SQL Server 2008 Release Candidate 0 (RC0) has shipped!  You can get RC0 from http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2008/en/us/trial-software.aspx.  After you've installed SQL Server 2008, try out the latest batch of samples and sample databases at http://CodePlex.com/SqlServerSamples.  New for this release is the rest of the AdventureWorks 2008 family of sample databases including AWAS2008 (the analysis services database) and AWLT2008 (the light weight AdventureWorks OLTP database for 2008).  There are also some new OLEDB and ODBC samples. 

At CodePlex you can browse the source code for samples without downloading, and then download just the samples from the particular sample area you want.  Or, if you like, you can download all of the sample code all at once.  The sample databases can be downloaded from http://www.codeplex.com/MSFTDBProdSamples/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx.  You may notice our installers are sporting a new look and a new UI.  We hope these installers will be the easiest ones to use yet.

 As we get close to completing SQL Server 2008 we begin to naturally look forward to the next thing.  If you have input on where you would like more samples or if you have some ideas around SQL Server and community software development I hope you'll add a comment to this blog entry.  If there is some way we can help you be more effective in your job please let us know.

There is a new AdventureWorks family of sample databases available for SQL Server 2008 February CTP at https://www.codeplex.com/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ProjectName=MSFTDBProdSamples.  The AdventureWorks 2008 family of databases demonstrates some of the new features of SQL Server 2008. This family of databases can only be used with SQL Server 2008 and will not install successfully for earlier versions of SQL Server.  The original AdventureWorks family continues to ship for SQL Server 2008, so you have a choice of staying with the compatible schema or trying out the new SQL Server 2008 features depending on which installers you download.  The installers for the AdventureWorks 2008 family all have 2008 in their names.  See the link above for additional details.

Right now most samples are compatible with the AdventureWorks family not the AdventureWorks 2008 family.  As samples are migrated to the new schema the readmes for the samples will be updated and sample and snippets scripts will have statements like USE AdventureWorks2008 in them instead of USE AdventureWorks.

Have you ever had problems installing CLR samples or the Storefront sample because you get an error like the one below?

Msg 15208, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
The certificate, asymmetric key, or private key file does not exist or has invalid format.

If so you might want to check out the Samples FAQ at http://www.codeplex.com/SqlServerSamples/Wiki/View.aspx?title=HowToUseCodePlex. 

SQL Server 2008 July CTP is now available at https://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer/content/content.aspx?ContentID=5395.  The samples for the July CTP are available at http://codeplex.com/SqlServerSamples along with your favorite SQL Server 2005 SP2 samples.

Some folks have been confused about how to download the samples either from the portal page or from various projects. You just click on the Releases tab and you'll find MSIs which are the best way to download the sample code and sample databases. On the portal project (http://codeplex.com/SqlServerSamples) the MSIs contain all the sample code for all technologies.  If you go to a particular project page listed on the home wiki page of the portal project, the Releases tab will contain installers for that particular technology.  For example, the Releases tab on the Analysis Services product sample project will have MSIs which just contain Analysis Services samples.  The same goes for all the rest of the other technology areas.  The AdventureWorks sample database project (http://www.codeplex.com/MSFTDBProdSamples) also has a Releases tab, and the MSIs there can be used to dowload the various kinds of sample databases.  There are always separate installers for each hardware architecture (x86, x64, IA64).  Select the installer which matches the type of hardware you are using. For the database samples there are different kinds of sample databases to choose from (OLTP, OLAP/DW, Light (LT), Scripts).  One thing that's different about the SQL Server 2008 database installers is that they attach the database for you (except the scripts installers which are for building the database yourself if you want).  For more information about how to use CodePlex take a look at http://www.codeplex.com/SqlServerSamples/Wiki/View.aspx?title=HowToUseCodePlex&referringTitle=Home.  Thanks!

SQL Server 2005 SP2a Product Samples are now released on CodePlex (http://codeplex.com/SqlServerSamples).  The only change from the previous release is that the sample installers now have a EULA which is consistent with the MS-PL license we have on CodePlex.  See the license tab in each project for the exact details.

This license change will make it easier for people who want to create derivative works from the samples to comply with the license and it cleans up the situation where CodePlex had one license and the installers had a slightly different one.

There are no changes to the samples themselves and there is no need to redownload them.

SQL Server 2005 SP2 released to the web today.  You can find it here:  http://www.microsoft.com/sql/sp2.mspx

Note that the serivce pack does not update the samples.  You'll need to download the updated samples separately from here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=e719ecf7-9f46-4312-af89-6ad8702e4e6e&displaylang=en.  There is a link from the SP2 page to this samples download.  Be sure to delete and then uninstall old sample databases before installing the new ones.

 There are a lot of bug fixes in this web refresh of the samples, plus there are several new samples.  There are five new samples too.  The information on the new samples, and all the old ones is in the samples readme file here: http://download.microsoft.com/download/d/8/6/d865cf0c-c44b-401b-b426-b3bf5c628112/SQLServerDatabasesAndSamplesOverview.htm

There is also a new member of the AdventureWorks family of sample databases, AdventureWorksLT.  This is a highly simplified and somewhat denormalized version of the Adventure Works OLTP database focused exclusively on a simple sales scenario.  There will be more information about this latest member of the sample database family soon.

Ever wanted to install the SQL Server 2005 samples on Vista? If so, I recommend using the lastest sample installers at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=e719ecf7-9f46-4312-af89-6ad8702e4e6e&displaylang=en which we've recently updated for the December 2006 samples web refresh.  The bits that get installed are identical to the July 2006 web refresh except these installers are supported on Vista.  To run these samples you'll need SQL Server Express SP1 or SQL Server Express with Advanced Services SP1.  Other editions of SQL Server 2005 (Developer, Enterprise) won't be supporting Vista until SP2.  These installers provide full access to the person who is running the installation.  If your admin installed the samples, you should ask them to grant you full access if that is what you need.

There is no point to installing the December 2006 web refresh if you aren't using Vista and you already have the July 2006 web refresh installed. 

We are planning to release some new samples and some bug fixes in a future web refresh which will ship when SQL Server 2005 SP2 ships.  I'll blog about it once those bits are live.

Thanks to everyone who met us or provided feedback on samples at PASS here in Seattle.  It was great to meet some of you in person and get your input.