SQL Server Express WebLog

“Embedding SQL Server 2008 Express in an Application” technical Article

sqlexpress — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 03:40:40 GMT

We recently published a technical article on how to embed and run SQL Server 2008 Express in unattended mode. The article is at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd981032.aspx. We expect to revise this article at a later point in time. To ensure we continually improve the Express embedding experience, please provide us feedback. You can provide your feedback through this blog site or through the Microsoft connect site at https://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer/Feedback. It is preferable to submit through https://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer/Feedback to ensure we capture and track the feedback.

Installing SQL Server 2008 Guidance

sqlexpress — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:54:38 GMT

There are two options for installing SQL Server 2008 Express.

1. Basic: This option is recommended for most users. If you need a basic installation, visit SQL Server Express download page.

The Microsoft Web Platform Installer runs a basic default installation. If you need to install on a Domain Controller or require advanced customization of your installation then the Microsoft Download Center is the appropriate location for installing SQL Server 2008 Express.

2. Advanced: If you need to customize the installation, you can obtain Express from the Microsoft Download Center. Here are the Express editions available for download.

Basic installation through Web Platform Installer

The Web Platform Installer provides a default installation appropriate for most customers. It is a hands-off install providing customers easy an installation of SQL Server 2008 Express. When you install Express through Web Platform Installer, setup uses default configuration values. The Web PI detection logic will not let you install Express if the installation will conflict with an existing install of SQL Server. If this happens, you will need to install from the download center.

Web PI installation uses the following default command line parameters. If you need to change these values, you will need to perform a custom install.

Command line Option	Description
/q	Run unattended, no UI
/ACTION=Install	Performs in installation
/FEATURES=SQL,RS,TOOLS	Installs the Database Engine, Reporting Services, and Management Tools if available
/INSTANCENAME=SQLEXPRESS	Installs a named instance called “SQLExpress”
/SQLSVCACCOUNT="NT AUTHORITY\Network Service"	Configures the Database engine Service account to run under Network Service. This account is not supported on a Domain Controller, therefore it is necessary to perform an advanced installation.
/RSSVCACCOUNT="NT AUTHORITY\Network Service"	Configures the Reporting Services Service account to run under Network Service, if available. This account is not supported on a Domain Controller, therefore it is necessary to perform an advanced installation.
/RSSVCStartupType=Automatic	Configures the Reporting Services Service account to start automatically.
/AddCurrentUserAsSqlAdmin	Gives the user that installed SQL Server the ability to connect to the database engine.
/ENABLERANU=1	Enabled User Instances

Advanced Installation through the Download Center

It is only necessary to use the Microsoft Download Center when you require non-default configuration values for an installation of SQL Server 2008 Express.

Installation Scenarios

An advanced installation of SQL Server 2008 Express through the Download Center may be necessary if any of the scenarios below apply to you.

Upgrading

If you are upgrading from SQL Server 2000 or SQL Server 2005 to SQL Server 2008 a custom/advanced installation is required.

For more information, see “How to identify your SQL Server version and edition”.

Specifying an Instance Name other than SQLEXPRESS

SQL Server 2008 Express uses the default instance name of “SQLEXPRESS”. Changing the instance name or installing additional instances requires a custom installation. You cannot change instance names once the installation is complete. There are several scenarios of when you would to provide your own instance name.

The default instance name has already been used (installing multiple instances)
Your environment (application or standards) requires the use of an alternate instance name. For example, you may use instance names to segment groups or organizations within the company, i.e. Sales, Operation, Finance, etc.
You want to provide a higher level of abstraction from the underlying database software.

Embedding

If you develop software applications that embed SQL Server 2008 Express, custom installations are typically required. For more information, see Embedding SQL Server 2008 Express in an Application.

Installation on a Domain Controller

If you would like to install SQL Server Express on a Domain Controller, you need to perform an advanced installation since the default account (Network Service) specified by the Web Platform Installer is not supported on a Domain Controller. See SQL Server support on a Domain Controller for more information.

Further Setup Customization

Some SQL Server configuration settings can only be set during install. Once the installation is complete, you cannot change these settings. Any change to the configuration settings would require a new installation of the product. Some settings directly impact how data is stored and organized so changing the configuration setting would require significant data manipulation work in order to preserve the data.

Setting the non-Default Collation

Collations effect how characters (data) for a language or alphabet are recognized and sorted. A majority of SQL Server installations use the default collation. There are some situations where the use of a collation other than the default collation setting would be required.

