Upgrade a geodatabase in Oracle—Help

Available with Standard or Advanced license.

Before you upgrade
Upgrade the geodatabase

The goal of upgrading an enterprise geodatabase is to update the geodatabase system tables, stored procedures, types, and functions to take advantage of new functionality and bug fixes.

Install a new version of the ArcGIS client or apply a service pack, patch, or hot fix to an existing installation and upgrade the geodatabase.

Before you upgrade

When you upgrade any enterprise system, including a geodatabase, plan ahead. Test the new version on a development or test server to ensure that it works with all your client applications.

When you have determined that the new system works the way you expected, schedule the upgrade; be sure the necessary staff are available to perform the upgrade and that they have the permissions necessary to complete their assigned tasks.

Be aware of the following:

The ArcSDE application server for Oracle is not available for ArcGIS 10.3 and later releases. You must migrate all application server connections used in maps or services to connect directly to the database before you can upgrade your geodatabase.
You must upgrade the master sde geodatabase before you can upgrade any user-schema geodatabases.
Upgrades from beta versions of the software are not supported.
You can upgrade directly from a 10.1, 10.2, 10.2.1, 10.2.2, 10.3, 10.3.1, 10.4, 1.0, 1.1, or 1.2 geodatabase if your database is at a supported release.
If your geodatabase is at release 10 or earlier, you must first upgrade to a supported geodatabase release before you can upgrade to the current ArcGIS release.
Once a geodatabase has been upgraded, previous versions of ArcGIS may not be able to connect since some older versions of ArcGIS cannot read newer versions of the geodatabase. Releases prior to ArcGIS 10.1 cannot connect to a 10.4.1 or 1.2 geodatabase.
There is no formal mechanism to downgrade a geodatabase to a previous version. If after upgrading to a newer version you want to downgrade the geodatabase, you must restore the old database from a backup file.

The following is a checklist of steps to complete before you upgrade your geodatabase:

Read the Oracle database requirements for ArcGIS to confirm that Esri supports the Oracle and ArcGIS version combination you want to use.

Check to see if your geodatabase can be upgraded. To do this, install the ArcGIS client version you want to move to onto one machine. If you install ArcGIS for Desktop, you can connect to the geodatabase and open the Database Properties dialog box to see if a geodatabase upgrade is possible. If you install ArcGIS for Server or the ArcGIS Engine Geodatabase Update extension, you can use the ArcPy Describe function to determine if the geodatabase can be upgraded.

# Open Python.
cd /arcgis/server/tools
./python

# Create a connection to the geodatabase.
arcpy.CreateDatabaseConnection_management("/tmp/",
                                          "egdb_connection.sde",
                                          "ORACLE",
                                          "myogdb",
                                          "DATABASE_AUTH",
                                          "sde",
                                          "mysdepassword",
                                          "SAVE_USERNAME")

# Import ArcPy and check the geodatabase release.
import arcpy

isCurrent = arcpy.Describe('/tmp/egdb_connection.sde').currentRelease

print isCurrent

If false is returned, you can upgrade your geodatabase. If true is returned, you do not need to upgrade your geodatabase. Do not proceed with the subsequent steps.

