14 DAY TRIAL // Customers running SQL Server 2008 that have so far stuck with the RTM release of the data platform need to get ready for automatic upgrades to the SP1 milestone. Microsoft revealed that, come September 2009, it would start distributing Service Pack 1 to all customers currently using SQL Server 2008 RTM in their infrastructures. The updates will be served automatically to users, revealed Peter Saddow, Microsoft program manager.
“If an update is flagged as an automatic update (AU) the logic will honor the Windows Update settings for deploying the update. This means, you do not need to manually scan for updates through the Windows Update web page or Control Pane and you let Windows control the installation,” Saddow noted.
Essentially, this move will impact all customers that have the Automatic Updates option of their Windows operating systems enabled. In this regard, users can select the “Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them” in their Windows Updates configuration in order to be able to prevent SP1 for SQL Server 2008 from being delivered automatically to their machine. However, at the same time, users need to keep in mind that such settings impact all Windows Updates.
“We would like to make this change to easily bring SQL Server 2008 instances up to the latest Service Pack. Additionally, SQL Server 2008 SP1 is required when running SQL Server 2008 on a Windows 7 system,” Saddow added.
Microsoft made SQL Server 2008 SP1 available for download in the first half of April 2009. At that time, the Redmond company also released the service pack through Microsoft Update, making it available to customers that were simply checking to see whether new updates had been made available. There is of course one more month for the testing and planning processes associated with the upgrade to SQL Server 2008 SP1 to be performed.
SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1 (SP1) is available for download here.