Today I watched Jenson Button win the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix in 100 degree weather in the Middle East. Slipstreaming was mentioned more than once on the BBC TV coverage so it got me thinking of the new Slipstreaming option for SQL Server 2008 SP1. Before the race was over I was actually testing it out. Sad but true.
In a previous blog, I had asked Microsoft for the slipstreaming option to be reinstated so that we could install SQL Server up to the latest service pack from a single build. This feature had not been available since SQL Server 2000 SP3a so I was excited to see it back again with SQL Server 2008 SP1. If you have applied a service pack to SQL Server lately you will know it is not a trivial step that sometimes takes longer than the original install!
Of course, I had to test it out to make sure. As I remember from 2000, we were provided an “update” command file to run as part of the service pack to integrate the updates into the original build making it a slipstreamed build. Then the slipstreamed build could be used to install SQL Server on any machine up to the latest service pack. Well, like many things in SQL Server 2008, it is not quite as simple as that.
The exact instructions are listed on an MSDN Blog site. These instructions are extremely detailed and accurate but be careful as you follow them. For instance, it helps to use the same folder names so that you can copy and paste commands to the command line. Also the instructions rely on robocopy which is part of the Windows Resource Kit, so if you don’t have that you will need to download that too.
I tested the slipstreamed build and it worked a treat. If you are doing an interactive install, you should see “Action: Install (Slipstream)” on the “Ready to Install” summary window. In my tests Build 10.0.2531 was applied directly with one step and all seemed to work well.
That’s the good news. The only bad news I found was that SP1 introduces some regression. Remember that I reported that the ORDER BY within a View issues were fixed in SQL Server 2008 CU1? Well, the issue has reappeared in SP1 in my latest tests. Shame.
That almost spoiled the champagne celebrations in Bahrain. Oh, yeah, I was watching that race…
Cheers
Brian
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