Make sure that the Oracle Text component is installed.
The Text component is installed by default in Oracle; however, if you did not do a default installation, the Text component may not have been installed.
To see if it is installed, execute the following SQL statement while logged in as SYSTEM or a user with DBA privileges in the database:
```
SELECT owner, object_name
FROM all_objects
WHERE object_type = 'PACKAGE'
  AND object_name = 'CTX_DDL';
```
If no record is returned, the Text component is not installed. Run the Oracle installation to install the Text component.
Convert any application server connections used in existing maps or services to direct connections.
Create a backup of the database.
Remove any custom functionality you may have added to the geodatabase system tables outside ArcGIS, such as triggers or additional indexes.
The upgrade procedure cannot take into account customizations you make to the system tables. If such customizations prevent the alteration of a system table's schema, the upgrade will fail.
Grant the geodatabase administrator the permissions necessary to upgrade a geodatabase.
See Privileges for geodatabases in Oracle for a list of required privileges.
If you access data directly from SQL, replace the existing st_shapelib on your Oracle server with the new version of the library. You can copy the new st_shapelib file from the DatabaseSupport folder of a 10.4 ArcGIS for Desktop or ArcGIS for Server installation.
Be sure to use the library appropriate to your Oracle server operating system.
If you place the library in a different directory on the Oracle server than it was previously, you must reconfigure your extproc to point to the new library location and restart the Oracle listener. See Configure the Oracle extproc to access the geodatabase with SQL for more information.
If you are using the ST_Raster storage type in your geodatabase, replace the existing libst_raster_ora file on your Oracle server with the new version of the library. You can copy the new libst_raster_ora file from the DatabaseSupport folder of a 10.4 ArcGIS for Desktop or ArcGIS for Server installation.
Be sure to use the library appropriate to your Oracle server operating system.
Make sure that there are no users connected to the geodatabase you are upgrading. If you are upgrading the sde master geodatabase, also make sure no one is connected to any of the user-schema geodatabases in the Oracle database.
You can see a list of the users who are currently connected to your geodatabase by opening the Connections tab of the Geodatabase Administration dialog box.

You can now upgrade your geodatabase.

Upgrade the geodatabase

You can use the Upgrade Geodatabase tool in ArcMap or ArcGIS Pro, or use a Python script run on the ArcGIS client computer to upgrade your geodatabase.

Use the Upgrade Geodatabase tool

You can open the Upgrade Geodatabase geoprocessing tool from

The Geodatabase Administration toolset in the Data Management toolbox
The Upgrade Geodatabase button on the General tab of the Database Properties dialog box in ArcMap or ArcCatalog
The Run Upgrade button on the General tab of the Database Properties dialog box in ArcGIS Pro

If you open the tool from Database Properties, the Input geodatabase text box is prepopulated with the geodatabase connection information.

Esri recommends that you leave both the Pre-requisites check and Upgrade geodatabase options checked. That way, the tool checks to see if the prerequisites to upgrade have been met before continuing with the geodatabase upgrade.

The prerequisite check detects other active connections to the geodatabase, determines whether the connecting user has sufficient privileges to upgrade the geodatabase, ensures that the database can support XML columns, makes sure all datasets can be opened, and ascertains that the database and libraries are at the same release. If any prerequisites are not met, the tool terminates. You must correct any problems before you run the upgrade procedure again.

The results of this check are reported on the geoprocessing tool dialog box. If the check (or upgrade) fails, results are also written to the GDBUpgrade.log file, which can be found in c:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Local\ESRI\<ArcGIS product>.

If all checks are passed, the tool proceeds with the upgrade. The status for the prerequisites check and the upgrade are shown on the geoprocessing tool progress dialog box. If the upgrade fails, information is written to the GDBUpgrade.log file. Additional information is written to the sde_setup.log file, which can be found in the system TEMP directory.

Run a script

To upgrade the geodatabase, copy one of these example scripts into a text editor. Alter any variable values to match the information at your site.

If you have an existing database connection file that uses a direct connection and connects as the sde user, copy the script that applies to your operating system, paste it into a text editor, alter it to use information specific to your site, save and close the file, then run it:

# Name: upgradesdegdb_example.py
# Description: Connect from a Windows computer 
# with an existing database connection file 
# and upgrade an enterprise geodatabase
# Author: Esri

# Import arcpy module
import arcpy
 
# Local variables:
Output_Workspace = "C:\\ArcGIS\connection_files\<Connection file>"
Default_gdb = "C:\\ArcGIS\connection_files\<Connection file>"

