A SQL Server 2008 update is available – but it's not SP2
Last night Microsoft released Service Pack 1 Cumulative Update #10:
KB #2279604 : Cumulative update package 10 for SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1
The build number is 10.00.2799 and there seem to be some interesting fixes included if you browse through them. But at least on first glance and at the gut level, I'm less interested in the fixes, and more interested in the timing. It seems very odd, given that – in response to customer demand – Service Pack 2 was promised in Q3 of this year, and Q3 ends in 8 days. And given also that typically another CU will need to be issued shortly after SP2 is released, in order to capture the fixes that branched off probably in July when the CTP of SP2 was first offered (I blogged about this as well).
The SQL Server Release Services blog has been oddly silent for a month (EDIT: they have pushed a post for this CU). Internal inquiries by several fellow MVPs have gone unanswered as well. At least one fellow twitterer feels more confident than I do that the release is imminent, but it begs the question, where is his information coming from?
Will we see Service Pack 2 by the end of Q3, or has the timeline slipped?
EDIT: I've already had a couple people ask if this update applies to R2, or if there is an equivalent update for R2 available at this time. This update is for SQL Server 2008 SP1 only. Cumulative Updates for SQL Server 2008 R2 have been released in conjunction with SQL Server 2005 SP3 CUs, so I don't expect that there will be a release for R2 so soon after the last one (mid-August). The next R2 CU should be made available around mid-October.
Yeah right! That was promised by end of Q4, right?
Any news on the SQL2005 SP4 release too?
Chris
I saw it at PASS 2008 by Sarah Henwood. I know that this is old advice.
Chris
Slipstreaming works really well; I've done it numerous times. It's still a bit manual but the process is easy (I've blogged here before and pointed to some official blogs about it).
As for applying a CU before setup, neither of the articles you mention seem to have anything to that effect. Where exactly did you read that you should "run later CU's first to get the best setup files in place"?
What you're talking about sounds familiar, but I haven't needed to do it. I would say, again, if you are installing a new instance of SQL Server 2008, consider slipstreaming SP1 and the latest CU, or wait for SP2 and slipstream that. If you have issues with that process (which is the official way to do it), then maybe consider the approach you talk about, which sounds to me much more like a workaround to a specific problem.
Aaron,
Never had a chance to run a slipstream as we only have one SQL2008 instance and a couple of SQL2008R2 instances. Neither KB mentions clustering.
Thanks
Chris
I'll admit to not having read the articles, but might this have something to do with updating the setup bits when setting up a cluster?
If you're preparing a new SQL Server 2008 installation, I would just slipstream. Not sure why you would want to run a CU (which will patch nothing, unless there are other existing 2008 bits on the machine), then 2008, then the CU again?
Aaron,
I see that there are 2 SQL2008 setup fixes in CU10. I had seen that after SQL2008 first came out it was suggested to run later CU's first to get the best setup files in place before the actual install. Should we now run this SP1 CU10 first before attempting an SQL2008 setup? The articles are 2379466 and 2387686.
Thanks
Chris
My secret "sources" also tell me SQL Server 2008 SP2 will be "Very Soon". I don't know why Microsoft is so coy about things like this, it is kind of silly.
Long overdue…
Don't I look trustworthy? 🙂