Update 2020/03/01 – Microsoft says CU2 can break Agent, and the recommendation is to uninstall CU2. Maybe hold off on this build for a while.
Hugs and kisses, sweetheart: Microsoft got you something special for Valentine’s Day. I’ll wait here while you slip into something more comfortable.
Like a chocolate box, the first cumulative update for a new version is always chock full of nuts, and SQL Server 2019 CU1 lived up to that. Now it’s time for Cumulative Update 2, and this one’s even more adventurous. It includes fixes like:
- Corruption bugs: Accelerated Database Recovery silently corrupts data – update after this post was published, this KB article was mysteriously removed. It’s not clear whether the bug didn’t get fixed, or whether it was never supposed to be public, or what.
- Server crashing bugs: out-of-memory errors due to memory accounting, “SQL Server crashes frequently” when running CHECKTABLE against a columnstore index
- Security bugs: passwords shown in clear text in audit logs, encryption fails with symmetric keys
- Query crashing bugs: memory leaks due to scalar UDF inlining, floating point exceptions when you run a stored procedure, non-yielding scheduler when you sort on an NVARCHAR, non-yielding scheduler when you have multiple joins in batch mode, error when you combine encryption with UNION queries
- Backup bugs: can’t restore SQL Server 2012 databases with nonclustered columnstore indexes, VSS backups freeze IO, and don’t resume it, log shipping agent can’t log history or errors
- Availability Groups bugs: Linux DAG doesn’t sync after failover, can now restore db and add to the AG (this is one hell of a vague KB article), contained AG master database deadlock (I’m not sure this feature is even out yet, but this is a neat sign because it means some folks are using it, and I’d rather they find the bugs before I do)
- Partitioning bugs: Error when you run a query with a partition function, non-yielding scheduler if you do an online index rebuild on a non-partition-aligned index
- DMV bugs: can’t query sys.dm_exec_requests
- Related services: logreader doesn’t run, SSIS goes slower in 2019
- Memory-optimized TempDB: memory-optimized TempDB speeds up 2 more system tables, can’t query TempDB DMVs after you set your isolation level
And I skipped a lot of bug fixes. If you’re running 2019 even in a development environment, this CU is a big deal.
If you’re trying to decide whether now it’s safe to test the waters with SQL Server 2019 altogether, this is a tougher call for me. We’re still at the point where serious, serious bugs are being found and fixed every 30 days. I don’t think this is any worse than prior releases, but this list of bugs is just a good reminder as to why you don’t really wanna jump on a brand new release within the first 60-90 days of it going live. There be serious danger here.
So, what’d you get me? Ooo, fur-lined handcuffs! I’ll go put on the Barry White.
8 Comments. Leave new
Thanks for that. As for your last paragraph, I’ll save folks time looking it up: 2019 was RTM on Nov 4, so while technically we are past that “90 days” you refer to, Brent’s is still (as ever) a wise point to ponder. 🙂 And I realize some may well prefer to wait for 90 days to pass after CU1, or even CU2. 🙂
One last thing, Brent: I’m noticing as I write that the “most recent updates” menu at the top of your site doesn’t list the 2019 ones. Doh! (I’ve confirmed it in multiple browsers and it’s not about caching.)
Of course, your page about the 2019 updates is indeed there, at https://sqlserverupdates.com/sql-server-2019-updates/, and many could easily find that using the pattern for the others that are listed. Still, I trust you’ll want to add it to the menu when you can, and again thanks for all you DO provide. 🙂
Thanks for the heads up! Fixed the menus. You’re welcome, glad you’re enjoying it.
Do you think I can safely use SQL2019 If I avoid the new features and set the database compatibility level to 140?
Demas – that’s impossible for me to say, obviously, since I don’t know the bugs that are remaining in there.
Please be aware of this issue: https://dba.stackexchange.com/questions/260190/sql-server-agent-fails-after-installing-sql-server-2019-cu2
The sql server agent bug with cu2 is major, if you use it to run necessary jobs. I had to rollback cu2.
Manual – yeah, I’ve updated the post to include a note to make it clear that Microsoft’s suggesting that folks uninstall this CU2 if they’re running into Agent problems. Not good.
FYI, the bug introduced in CU2 with xp_sqlagent_enum_jobs is now understood and a fix will ship in CU3. Meanwhile, if you’re hitting this issue, revert back to CU1. We apologize for any inconvenience we may have caused.