If you have Microsoft SQL Server 2012 RC0 currently installed and attempt to start SQL Server Management Studio after the evaluation period then you will encounter an ’evaluation period has expired’ error message and the SQL services are no longer started.
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I wanted to do an inline upgrade and not start again, so here’s what I did to upgrade the expired SQL Server RC0 version to the release version.
Step 1: Wind Back the Clock
You need to set the system date to prior to the evaluation expiry date. You can calculate the expiry date by viewing the summary log file created when you installed SQL server log file. The default location is:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\110\
Setup Bootstrap\LOG\Summary.txt
The evaluation period is 180 days, so by using the install date you can determine the expiry date.
Step 2: Start the Services
With the date I set I then manually started all the SQL Server services.
Step 3: Make Backups
With SQL now running again and Management Studio accessible now is the time to make those last-minute backups.
Step 4: Access Denied
I encountered a halt error of access denied during the upgrade process on the file
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\110\
License Terms\SQLServer2012_License_DEV_1033.rtf
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To prevent this stop locate the file and remove the read-only attribute. If you miss this and run the upgrade then you can make the change and then use the retry option.
Step 5: Upgrade from SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 R2
You need to use the upgrade option that says ‘Upgrade from SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 R2′. Although SQL Server 2012 is not listed it recognises the RC0 environment and does an inline upgrade. The edition upgrade option did not work.
Step 6: Reboot
The next thing to do is a reboot. You should then find that all the SQL Server services are running, management Studio is accessible and the release level has now changed. After the reboot you can then rerun the installation process and upgrade further instances.
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