Microsoft ISV Royalty program

Microsoft SQL Server

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Microsoft SQL Server editions are available under Full-Use licenses through the ISV
Royalty Licensing program (ISVR)?
The only SQL Server offerings available under Full-Use licenses in ISVR are:

• SQL Server Standard Server/CAL and Per Core

• SQL Server Enterprise Per Core

Which Full-Use editions were removed from ISVR when SQL Server 2016 was launched?
SQL Server Business Intelligence (Server/CAL) Full Use. SQL Server 2014 Business Intelligence was the
last version of that edition released in the ISVR program. ISVs under current ISVR agreements may
continue to distribute SQL Server 2014 with their Unified Solutions during the extended distribution
period. You may also exercise your Embedded Maintenance right to upgrade your end users to 2014
while this version is still within extended distribution period.

Which SQL Server 2017 editions are available under runtime licenses?
The only SQL Server 2017 edition available as runtime is:

• SQL Server Standard Server/CAL

What runtime versions are available for the Per Core editions?
Runtime-restricted versions for the Per Core editions were discontinued with the launch of SQL
Server 2014.

What is the status of Passive Fail-over rights for SQL Server?

With SQL Server 2014, Passive Fail-over use rights were removed as a base license right; SQL Server
2014 and later versions require partners and customers to acquire additional license(s) of SQL Server
sufficient to license passive fail-over instances for any separate OSE in which the Unified Solution will
run instances of SQL server for temporary support.

Is there any change in Runtime Licenses for SQL Server 2017 Standard?
No. SQL Server Standard Server/CAL Runtime licensing remains unchanged for SQL Server 2017.

What is the difference between an ISVR Runtime and an ISVR Full-Use license?
Both ISVR Full-Use and Runtime licenses must always be distributed as part of a Unified Solution. A
Full-Use license can be used for other software applications while the Runtime license cannot. In
both cases, when the customer is no longer licensed to use the Unified Solution, the SQL Server
licenses can no longer be used.

A Full-Use ISVR License gives ISVs the ability to integrate and license Microsoft products as part of a
Unified Solution. By using this license, the ISV’s end customers get the full use capabilities of the

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underlying Microsoft products with other applications, as long as the products are still licensed and
used for the ISV’s Unified Solution.

A Runtime ISVR License is offered with restricted use rights. With these restricted use rights, the ISV
users: (i) Can use the Microsoft products only with the Unified Solution with which they were
acquired; and (ii) cannot use the Microsoft products to run any other application or to develop new
applications in any other context independent of the Unified Solution with which it was acquired.

As an ISV, can I report Per Core runtime licenses for SQL Server 2012 editions?
Current ISVR partners with an active ISVR agreement at the time the product was removed from the
Product List can continue to distribute and report the SQL Server 2012 Core Runtime SKUs for up to
48 months after the product was removed from the Product List. SQL Server 2012 editions were
removed in April 2014, thus the extended distribution period for SQL Server 2012 Per Core Runtime
ends in March 2018.

When did the extended distribution period policy change?

On October 2014, the extended distribution period increased from 24 months to 48 months for most
products available through ISVR. This policy applies to the current ISVR products and the ISVR
products within the extended distribution period as of October 2014. Some products were excluded
from this increase, such as SQL Server 2008 R2. The extended distribution period of the excluded
products remains 24 months.

Please also note that if the 24-month extended distribution period of a product had ended before the
policy changed in October 2014, those products still have a 24-month extended distribution period.
Partners may no longer report any licenses of a product for which the extended distribution term has
already expired. SQL Server 2008, 2005, and 2000 remain under the 24 months extended
distribution period. This term has expired for those products.

As an ISV, can I still report SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008R2 use?
No. SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2 had an extended distribution period of 24 months after
they were removed from the ISVR Product List. SQL Server 2008 was removed in April 2010, and SQL
Server 2008 R2 was removed in April 2012, which means that the extended distribution period ended
in March 2012 and March 2014, respectively.

