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Is there a way to restore a SQL Server 2012 database backup to a SQL Server 2008?

I tried to attach file, it does not work.

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What was the DB compatibility version of the SQL DB backed-up? – SliverNinja Jul 9 '12 at 16:48
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@SilverNinja compatibility level does not matter. – Aaron Bertrand Jul 9 '12 at 16:56
Nope. backup / restore is not backwards compatible. I wouldn't trust it. Import/export if you want to sleep at night. – Tony Hopkinson Jul 9 '12 at 16:58
I've seen people try broggling a backup backwards, results never been worth the effort or risk. – Tony Hopkinson Jul 9 '12 at 17:00
@TonyHopkinson What does "broggling" mean? Results are simply not possible unless you use a hex editor to modify the MDF/LDF files to make SQL Server think they're older than they are. – Aaron Bertrand Jul 9 '12 at 17:20
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migrated from stackoverflow.com Jul 9 '12 at 17:00

3 Answers

up vote 0 down vote

It won't work. The only way I think, but not sure, is to use the Import and Export utility. As far as data types of both are same, there shouldn't be any issues.

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up vote 11 down vote

No, you cannot go backward, only forward. You can create an empty database on 2008 and then use the Generate Scripts wizard in Management Studio to script the schema and data (or 3rd party comparison tools from Red Gate and others). Make sure you set the right target version as 2008, and you'll have to flesh out incompatible things (e.g. OFFSET or FORMAT) that you might have used in 2012.

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