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Can I run multiple versions of SSMS?
I have to connect to SQL Server 2008 and 2012. I have to design SSIS for 2008 only and have 2008 studio currently installed on my workstation. Can I install SSMS 2012 and still develop SSIS packages for 2008? Any hints greatly appreciated.
Hi there, you can run SSMS (management studio) and connect to any SQL Server version. SSMS 2012 & 2014 as far as I am aware no longer need licences as long as you're connecting to a licensed server. So you would be best up upgrade SSMS for the improved environment. However I think there is some confusion. You do not use SSMS for development of SSIS packages. In my environment we have 2008R2 and 2012. For SSIS I use BIDS 2008 and SSDT respectively. I do not believe that SSDT packages will deploy on a 2008/R2 environment. Hope that helps.
My concern is that installing SSMS 2008 installs BIDS. Not sure if installing a higher version of SSMS will install components that make SSIS packages developed in BIDS incompatible with SQL server 2008.
FWIW I'm currently running SSMS 2014 and SSMS 2008R2 side by side. I've noticed a few things that make me wary of uninstalling 2008R2 just yet. There are some formatting glitches in 2014 I've posted about earlier (SHIFT + TAB reformats certain code). 2014 Activity Monitor won't work connecting to older (SQL 2005 in 2000 compatibility) servers. There's a couple of other annoyances too. If I remember them I'll post back.
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