INF: Readme.txt for SQL Server 6.5 Post Service Pack 5a Update

The "More Information" section of this article contains the Readme.txt file for the Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 Post Service Pack 5a Update.

NOTE: The text provided in this article is more recent than the text of the Readme.txt file included in the download package.

To see a list of problems that are fixed by the SQL Server 6.5 Post Service Pack 5a Update, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: To download the SQL Server 6.5 Post Service Pack 5a Update, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 Post Service Pack 5a Update

September 12, 2000
(c) Copyright Microsoft Corporation, 2000. All rights reserved.

This server update contains an updated database engine that is for use only by holders of a current, valid Microsoft SQL Server version 6.5 license. It addresses some specific problems that were discovered in SQL Server 6.5 Service Pack 5a after it was shipped. If you are running SQL Server 6.5 Service Pack 5 or 5a, it is recommended that you apply this update to your system only if your configuration is affected by problems that are fixed by this update.

Before downloading the update, review the "Terms of Use" applicable to downloaded software. The terms of use are published at http://www.microsoft.com/info/cpyright.htm (http://www.microsoft.com/info/cpyright.htm) .

The updated database engine (Sqlservr.exe file) and associated files are included in the following self-extracting zipped files for Intel and Alpha processor architectures: This Post Service Pack 5a Update can be applied to all shipped versions of SQL Server version 6.5 that currently have either Service Pack 5 or Service Pack 5a applied. This includes SQL Server 6.5 Enterprise Edition and the SQL Server version included with Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS). For more information about determining whether you can apply the update to your specific version of SQL Server 6.5, see the "Service Pack Versions" section below.

The Sql65sp5updatei.exe and Sql65sp5updatea.exe files are self-extracting executable files. When you run them, one of the files that is extracted is Fixlist.htm. Fixlist.htm contains a list of the fixes included in the Post Service Pack 5a Update.

This Post Service Pack 5a Update contains fixes for problems reported by customers after Microsoft released SQL Server 6.5 Service Pack 5a. Because this update contains only a new database engine, you must have applied either SQL Server 6.5 Service Pack 5 or Service Pack 5a before applying this update.

With the release of SQL Server 2000, Microsoft has begun phasing out future support for SQL Server version 6.5. After December 31, 2000, Microsoft will support SQL Server version 6.5 on a best effort basis. This means that a customer can call Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS) with SQL Server version 6.5 issues; however, the support will not include changes in code to SQL Server version 6.5, and additional service packs for version 6.5 will not be released.

This update does not change the year 2000 compliance statement for SQL Server 6.5.

Service Pack Versions

If you are not sure which service pack you have installed on a computer running SQL Server, you can verify the version by issuing SELECT @@VERSION from either ISQL or ISQL/w. The following table illustrates the correspondence between the version string reported by @@VERSION for each of the SQL Server 6.5 service packs:



NOTE: You should apply the Post Service Pack 5 Update only if the version of your existing installation is between 6.50.415 and 6.50.479. If you have a version earlier than 6.50.415, you must first apply Service Pack 5a, and then apply the Post Service Pack 5 Update. If you have a version of 6.50.479 or greater, you cannot apply the Post Service Pack 5 Update.

Language Versions of SQL Server

The Post Service Pack 5 Update can be applied to any language version (English, French, German, Japanese) of SQL Server 6.5 Service Pack 5 or Service Pack 5a.

Installing the Post Service Pack 5a Update

Please read through these instructions thoroughly before proceeding with any steps of the installation.

Prerequisites

You must install SQL Server 6.5 Service Pack 5 or Service Pack 5a before applying this update. Instructions for downloading SQL Server 6.5 Service Pack 5a are at:

Installation Process for the Post Service Pack 5a Update

The Post Service Pack 5a Update contains the following files:



If you are installing the Post Service Pack 5a Update on a server running SQL Server 6.5 Enterprise Edition that has clustering enabled, please use the section titled Installation Steps for SQL Server 6.5 Enterprise Edition with Clustering Enabled for installation instructions. All other environments should use the section titled Standard Installation Steps.

