Installing a SQL Server patch package

In BMC Database Automation (BDA) version 8.8, when patching a set of SQL Server Instances that host replicas for an AlwaysOn Availability Group, BDA polls the Availability Group to see if all its databases are synchronized and, if not, continues to poll until 30 minutes has elapsed. If the databases are synchronized, it exits successfully. If the maximum time has elapsed and the databases are not synchronized, BDA displays a failure message, but the operation will still exit successfully.

The maximum polling time can be changed in the new GAC_Max_Wait_For_AvGrp_Synchronization custom variable using a time interval in seconds.

To install a SQL Server patch package

1. From the Management Console main page, select Patching > Patch Repository in the Context Frame.

2. In the Patch Repository page, select a patch package and select Install from the list box for that row.
   In the MS SQL Server Patch Install Candidates page, populate the following fields, and click Next.

   Warning

   Note

   BDA supports rolling updates for SQL Server Instances hosting SQL Server Availability Groups, which is the process of patching SQL Server instances in series and failing over the primary replica in the middle and at the end of the series. Selecting all instances hosting an Availability Group automatically triggers this function. If you select some, but not all, of the instances hosting an Availability Group, BDA will prompt you to remind you of this function. In BDA 8.8, this function is supported for instances hosting a single Availability Group only. For more information, see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/958734 http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms191295.aspx.

   When patching SQL Server Instances which participate in a SQL Server Availability Group, if you do not select all the instances participating in the Availability Group, BDA will prompt you to indicate that there are more instances that should be patched. If you continue after receiving this prompt, BDA will patch the selected instances without performing any of the steps necessary to maintain high availability for the Availability Group.

   You can view a list of the targets that were excluded from the installation candidates list, and the reason for the exclusion, by clicking Excluded Candidates.

3. In the Job Options page, specify any of the following Job options, and click Next.
4. In the Scheduling page, select when to run this job in the Job Execution field, and click Next.

5. If the Change Control page displays, populate the following fields, and click Next.

   Warning

   Note

   The Change Control page appears only when change control is configured for your environment. See Configuring-change-control.

6. In the Summary page, review the information.
   To make changes, do the following:
   1. Click Go to to return to the provisioning step that you want to edit.
   2. Make your changes.
   3. Click Save and Review to return to the Summary page.
7. Specify your verification preferences.
   • To continue with patching the SQL Server Instances after the pre-verification tests have been successfully run without manual intervention, select Automatically Continue If All Tests Succeed.

   • To patch the instances without having first run the pre-verification steps, select Skip Pre-Verification Tests.

     Warning

     Note

     The Skip Pre-Verification Tests option should only be used when you are certain all tests can succeed. The option skips verification and advances directly to the actual provisioning activity.

8. Click Execute Job or Schedule Job (depending on your selection in the Scheduling page).

   Warning

   Note

   Databases that are in an Up state before the patch package installation process began are restarted after the installation is completed. Clustered SQL Server instances are required to be started before service packs and hot fixes are applied. When the patch package installation process is complete, the instance is left running.