# Process: Upgrade Geodatabase
arcpy.UpgradeGDB_management(Default_gdb, "PREREQUISITE_CHECK", "UPGRADE")

# Name: upgradesdegdb_example.py
# Description: Connect from a Linux or UNIX computer 
# with an existing database connection file 
# and upgrade an enterprise geodatabase
# Author: Esri

# Import arcpy module
import arcpy
 
# Local variables:
Output_Workspace = "<user>/connections/<Connection_file>"
Default_gdb = "<user>/connections/<Connection_file>"

# Process: Upgrade Geodatabase
arcpy.UpgradeGDB_management(Default_gdb, "PREREQUISITE_CHECK", "UPGRADE")

If you do not have a database connection file on the computer from which you are scripting the upgrade, you can copy the following script and provide your site-specific information at the command line:

"""
Name: upgrade_gdb.py
Description: Provide connection information to an Enterprise geodatabase 
and upgrade the geodatabase
Type upgrade_gdb.py -h or upgrade_gdb.py --help for usage
Author: Esri
"""

# Import system modules
import arcpy, os, optparse, sys


# Define usage and version
parser = optparse.OptionParser(usage = "usage: %prog [Options]", version="%prog 1.0 for " + arcpy.GetInstallInfo()['Version'] )

#Define help and options
parser.add_option ("--DBMS", dest="Database_type", type="choice", choices=['SQLSERVER', 'ORACLE', 'POSTGRESQL', 'DB2','INFORMIX','DB2ZOS',''], default="", help="Type of enterprise DBMS:  SQLSERVER, ORACLE, or POSTGRESQL.")
parser.add_option ("-i", dest="Instance", type="string", default="", help="DBMS instance name")
parser.add_option ("--auth", dest="account_authentication", type ="choice", choices=['DATABASE_AUTH', 'OPERATING_SYSTEM_AUTH'], default='DATABASE_AUTH', help="Authentication type options (case-sensitive):  DATABASE_AUTH, OPERATING_SYSTEM_AUTH.  Default=DATABASE_AUTH")
parser.add_option ("-u", dest="User", type="string", default="", help="Geodatabase administrator user name")
parser.add_option ("-p", dest="Password", type="string", default="", help="Geodatabase administrator password")
parser.add_option ("--upgrade", dest="Upgrade", type="choice", choices=['TRUE', 'FALSE'], default="FALSE", help="Upgrade Options (case-sensitive):  TRUE=Perform Pre-requisite check and upgrade geodatabase, FALSE=Perform Pre-requisite check only.  Default=FALSE")                   
parser.add_option ("-D", dest="Database", type="string", default="none", help="Database name:  Not required for Oracle")


# Check if value entered for option
try:
	(options, args) = parser.parse_args()

	
#Check if no system arguments (options) entered
	if len(sys.argv) == 1:
		print "%s: error: %s\n" % (sys.argv[0], "No command options given")
		parser.print_help()
		sys.exit(3)

	#Usage parameters for spatial database connection to upgrade
	account_authentication = options.account_authentication.upper()
	username = options.User.lower() 
	password = options.Password	
	do_upgrade = options.Upgrade
	database = options.Database.lower()
	database_type = options.Database_type.upper()
	instance = options.Instance
	
	if (database_type == ""):
		print "\nDatabase type must be specified!\n"
		parser.print_help()
		sys.exit(3)
	
	if (database_type == "SQLSERVER"):
		database_type = "SQL_SERVER"
	
	# Get the current product license
	product_license=arcpy.ProductInfo()
	
	# Checks required license level to upgrade
	if product_license.upper() == "ARCVIEW" or product_license.upper() == 'ENGINE':
		print "\n" + product_license + " license found!" + "  Enterprise geodatabase upgrade requires an ArcGIS for Desktop Standard or Advanced, ArcGIS Engine with the Geodatabase Update extension, or ArcGIS for Server license."
		sys.exit("Re-authorize ArcGIS before upgrading.")
	else:
		print "\n" + product_license + " license available!  Continuing to upgrade..."
		arcpy.AddMessage("+++++++++")
	
