A quick tour of ArcSDE geodatabase upgrades

The goal of upgrading an ArcSDE geodatabase is to install a newer version of ArcSDE, upgrade the ArcSDE and geodatabase system tables, and install updated stored procedures, types, and functions.

Installing a new version of ArcSDE or applying a service pack, patch, or hot fix to an existing installation, then upgrading the geodatabase, allows you to take advantage of new functionality and bug fixes.

Beginning with the ArcGIS 10 release, geodatabase upgrades must be performed using the Upgrade Geodatabase tool or Python script. Do not use the ArcSDE Post Installation wizard on Windows or the sdesetup command to upgrade the geodatabase. If you do, you will receive a message indicating the geodatabase already exists and the upgrade will not run.

ESRI recommends that you test upgrades of the geodatabase, upgrades of your database management system (DBMS), or upgrades to both on a separate development or test server. After you have tested the upgraded geodatabase on the development or test server and everything is working as you expected, you can upgrade your production geodatabase. ESRI also recommends that you plan for and schedule your upgrades, making sure all staff involved with or impacted by the upgrade are notified of the scheduled upgrade.

You can upgrade ArcSDE 9.2, 9.3, or 9.3.1 geodatabases to ArcSDE 10. If your geodatabase is at a lower release, you must first upgrade to a supported release, then upgrade to 10.

Read the following topics before upgrading:

Preparing to upgrade a geodatabase in SQL Server

Upgrading an ArcSDE geodatabase in SQL Server

Note:

Upgrades from beta to final release are not supported.

The following is an outline of the common steps you perform when you are ready to upgrade an ArcSDE geodatabase:

1. Create a backup of the database.
2. Remove any custom functionality you may have added to the ArcSDE geodatabase system tables outside ArcGIS such as triggers, participation in SQL Server replication, or additional indexes. The upgrade procedure cannot be aware of customizations you make to the system tables. If such customizations prevent the alteration of a system table's schema, the upgrade will fail.
3. If you are using an ArcSDE service, stop (do not pause) the service and delete it.
4. If you are installing a new version of ArcSDE, uninstall the old version. If you are applying a service pack, patch, or hot fix, do not uninstall ArcSDE.
5. Install the new release, service pack, patch, or hot fix for ArcSDE.
6. Install the new release of ArcGIS Desktop, ArcGIS Engine, or ArcGIS Server.
7. Make a direct connection to the geodatabase. In most cases, you will connect as the ArcSDE administrator.
8. Open the Geodatabase Properties dialog box, click the General tab, then click Upgrade Geodatabase. This opens the Upgrade Geodatabase geoprocessing tool dialog box.
9. On Windows, re-create the ArcSDE service (if used) using the ArcSDE service creation portion of the Post Installation wizard. On UNIX or Linux, start an ArcSDE service (if used) using the sdemon command.
10. If the geodatabase contains network datasets or cadastral or parcel fabrics, those are upgraded separately, though upgrading them is not required. However, if you do not upgrade them, you cannot use current network dataset or parcel fabric functionality.