The file format change in SQL Backup Pro v6

Note: The file format change made in v6 reduced the need for future file format changes, so the following information is true for version 6 and all subsequent releases of SQL Backup Pro.

A file format change has been made in SQL Backup Pro v6. The file extension has not changed and is still .sqb. The file format has changed as a part of the enhancement and bug fix work. The file format change also includes some forwards-compatibility capabilities, reducing the need for file format changes in the future. Alerts will appear in the GUI to notify you of the file format change when relevant.

SQL Backup Pro v6 is backwards-compatible. If you are restoring a backup file created with SQL Backup v5.4 or earlier to a server with SQL Backup Pro v6 installed, SQL Backup Pro v6 will be able to read both formats.

If you are restoring from a server that has SQL Backup Pro v6 installed, to a server with SQL Backup v5.4 or earlier installed, we recommend you upgrade the destination server to v6. If this is not possible for any reason, you will need to use a new file converter utility (SQL Backup File Converter). This is available from the Tools > Utilities menu in SQL Backup Pro v6's GUI or as a standalone program ("SQLConverterGUI.exe"). Alternatively, a command-line version of the converter is provided ("SQBConverter.exe"). This converter will convert from the new file format to the old one (as well as to native MTF format). Please note the "sqb2mtf.exe" command-line converter has also been updated to support the new file format.

Managing the file format change

You can manage this file format change more easily when carrying out log shipping by ensuring destination servers are upgraded to SQL Backup Pro v6 before upgrading the source servers. If you do not upgrade your destination servers, the restore step will fail. However, as soon as you do upgrade the destination server, the restore step will resume and SQL Backup Pro v6 will automatically catch up on any backlog of restores. Note that regardless of the order in which the servers are upgraded, the log chain will not be broken.

If you are restoring a backup to a server, we recommend you upgrade the target server to SQL Backup Pro v6. If it is not possible to upgrade the target server for any reason, simply use the "SQBConverter.exe" / "SQBConverterGUI.exe" or "sqb2mtf.exe" converter to convert from the new format to the old file format (or to native MTF format, which can be restored directly via SQL Server).

Using SQL Compare and SQL Data Compare with the file format change

Please use the command-line converter "SQBConvertor.exe", or the SQL Backup File Converter available from the Tools > Utilities menu in SQL Backup v6's GUI, before running a comparison with either SQL Compare or SQL Data Compare against a SQL Backup Pro v6 backup file. An alternative workaround is to restore the database and then compare to the live database. Please note that future releases of SQL Compare and SQL Data Compare will support the new file format.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about the file format change, please contact us or post a message to the SQL Backup forum. We will be happy to help.