Unpacking and building SQL Server 2014 project with VS2012 sqlpackage.exe

Question

I've been trying to test whether a project (DB, SSIS, SSAS) built on SQL Server 2014 will be compatible with SQL Server 2012. I've got a .dproj packed in dacpac format and when I try to run this from cmd:

sqlpackage.exe /Action:Script /SourceFile:"Project.dacpac" /TargetDatabaseName:DBName /TargetServerName:"DBName /p:BlockOnPossibleDataLoss=false /p:RegisterDataTierApplication=true /p:BlockWhenDriftDetected=false /OutputPath:Logs\Output.sql

I get a following error:

*** Could not deploy package. Internal Error. The database platform service with type Microsoft.Data.Tools.Sch ema.Sql.Sql120DatabaseSchemaProvider is not valid. You must make sure the servic e is loaded, or you must provide the full type name of a valid database platform service.

I created a VM on Azure with SQL Server installed. Apart from that I installed Data Tools for VS 2012. I'm guessing that it might be compatibility problem, but maybe there's a workaround this without changing DT to a higher version? Any patch that could be applied?

Answer 1

You can install a more recent dacfx (sqlpackage) or you can copy the DAC folder from a more recent version to the deploy machine and use that instance of sqlpackage.exe to deploy.

You can also set the properties in the project itself to target SQL Server 2012 and it will validate that the T-SQL is correct for SQL Server 2012 and let you deploy to it.

There were lots of fixes between sqlpackage 2012 and 2014 so I would move them onto a newer version of sqlpackage even if you still target a SQL Server 2012 box.

This is only for dacpacs, not sure about the other projects.