09/02/2008 13:36:42

This Release Notes document describes known issues that you should read about before you install or troubleshoot SQL Server 2008. This document also provides search tips to help you find more known issues in Knowledge Base (KB) articles on the Microsoft Help and Support Web site. The Release Notes document and the Knowledge Base articles supplement SQL Server 2008 Books Online.

The Release Notes document is available only online, not on the installation media, and is updated periodically. The current version of this file is available on the Release Notes download page.

For information about how to get started with installing SQL Server 2008, see the SQL Server 2008 Readme. The Readme is available on the installation media and from the Readme download page.

Before You Install

Before you install SQL Server 2008, read the following required actions and KB articles.

Required Actions

If you have installed Visual Studio 2008 or have installed prerelease versions of SQL Server 2008, you might have to perform prerequisite actions before you install SQL Server 2008. To determine which actions that you might have to perform, use the following table.

Visual Studio 2008 installation status SQL Server 2008 installation status Required action before you install SQL Server 2008

Is not installed.

Prerelease version was never installed.

No action is required.

Is not installed.

Prerelease version is currently or was previously installed.

Follow these steps:

  1. Uninstall the prerelease version of SQL Server 2008.
  2. Additionally, you might have to uninstall Visual Studio 2008 features that were added by a prerelease installation of SQL Server 2008. In Windows, use Add or Remove Programs and uninstall the following features if they are installed: Visual Studio 2008 Shell (integrated mode) and Visual Studio Tools for Applications 2.0.

Is installed, and the release version of Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 (SP1) is not installed.

Prerelease version was never installed.

Perform one of the following options:

  • Install Visual Studio 2008 SP1 before you install SQL Server 2008.
  • Uninstall Visual Studio 2008, and then install SQL Server 2008. After SQL Server 2008 is installed, you can install Visual Studio 2008 and then install Visual Studio 2008 SP1.
  • Do not install the following components of SQL Server 2008 that require Visual Studio 2008: Management Tools (both Basic or Complete), Integration Services, and Business Intelligence Development Studio features. If you want to later install any of these features, you must first install Visual Studio 2008 SP1.

Is installed, and the release version of Visual Studio 2008 SP1 is not installed.

Prerelease version is currently or was previously installed.

Follow these steps:

  1. Uninstall the prerelease version of SQL Server 2008.
  2. Perform one of the following options:
    • Install Visual Studio 2008 SP1 before you install SQL Server 2008.
    • Uninstall Visual Studio 2008, and then install SQL Server 2008. After SQL Server 2008 is installed, you can install Visual Studio 2008 and then install Visual Studio 2008 SP1.
    • Do not install the following components of SQL Server 2008 that require Visual Studio 2008: Management Tools (both Basic or Complete), Integration Services, and Business Intelligence Development Studio features. If you want to later install any of these features, you must first install Visual Studio SP1.

Visual Studio 2008 SP1 release version is installed.

Prerelease version was never installed.

No action is required.

Visual Studio 2008 SP1 release version is installed.

Prerelease version is currently installed.

Uninstall the prerelease version of SQL Server 2008.

If you install Visual Studio 2008 after you have installed SQL Server 2008, you must install Visual Studio 2008 SP1 to have a supported configuration. Visual Studio 2008 SP1 is not required if you did not install the following features that require Visual Studio 2008: Management Tools (both Basic or Complete), Integration Services, and Business Intelligence Development Studio.

For more information about how to install SQL Server 2008 with Visual Studio 2008, see the blog entry SQL Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 SP1, and .Net Framework 3.5 SP1 Explained on MSDN and KB article 956139. For more information about Visual Studio 2008 SP1, see this Visual Studio Web site.

Known Issues to Read First

The following KB articles highlight known issues that are important to read before you install SQL Server 2008. To find more KB articles about installation, use this Before You Install query.

KB ID Summary

956139

Visual Studio 2008 SP1 may be required for SQL Server 2008 installations

956718

FIX: A MERGE statement may not enforce a foreign key constraint when the statement updates a unique key column that is not part of a clustering key that has a single row as the update source in SQL Server 2008

956427

You cannot add a cluster node when you install SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services and you do not install the Database Engine

956005

The status indicator for a SQL Server 2008 mirror database differs from SQL Server 2005

955949

Cluster upgrade to SQL Server 2008 fails when SQL Server 2005 cluster nodes have different installed features

955396

How to troubleshoot SQL Server 2008 Setup issues

956138

You cannot upgrade a non-English instance of SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services to SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services

955399

If upgrade to SQL Server 2008 fails, uninstall the upgrade before retrying the upgrade

955973

You might receive this error message when you try to upgrade to SQL Server 2008 on a computer that is running Windows Server: "Access to the path '<Path>\perf-MSSQL$SQL2008sqlctr.dll' is denied"

955389

How SQL Server 2008 updates what feature usage data to collect

How to Find More Known Issues

We recommend that you view more known issues by searching for "SQL Server 2008" on the Microsoft Support Web site. To find KB articles on specific topics, click any of the following suggested searches, or create your own custom search strings.

You can also join the SQL Server Community to share your experiences and learn from other people who are using SQL Server 2008. For more information, see the SQL Server Community Web site.

Books Online is the primary documentation for SQL Server 2008. You can view SQL Server 2008 Books Online on MSDN, or download a stand-alone version from the SQL Server 2008 Books Online download page.

Additional Issues

  • Error and Usage Reporting Help Button Does Not Respond. If you click the Help button in the SQL Server Error and Usage Reporting dialog box, it does not respond. To view the content, see Error and Usage on MSDN.