You can configure a single computer to run Upgrade Assistant. Choose this configuration when resources are not available to use a second computer to replay a test workload. You may also choose this configuration to simplify the test process; however the process will take longer. If you want to run the tests again or test another application you will have to restore the original pre-upgrade configuration. You should consider using virtualization to make it easy to roll back to the original configuration. This is a best practice if you are testing with pre-release versions of SQL Server because it may not be possible to go back to a previous release once it is installed.
After you have configured the test computer to meet the above requirements, run Upgrade Assistant. Follow the steps listed in the pane on the left side of Upgrade Assistant. For more information, see 1.1 Upgrade Assistant Process. The following summarizes the steps for “single-computer testing”:
Step
Task
Computer
SQL Server Version
Notes
1
Create a Test Environment
Baseline
2005 / 2008
The server requirements are described in the previous section.
2
Capture a Playback
2005 /2008
See 4.0 Capturing a Workload Playback
3
Set Up Playback Baseline System
Restore your source database(s) to a SQL Server 2005/2008 instance including system databases (optional)
4
Run Upgrade Advisor
Identify issues that may prevent a successful upgrade
5
Replay Trace on SQL Server 2005/2008
Replay the trace workload you captured on your original SQL Server version (either 2005 or 2008)
6
Set Up Playback Test System
Baseline becomes Test
This is done on the same SQL Server 2005/2008 database engine where your source database(s) are restored.
The replay trace in step 5 must be completed before you can proceed with this step.
7
Upgrade to SQL Server Code Name “Denali”
Test
2005 /2008 becomes Denali
This is via in-place upgrade where you will run setup.exe from your SQL Server Code Name “Denali” media and complete the in-place upgrade workflow
8
Run TEST trace playback
Denali
Replay your trace workload on SQL Server Code Name “Denali”
9
Compare and analyze
Compare output from both replay tests and analyze the results using the report viewer
This table is just a high level summary. Each step will be described in much more detail later in this document. Once you have the test environment created, you can procede to 3.3 Installing SQL Server Upgrade Assistant