ArcSDE Problems: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 on Windows 2008 R2 Standard (64-Bit)

[MartinScheiber]

I´m trying to set up ArcSDE 10.2 on a  Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 64-Bit running on a Windows 2008 R2 Standard 64-Bit machine.
I can create the database connection, but when I want to enable it for spatial data I keep on getting the following error message:

 Error: The version of your database server is not supported
 ERROR installing/upgrading ArcSDE, Error = -494

This is strange because the ESRI page on System Requirements states, that this combination should work.

Any idea what I could do, to get it fixed?
Thanks

[WilliamCraft]

Are you using the Standard or Enterprise version of SQL Server, or are you using SQL Server Express?  When you say that you can create the database connection, are you talking about creating it under Database Connections or Database Servers?  The process for creating the geodatabase is different than simply connecting to an existing non-spatial database.

[MartinScheiber]

Thanks for responding William.

Where can I find information about which version of Microsoft SQL Server I´m using? In the Windows program settings as well as the Server Management Studio it always just says Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2. No Standard or Enterprise. 

I created the database connection using Database Connections. I wasn´t able to connect via Database Servers.
The geoprocessing tool Create Enterprise Geodatabase threw the error mentioned above, but actually created a database even though it´s not spatially enabled with ArcSDE. I can create new tables in ArcCatalog but no Feature Datasets.

Enable enterprise geodatabase throws the same error.

The connection to the database seems to be OK. The problem is getting ArcSDE to run.

[WilliamCraft]

Can you run the following queries in SQL Server Management Studio and post the results?

SELECT @@VERSION

SELECT SERVERPROPERTY('productversion'), SERVERPROPERTY ('productlevel'), SERVERPROPERTY ('edition')

So you have verified that no ArcSDE system tables are present in your database? 

If the SDE account and login now exists, try adding it to the db_owner role for that database and then re-running the Enable Enterprise Geodatabase tool.

[MartinScheiber]

The result of the SQL query is:

Product Version: 9.00.5000.00
Product Level: SP4
Edition: Express Edition

Could the problem be, that SP4 is not supported by ArcSDE?
Strange anyway, since I only installed SP 1 and 2.

I´ve added sde to db_owner but still get the same error message.

[WilliamCraft]

You have SQL Server Express, which calls for a slightly different setup process for ArcSDE than the Enterprise or Standard levels of SQL Server.  Furthermore, at the express version of SQL Server your geodatabase is considered to be 'Workgroup' rather than Enterprise.  There are some limitations of Workgroup geodatabases that you can read about later so that you understand the difference.  For now, you need to following either of the two workflows below:

(1) Launch the ArcSDE for Microsoft SQL Server Express installation wizard from your installation media and follow the steps at the following URL:

http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.2/index.html#//018t0000000w000000

OR

(2) Open ArcCatalog, expand the Database Servers section, double click "Add Database Server" and input '<your_server_name>\sqlexpress', and then right click the new database server entry and choose New Geodatabase (see screenshot below):

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