Add/Remove Program and SQL 2005
When you install SQL Server 2005, depending upon the components you installed, you will see a couple of entries in the Add/Remove programs related to SQL Server 2005.
The most important one is Microsoft SQL Server 2005. This entry provides you with a starting point to add or remove any component of SQL Server 2005.
How does it work?
To start, highlight Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and hit CHANGE. This will launch a GUI which will list the components already installed.
You will see two sections – one for the SQL Server 2005 instances (Database Engine, Analysis Services, Reporting Services) and the other for common components (Integration Services, Notification Services, Workstation Components).
If you want to add or remove a sub-component within any of these already installed components, click the radio button against it and hit next. Through this wizard, you will be able to select or deselect a sub-component that you want to add or remove.
If you want to install a new instance or a component, click on the blue link above titled “Install a new component, click here”. This will prompt you for the setup.exe file and will walk you through the same flow.
Special considerations for clustered SQL 2005
This functionality is really cool if you have SQL 2005 standalone instance. However, there are special considerations that apply when SQL 2005 is clustered.
If SQL Server 2005 is clustered, then you:
- CANNOT add or remove components like SQL Database Engine, Analysis Services etc. using Add/Remove program.
- Similarly, you CANNOT add or remove subcomponents like FTS etc. using Add/Remove on a cluster.
- Add/Remove on a cluster is ONLY MEANT to ADD or REMOVE NODES on a cluster or remove SQL altogether.
NOTE than any feature maintenance (adding or removing components) should be done ONLY using the command prompt (with/without a .ini file). For example, if you want to add components like Analysis Services etc. to an existing clustered SQL Server 2005 installation, you should use command line to install it.
Similarly, if you want to remove a component like Analysis Services etc. from an existing clustered SQL Server 2005, you should again use command line parameters for the same.
For more information about command line parameters, refer to my blog here.
UPDATE - I just published a KB article on this