Select a BINARY2 collation if binary code point based ordering is acceptable.
Select a Windows® collation for consistent comparison across data types.
Use new 100 level collation for better linguistic sorting support. For more information, see Collation and Unicode Support.
If you plan to migrate a database to the upgraded instance of ssNoVersion, select the collation that matches your existing collation of the database.

For more information, see Collation Settings in Setup.

Enabling Filestream

The Filestream configuration setting specifies where to store unstructured data such as text documents, images or videos. You can store this unstructured data inside the database or outside the database in the NTFS files system. The default setting is to store the data inside the database. Storing outside the database can cause data management complexities. You should consider enabling FILESTREAM if:

Objects being stored are, on average, larger than 1 MB.
Fast read access is important.
You are developing applications that use a middle tier for application logic.

For smaller objects, storing unstructured data in the database often provides better streaming performance.

For more information, see FILESTREAM Overview and FILESTREAM Storage in SQL Server 2008.

Enabling Error Reporting

Enabling the Error Reporting setting allows you to report Windows and SQL Server errors to Microsoft via the internet. Microsoft uses these error reports to improve future releases of SQL Server. Error reports contain only technical data. All error reports are confidential and anonymous.

Customizing Installation Directories

Installation directories are unique folder locations used for placement of:

Program software
System database
User databases and logs
Temp DB and log
Backups

During installation, you have the option to changing the default directories for some or all of the folders. Business requirements or environmental factors may dictate specifying directories other than the default.

Configuring SQL Server Service Accounts

SQL Server includes many services ranging from tools such as SQL Server Browser service to major product components such as Analysis services and Reporting services. During installation, you can specify which services to install and the account in which they run under. By default, most SQL Server services run under the Network Service account during initial setup. For better manageability and a more secure environment, it is recommended you:

Use separate accounts for each SQL Server service.
Configure service accounts to use the lowest possible permissions. This can reduce surface area for attacks.
Associate SQL Server services with low privileged Windows local user accounts, or domain user accounts.

For more information, see Setting Up Windows Service Accounts.

We need your Express Setup FeedBack

sqlexpress — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 06:32:31 GMT

In the next release of SQL Server, called SQL Server 2008 R2 we are working on addressing issues that complicated the installation of SQL Server Express. As the timeframe to address these issues is tight for this release we won’t be able to address all issues. However, still take the time to file your issue at http://connect.microsoft.com/. If we can’t address in SQL Server 2008 R2, we will consider addressing in the next major release.

Thanks,

Peter Saddow

Program Manager

SQL Server Setup Team

SQL Server 2005 Express edition, SP3 update for Windows 7

sqlexpress — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:04:50 GMT

On June 23rd, we will publish the Express SQL Server 2005 SP3 updates for Windows 7 through Microsoft Update. This is just a change in the detection logic to offer to a Windows 7 system. The SQL Server 2005 SP3 packages that have already been released to Microsoft Update and the Microsoft download center are unchanged.

These Express updates are affected:

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition Service Pack 3 (KB955706)
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition with Advanced Services Service Pack 3 (KB955706)
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition Toolkit Service Pack 3 (KB955706)

As usual, these updates will be available through Windows Automatic Update.

Creating a SQL Server 2008 Management Studio Express Slipstream drop

sqlexpress — Fri, 29 May 2009 04:19:31 GMT

I have put together steps for you to build an Express Management Studio with Service Pack 1. See these steps at http://blogs.msdn.com/petersad/archive/2009/05/29/creating-a-sql-server-2008-management-studio-express-slipstream-drop.aspx

Installing SQL Server Express on Windows 7 Release Candidate

sqlexpress — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:39:00 GMT

When installing SQL Server 2005 RTM/SP1/SP2 and SQL Server 2008 RTM on Windows 7 RC it presents you with a warning message. The message says that this SQL Server version has a known compatibility issues with Windows 7 RC. This warning is genuine and applies to all SQL Server editions, including all Express editions. The incompatibility was fixed in SQL Server 2008 Service Pack1 and SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3.

You can safely continue the installation by clicking "Run program" button and apply the latest service pack afterwards. In some cases you may be presented with this warning message multiple times during the installation process.

