Exception DATABASE1.MDF' cannot be opened because it is version 655. This server supports version 612 and earlier. A downgrade path is not supported

Question

Hi I am getting this exception when i try to open my database. I know that i need to upgrade my database to 655 but can someone tell me in detail how to do that? Plus i want you to know that i have VS2012 installed on my laptop but even when i run this project on that i get the same exception so please help me out with detailed answer. Thanks in advance

Answer 1

Generally you get this when your database has been updated to a newer version of SQL Server than the server you are trying to attach it from. For instance if your database was upgraded from SQL Server 2005 to SQL Server 2008, you would no longer be able to open that database on SQL Server 2005.

The "downgrade path is not supported" message implies that you can't open the newer database on an older SQL Server version.

Suggestions:

Upgrade the version of SQL Server (not visual studio, but your SQL Server version).

or

Open this database on a server with a newer version of SQL Server, then script out the entire database and reload it into your server.

Either of these should get it working for your.

I hope this helps!

Answer 2

You have to mount the .mdf file in an instance of SQL Server. So version of VS is typically irrelevant (barring out of date VS issues, clearly not the problem here), which version of SQL Server you have is what matters.

That said, if you've got the appropriate version of SQL Server installed and you're getting this error in Visual Studio, you likely have a configuration issue. Visual Studio doesn't know which SQL Server instance it should use, so you can specify the proper instance.

In Visual Studio: Tools → Options → Database Tools → Data Connections, then change the 'SQL Server Instance Name' to the appropriate one.