Is SQL Server 2008 compatible with 2005?

Question

I have a problem with my website. When I publish my site on server, I got an error message:

The database '----------------------------.MDF' cannot be opened because it is version 655. This server supports version 611 and earlier. A downgrade path is not supported.

What can I do about this?

Answer 1

You can't push a 2008 mdf file into a 2005 server. It just won't work. The problem is that sql 2005 has no idea what features you may have used in the 2008 database which doesn't exist under 2005.

Your only real option is to: 1. Create a blank database on the sql 2005 server. 2. Script your tables, views, procs, functions, etc from the 2008 server. 3. Run that script on the 2005 server.

IF you used some advanced features, then the 2005 server will not be able to run the script. Fix what you have to.

Answer 2

Yes... in SQL 2008, generate scripts for your DDL and DML; the vast majority of the scripts will be compatible, but you may need to make the odd tweak to accommodate SQL 2005.

Upload and run on your SQL 2005 instance...

There maybe a number of 3rd party tools that can aid you, particularly to generate the insert statements.

If your DB is particularly large, you might want to is SSIS to move the data across.