Once the installation is complete please apply the latest SQL Server service pack. You can use Windows Update to do so. Just be sure to click "Get updates for more Microsoft products" to start obtaining updates for SQL Server. SQL Server service packs should show up on the list of optional updates. You may need to kick-off the scan for updates manually if not - you can do it by clicking "Check for updates" link on the left pane of main Windows Update window.

If for some reason Windows Update doesn't work for you, please download and install latest service pack manually.

Download SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3

Download SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1

If you're installing SQL Server 2005 Express (any Express edition) or SQL Server 2008 Express (Runtime Only) you can just download the SQL Server Express package containing the latest service pack. This may seem counter-intuitive if you already have some Express package, but installing it and then downloading and applying service pack is going to take longer than downloading a package already containing the latest service pack and installing it. Plus, in case of SQL Server 2008 Express the service pack package is actually bigger than the SQL Server Express package, since the service pack is shared with all SQL Server 2008 editions.

Download SQL Server 2005 Express Edition SP3

Download SQL Server 2005 Express Advanced Edition SP3

Download SQL Server 2005 Express Toolkit Edition SP3

Download SQL Server 2008 Express SP1

If you need to install SQL Server 2008 Express edition other than Runtime Only on Windows 7 RC and need to avoid the warning dialogs, you can create SQL Server 2008 with Service Pack 1 package yourself. Please follow steps described by Peter Saddow here.

Creating a merged (slipstreamed) drop containing SQL Server 2008 RTM + Service Pack 1

- Krzysztof Kozielczyk

I have SQL Server Express installed and I want to upgrade to Service Pack 1

sqlexpress — Mon, 11 May 2009 05:17:13 GMT

The easiest way to upgrade to Service Pack 1 is to search for the update through Microsoft Update. The service pack 1 update will not be NOT be automatically installed to your system.

If getting the update from Microsoft Update is not an option you must obtain the update from the download center from here.

Peter Saddow

service Pack 1 for SQL Server Express 2008 is Available

sqlexpress — Fri, 08 May 2009 06:56:28 GMT

The SQL Server 2008 Express package with Service Pack 1 is now available. The simplest location to install from is here, select “Download and Install” now. (Currently the other links on this package point to the original media. This will be revised soon). This tool will determine if the pre-requisites are installed and if not will install them for you. Next, the tool will install the edition that you have selected. This tool allows you to install SQL Server 2008 Express Advanced and SQL Server 2008 Express with tools, but only the Express package includes Service Pack 1.

For information on how to apply the SQL Server 2008 Service Pack to the Express Advanced and Express with Tool package see here.

Peter Saddow

Sr. Program Manager on SQL Server Development Team

Troubleshooting the corrupt file error when using the SQL Server 2008 Express Setup Package

sqlexpress — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 03:31:40 GMT

I've seen a number of people bringing this message up in the forums recently so I thought I would blog about it rather than type the answer over and over. (I'm lazy that way.)

Problem

When you run the installer you get the following error after the download of the SQL Server 2008 Express installation package:

An error occurred during the installation of SQL Server 2008 Express.

The downloaded file appears to be corrupt.

If you view the log you see an error that looks something like this:

Verbose: [T3][19:57:41. 91] ComponentInstaller.Install Start

Info: [T3][19:57:41. 92] ComponentInstaller.Install Preparing to install SQL Server 2008 Express with Advanced Services.

Verbose: [T3][19:57:41.136] ComponentInstaller.ValidateFile Start

Info: [T3][19:57:41.136] ComponentInstaller.ValidateFile Validating SQLEXPRADV_x64_ENU.exe.

Verbose: [T3][19:57:41.198] ComponentInstaller.GetFileCertificate Start - file=C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\SQL Server 2008 Express Install\Downloads\SqlExpressWithAdv\SQLEXPRADV_x64_ENU.exe

Warning: [T3][19:57:41.443] ComponentInstaller.GetFileCertificate Failed to parse certificate in SQLEXPRADV_x64_ENU.exe: System.Security.Cryptography.CryptographicException: Cannot find the requested object.

at System.Security.Cryptography.CryptographicException.ThrowCryptogaphicException(Int32 hr)

at System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509Utils._QueryCertFileType(String fileName)

at System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509Certificate.LoadCertificateFromFile(String fileName, Object password, X509KeyStorageFlags keyStorageFlags)

at Microsoft.SqlServer.SqlExpressWrapper.Controller.ComponentInstaller.GetFileCertificate(String file)

Verbose: [T3][19:57:41.948] ComponentInstaller.GetFileCertificate End - returned NULL

Warning: [T3][19:57:41.949] ComponentInstaller.ValidateFile File validation FAILED (certificate could not be obtained from file).

