How to tell if SQL Server automated upgrade is successful from C# WinForms app

Question

I'm automating an upgrade of SQL Server 2005 Express to SQL Server 2008R2 Express via a WinForms app that is used to upgrade our application. The application is deployed at some 800+ locations, so we don't want any manual steps.

I've got the following code mostly written to perform the upgrade. I need to know, what's best practice for determining if the SQL Server installer completed successfully? Should I just look for an exit code of 0 for the process? Is that good enough; i.e. could it still exit with code of 0 if the upgrade had a problem and was rolled back (I'd test this, but don't know the best way to simulate a failure)?

Is there any other way to determine if the upgrade was successful in my C# app, so I can handle it properly if there was any error encountered by the SQL Server Installer?

try
{

    //First, find the version of the currently installed SQL Server Instance
    string sqlString = "SELECT SUBSTRING(CONVERT(VARCHAR, SERVERPROPERTY('productversion')), 0, 5)";
    string sqlInstanceVersion = string.Empty;                

    using (DbCommand cmd = _database.GetSqlStringCommand(sqlString))
    {
        sqlInstanceVersion = cmd.ExecuteScalar().ToString();
    }

    if (sqlInstanceVersion.Equals(String.Empty))
    {
        //TODO throw an exception or do something else
    }

    //11.00 = SQL2012, 10.50 = SQL2008R2, 10.00 = SQL2008, 9.00 = SQL2005, 8.00 = SQL2000
    switch (sqlInstanceVersion)
    {
        case "11.00":
        case "10.50":
        case "10.00":
            //Log that the version is already up to date and return
            return;
        case "9.00":
        case "8.00":
            //We are on SQL 2000 or 2005, so continue with upgrade to 2008R2
            break;
        default:
            //TODO throw an exception for unsupported SQL Server version
            break;
    }

    string upgradeArgumentString = "/Q /ACTION=upgrade /INSTANCENAME={0} /ENU /IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS";
    string instanceName = "YourInstanceNameHere";
    string installerFilePath = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory + "\\SQLEXPR_x86_ENU.exe"; 

    if (!File.Exists(installerFilePath))
    {
        throw new FileNotFoundException(string.Format("Unable to find installer file: {0}", installerFilePath));
    }

    Process process = new Process
    {
        StartInfo = { FileName = installerFilePath, Arguments = String.Format(upgradeArgumentString, instanceName), UseShellExecute = false }
    };

    process.Start();

    if (process.WaitForExit(SQLSERVER_UPGRADE_TIMEOUT))
    {
        //Do something here when the process completes within timeout.
        //What should I do here to determine if the SQL Server Installer completed successfully?  Look at just the exit code?
    }
    else
    {
        //The process exceeded timeout.  Do something about it; like throw exception, or whatever
    }
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
    //Handle your exceptions here
}

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 26 '13 at 17:05

2

Look at the full version string, nut just the first 5 chars of it. A successful upgrade will change the version string.

answered Jun 26 '13 at 17:05

usr

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I suppose just looking at the version before and after might be good enough. Is there any way to get details from the Process object about what happened if the SQL upgrade didn't complete. I guess if the version didn't change after upgrade, I can just direct the user to look at the setup log? – Jim Jun 26 '13 at 17:08
I don't know, but given the sad state of typical setup error messages you probably won't be able to extract meaningful reasons programatically. The setup log is a good idea. – usr Jun 26 '13 at 17:24

How to tell if SQL Server automated upgrade is successful from C# WinForms app

1 Answers1