FIX: SQL Server Setup may fail if you select Per Processor licensing mode

If you select the Per Processor licensing mode during a SQL Server installation, the licensing mode is incorrectly saved to the Setup.iss file as Per Seat. Furthermore, SQL Server Setup does not properly recognize the Per Processor licensing mode when you run an unattended installation.

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, submit a request to Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language. The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later: NOTE: Due to file dependencies, the most recent hotfix or feature that contains the preceding files may also contain additional files.

A fix for this problem was originally released on 09/01/2000. You may encounter a problem with that version of this fix when using the Rebuildm.exe utility to rebuild the master database. If you applied the fix from 09/01/2000, Rebuildm.exe may fail with the following error: This is because the fix changed the version number to 8.00.201 in the following registry key: If you have already applied this fix and are encountering this problem with Rebuildm.exe, simply change the value of the above registry key back to 8.00.194. The problem for which the fix was created is still corrected and is not affected by this registry change.

For customers who have not applied this fix, a new release of the fix is available as of 02/18/2001 which does not change the version in the registry key.

Use the Per Seat Licensing mode instead. If you need the Per Processor licensing mode, do not use an unattended Setup to install SQL Server.

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in SQL Server 2000.

When SQL Server is installed, a file named Setup.iss is saved in the %systemroot% directory to record all the choices made during set up. You can customize the Setup.iss file to perform the unattended set up later in the installation.

SQL Server Setup writes PERDEVICE in the LicenseMode field (found in the [License] section) when the Setup choice was PERPROC.

Also, when SQL Server Setup processes an unattended installation by reading an .iss file, the Setup does not recognize LicenseMode=PERPROC, which then causes Setup to fail. To see the failure, review the Sqlstp.log file found in %systemroot%. When the failure occurs, the Sqlstp.log file contains an error message near the bottom similar to: SQL Server Setup installs correctly if you choose Per Processor mode, provided that you do not run the Setup.exe program in unattended mode. However, this problem can also occur when you upgrade a stand-alone SQL Server server to a clustered SQL Server server when you select Per Processor licensing mode as part of the upgrade.