Verbose: [T3][19:57:41.949] ComponentInstaller.ValidateFile End - returned False

Verbose: [T3][19:57:41.991] ComponentInstaller.Install End - returned [ExitCode=0, Success=False, Action=RetryDownload, MessageStringId=]

Error: [T3][19:57:42.276] InstallController.InstallComponents Error: Microsoft.SqlServer.SqlExpressWrapper.Controller.InstallException was thrown: The downloaded file appears to be corrupt.

Source: SqlExpressWrapper

Stack: at Microsoft.SqlServer.SqlExpressWrapper.Controller.ComponentInstaller.Install()

at Microsoft.SqlServer.SqlExpressWrapper.Controller.InstallController.InstallComponents()

Cause

This is typically caused by a problem during the download process that results in the file saved to your disk being corrupt.

Resolution

Often this problem is resolved by simply hitting the Try Again button. If the problem was a dropped line or some noise on your connection it is usually transient and the next download will work fine.

In cases where you get the error a second time, or when you have a low bandwidth connection so you don't want to risk waiting through the second download just to get another error you should clear the cache to make sure that you don't have a partial download stuck on your hard drive. You will need to clear two folder locations to be sure you're starting clean:

Empty your Temp directory since this is where the interim pieces of the file download are stored during the download process. If your system has the Disk Cleanup Utility (It's at least part of Vista), you can use this tool to empty your Temp directory. If you don't have this utility you can just open up the Run dialog and type "%temp%" (without quotes) and then clean out the files manually. (I usually do it manually.)
Empty the Express Installation Package download cache. The download cache location changes depending on your operating system but I describe the location in this post introducing the Express Installation Package in the section on the architecture.
1. Navigate to the cache folder location appropriate for your system.
2. Find the .\Download folder.
3. Find the edition folder for the edition you're downloading. (eg. .\SqlExpressWithAdv if you're downloading SQL Express with Advanced Services).
4. Delete the installer package that is cached in this folder.

Once you've removed the files from the Temp directory and the Download Cache, run the Express Installation Package again and you'll be assured to get a new file from the Microsoft Download Center this time. This is one of those cases where Windows is sometimes too smart for its own good, it's trying to save you time by restarting a failed download where it left off, but in this case it can't restart correctly.

If you continue to get the corruption error after this you may be experiencing a different problem. If this is the case there are two things you can do:

Report the problem in the SQL Express forum.
You can try installing manually. You'll need to install the prerequisites first and then run the standard SQL Express package. But seriously, report the problem in the forum, if there is something weird going on with the download files, we need to know.

- Mike

Survey: SQL Express 2008 and Patching

sqlexpress — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:47:00 GMT

We are working on the patching model that will be used for SQL Server 2008 Express and we're considering a change that I wanted to get your feedback on. Please take a moment to answer a few questions; feel free to answer through a comment to this post or by clicking the EMAIL link at the top of the blog.

We are considering separating the patching process from the new install process such that the SQL Express package (such as SQLEXPR_x86_ENU.exe) would be used for new installations of the most current service release and patching of existing installations would be done using the same patch as the rest of SQL Server 2008. (Historically we have created a single installer package for SQL Express that could both install a new instance and update an existing instance.) Is this a good or bad plan? (Why?)
What would the impact to you or your company be if we choose the model that doesn't work for you? (i.e. How many installs are impacted? Would you have to re-write your application installer? Etc.)
If the new model causes the SQL Express package to grow, is that a major concern for your scenario? (How much could it grow by % without concerning you?)

Thanks for your feedback on this.

- Mike

SQL Server 2008 Upgrade Whitepaper

sqlexpress — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 17:50:00 GMT

The SQL Server Engineering team has released a masive white paper that details upgrading to SQL Server 2008. It's all good information, but if you're reading this blog you're probably interested in chapter 10, which specifically covers SQL Server 2008 Express. You can find more information here.

- Mike

Getting SQL Server 2008 Express on a DVD

sqlexpress — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:27:34 GMT

A small but persistent group of developers has been asking for SQL Server Express to be released on media, most commonly from those folks who live in areas without broadband Internet (yes, there are still such areas) for whom downloading an 80 MB package can be an endurance challenge. One of the benefits of the new setup framework in SQL 2008 is that you can now order a DVD that will allow you to install SQL Server 2008 Express. Don't go looking for the SQL Server Express DVD though, because you won't find it – rather, you just order one of the SQL Server Evaluation DVDs and install SQL Server Express from that.

