Update of the MS SQL 2014 SP2 to CU12

We are running several MS SQL version 2014 databases on Windows.

Versions

To determine what is version of the MS SQL server running, log in to the management studio and issue the following SQL query:

SELECT @@version;

In our case this was:

Microsoft SQL Server 2014 (SP2-CU10-GDR) (KB4052725) - 12.0.5571.0 (X64)

Version after patching:

Microsoft SQL Server 2014 (SP2-CU12) (KB4130489) - 12.0.5589.7 (X64)

To determine what is the current service pack and cumulative update of your version, have a look on the following document:

• ·       “How to determine the version, edition, and update level of SQL Server and its components”, URL: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/321185/how-to-determine-the-version--edition-and-update-level-of-sql-server-a

 2014 SP2 CU12

The following page provides more info about the 2014 SP2 CU12:

• ·         “Cumulative Update 12 for SQL Server 2014 SP2”, URL: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4130489/cumulative-update-12-for-sql-server-2014-sp2

Procedure

In general, our procedure is the following:

Pre-upgrade tasks

a.     Make backup of databases (to tape) and server (by cold/offline snapshot)

b.     Create configuration baseline/snapshot of MS SQL (parameters, logs, etc)

c.     Stop/disconnect client applications

d.     Stop scheduled jobs

Upgrade

Post-upgrade tasks

a.     Create configuration baseline/snapshot of MS SQL (parameters, logs, etc)

b.     Compare configuration baseline/snapshot with one created before the upgrade (check for difference in configuration, services, errors, etc)

c.     Make backup of databases (to tape) and server (by cold/offline snapshot)

Testing

a.     Check database integrity (DBCC CheckDB)

b.     Collect database stats (EXEC sp_updatestats)

c.     Index maintenance (see : https://www.schneider-electric.com/en/faqs/FA234246/ )

d.     Enable and check scheduled jobs (in MS SQL and Windows Scheduler)

e.     Check performance (see : http://michaeljswart.com/2014/01/generating-concurrent-activity/ )

Release

a.     Update the change log

b.     Inform users

In general, this was just another patching cycle. The whole process took a bit longer, but the patching itself took ~30 mins.

Apart from the following, no issues were experienced:

Issue (or not)

It is not a real issue, but it is more about me being familiar with running processes and services. When the patch was initiated, during the “Check files in use” it identified the following processes as running:

• fdhost.exe
• WmiPrvSE.exe

From the Windows Task Manager, you can see that the “fdhost.exe” application is part of the “MSSQLFDLauncher” service and the “WmiPrvSE.exe” application is part of the “WMI Provider Host” service.

As suggested by many, I did not manage to stop these processes. All my attempts to stop the running processes, from “SQL Server Configuration Manager”, “Control Panel > Services” or “Task Manager > End process (tree)”, as processes kept popping up, were not successful. Then I’ve noticed, the following message:

“The … process is not controlled by the update wizard. You have to manually stop this process to avoid a computer restart.”

As restart of server and services, is part of our patching procedure, I’ve decided to proceed with the process. As expected, it worked w/o issues.