	# Local variables
	instance_temp = instance.replace("\\","_")
	instance_temp = instance_temp.replace("/","_")
	instance_temp = instance_temp.replace(":","_")
	Conn_File_NameT = instance_temp + "_" + database + "_" + username     
	
	if os.environ.get("TEMP") == None:
		temp = "c:\\temp"	
	else:
		temp = os.environ.get("TEMP")
	
	if os.environ.get("TMP") == None:
		temp = "/usr/tmp"		
	else:
		temp = os.environ.get("TMP")  
	
	Connection_File_Name = Conn_File_NameT + ".sde"
	Connection_File_Name_full_path = temp + os.sep + Conn_File_NameT + ".sde"
	
	# Check for the .sde file and delete it if present
	arcpy.env.overwriteOutput=True
	if os.path.exists(Connection_File_Name_full_path):
		os.remove(Connection_File_Name_full_path)
	
	print "\nCreating Database Connection File...\n"	
	# Process: Create Database Connection File...
	# Usage:  out_file_location, out_file_name, DBMS_TYPE, instnace, database, account_authentication, username, password, save_username_password(must be true)
	arcpy.CreateDatabaseConnection_management(out_folder_path=temp, out_name=Connection_File_Name, database_platform=database_type, instance=instance, database=database, account_authentication=account_authentication, username=username, password=password, save_user_pass="TRUE")
        for i in range(arcpy.GetMessageCount()):
		if "000565" in arcpy.GetMessage(i):   #Check if database connection was successful
			arcpy.AddReturnMessage(i)
			arcpy.AddMessage("\n+++++++++")
			arcpy.AddMessage("Exiting!!")
			arcpy.AddMessage("+++++++++\n")
			sys.exit(3)            
		else:
			arcpy.AddReturnMessage(i)
			arcpy.AddMessage("+++++++++\n")
			
	# Check whether geodatabase needs upgrade
	isCurrent = arcpy.Describe(Connection_File_Name_full_path).currentRelease
	
	if isCurrent == True:
		print "The geodatabase is already at the current release and cannot be upgraded!"
		sys.exit("Upgrade did not run.")
	
	
	# Process: Upgrade geodatabase...
	try:
		if do_upgrade.lower() == "true":
			print "Upgrading Geodatabase...\n"
			arcpy.UpgradeGDB_management(input_workspace=Connection_File_Name_full_path, input_prerequisite_check="PREREQUISITE_CHECK", input_upgradegdb_check="UPGRADE")
			for i in range(arcpy.GetMessageCount()):
				arcpy.AddReturnMessage(i)
			arcpy.AddMessage("+++++++++\n")
	
		else:
			print "Running Pre-Requisite Check...\n"
			arcpy.UpgradeGDB_management(input_workspace=Connection_File_Name_full_path, input_prerequisite_check="PREREQUISITE_CHECK", input_upgradegdb_check="NO_UPGRADE")
			for i in range(arcpy.GetMessageCount()):
				arcpy.AddReturnMessage(i)
			arcpy.AddMessage("+++++++++\n")
		
	        
	except:
		for i in range(arcpy.GetMessageCount()):
			arcpy.AddReturnMessage(i)
		
	if os.path.exists(Connection_File_Name_full_path):
		os.remove(Connection_File_Name_full_path)
	
#Check if no value entered for option	
except SystemExit as e:
	if e.code == 2:
		parser.usage = ""
		print "\n"
		parser.print_help()
		parser.exit(2)

For example, if you saved the text file as gdbupgrade, your database is myogdb, and you are upgrading the sde master geodatabase, type the following at a command prompt:

gdbupgrade --DBMS ORACLE -i myogdb --auth DATABASE_AUTH -u sde -p mysdepassword --upgrade TRUE