How to Update SQL Server Beta 2 with the June CTP

I thought I might as well as jot down my experience with this update as I need to do this three times and others might find some assurance here as well.

1. The very first thing I did was to run a backup job on my user databases. It turns out this was just a precautionary measure as I didn't need to restore from backup.


2. Next, I tried to run the Upgrade Advisor from the Redist/Upgrade Advisor directory on the DVD. It promptly told me that it needed the .Net Framework 2.0 before it could do anything. Since I had an older version of the framework installed, I guess it wants a specific version of the .Net Framework 2.0. In short, I didn't run this tool again.


3. sqlbuw.exe, the Build Uninstall Wizard, was next on my list and I ran it from the \Setup Tools\Build Uninstall Wizard directory. This rarely happens, but the tool worked like a champ. I included the uninstall of the .Net Framework 2.0 beta and the Client Network Utilities.


4. Reboot.


5. Parts of this next step are not required. The uninstall utility does not delete the directories nor the .mdf files for the system databases. I elected to only delete the master, temp, model, etc .mdf and .ldf files instead of deleting the entire directory tree. Hypothetically, if you move your .mdf and .ldf files for your user databases, the entire tree could be deleted before running setup. Then those moved files would then need to be placed back in your data and log directories after setup. Again, I didn't use that method, so I'm not sure if it works (it should in theory).


6. Next, run setup from the root of the DVD. This step is pretty much what you would expect as it runs through the options for authentication type, collation, etc.


7. After installation completed, I rebooted even though "you don't need to."


8. Once my system was back up, I attached the user databases.


9. Since I didn't do any sort of archiving/restoring of my master db, I had to recreate any security accounts I had setup. If you have a ton of security settings in place, look to do some backup and restoring of master using the documented methods. Oh, and good luck finding those documented methods.