You can start the process by navigating to SQL Server Trial Software page and clicking the "Download It Now" button for your chosen discipline. Have no fear; you will be presented with the option to choose between downloading and ordering on the next page. One caveat here, ordering the media is only available for folks in North America (sorry, I don't make those decisions). During the installation of SQL Server 2008 you are given the option to choose which edition you want to install and/or provide a Product Key. Lacking a Product Key you are allowed to install any of the free editions of SQL Server 2008. The edition combo box is defaulted to SQL Server 2008 Evaluation, but if you drop it down, you will find that SQL Server 2008 Express and SQL Server 2008 Express with Advanced Services are also available. Pick the edition you would like to install and you're on your way. Even though this is the Evaluation DVD, SQL Server Express does not have any kind of time bomb and it will function exactly the same as if you installed it from the downloadable package. Don't forget to register your copy of SQL Server Express.

Announcing the SQL Express 2008 Installation Package

sqlexpress — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 01:35:00 GMT

FYI: SQL Server MVP Andrea Montanari has posted his own summary of the experience of using this tool including screen shots of the UI. A quick and useful read to get you familiar with the tool.

The SQL Express 2008 Installation Package (Express Wrapper) is a new utility we've created to help customers who are installing SQL Express 2008 from the web. Following the lead of products such as the .NET Framework and Visual Studio Express, we've created a wrapper that will streamline installation of SQL Express from the web. If you just can't wait, you can jump to the SQL Express download page and get started right now. If you're interested in learning more, read on.

Overview

The Express Wrapper has a very simple goal: reduce the complexity of installing SQL Server 2008 Express from the web by assisting customers with the installation of the SQL prerequisites. We stuck to that goal and followed the principle that the simplest solution is usually the best. You'll see this principle in how the Express Wrapper is focused on doing the hard work of finding the correct prerequisites but not replacing the entire SQL Server installer experience. The Express Wrapper does the following:

Allows for selection of any of the three editions of SQL Server 2008 Express.
Detects which prerequisites are missing from your computer based on the edition selected.
Downloads the correct installers for all the prerequisites and SQL Server 2008 Express based on the edition, language and architecture of your operating system.
Launches the installers in the correct order.
Continues the installation across reboots.

Using a wrapped installer approach gives us two primary advantages: first is that you only have to find one thing, the wrapper, in order to install SQL Server Express, the wrapper handles downloading everything else. The second advantage is that we can keep the size of the SQL Express package small by not including any of the pre-requisites while still ensuring that any missing prerequisites are downloaded and installed when needed without extra effort on your part.

Running the Express Wrapper

It's pretty straight forward, otherwise what would have been the point of building it? Here is the process you'll go through:

Download the Express Wrapper from the SQL Express download page. When prompted, choose the option to Run the application.
The Express Wrapper will download a second piece, when prompted, choose the option to Run the application again. (Why? See the section on architecture below.)
On the main screen of the Express Wrapper, choose the edition of SQL Express and the language you want to install. The Express Wrapper will default to the language of your system. There are specific rules regarding cross-language support which are documented in the Hardware and Software Requirements topic in BOL.
You will see the list of prerequisites that are missing from your machine.
Click Install.
All necessary prerequisites and the SQL Express package will be downloaded to your hard drive. You will see the progress of the downloads as they happen.
Once all components have been downloaded, the installers will be launched in full UI mode in the appropriate order.
Step through the individual installer following the prompts provided.
Some prerequisites may require a reboot, go ahead and reboot when asked. Log back into the computer as the same user and the Express Wrapper will automatically start and then pick up where it left off.
Complete additional installations for each prerequisite or SQL Express as needed. Repeat the reboot process if required.
When finished you will receive a success message from the Express Wrapper. SQL Express is installed and ready to go.

Express Wrapper Architecture

The Express Wrapper is actually made up of two components:
SQLEXPR32_x86_ENU_Bootstrapper.exe - There is a separate bootstrapper for each language supported by SQL Server 2008 (replace ENU with your particular language choice) that will install the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 onto your computer if it detects that it is missing. You may have to reboot your computer after the framework installation, but the bootstrapper will automatically launch when you log in and then it will download the second component of the Express Wrapper.
SQLEXPR32_x86_Wrapper.exe - This component does the heavy lifting of detection and download of all other prerequisites and SQL Express itself. This is actually a CAB archive that contains the various pieces of the wrapper that handle all aspects of download and launching other installers.

