ArcGIS Help

Geodatabase upgrades

Upgrading a geodatabase allows you to use the functionality available in the latest release of ArcGIS.

You can use the Upgrade Geodatabase geoprocessing tool (which can be opened directly from the Data Management toolbox or opened from the Database Properties dialog box) or a Python script to upgrade a geodatabase. You would use a Python script if you do not have access to ArcGIS for Desktop. This would most likely only be the case if you are upgrading an enterprise geodatabase. In this case, you can run the Python script from a computer where ArcGIS Engine with the Geodatabase Update extension, ArcGIS for Server Standard Enterprise, or ArcGIS for Server Advanced Enterprise is installed.

The tool and script provide an option to run a check to be sure the geodatabase meets specific prerequisites for upgrade as well as an option to perform the geodatabase upgrade. Esri recommends that you do both the prerequisite check and the upgrade.

Prerequisite checks

You should include the prerequisite check when you run the Upgrade Geodatabase tool or call it from a Python script.

Running the prerequisite check prior to upgrading allows you to detect whether there are actions you must take to place the geodatabase in a state that can be upgraded. The results of the prerequisite check appear in the geoprocessing window and are written to a log file, GDBUpgrade<n>.log, which is created in your system TEMP directory. The <n> in the log file name is a unique number identifying the specific prerequisite check or upgrade event.

When run on a file or personal geodatabase, the prerequisite check detects the following:

  • The geodatabase is read-only.
  • There are no other users connected to the geodatabase.
  • The current connection is not editing data in the geodatabase.
  • All the information within the current geodatabase system tables can be opened.

For enterprise, workgroup, or desktop geodatabases, the following prerequisites are evaluated:

  • The connected user has the appropriate privileges to upgrade.
  • The connected user is not editing data in the geodatabase.
  • No other users are connected to the geodatabase.
  • The database is enabled to support XML data types.
  • All the information within the current geodatabase system tables can be opened.
  • For geodatabases in PostgreSQL and Oracle, it detects whether the database can access the current version of the ST_Geometry library.
  • For geodatabases in a user's schema in Oracle, it detects whether the master geodatabase is upgraded.

Once the geodatabase meets these prerequisites, you have made a backup of the geodatabase, and (for enterprise geodatabases) you completed the steps in the upgrade topic appropriate to your DBMS listed at the bottom of this topic, you can upgrade the geodatabase.

What happens when you upgrade

When you upgrade a geodatabase, the tool checks to ensure the geodatabase can be upgraded; the system tables and any associated functions, types, or stored procedures (enterprise geodatabases only) are updated to match the release of the ArcGIS client from which you executed the tool.

Additionally, when you upgrade a 9.3.x geodatabase to ArcGIS 10 or later, the following processes occur:

  1. New geodatabase system tables are created.
  2. The contents of the old geodatabase system tables are copied to the new geodatabase system tables.
  3. The geodatabase release number is increased by the appropriate increment.
  4. The old geodatabase system tables are dropped.

The upgrade process is designed to be fault tolerant; if the upgrade fails at any point, you can rerun the upgrade on the partially upgraded geodatabase once the cause of the failure has been corrected. Any partially completed operations will have been rolled back or will be skipped when the upgrade is run again. You do not need to restore or reload the database from backup.

If you are unable to finish the upgrade after an unexpected error or event—for example, you have run out of time and your users need to continue their work—Esri does not recommend using the partially upgraded geodatabase for production. Instead, you should restore from backup prior to allowing your users to connect to the production geodatabase.

As mentioned in the previous section, a log file for the upgrade, GDBUpgrade<n>.log, is created in your system TEMP directory. This file records the progress of the upgrade operation. If any errors are encountered during the upgrade, they will be written to this file. If you encounter any unexpected errors during the upgrade process, read this file.

Accessing the Upgrade Geodatabase tool

There are multiple ways to access the Upgrade Geodatabase tool: you can click the Upgrade Geodatabase button in the Database Properties dialog box, search for the tool using the Search dialog box in ArcMap or ArcCatalog, or open the tool directly from the Data Management toolbox. Alternatively, you can run a Python script to upgrade the geodatabase.

Perform these steps to open the Upgrade Geodatabase tool from the Database Properties dialog box:

  1. Start ArcMap and open the Catalog window, or start ArcCatalog.
  2. Right-click the geodatabase you want to upgrade.
  3. Click Properties.
  4. Click the General tab.
  5. Click Upgrade Geodatabase.

To open the tool directly, use the Search window.

  1. Start ArcMap and open the Catalog window, or start ArcCatalog.
  2. Click the Search window button Search.
  3. Click Tools at the top of the search window to restrict your search to geoprocessing tools.
  4. Type upgrade geodatabase in the search text box and click the Search button.
  5. Click the link to open the Upgrade Geodatabase geoprocessing tool.

You can also open the tool directly from the Toolboxes node in the Catalog tree.

  1. Start ArcMap and open the Catalog window, or start ArcCatalog.
  2. Expand the Toolboxes node in the Catalog tree.
  3. Expand System Toolboxes.
  4. Expand the Data Management toolbox.
  5. Expand the Geodatabase Administration toolset.
  6. Double-click Upgrade Geodatabase.

Another way to upgrade a geodatabase is to run a Python script that calls the UpgradeGeodatabase_management function. To do so, open the script at a system command prompt, in the ArcPy window in ArcGIS for Desktop, or in PythonWin. See A quick tour of Python and Upgrade Geodatabase for more information.

Specific upgrade instructions

For instructions on upgrading a specific type of geodatabase, see the topic that applies to your implementation:

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