When working with SQL Server, it is often necessary to find information about the various features and versions installed on a machine. In the past, this task was typically performed by a database administrator (DBA) or a Windows administrator using WMI or T-SQL queries. However, SQL Server setup provides a convenient option called “Installed SQL Server features Discovery Report” that allows anyone to easily obtain this information in a single place.
To access the “Installed SQL Server features Discovery Report,” you can either navigate to the Installation Center in the Start Menu or double-click on setup.exe, which will also launch the Installation Center. Once in the Installation Center, go to the “Tools” section and click on “Installed SQL Server features discovery report.”
Clicking on this option will initiate setup.exe in the background and generate an HTML page that displays the versions of all components installed, not just the SQL Engine. This report can be particularly useful for identifying the specific versions of SQL Server components installed on a machine.
Additionally, it is worth noting that the SQL Server Discovery Report is saved to %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft SQL Server\version\Setup Bootstrap\Log\
If you prefer to run this report without accessing the UI, you can do so by running the following command from a command prompt: Setup.exe /q /Action=RunDiscovery. The “/q” flag ensures a silent installation.
Using the “Installed SQL Server features Discovery Report” tool can be a valuable way to quickly gather information about the SQL Server features and versions installed on a machine. It can help identify any evaluation versions that may be in use, as was the case with one of my clients who were surprised to discover they had an evaluation version of SQL Server installed.