The Express Wrapper program files and the downloaded prerequisites and SQL Express installers are cached onto your computer in a location determined by the edition of your operating system:
- Windows Vista & Windows Server 2008: Express Wrapper files are placed in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\SQL Server 2008 Express Install.
- Windows XP & Windows 2003: Express Wrapper files are placed in the user profile directory at C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SQL Server 2008 Express Install.
Program files and log files are stored in a folder named based on the timestamp at installation, such as \2008-08-15_10-19-18-318 and downloaded files are placed in \Downloads folder.

Troubleshooting Installation Problems

As much as I'd like to believe things will work 100% of the time, reality has a way of destroying my illusions. As such, we've ensured that the Express Wrapper creates a verbose log that not only tells you what is happening at each step of the process, but also surfaces errors that are returned from the individual prerequisite installer and the SQL Express installer. If you run into problems while using the Express Wrapper, your first stop should be the \Logs directory located in the directory where the wrapper program files are stored. Examine this log to determine if there are any errors happening in the Express Wrapper, such as failures to download the required installer packages. If there is an error coming back from one of the wrapped installers, the next step is to examine the logs from that installer. In some cases, the Express Wrapper is able to collect logs from those installers and place copies in the same \Logs folder, so be sure to check there first. For SQL Express primarily, there are many different logs so you'll likely need to go to directly to the setup logs default location which is at C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Setup Bootstrap\Log. At this point you would just follow the same process you'd follow to troubleshoot any SQL Server installation failure, the Express Wrapper runs SQL setup the same as if you had double-clicked the file. Check out the KB Article, How to troubleshoot SQL Server 2008 setup issues and the BOL topic How To: View SQL Server 2008 Log Files.

Other Questions

You can always post questions about anything SQL Express related to the SQL Express MSDN Forum.

-Mike

FAQ: Error creating a Service-based database in Visual Studio 2008 SP1

sqlexpress — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:07:00 GMT

A few of you have run into problems when trying to add a new Service-based database to your project in Visual Studio 2008 SP1. This problem has been reported to Microsoft Connect and the Visual Studio team is working on a fix, but I thought I would provide some details on a workaround in the meantime.

What's the problem?

This issue occurs when you have Visual Studio 2008 SP1 (any edition) and SQL Server 2008 Express x64 installed. This won't happen if you have the 32bit version of SQL Express installed. You know you've hit the issue when you see this error:

Connections to SQL Server files (*.mdf) require SQL Server Express 2005 to function properly. Please verify the installation of the component or download from the URL: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=49251

The problem is caused by an error when checking the registry to verify that SQL Express is actually installed; it's installed, but Visual Studio doesn't think it's installed.

Two ways to work around the problem

The easy way out is to uninstall the 64bit version of SQL Express and replace it with the 32bit version installed in the WoW. You can download this version from the Express website. If you're fiercely devoted to the native 64bit installation, or you just don't like taking the easy way out, there is another option...

Congratulations on boldly accepting the challenge to stick with the native 64bit version of SQL Express in the face of this error. In order to "trick" Visual Studio into working with a database on this architecture of SQL while still preserving the expected behavior of how the database works, we're going to have to plumb the depths of working with a User Instance in order to create the database manually, add the existing database to the project and then "hook it up" once it's there.

Create the Database

To perform this part of you're task you'll need to connect directly to the User Instance with the client tool of your choice. I've already posted instructions on how to do this, so check those out first to get a connection to the User Instance. Once connected, we need to create a database in the same folder as the project you want the database to live in. You can do this using the standard UI dialogs in Management Studio by right-clicking on the Databases folder and selecting New Database. Once you have the dialog open, give the database a name and set the file path to the folder where your project lives. You can also do this in T-SQL if you'd like, here is a sample of the statement that would do this:

CREATE DATABASE database1

ON PRIMARY

(NAME = database1,

FILENAME = N'C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Visual Studio 2008\Projects\WindowsFormsApplication1\WindowsFormsApplication1\database1.mdf',

SIZE = 10MB,

MAXSIZE = 50MB,

FILEGROWTH = 10%)

LOG ON

( NAME = database1_log,

FILENAME = N'C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Visual Studio 2008\Projects\WindowsFormsApplication1\WindowsFormsApplication1\database1_log.ldf',

SIZE = 10MB,

MAXSIZE = 50MB,

FILEGROWTH = 10%)

As you can see, this is a normal CREATE DATABASE statement where I've specified the FILENAME argument to be the project folder for my project. Just replace the <username> place holder with your user name and your ready to go.

