SQL Server 2005 SP3 Cumulative Update 4 is available
Microsoft quietly released another cumulative update for SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3 this week. So quietly, in fact, that it took me 5 days to notice. As Chad Miller noted in his comment, this is the first build of SQL Server 2005 that supports the "lock pages in memory" setting on Standard Edition. You can read about the release here:
If you are still running on SP2, you should consider testing and deploying SP3. If that is not in the cards, then you will also want to look at CU #14 for SP2, also released on Monday:
Why do I think you should be on SP3 and not SP2? Well, from the fix lists for the two branches, it is clear that more fixes are going into the SP3 branch (20 fixes, vs. 6 fixes on the SP2 side). However, as with previous "parallel" CU development, the SP3 branch fixes are not a superset of the SP2 branch fixes. Observe that only 2 fixes are common to both, 4 are in CU14 for SP2 only, and 18 are in CU4 for SP3 only:
| Fix | SP2 CU14 9.00.3328 |
SP3 CU4 9.00.4226 |
|---|---|---|
| KB #948567 | yes | yes |
| KB #956574 | yes | yes |
| KB #967164 | yes | no |
| KB #967470 | yes | no |
| KB #969611 | yes | no |
| KB #971114 | yes | no |
| KB #961050 | no | yes |
| KB #968834 | no | yes |
| KB #968900 | no | yes |
| KB #969528 | no | yes |
| KB #969844 | no | yes |
| KB #969997 | no | yes |
| KB #970058 | no | yes |
| KB #970070 | no | yes |
| KB #970349 | no | yes |
| KB #970551 | no | yes |
| KB #970648 | no | yes |
| KB #970672 | no | yes |
| KB #970823 | no | yes |
| KB #970966 | no | yes |
| KB #971402 | no | yes |
| KB #971409 | no | yes |
| KB #971529 | no | yes |
| KB #971607 | no | yes |
Anyone knows why even though i close the browser, sql server on the background keeps running the report stored procedure in reporting services?
I have an update pending and I get a message (update could not be installed for Security Update for SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3 (KB970892)
someone please help. Thanks
Sorry, Aaron. I had hit this page yesterday afternoon. I didn't refresh my browser this morning. I posted before seeing your post from last night.
Thanks for the great work.
Seeing same issue as DBA. The CU4 KB http://support.microsoft.com/kb/970279 does not appear to have files for 64 bit. When you request the files you jst get 32 bit links.
I contacting our MS TAM to see if they can steer me in right direction. I'll post an update when I have one.
DBA, the standard update is the file _COD_4229, though it has since been replaced by yet another confusing file name, SQL_Server_2005_SP3_CU_Updated_Ref_KB_972867. See my recent rant about this debacle here:
/blogs/aaron_bertrand/archive/2009/08/06/whither-art-thou-oh-microsoft-support.aspx
The other files are:
_SNAC : SQL Native Client, which you would use to distribute to clients that connect to SQL Server but do not have SQL Server installed.
_SQLWriter : SQL Writer service, though I am not sure exactly why this hotfix file has been published separately.
_RS_Sharepo : Reporting Services / SharePoint, though like SQL Writer, I have no idea why these were posted separately.
The KB article and/or the download page could certainly use some better verbiage around what these files are and who needs to deploy which files where.
Hi Aaron. Which version of SP3 CU4 is the standard update for x64? There are four options: _SQLWriter, _RS_Sharepo, _SNAC and _COD_4229 with _COD_4229 being by far the biggest. It seems amazing that Microsoft to do make this clearer.
Thanks Chris, yes it is tough to keep track of which fixes make it into which CUs. They are doing their best to balance getting fixes out to us and making the process consistent, but there is always some give and take…
Aaron,
You are a little out with the fixes in CU14 of SP2 not in SP3. KB967164 and KB967470 were fixed in the previous CU for SP3 and got added to SP2 because I asks for them. The powers of the CSS SQL Server engineers made this happen.
Chris
Of course, yes, thanks for the reminder Chad! I first talked about it being available in June for SQL Server 2005, back in this April post:
/blogs/aaron_bertrand/archive/2009/04/24/big-news-lock-pages-in-memory-for-standard-edition.aspx
The specifics of the trace flag are mentioned in KB #970070:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/970070
Note that it is supported in the SP3 branch only. Another reason to upgrade, if you haven't already.
That said, I will add to Microsoft's disclaimers that you really should work with support to understand why you need this setting, as it could be a stability time bomb in certain scenarios.
SQL 2005 SP3 CU#4 also includes the lock pages in memory feature for Standard Edition. This previously had been a feature only available in Enterprise edition.