FIX: An sp_execute_policy error if both SQL Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2008 are installed

Microsoft distributes Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (SP2) fixes as one downloadable file. Because the fixes are cumulative, each new release contains all the hotfixes and all the security updates that were included with the previous SQL Server 2008 SP2 update release.

Consider the following scenario:

• You install Microsoft SQL Server 2008 on a computer.
• You install Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 on the same computer.
• You use the Policy-Based Management (PBM) feature in SQL Server 2008.
• You have a policy that sets the evaluation mode to On Change - Prevent in SQL Server 2008.

In this scenario, you receive an error message that resembles the following when the policy is evaluated:

Cumulative update information

SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 3

The fix for this issue was first released in Cumulative Update 3 for SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 3. For more information about this cumulative update package, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:Note Because the builds are cumulative, each new fix release contains all the hotfixes and all the security fixes that were included with the previous SQL Server 2008 fix release. Microsoft recommends that you consider applying the most recent fix release that contains this hotfix. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 hotfixes are created for specific SQL Server service packs. You must apply a SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 3 hotfix to an installation of SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 3. By default, any hotfix that is provided in a SQL Server service pack is included in the next SQL Server service pack.

SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 2

After you apply the fix for this issue, no aggregation index is created.

The fix for this issue was first released in cumulative update package 7 for SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 2. For more information about how to obtain this cumulative update package for SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 2, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:Note Because the builds are cumulative, each new update release contains all the hotfixes and all the security updates that were included with the previous SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 2 update release. We recommend that you consider applying the most recent update release that contains this hotfix. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

To work around this issue, change the policy evaluation mode from On Change - Prevent to On Schedule or to On Change - Log only.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.