Sql-server – SQL native client installation

sql serversql-server-2012

App team had suggested to reinstall SQL native client for SQL server 2012.

My question here is can I download the SQL server native client installation file and just install over the existing native client?

Or do I need to remove the existing native client and install again?

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do I need to remove the existing native client and install again?

No you do not need to remove any old native client. Quoting from official document Installing SQL Server Native Client

If a previous version of SQL Server Native Client is also installed on the computer, SQL Server Native Client 11.0 will be installed side-by-side with the earlier version.

Please also note that as per Microsoft after SQL Server 2012 native client download no native clients of future SQL Server versions would be available for download separately and SQL Server 2012 native client can be used for SQL Server 2012 and later versions.

Note that Microsoft will not be releasing a SQL Server 2014 or later version of the SQL Server Native Client. The SQL Server 2012 Native Client (v11, e.g. sqlncli11.dll), can continue to be utilized by SQL Server 2014 and later versions.

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Sql-server – SQL Server 2012 installation silently fails

If this is RTM, I would recommend slipstreaming SP1 + the latest CU into setup before installing, and making sure you install from a local source rather than an ISO, network folder, external drive, etc.

To slipstream you can just download SP1 (likely SQLServer2012SP1-KB2674319-x64-ENU.exe) and/or a CU (CU3 is here; CU4 should be released any moment now) to a folder (say C:\SP1Updates\), extract the files (you should end up with .exe files like SQLServer2012-KBxxxxxxx-x64.exe and you can ignore or get rid of the source 4xxxxx_intl_x64_zip.exe files) and then run setup from a command line like so:

setup.exe /UpdateEnabled=1 /UpdateSource="C:\SP1Updates\"

Or you can download the slipstreamed ISO from here (they have slipstream in the name, just note they contain SP1 but no CU):

Microsoft® SQL Server® 2012 Service Pack 1 (SP1) (download link)

Some blog posts that go into greater detail about slipstreaming:

You might also try the technique here, and you should be able to use slipstream here as well if you want (you'll just need to use a different PatchLevel, 11.00.3000.00 I believe):

SQL 2008/2008 R2/2012 setup disappears/fails when installing Setup Support files

In case that blog post disappears, I'm going to steal the content and paraphrase (since part of the instructions seem incorrect):

Save the following in a .reg file and merge to populate the registry:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\110\Bootstrap]
"BootstrapDir"="C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft SQL Server\\110\\Setup Bootstrap\\"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\110\Bootstrap\Setup]
"PatchLevel"="11.00.2100.60"
Next, copy ~~the following files and folders from~~ all of the media to:
 C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\110\Setup Bootstrap\SQLServer2012
Next, run setup from the new location, and it should proceed beyond the point of error this time.

(Note that I haven't tried this technique.)

Sql-server – Sql Server 2012 and native client 10

Yes, you can use Native Client 10

Simply use Provider=SQLNCLI10 in the connection string

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Sql-server – SQL Server 2012 installation silently fails

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