Knowledge Base

How To Upgrade from SourceSafe 3.x to Visual SourceSafe 4.0

Article ID: 153873

Article Last Modified on 7/13/2004

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This article was previously published under Q153873

SUMMARY

Due to the change in structure of the database from SourceSafe 3.x to Visual SourceSafe 4.0, there are several steps that would be beneficial to take when upgrading.

MORE INFORMATION

  1. Purge\Destroy all unneeded files and projects from the 3.1 database. First, understand the difference between a deleted and a destroyed file/project: A deleted file/project is recoverable, destroyed files are not. If a deleted file existed in an earlier version of a project, it will reappear when a Get is done on that earlier version of the project. If the file is destroyed, it will not reappear.

    To destroy a file or project that is active, highlight the file, hit the delete key, make sure the "Destroy permanently" checkbox is checked, and click the OK button.

    To destroy a file or project that has been deleted, highlight the parent project, access the Info menu, chose the Removed... option. You will be presented with a list of files and projects that used to exist in the parent project but have been deleted. This is a multiselect listbox. Select the files/projects you want to destroy, and click the Purge button.

    If you have a deleted file or project with the same name as an active file and want to keep both versions, it is recommended that you temporarily rename the active file/project. To rename a file, highlight the file, access the File menu, and choose the Rename... option.
  2. Tell all users to exit any SourceSafe executables. Users can have files checked out, but they cannot be running any of the executables.
  3. Check to make sure there is no detectable corruption in the 3.1 database. This can be done by running the 3.x version of Analyze.exe on the 3.1 data. Analyze.exe can be found in the ADMIN and the WINNT subdirectories of the SourceSafe 3.x installation. This process can take anywhere from 5 seconds to 7 hours depending on the complexity of the database and the size of the SS\DATA subdirectory. Given operating system permissions and correct login information, Analyze.exe can be run in an overnight process.

    To run Analyze.exe, type the following in a Command box:

    analyze -I- <path to data directory> >analyze.log

    This command runs the Analyze executable on your data without prompting you for input, and then outputs the results to the Analyze.log file.

    Look at the Analyze.log file. If it says: "Analysis Complete No Errors Found" move on to the next step. If it says anything else, correct those error messages before trying the upgrade.

    For more information, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    133054 How To Detecting and Fixing Database Corruption Errors in SourceSafe

    131447 How To Use PHYSICAL Command to Find SourceSafe Database File

  4. Make a full backup of your 3.1 SS\DATA subdirectory and all its subdirectories.
  5. Create an empty subdirectory on a 32-bit operating system (Windows 95 or Windows NT). Download Analyze6.exe from one of the Microsoft download sites into this subdirectory. Run the file to extract its contents. For more details on how to obtain this self-extracting executable, please refer to the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    190881 SAMPLE: Analyze6.exe Utility for Visual SourceSafe

  6. Install Visual SourceSafe version 4.x or greater into a new directory.
  7. At that 32-bit operating system, unload anything that might be in memory, especially virus protection programs. Then open a Command prompt, change to the newly created subdirectory, and run the following:

    ddconv <path to data directory>

  8. When the process completes, open the Ddcerr.log file that was created in the SS\DATA subdirectory. If the process doesn't complete, contact Visual SourceSafe product support. In the United States and Canada, the phone number is 425-635-7014.
  9. If any messages except the following appear, there was corruption in the 3.1 database that caused a problem in the conversion:

    DDCONV initializing
    Creating subfolders
    Moving files
    Creating rights DB
    Building project list
    Creating names DB
    Converting log files
    <Logfile> Parent count in old DB #, correcting to actual count #.
    <Logfile> parent project <Project path> not found, skipping parent record.
    <Logfile> Project entry count in old DB #, correcting to actual count #.
    <Logfile> Format record, invalid, correcting.
    Adding project rights
    Converting users
    DDCONV finished

    If a problem occurs, refer to the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    153872 DDConv Messages of Visual SourceSafe 4.0

  10. Insert the Visual SourceSafe CD-ROM, and run Setup.exe. Choose the server install, and point to the 3.1 installation. If SourceSafe is on a Novell Netware server, install won't work from a Windows 95 computer. See the following KB article:

    153873 How to Install When Setup Fails on Novell

    As a workaround, you can run the install from a Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups 3.11, or Windows NT 3.51 workstation. If you only have Windows 95 workstations, install the server copy locally, drag and drop it to the Novell Netware server, and then copy the following from the SourceSafe 3.1 installation to the 4.0 installation:

    SS\USERS and all subdirectories
    SS\DATA and all subdirectories
    SS\srcsafe.ini
    SS\users.txt

  11. Test the installation. While connected to the server copy of Visual SourceSafe, go to the appropriate subdirectory for the platform of your local operating system and run SSEXP. If it comes up, your installation and conversion was successful. If it doesn't come up or looks wrong, call Microsoft Visual SourceSafe technical support.
  12. Rename any active files or projects that you renamed before the conversion (see Step 1) back to their original names.
  13. After the server copy is installed, you will want to have users connect to the server copy of Visual SourceSafe and run Netsetup.exe to install the client copy of Visual SourceSafe. Your users can now use Visual SourceSafe.
  14. Although not required, it is recommended that you run the analyze that was downloaded in step 5 on the 4.0 database. See the readme.txt file that came from the analyze4.exe self-extracting executable. See the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article for information about analyze messages:

    152807 Error Messages from the Analyze Tool of Visual SourceSafe

Keywords: kbhowto kbsetup kb3rdparty KB153873


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