Upgrade SQL Server
Applies to: 
SQL Server (all supported versions) - Windows only
You can upgrade instances of SQL Server 2012 (11.x), SQL Server 2014 (12.x), SQL Server 2016 (13.x), or SQL Server 2017 (14.x) directly to SQL Server 2019 (15.x). For SQL Server 2008, and SQL Server 2008 R2, you'll either need to do a side-by-side upgrade, or a migration, to move to SQL Server 2019 (15.x) as there is no common overlap between a supported mainstream operating system. Before running setup to upgrade, review the following articles about the upgrade process and the release notes.
Check out what's new in each version of the product:
If you're upgrading from an end-of-support version of SQL Server such as SQL Server 2005, 2008, and 2008 R2, see the end of support options.
Upgrade documentation
The following articles will help you upgrade components of SQL Server:
- Supported Version and Edition Upgrades
- Prepare for upgrade by running Data Migration Assistant
- Upgrade Analysis Services
- Upgrade Database Engine
- Upgrade Data Quality Services
- Upgrade Integration Services
- Upgrade Master Data Services
- Upgrade Power Pivot for SharePoint
- Upgrade Replicated Databases
- Upgrade and Migrate Reporting Services
- Upgrade SQL Server Management Tools
- Upgrade SQL Server using the Installation Wizard (Setup)
- Upgrade to a different edition of SQL Server (Setup)
- SQL Server end of support options
See Also
Upgrade Database Engine
Upgrade Analysis Services
Upgrade and Migrate Reporting Services
Upgrade Integration Services
Upgrade Replicated Databases
Upgrade Master Data Services
SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
Backward Compatibility