Service Pack UPGRADATION

LogShipping
● When an instance of SQL Server is configured as part of Log Shipping, Database Mirroring,
Replication, or Failover Clustering environment, it is important to install service packs or hotfixes
in a correct sequence otherwise we may get unexpected issues. This blog post will give you a
guild line of sequences in such an environment.

● Sequence:
1. Apply the service pack or hotfix on the Monitor server.
2. Apply the service pack or hotfix on all Secondary servers.
3. Apply the service pack or hotfix on the Primary server.

“Always upgrade the secondary server instance first. If the primary server were upgraded before a
secondary server, log shipping would fail because a backup created on a newer version of SQL Server
cannot be restored on an older version of SQL Server”.
Source: ​https://tinyurl.com/tpg8ry4

Less downtime could be another benefit of applying SP on the secondary first. You can apply to the
secondary first, then failover, then apply to the new secondary server (once the primary server).

Database Mirroring
● If you install service packs or hotfixes on servers in a database mirroring environment, you need
to determine the role of the servers. If there are many mirroring sessions configured on the
server, you need to determine all possible roles that could be. For instance, if the server is acting
as a mirror server for any database mirroring session, update the server as the mirror role for all
mirroring sessions. To do this, follow these steps:
1. If a witness server is configured in the database mirroring session, disable the automatic
failover during the update process. To do this, remove the witness server from the
mirroring session. For more information, see​ How to: Remove the Witness from a
Database Mirroring Session​.
2. If the safety level of the database mirroring session is OFF (asynchronous mode), change
the safety level to FULL (this is required in step 3).
3. Make sure all the database mirroring sessions to be in Synchronous mode and
synchronized.
4. Pause the database mirroring sessions that are present on the server. This step prevents
changes to the principal database. For more information, see:​ How to: Pause a Database
Mirroring Session​.
5. Install the service pack or hotfix on the mirror server.
6. Resume the database mirroring sessions. For more information, see:​ How to: Resume a
Database Mirroring Session​.
 7. Perform manual failover (all the mirroring sessions on this principal server) to the mirror
server so that the mirroring server assumes the principal role.
8. Pause the database mirroring sessions as step 4.
9. Install the service pack or hotfix on the new mirror server (previous principal server).
10. Resume the database mirroring sessions.
11. If you changed the safety level in step 2, change the safety level back to OFF.
12. If the database mirroring session has a witness server, undo the changes made in step 1.
For more information, see:​ How to: Add or Replace a Database Mirroring Witness​.
Source: ​https://tinyurl.com/rpq7uwr

Replication
● In a replication environment, there is no preferable sequence to apply a service pack or hotfix
for non-bidirectional replication typology. However, for bi-directional replication topologies
such as merge typology or transactional replication with updatable subscriptions, you must
upgrade Distributor, Publisher, and Subscribers in the following order:
1. Apply the service pack or hotfix on the Distributor server.
2. Apply the service pack or hotfix on the Publisher server.
3. Apply the service pack or hotfix on the Subscriber server.
Source: ​https://tinyurl.com/v5jvfx9

​Failover Clustering
● In SQL Server 2005, if you want to install a service pack or hotfix, you must install the setup on
the Active node (node that currently runs SQL Server services). When running the setup which
will launch simultaneously “remote silence” on all passive nodes.
However, in SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2, the service pack or hotfix deployment is
changed to reduce the downtime. Now, you must install the service pack or hotfix on the
passive node first. To do this, following these steps:
1. Apply the service pack or hotfix on the passive node (or all passive node if you have
more that one).
2. Reboot the passive node.
3. Failover the SQL Server failover cluster to the passive node (and the passive node
becomes active now).
4. Apply the service pack or hotfix on the new passive node (previous active node).
5. Reboot the passive node.
Source: ​https://tinyurl.com/s5a54qw