--- title: "Solution to: \"Cannot add diagram to SQL Server 2005 DB: Database diagram support objects cannot be installed because this database does not have a valid owner.\"" url: "https://osherove.com/blog/2006/7/10/solution-to-quotcannot-add-diagram-to-sql-server-2005-db-dat.md" canonical: "https://osherove.com/blog/2006/7/10/solution-to-quotcannot-add-diagram-to-sql-server-2005-db-dat.html" published: "2006-07-10T00:21:00" updated: "2026-10-25" tags: [".Net 2.0", "SQL Server"] author: "Roy Osherove" description: "I found the answer in this post via Larkware . There are some other alternatives over here . I came accross this problem a couple of times but never had the chance to delve too much into it. Next time I'll know what to…" usage: "Licensed under CC BY 4.0 — reuse, quote and adapt with attribution (Roy Osherove, link to the original page)." license: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" --- # Solution to: "Cannot add diagram to SQL Server 2005 DB: Database diagram support objects cannot be installed because this database does not have a valid owner." By Roy Osherove July 10, 2006 In [.Net 2.0](https://osherove.com/blog/category/net-2-0), [SQL Server](https://osherove.com/blog/category/sql-server) **Historical article** · Originally published July 10, 2006; technical details may be outdated. I found the answer in [this post](http://geekswithblogs.net/timh/archive/2006/07/05/84171.aspx) via [Larkware](http://www.larkware.com/dg6/TheDailyGrind921.aspx).  There are some other alternatives [over here](http://www.sql-server-performance.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10946). I came accross this problem a couple of times but never had the chance to delve too much into it. Next time I'll know what to do - and so will you. "In SQL Server Management Studio do the following: 1. Right Click on your database, choose properties 2. Goto the Options Page 3. In the Dropdown at right labeled "Compatibility Level" choose "SQL Server 2005(90)" And some other comments on that post add: "Actually, once you set the compatibility level to SQL 2005, you should install the diagram components (by click on the diagram node) and then set the compatibility back to your default. This way you won't run the risk of having some of your old scripts generate errors. I paid my price to learn this trick." "Your solution only works in cases where compatibility level is set to something other than the default. There are in fact a variety of cases where this error message is the result. That's why it's so insanely annoying and misleading. The most common case is still that the user creating the database does not have a specific login account but rather is part of a group with login rights. " ## More in .Net 2.0 [All posts in .Net 2.0](https://osherove.com/blog/category/net-2-0) - Aug 19, 2006 ### [Nice Threading in .NET 2.0 E-Book and online reference](https://osherove.com/blog/2006/8/19/nice-threading-in-net-20-e-book-and-online-reference.html) - Jul 18, 2006 ### [Understanding the different generic collections in .NET (List, BindingList, Collection)](https://osherove.com/blog/2006/7/18/understanding-the-different-generic-collections-in-net-listl.html) - Jun 18, 2006 ### [This week at the C# User group - Hardcore ASP.NET 2.0 \[Dan Amiga\]](https://osherove.com/blog/2006/6/18/this-week-at-the-c-user-group-hardcore-aspnet-20-dan-amiga.html) - Jun 11, 2006 ### [Got an MSBuild-SikdeKick wish? Post it on Matan's blog!](https://osherove.com/blog/2006/6/11/got-an-msbuild-sikdekick-wish-post-it-on-matans-blog.html) --- ## About the author **Roy Osherove**: Senior Solutions Architect at AWS working on AI for production and AI-driven development; author of The Art of Unit Testing and Elastic Leadership, with about 20 years of consulting and training on unit testing, TDD, team leadership and continuous delivery. ### Sites - [RobotPaper](https://robotpaper.ai/): This blog: AI patterns and anti-patterns, AI and coding agents, and engineering leadership. - [osherove.com](https://osherove.com): Roy's personal site. Author of The Art of Unit Testing and Elastic Leadership; consulting and training on unit testing, TDD, team leadership and continuous delivery, plus about 20 years of blog posts. - [The Art of Unit Testing](https://www.artofunittesting.com): The Art of Unit Testing, 3rd Edition (Manning): readable, maintainable, trustworthy unit tests, plus TDD workshops in C#, JavaScript, Java and Kotlin. - [5whys.com](https://www.5whys.com): Roy's writing on software team leadership: self-organizing teams, surviving chaos, learning mode and the Elastic Leadership model. - [Pipeline Driven](https://pipelinedriven.org): Continuous delivery and DevOps practices: build patterns, pipeline-friendly testing, DevOps metrics and enterprise DevOps. - [Elastic Leadership](https://www.elasticleadership.com): Elastic Leadership, Roy's framework for software team leaders (survival, learning and self-organizing modes). ### Social - X: https://x.com/royosherove - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/osherove/ ### Contact - Contact form: https://forms.gle/jQSx5KoXvrVA1JCK7 ### License Licensed under CC BY 4.0 — reuse, quote and adapt with attribution (Roy Osherove, link to the original page). License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/