Maniphest T192965

Error installing MediaWiki on MSSQL: "Implicit conversion from data type varchar to varbinary is not allowed" (externallinks table)
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	MarkAHershberger
	Apr 24 2018, 9:33 PM

Description

Helping a user on freenode today, we came across the following error:

Error: 257 [SQLSTATE 42000][Error Code 257][Microsoft][ODBC Driver 13 for SQL Server][SQL Server]Implicit conversion from data type varchar to varbinary is not allowed. Use the CONVERT function to run this query.

The cause was the default line here:

Query: CREATE TABLE [mediawiki].[externallinks] (
el_id int NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY IDENTITY,
el_from int NOT NULL REFERENCES [mediawiki].[page](page_id) ON DELETE CASCADE,
el_to nvarchar(max) NOT NULL,
el_index nvarchar(450) NOT NULL,
el_index_60 varbinary(60) NOT NULL default ''
)

Removing default '' allowed the installation to work.

MW: 1.30
MSSQL: Version 10.50.1600.1 (Microsoft SQL Server Data Center Edition (64-bit))

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Mentioned In: T192966: MSSQL installation doesn't recognize objectcache or l10n_cache tables

Event Timeline

MarkAHershberger created this task.Apr 24 2018, 9:33 PM

Restricted Application added a subscriber: Aklapper. · View Herald TranscriptApr 24 2018, 9:33 PM

MarkAHershberger updated the task description. (Show Details)Apr 24 2018, 9:34 PM

MarkAHershberger mentioned this in T192966: MSSQL installation doesn't recognize objectcache or l10n_cache tables.Apr 24 2018, 9:45 PM

MarkAHershberger added projects: MSSQL, MediaWiki-libs-Rdbms.

Peachey88 updated the task description. (Show Details)Apr 24 2018, 9:51 PM

User tried MW 1.27 and didn't have the same problem. Looks like the problem was introduced in 1.28 or 1.29 or 1.30.

Apparently, on SQLServer the default for varbinary should be (0x)

This has arised also in Topic:Ud2z88i3y6yxmlft, but for another table (l10n_cache)

Simply removing the default can cause errors on insert statements that do not specify the default column.

The core problem is the implicit conversion from varchar to varbinary is indeterminate as it is not known if the intention is to convert to 8 bit character codes, or to 16 bit Unicode. I am unclear why the base type was changed to varbinary as the core problem of whether Unicode is the default coding does not seem to be resolved. It is true that removing or changing the default allows the install to continue, but does not allow setup to complete, so it really does not fix the problem. Would a valid solution be to change the type coding back to varchar till MediaWiki (and/or PHP) make Unicode the default character coding?

There seems to be a related problem that isbinary is not being set for this column which seems to be a clear error.

I can confirm the problem exists on 1.29.2 and 1.30
I can confirm that 1.27 LTS works and uses varbinary for lc_value in l10n_cache.

Legoktm added a subscriber: Skizzerz.May 14 2018, 3:42 PM

• Vvjjkkii renamed this task from Errors installing on MsSQL server to 6aeaaaaaaa.Jul 1 2018, 1:14 AM

• Vvjjkkii triaged this task as High priority.

• Vvjjkkii added projects: CheckUser, Connected-Open-Heritage-Batch-uploads (RAÄ-KMB_1_2017-02), Tamil-Sites, Gamepress, Hashtags, Jade, KartoEditor, Language-2018-Apr-June, New-Editor-Experiences, Mail, TCB-Team (now WMDE-TechWish).

• Vvjjkkii updated the task description. (Show Details)

• Vvjjkkii removed a subscriber: Aklapper.

AntiCompositeNumber renamed this task from 6aeaaaaaaa to Errors installing on MsSQL server.Jul 1 2018, 4:12 AM

AntiCompositeNumber raised the priority of this task from High to Needs Triage.

AntiCompositeNumber removed projects: TCB-Team (now WMDE-TechWish), Mail, New-Editor-Experiences, Language-2018-Apr-June, KartoEditor, Jade, Hashtags, Gamepress, Tamil-Sites, Connected-Open-Heritage-Batch-uploads (RAÄ-KMB_1_2017-02), CheckUser.

AntiCompositeNumber updated the task description. (Show Details)

AntiCompositeNumber added a subscriber: Aklapper.

Krinkle renamed this task from Errors installing on MsSQL server to Error installing MediaWiki on MSSQL: "Implicit conversion from data type varchar to varbinary is not allowed" (externallinks table).Jul 28 2018, 10:26 PM

Krinkle removed a project: MediaWiki-libs-Rdbms.

Krinkle merged a task: T192966: MSSQL installation doesn't recognize objectcache or l10n_cache tables.

Krinkle subscribed.

Heads-up: As per RFC discussion in August 2019, the previously experimental support for using Oracle or MSSQL as database backends in MediaWiki core has been removed in MediaWiki 1.34, so this task might end up as declined in the future.

Umherirrender closed this task as Declined.May 29 2021, 6:17 PM

Error installing MediaWiki on MSSQL: "Implicit conversion from data type varchar to varbinary is not allowed" (externallinks table)Closed, DeclinedPublicActions

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Error installing MediaWiki on MSSQL: "Implicit conversion from data type varchar to varbinary is not allowed" (externallinks table)
Closed, DeclinedPublic
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