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Upgrading from SQL Express to SQL Standard at DeltaV(V15) for InfoBatch autogen-Report

Our current DeltaV project will utilize InfoBatch to automatically generate batch reports from the DeltaV Event Chronicle and DeltaV Continuous Historian. However, the InfoBatch system requires SQL Server Standard Edition, while our existing DeltaV system (V15) is currently installed with SQL Server Express.

We received the following feedback from an Emerson support engineer regarding this configuration:

“This scenario has not been officially tested. As a result, we cannot fully anticipate potential issues, as there are numerous settings and dependencies that would require extensive validation.

While upgrading from SQL Server Express to another edition is technically possible, this configuration—specifically for the DeltaV Event Chronicle—has not been tested, and we do not see a functional requirement to make this change. In theory, the database should remain intact during the upgrade; however, since this has not been validated, we cannot confirm whether any components would be affected. Additionally, we cannot guarantee that future DeltaV upgrades using the DeltaV Upgrade Wizard would properly detect or migrate this configuration.”

Given that InfoBatch is part of the DeltaV Alliance Program (Informetric manufacturing intelligence solution), we were surprised to learn that upgrading from SQL Server Express to SQL Server Standard has not been officially validated.

Has anyone implemented this upgrade within their DeltaV system? If so, could you share any experiences, lessons learned, or potential  risks encountered during the process?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

3 Replies

  • I recommend against upgrading DeltaV Event Chronicle database (SQL Server (DELTAV_CHRONICLE) instance).

    While still not directly supported by DeltaV, you can install another instance of SQL Server using "SQL Server Standard Edition" for InfoBatch.

    Or install InfoBatch on another Windows machine and have it connect to DELTAV_CHRONICLE remotely, I am assuming it is an SQL client. 


    Also, have you reached out to InfoBatch? I am curious how they have integrated/tested this on DeltaV workstations and what is their support policy if it breaks DeltaV. 

  • In reply to Lun.Raznik:

    Also, another caveat.

    You have to consult your licensing team if you are legally allowed to use DeltaV workstation for installing InfoBatch.

    DeltaV workstation Windows Embedded license is a purpose built license specially for DeltaV applications only. See download.microsoft.com/.../Windows Embedded Server and Microsoft SQL Server data sheet.pdf. Or some updated documents. This is not a technical question, it is a license compliance question.
  • In reply to Lun.Raznik:

    DeltaV does support SQL Server Standard on the Pro Plus when using VCAT, and the Event Chronicle is a licensed component of the Pro Plus. So somewhere in there, Emerson has tested SQL Server Standard with DeltaV.

    But I agree with Lun that you can keep the Ejournal on a separate App Station instead of on the Info Batch server. Especially the ejournal that servers Operator stations (PHV). That keeps any server/software maintenance activity for Info Batch from impacting Event data availability to the operators.

    Andre Dicaire