engine, Analysis Services, and Reporting Services components must be the same in an instance of SQL Server 2012.
Cross-platform upgrade is not supported. You cannot upgrade a 32-bit instance of SQL Server to native 64-bit using SQL Server Setup. However, you can back up or detach databases from a 32-bit instance of SQL Server, and then restore or attach them to a new instance of SQL Server (64-bit) if the databases are not published in replication. You must re-create any logins and other user objects in master, msdb, and model system databases.
You cannot add new features during the upgrade of your existing instance of SQL Server. After you upgrade an instance of SQL Server to SQL Server 2012, you can add features by using the SQL Server 2012 Setup. For more information, see Add Features to an Instance of SQL Server 2012 (Setup).
Failover Clusters are not supported in the WOW mode. If you currently have SQL Server 2005, or SQL Server 2008, or SQL Server 2008 R2 failover clusters on the 32-bit subsystem (WOW64), upgrade of the failover cluster to SQL Server 2012 is not supported
Upgrade from SQL Server 2005 Evaluation, SQL Server 2008 Evaluation, and SQL Server 2008 R2 Evaluation to SQL Server 2012 is not supported.
Upgrades from Earlier Versions to SQL Server 2012
SQL Server 32-bit editions can be upgraded to SQL Server 2012 on the 32-bit subsystem (WOW64) of a 64-bit server.
SQL Server 64-bit versions can be upgraded to SQL Server 2012 64-bit server only.
Note
When you upgrade to SQL Server 2012 from a prior version of SQL Server Enterprise edition, choose between ‘Enterprise Edition: Core-based Licensing’ and ‘Enterprise Edition’. These Enterprise editions differ only with respect to the licensing modes and the maximum number of cores supported. For more information, see Compute Capacity Limits by Edition of SQL Server.
SQL Server 2012 supports upgrade from the following versions of SQL Server:
SQL Server 2005 SP4 or later
SQL Server 2008 SP2 or later
SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 or later
The table below lists the supported upgrade scenarios from earlier versions of SQL Server to SQL Server 2012.
Upgrade from |
Supported upgrade path |
|---|---|
SQL Server 2005 SP4 Enterprise |
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence |
SQL Server 2005 SP4 Developer |
SQL Server 2012 Developer |
SQL Server 2005 SP4 Standard |
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence SQL Server 2012 Standard |
SQL Server 2005 SP4 Workgroup |
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence SQL Server 2012 Standard SQL Server 2012 Web |
SQL Server 2005 SP4 Express, SQL Server 2005 SP4 Express with Tools, and SQL Server 2005 SP4 Express with Advanced Services |
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence SQL Server 2012 Standard SQL Server 2012 Web SQL Server 2012 Express |
SQL Server 2008 SP2 Enterprise |
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence |
SQL Server 2008 SP2 Developer |
SQL Server 2012 Developer |
SQL Server 2008 SP2 Standard |
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence SQL Server 2012 Standard |
SQL Server 2008 SP2 Web |
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence SQL Server 2012 Standard SQL Server 2012 Web |
SQL Server 2008 SP2 Workgroup |
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence SQL Server 2012 Standard SQL Server 2012 Web |
SQL Server 2008 SP2 Express, SQL Server 2008 SP2 Express with Tools, and SQL Server 2008 SP2 Express with Advanced Services |
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence SQL Server 2012 Standard SQL Server 2012 Web SQL Server 2012 Express |
SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 Datacenter |
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence |
SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 Enterprise |
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence |
SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 Developer |
SQL Server 2012 Developer |
SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 Standard |
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence SQL Server 2012 Standard |
SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 Web |
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence SQL Server 2012 Standard SQL Server 2012 Web |
SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 Workgroup |
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence SQL Server 2012 Standard SQL Server 2012 Web |
SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 Express, SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 Express with Tools, and SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 Express with Advanced Services |
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence SQL Server 2012 Standard SQL Server 2012 Web SQL Server 2012 Express |
SQL Server 2012 Edition Upgrade
The following table lists the supported edition upgrade scenarios in SQL Server 2012.
For step-by-step instructions on how to perform an edition upgrade, see Upgrade to a Different Edition of SQL Server 2012 (Setup).
Upgrade From |
Upgrade To |
|---|---|
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise (Server+CAL or Core) 2 3 |
SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence |
SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence |
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise (Server+CAL or Core License) |
SQL Server 2012 Evaluation Enterprise 2 |
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise (Server+CAL or Core License) SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence SQL Server 2012 Standard SQL Server 2012 Developer SQL Server 2012 Web Upgrading from Evaluation Enterprise (a free edition) to any of the paid editions is supported for stand-alone installations, but is not supported for clustered installations. |
SQL Server 2012 Standard 2 |
SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence SQL Server 2012 Enterprise (Server+CAL or Core License) |
SQL Server 2012 Developer 2 |
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise (Server+CAL or Core License) SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence SQL Server 2012 Standard SQL Server 2012 Web |
SQL Server 2012 Web |
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise (Server+CAL or Core License) SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence SQL Server 2012 Standard |
SQL Server 2012 Express 1 |
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise (Server+CAL or Core License) SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence SQL Server 2012 Developer SQL Server 2012 Standard SQL Server 2012 Web |
Additionally you can also perform an edition upgrade between SQL Server 2012 Enterprise (Server+CAL license) and SQL Server 2012 Enterprise (Core License):
Edition Upgrade From |
Edition Upgrade To |
|---|---|
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise (Server+CAL License) 2 3 |
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise (Core License) |
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise (Core License) |
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise (Server+CAL License) |
1 Also applies to SQL Server 2012 Express with Tools and SQL Server 2012 Express with Advanced Services.
2 Changing the edition of a SQL Server 2012 failover cluster is limited. The following scenarios are not supported for SQL Server 2012 failover clusters:
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise to SQL Server 2012 Developer, Standard, or Enterprise Evaluation.
SQL Server 2012 Developer to SQL Server 2012 Standard or Enterprise Evaluation.
SQL Server 2012 Standard to SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Evaluation.
SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Evaluation to SQL Server 2012 Standard.
3 Two types of licensing is available for SQL Server 2012 Enterprise edition: Core-Based Licensing and Server+CAL Licensing. For more information about licensing, see Comprehensive licensing information for SQL Server 2012.
See Also
Reference
Hardware and Software Requirements for Installing SQL Server 2012
Concepts
Use Upgrade Advisor to Prepare for Upgrades