Convert the database
Should you wish to carry on working with a database created in a previous major version, you will need to upgrade it to a format recognized by the new version first. This database upgrade may take more or less time depending on the size of the database, and the type of data you have imported.
Pre-upgrade checklist
Before you start this operation, please make sure that:
- You have a recent backup of your database.
- You have shrunk or compacted your database.
- Your SQL server has sufficient free disk space. We recommend you to provide twice as much free disk space as the actual database size, e.g. 100 GB if the size of your database is 50 GB.
- Your database uses the SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS collation.
- Your database uses the 'Simple' recovery model, at least for the time of the conversion process. This will limit the growth of the transaction log.
Database upgrade
After you have completed this verification, please follow these steps:
- Select the database using the File > Open Database option.
- You will be prompted for a license file matching the new version. Select it and apply it to the database.
The database conversion process will start automatically.
Note: Once converted, the database will no longer be usable with an older major version.