Installing SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1 on all SQL instances via CMD

When it comes to installing SQL Server 2005 Service Packs on various instances rapidly, we can do it by executing the Service Pack setup with some parameters via CMD. First of all, we can use it to figure out which parameters we do have available to work with, so the following can be done:

D:\Downloads\SP1_SQL2005SQLServer2005SP1-KB913090-x86-ENU.exe /?

Having executed that via CMD, the complete list of parameters will be shown:

/? – Help
/quiet – Quiet mode
/reportonly -Instance report only
/allinstances – Apply patch all product instances by default
/instancename – Product instance names to patch
/SAPWD – SQL SA password
/use – Remote admin domain and account
/password – Remote admin password

Furthermore, if we are curious to know about how many SQL instances have the right service pack installed, we may use the '/reportonly' parameter:

D:\Downloads\SP1_SQL2005SQLServer2005SP1-KB913090-x86-ENU.exe /reportonly

Only after that will we be able to verify which client and server components are installed for each SQL Server 2005 instance like MSXML Parser version, Database Engine services, SSAS services, SSIS services, and so on. Now we are ready, for example, to install the SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1 on SVPRDB:  

D:\Downloads\SP1_SQL2005SQLServer2005SP1-KB913090-x86-ENU.exe /instancename SVPRDB

Finally, we may want to install it on all SQL Server 2005 instances in the same server:

D:\Downloads\SP1_SQL2005SQLServer2005SP1-KB913090-x86-ENU.exe /allinstances

As you have been, using this technique is not complex. That is all for now, let me know any remarks you may have. Thanks for reading. Stay tuned.