Downgrading SQL Server 2012 to Lower Edition

Question

I have a Win2008 R2 server with an enterprise edition of SQL Server 2012 installed. Because my production server is going to be standard edition, is there a way to downgrade editions from enterprise to standard? I have databases and users already configured in the enterprise instance, and analysis and native reporting service installed and configured.

Is this downgrade possible, or am I looking at a total re-install? Is there anything special I would need to do with my databases other than detaching prior to un-install and then attaching in the standard instance?

Answer 1

You cannot directly change edition of SQL Server 2012 from Enterprise to Standard. See this page for the supported edition change scenarios.

There are a few different ways to go about doing this -- some recommend making copies of the system databases and overwriting them on the new instance (make sure you're at the exact same SP/CU level), or you could just set up a new environment from scratch. It really depends on how complex your environment is. I would definitely recommend testing the process in a separate environment if you can.

Also, before you start, go through your databases and check sys.dm_db_persisted_sku_features to make sure there aren't any Enterprise edition features in use.

Answer 2

From my understanding with Pre 2012 SQL Server instances, you are looking at reinstall of SQL Server. I think following will be sequence ... detach database, uninstall Enterprise edition, reboot machine, install Std edition and attach db. But this will work well only if you have setup in its simplest form. If you have items that are stored in system databases e.g. logins, scheduled jobs etc then it get a bit more complicated because now you will need to transfer those objects as well. But before starting any process I would make sure that no enterprise feature are being used, as suggested by @Jon.