Trial MS SQL 2008 to Standard/Enterprise/Etc Edition
I recently configured an SQL Server which we ran in trial to make sure it was what we wanted, after we had tested everything the decision was made to purchase the license. Given tight time frames we were hoping to be able to just get the license key and plug it into the Upgrade Wizard and everything would be sweet. Sadly not the case. We received an OPL from Microsoft, but when you access the licensing portal that doesn’t contain the key because its embedded in the ISO which you can download.
I gave MS Licensing a call and to cut a long story short, they couldn’t provide me with the key and said my only option was to install a new Server. While this was an option it was a long way from my preferred one, due to time and Budget restraints.
I did a bit of reading, and found that to get your CD key if you have an OPL version you can run the installer and it shows you the key when you get to the licence key section of the install. I haven’t tested whether you can do this on the live box without incurring downtime, but I have tested it on another dev box, and I was able to retrieve the key and upgrade successfully.
I’m not sure why the upgrade option is included in the trial if its not a supported option.
UPDATE – Tried to update the key on a Trial machine which had DB’s restored onto it, couldn’t put the key in, got the error please verify the key you are using etc… However if you mount the ISO the run the upgrade from the ISO it will add the key into the machine, without any down time to the environment that I could see. I have used this method on two installations and both worked successfully.
