SharePoint Build Number vs Version?

Question

Having a “compatibility range mismatch between the Web server and database” you need to run the PSConfig upgrade command to get the content database at the same level as config database. And you typically run:

PSConfig.exe -cmd upgrade -inplace b2b -wait 

The –inplace parameter specify whether to use version to version (v2v) upgrade or build to build (b2b. This can be quite confusing since when we look at our Configuration database version in the Servers in Farm page in Central administration (/_admin/FarmServers.aspx) it specifies a build number.

From the article Software updates overview for SharePoint 2013 one can read:

In SharePoint 2013, for build-to-build upgrades, you can use either in-place or database-attach methods. For version-to-version upgrade, only database-attach is supported. For more information about version-to-version upgrade, see Overview of the upgrade process to SharePoint 2013. For an overview of the steps for in-place and database-attach upgrade for build-to-build upgrades, see Install a software update (SharePoint 2013)

So my guess is that –inplace b2b is the only option you have in an existing farm where you haven’t used a database attach method. Still I’m confused of the terminology used. Is a version the same as build numbers, or what is the difference?

References

• PSConfig command-line reference (SharePoint Server 2010)

• SharePoint 2013 Build Numbers and CU's

• Todd Klindt's SharePoint 2013 Build Numbers

• SharePoint Server 2013 Version Reference

Answer 1

found an article here.

"What may seem obvious is actually more difficult to determine than you’d expect. Finding your version will depend on what operating system SharePoint is installed on and what build you are running, plus they all store the version information in separate places."

I checked my SharePoint 2013 for Administrators Offical Book. There you can find the most official answer I found yet (Got the book in German):

I tried to translate as much as I can. Sorry, my english isn't the best:

SharePoint Patching The following background information are for a better understanding of SharePoint patching and versioning.

Understand SharePoint Versionnumbers The SharePoint Versionnumber is made up of four segments. The segments are shown in the following picture (Picture 8.13)

• The first segment ist the version. 12 stands for SP 2007, 14 for SP 2010 and 15 for SP2013
• The second segment is the subversionnumber. The number can increase due to Service Packs.
• The third segment is the exact SharePoint version. After installing patches and upgrades, the number will increase.
• The fours segment identifies the type of upgrade. There are differences:

  -5000 are a fully supported Hotfixs

  -1000 are Service Packs

  -300x are individual upgrades

Hope it helped, if so, please give it a "vote up" or mark it as answer.