Starting fresh...rebuilding VBR server, question

[McKITGuys]

Hi all,

Am going to rebuild VBR server and wondering if the SQL database gets deleted if I uninstall Veeam? I actually want it to be deleted because a) it seems like there is a lot of "junk" on the server (very old logs) and b) I get the occasional licensing problem that support has not been able to resolve (we have tried a lot of things). I figure if I start fresh, with a new DB, I can get by this problem.

Do I need to do anything special to have the SQL express DB removed or does it get automatically removed if I uninstall Veeam?

Thanks.

[Gostev]

Hi, no SQL DBs do NOT get automatically removed if you uninstall Veeam. But you can always instruct the setup program to create a new database. Thanks!

[McKITGuys]

Is there a way to get rid of the SQL db - it is a small installation and there are no other services on the VBR server that require SQL. I am assuming an uninstall of SQL will get rid of everything. It is also showing SQL as SQL 2012 installed in 2015 so would not hurt to move to a newer version.

[Gostev]

Sure, you just delete MDF and LDF files belonging to the SQL DB you want to remove.

Actually I would not be so sure that if uninstalling SQL gets rid of everything, as this may result in an unexpected data loss for some people... what if they are just reinstalling SQL trying to sort out some issue, or upgrading it via uninstalling an old version before installing a newer one? Naturally, it is safer to keep existing databases just in case... at least these would be my thoughts if I were a SQL PM considering what to do.