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Is there a way of telling which version of Microsoft SQL Server a database backup is from without restoring it?

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RESTORE HEADERONLY FROM DISK = 'pathTobackupFile'

The database version can be found in the column: DatabaseVersion

From Jonathan Kehayias blog post here the number in this column:

  • SQL Server 7.0 databases have version number 515
  • SQL Server 2000 databases have version number 539
  • SQL Server 2005 databases have version number 611/612
  • SQL Server 2008 databases have version number 655
  • SQL Server 2008R2 databases have version number 661
  • SQL Server 2012 databases have version number 706

If you try to run this sql for a more recent database version than the one you're running it under (eg a 2012 DB from SSMS 2008), the database results display as INCOMPLETE

To check the build number of the instance check for columns:

  • SoftwareVersionMajor
  • SoftwareVersionMinor
  • SoftwareVersionBuild

Documentation can be found here (TechNet link).

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