Standard Installation Steps

To install the SQL Server 6.5 Post Service Pack 5a Update, perform the following steps:

1. As a precaution, back up all of your databases, including the master and msdb databases. Installation of the Post-Service Pack 5a Update does not make modifications to any databases.
   
   If you are running Service Pack 5 (build 6.50.415), these backups must be performed using the ISQL command-line utility or the ISQL/w tool.For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
   215458  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/215458/EN-US/ ) FIX: LOAD DATABASE Fails with Error 603
2. If you have not already installed SQL Server 6.5 Service Pack 5 or Service Pack 5a, install SQL Server 6.5 Service Pack 5a. Do not proceed until the service pack has been successfully installed.
3. Copy the download file (either Sql65sp5updatei.exe for Intel-based computers or Sql65sp5updatea.exe for Alpha-based computers) to a folder on an Intel-based computer. Execute the file to extract the files used in the update. Because the extraction program is an Intel-based program, before the update can be applied to an Alpha-based computer, you must use an Intel-based computer to extract the files from Sql65sp5updatea.exe.
4. Shut down the Microsoft SQL Server and SQL Server Agent services.
5. Make a backup copy of the Sqlservr.exe and Sqlservr.dbg files in the folder that contains the SQL Server 6.5 program files. By default, the locations of these files are C:\MSSQL\BINN and C:\MSSQL\SYMBOLS\EXE respectively.
6. Using the extraction folder you created in Step 2, copy the Sqlservr.exe and Sqlservr.dbg files from the self-extracting archive into the default folder locations of these files; in other words, C:\MSSQL\BINN and C:\MSSQL\SYMBOLS\EXE respectively.
7. Start Microsoft SQL Server and SQL Server Agent services.
8. If for any reason you encounter a problem with this update build, you can restore the previous version of SQL Server by copying the files you backed up in Step 4 back to their original location.

Installation Steps for SQL Server 6.5 Enterprise Edition with Clustering Enabled

To install the SQL Server 6.5 Post Service Pack 5a Update on a computer with clustering enabled, perform the following steps:

1. As a precaution, back up all of your databases, including the master and msdb databases. Installation of the Post-Service Pack 5a Update does not make modifications to any databases.
   
   If you are running Service Pack 5 (build 6.50.415) these backups must be performed using the isql command line utility or the isql/w tool.For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
   215458  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/215458/EN-US/ ) FIX: LOAD DATABASE Fails with Error 603
2. If you have not already installed SQL Server 6.5 Service Pack 5 or Service Pack 5a, install SQL Server 6.5 Service Pack 5a. Do not proceed until the service pack has been successfully installed.
3. Copy the download file (either Sql65sp5updatei.exe for Intel-based computers or Sql65sp5updatea.exe for Alpha-based computers) to a folder on an Intel-based computer. Execute the file to extract the files used in the update. Because the extraction program is an Intel-based program, before the update can be applied to an Alpha-based computer, you must use an Intel-based computer to extract the files from Sql65sp5updatea.exe.
4. Make sure that the computer node on which SQL Server 6.5 was originally installed controls the SQL Server resources.
5. On this same computer node, run the Failover Setup Wizard utility to remove that Virtual SQL Server.
6. Make a backup copy of the Sqlservr.exe and Sqlservr.dbg files in the folder that contains the SQL Server 6.5 program files. By default, the locations of these files are C:\MSSQL\BINN and C:\MSSQL\SYMBOLS\EXE respectively.
7. Using the extraction folder created in Step 2, copy the Sqlservr.exe and Sqlservr.dbg files from the self-extracting archive into the default folder location of these files; in other words, C:\MSSQL\BINN and C:\MSSQL\SYMBOLS\EXE respectively.
8. Run the Failover Setup Wizard utility to create the Virtual SQL Server resources.
9. Using Windows NT Cluster Manager, right-click the SQL Server resource group and then click Bring online on the shortcut menu. This will bring all services online in their proper order of dependency.
10. If for any reason you encounter a problem with this update build, you can restore the previous version of SQL Server by copying the files you backed up in step 4 back to their original location.