Upgrading subscription settings is an upgrade step, and in this 2018 client case it failed on a missing replication table. This post shows tested queries for replication flags and the Distributor, how the Msg 208 for the missing table looks, and what the original fix with sp_removedbreplication did and did not touch.
SQL SERVER – FIX: Unable to Create Distribution Database on a UNC Share – Configure Distribution
With SQL Server on a UNC share, the Configure Distribution wizard refuses network paths for the distribution database. Here is how to create it anyway.
SQL SERVER – Upgrade Error – ALTER DATABASE Statement Not Allowed Within Multi-statement Transaction
A failed SQL Server 2014 SP2 left the service down with: ALTER DATABASE statement not allowed within Multi-statement Transaction. Here is how to fix it.
SQL SERVER – FIX: The Log for Database Cannot be Shrunk Until All Secondaries Have Moved Past the Point Where the Log was Added
Shrinking a bloated AlwaysOn log gave me: the log cannot be shrunk until All Secondaries have moved past the point where the log was added. Here is the fix.
Why an Encrypted Column Shows NULL on a Subscriber
An encrypted column shows NULL on a subscriber when the subscriber’s symmetric key doesn’t match the publisher’s key. This post reproduces the symptom with two demo databases, compares key_guid in both and shows the fix. It also explains what replication copies and what it leaves behind.
SQL SERVER – FIX – Error – Msg 4928, Level 16, State 1. Cannot Alter Column Because it is ‘Enabled for Replication or Change Data Capture’
Msg 4928 blames Replication or Change Data Capture on a database that has neither. Reproduced on SQL Server 2025, with the flags to check and the fix.
Readable Secondary in Standard Edition: Transactional Replication Setup
A secondary server sitting idle as a backup feels like a waste. In Notes from the Field #107, Kenneth Urena shows how to build a readable secondary in Standard Edition with transactional replication.