I still have users that need to deploy my solution with SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server
2008 R2 versions. Can I distribute the solution with these products?
In October 2014, the ISVR program started offering downgrade rights. This means that you may
distribute the SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2 versions with your solution as long as these
versions are still supported within the Extended Support End date determined by Microsoft: see
Microsoft Lifecycle Policy. To qualify for downgrade rights, you must report the current version of
SQL Server (for example SQL Server 2014) or a version that is still under extended distribution (for
example SQL Server 2012) that has an extended distribution period until March 2018. You may not
report SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 R2 licenses.

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Is there a migration path for end users with active Embedded Maintenance that have a
solution with SQL Server Enterprise (Server/CAL) full use and runtime restricted?
End users with active Embedded Maintenance for SQL Server Enterprise (Server/CAL) full use and
runtime restricted (with no lapse in coverage) may upgrade their solution to SQL Server 2012 or later
versions of full use and runtime restricted, respectively. Please note that you may NOT report new
licenses of SQL Server 2012 or later versions of SQL Server Enterprise (Server/CAL) full use or runtime
restricted, since SQL Server Enterprise (Server/CAL) 2008 R2 is the last version of SQL Server
(Server/CAL) Enterprise released in the ISVR program. You may only exercise your Embedded
Maintenance right to either upgrade your end users to SQL Server 2012 while it is still within
extended distribution period, or upgrade to later versions.

Is there a migration grant for customers with active Embedded Maintenance on SQL Server
2012 Enterprise Core and Standard Core Runtime licenses within their Unified Solutions?
Yes. Customers with active (and continuously maintained) Embedded Maintenance on their Unified
Solutions running SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Core and Standard Core Runtime licenses will be able
to migrate to a SQL Server 2014 or later versions under Full-Use licenses as part of an upgrade to
their Unified Solution.

How does the removal of SQL Server Runtime Per Core licenses help end users?
Runtime offerings were created to provide very basic data storage capabilities for a specific
application. The premium SQL Server offerings were not built with this purpose in mind, but were
created to do much more than storing basic data from a single application. As a result, end users
often were non-compliant simply by using these product versions as they were designed to be used.
Eliminating scenarios like this is a key part to a goal of simplified licensing terms and reduced non-
compliance to improve partner and customer satisfaction.

Is there a grant for end users transitioning to the core model if their licensed server has a
higher core density than 8 for Datacenter, or 4 for Enterprise, Standard, Workgroup?
Under Embedded Maintenance, up until April 1, 2016, end users could upgrade to and deploy the
software on the actual number of cores on which the product was running at the time of the upgrade.
if they were upgrading to SQL Server 2012 or later versions as part of an upgrade of their Unified
Solution, and they had maintained a record of SQL Server use on the licensed server at the time of the
upgrade

If end users are still planning to upgrade to SQL Server 2012 or SQL Server 2014, they may still
benefit from the migration grant, if they created and maintained a record of SQL Server use on the
licensed server as of March 31, 2016. For details refer to the June 2016 version of the ISVR Product
List.

In any event, Embedded Maintenance coverage must be active at the time of the upgrade. There
should not be any lapse in coverage to be able to exercise an Embedded Maintenance right.

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What if I plan to upgrade my end users after April 1, 2016, and did not create a record of
SQL Server use of the licensed server before this date?
You may still be able to upgrade to SQL Server 2012 or a later version. However, your end user will
only be licensed for the number of cores indicated in the SQL Server Product Note in the June 2016
version of the ISVR Product List. If the licensed servers of those end users have higher core densities,
the end users will be required to purchase additional SQL Server core licenses.

How should I report Embedded Maintenance for End Users that I have upgraded from Proc
to Core licensing?
The Embedded Maintenance should be based on the number of cores the product is running at the
time of the upgrade.

What are the benefits of upgrading to SQL Server 2017?

Learn about the benefits of SQL Server 2017.

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