SQL 2019 Fails to Start - Error 17051

[JReich2609]

I have a fairly significant set of issues that I cannot figure out how to resolve that has brought down a bunch of systems. A windows update occurred and the SQL 2019 RC1 server rebooted itself (do not believe that this error is related just coincidental).

This error indicates that the SQL Server evaluation period has expired. Upon reviewing the startup logs this concurs with my belief:

I am confused about why I am running into this issue as I am running a developer version of SQL and not the evaluation version but none the less it currently appears to be a problem.

To attempt to resolve this issue I have done the following:

1. Attempted to do an edition upgrade and set everything back to developer and the process ran and completed successfully but the service will still not start.
2. Attempted to upgrade editions to a licensed version of SQL (which I do also own) and I cannot complete the upgrade because the SQL server is not running.
3. I attempted to follow instructions to turn back the computer time and set common files registry entry to "3" in an attempt to trick it into being active so that I could upgrade. My system automatically reverts the time back to the standard time almost immediately.
   1. Attempted to turn off network connection to disable time sync
   2. Defaulted the time settings for windows
   3. Unjoined the server from the domain thinking GPO might be interfering

This system MUST be restored. Any ideas you have on how to get it back up and running again would be seriously appreciated!

[#2]

The error indicates that you have used the evaluation edition and it got expired (completed 180 of Trial).

If your upgrade via GUI is failing -
You can try another approach if process fails at Engine_SqlEngineHealthCheck step or anywhere in between, then you can use following command line installation option to skip this specific rule to allow the upgrade process to complete successfully:

a) Open Command Prompt (CMD)
b) Go to the folder where SQL Server Setup, setup.exe file is located (like C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\***\Setup Bootstrap\SQLServer20**\)
c) Apply following command: setup.exe /q /ACTION=editionupgrade /InstanceName=MSSQLSERVER /PID=<appropriatePid> /SkipRules= Engine_SqlEngineHealthCheck
The <appropriatePid> should be the 25 digit Key.

The above command line runs SQL Server setup in silent mode.

5. Now Restart the SQL Server Service for this Instance, and you will see it running fine.