We have been waiting so long for this moment. SQL Server 2019 RTM is finally out! Maybe Microsoft should announced it as SQL Server 2020 when taking into consideration that only one month left to reach new year. Anyway, better late than never.

As I stated, It took so long that we did not only refresh Microsoft downloads website and waited with open arms, but also we wanted to do something in the meantime.  That’s why, we followed early versions and installed SQL Server 2019 CTP 3.0 Evaluation Edition to get things going while waiting for RTM. I told the business partners that this is an Evaluation Edition which will ends in 6 months, took the sign-off and started waiting for RTM release.

Now that the time has come, I am asking this question:

Is it possible to upgrade SQL Server 2019 CTP 3.0 version to RTM version?

Looks like it is not. 

I read Release Notes for SQL Server 2019 , there is no information about upgrade from CTP or RC version. Then, I kept searching on the internet and came across this documentation page which clearly states that they only support upgrades from Developer Edition and Release Candidates with a special condition on being Early Adopter Program member: Supported Version and Edition Upgrades for SQL Server 2019

I decided to give it a shot and launched Installation Wizard. First I tried “Upgrade from a previous version” option.

Unfortunately, that didn’t work due to the fact that installer gets information about already installed CTP version and forces you to create a new named instance which is not our desire. So it is a dead end.

Then It occurred to me that this is also an Edition Upgrade from Enterprise Evaluation to Enterprise. At this point, I have nothing to loose. I took backup of databases, server objects and accepted the fact that I have to uninstall CTP and start with a clean install of RTM.Thus I decided to try Edition Upgrade also. 

Obviously, this didn’t work too, Nevertheless, They may say I have failed but No one can say I didn’t try.

I removed everything that has ‘2019’ in it from Programs and Features, restarted server and finally installed brand new SQL Server 2019 RTM Enterprise Edition.

During installation, I’ve noticed two new tabs in “Database Engine Configuration” section. They are MaxDOP and Memory as you can see below.

Good to have Recommended Memory Adjustments in the wizard, that means I don’t need the piece of code in my installation script where I set these values manually.

Memory settings are crucial for database engine. Thus, Microsoft would like to make sure that you know what you are doing. If you don’t tick the box at the bottom, GUI gives an error:

The rest is just usual installation wizard steps.

To sum up, it is not possible to upgrade from CTP or RC versions to RTM directly. You have to uninstall everything first and then install a fresh one.

I understand why this is not supported from Microsoft but I would expect some unofficial documentation or blogs about this upgrade but looks like no one even bothered trying or documenting.