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6447

answers:

7

Has anyone tried installing SQL Server 2008 Developer on a machine that already has 2005 Developer installed?

I am unsure if I should do this, and I need to keep 2005 on this machine for the foreseeable future in order to test our application easily. Since I sometimes need to take backup files of databases and make available for other people in the company I cannot just replace 2005 with 2008 as I suspect (but do not know) that the databases aren't 100% backwards compatible.

What kind of issues would arise? Do I need to install the new version with an instance name, will that work? Can I use a different port number to distinguish them?

I found this entry on technet: http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=3496209&SiteID=17

It doesn't say more than just yes you can do this and I kinda suspected that this was doable anyway, but I need to know if there are anything I need to know before I start installing.

Anyone?

+1  A: 

I believe that this is perfectly possible. I am currently running both SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005 on my development server while I transfer applications over.

The only thing you will have to do is create a new instance which isn't already being used by SQL Server 2005.

As with anything new, there will probably be some bugs, however, it should generally "just work".

GateKiller
+11  A: 

Yes this is possible. You will have to create a named instance not used by another version of SQL Server as per the previous answer and version 3.5 of .Net installed. Works great!!

Here the list of prerequisites:

  • .NET Framework 3.5 SP1
  • Windows Installer 4.5
  • Windows PowerShell 1.0
winsql
A: 

Unfortunately, it seems SQL Server 2008 Client Tools requires Visual Studio 2008 SP1, and I'm loath to install a beta of this on my main development machine.

I'll wait until SP1 is RTM before I move on.

Edit: Yes, I do have Visual Studio 2008 on this machine, but I'd like to avoid beta installations of debugger applications. They tend to dig themselves too deep in for my taste.

Lasse V. Karlsen
+2  A: 

If you have Visual Studio 2008 installed you will get a validation error and you cannot install SQL server 2008 until you install Visual Studio 2008 SP1. If you don't have Visual Studio 2008 installed it should not be a problem. So if you do have Visual Studio 2008 wait till August 11th since that is the day that Visual Studio 2008 SP1 will ship

SQLMenace
+1  A: 

my experience is after having sql sever 2005 and 2008 on same machine SSIS 2005 does not work properly... specially with script task, data flow and sequence container

- Bug confirmed at work too
Johan Buret
+1  A: 

You could run just SQL 2008 as the single instance and then attach/create databases with compatability level of 2005? The problem with that is that its a theory. Im not 100% positive that if you create a database on 2008 , with a compatability level of 2005, and then detach it, that a SQL 2005 instance is capable of attaching it.

I think its a good enough chance to try though. But I agree with the previous answers, the multiple instance options will work fine.

djangofan
A: 

I have try it with negativ result. The 2k8 installation breaks with a mysterious error-message. The installation-protocol looks fine, but it will not work. After this the 2k5 installation was buggy too. The 2k8 installation was half-ready, so it´s already in controlpane / software, but uninstallation is not possible.

So my result - don´t do it on a productive server / workstation. If you need both versions, use a virtual machine instead.