Important: Once the database has been created, you need to detach it from the User Instance before you go onto the next step or you're in for trouble later.

Adding the database to your VS project

Make sure you've detached the database after creating in the previous section. (I told you it was important.) Back in Visual Studio you can now add the database to the project.

On the Project menu, select Add Existing.
In the File Open dialog, navigate to the project directory select the database you created. (You may need to change the file type being shown so that you see the Data Files in the dialog.)
Select the database and click Add.

You'll get the same error that got us here in the first place. Ignore it! Hit OK as if all is right with the world and you'll see that the database was added to the project, take that foolish error message.

Hookin' the database up

At this point your database is in your project, but we want to take the final step to make it just like it would have been if you did this using the Add New Item | Service-based Database method. Add New Item, in this case, would have automatically dropped you into the DataSet wizard, so lets create one now.

On the Data menu, select Create New Data Source.
In the Data Source wizard, select Database and click Next.
Click the New Connection button.
In the Add Connection dialog, click the Browse button.
Select the database you created at the beginning and click Open. (If you didn't detach it like I told you to, this is where you're going to run into trouble. Go ahead and detach it now, I'll wait…)
If you don't trust me, click the Test Connection button.
Click OK.
Back in the Data Source Configuration Wizard, click Next.
Accept the option to save the connection string, feel free the change it to something that makes sense to you, and click Next.
After VS scans the database and discovers it's empty, click Finish.

You've now got a spankin' new DataSet in your project that's connected to your database. You can work with the database as you would expect, for example you could use the Server Explorer/Database pane to add new objects to the database which you could then add to your DataSet. Like I said, it's not the most straight forward workaround, but if you only need to create one database, this will take a lot less time than uninstalling the 64bit version and replacing it with the 32bit version. Hopefully VS will release a fix for this issue soon; go over to MS Connect and cast your vote to show that this issue has affected you. The more people affected, the better the chance for a fix.

- Mike

FAQ: "Installing" the SQL Server 2008 Express ClickOnce Bootstrapper for Visual Studio 2008 SP1

sqlexpress — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:01:00 GMT

Clearly, the names of our components are getting too long, but that's a matter for another post…

Many of you have noticed that the VS bootstrapper for SQL Express 2008 (and similarly the bootstrapper for Windows Installer 4.5) are installed by the Visual Studio 2008 Express SP1 products, but not by the VS SP1 patch that is applied to the non-Express versions. After noticing this, many of you have ask, "What's up with that?"

The short answer is that it's just one of those things that happens when two large development organizations get together, one group is using metric, the other is using standard and the next thing you know your Mars Probe is crashing; but I digress. The deal here is that we shipped SQL Express 2008 as part of VS Express 2008 SP1, so we included the necessary bootstrappers to support ClickOnce with the Express products. We didn't include SQL Express in the VS 2008 SP1 patch (non-Express) so we didn't include the bootstrappers. You can always install SQL Express 2008 for use with any SP1 edition of VS 2008, but the bootstrappers themselves are actually installed by VS, so we've got a gap. I've been talking to the VS team to get this sorted out, but in the mean time, here is a workaround to get the bootstrappers required for ClickOnce deployment of SQL Express 2008 onto your non-Express VS installations.

Install any flavor of Visual Studio 2008 Express SP1.
Go into the bootstrapper directory (C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0A\Bootstrapper\Packages) and rename both the SqlExpress2008 and WindowsInstaller4_5 directories.
Uninstall Visual Studio 2008 Express SP1.

OK, it's silly, but it works. Steps 2 & 3 are optional if you don't mind leaving the VS Express installation on your computer, but if you don't want to keep it around you need to rename the directories to prevent the uninstall action from removing them. You don't have to re-rename the directories because population of the ClickOnce Prerequisites doesn't have anything to do with the directory names, it just scans the sub-directories under Packages and builds the list based on the manifests it finds there. There you have it, have fun.

- Mike