topic Re: SQL Server in place update 2016 ->2022 in ArcGIS Enterprise Questions

SQL Server in place update 2016 ->2022

GIS412 — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 15:00:14 GMT

Hello,

Our org has updated to arcgis pro 3.3 and enterprise 11.3. We are also on sql server 2016 sp2. I recently discovered that sql server 2016 is not supported..

Has anyone done in-place upgrade? Since upgrading to sql server 2016 sp2-> sql server 2022 requires us to patch to sp3. I guess we could snapshot the machine in it's current state then patch to 2016 sp3. Once patched to sql server 2016 sp3, test the services and stability. If all are good, then snapshot again and upgrade to 2022. This seems like the best option as we wouldn't have to re-register data and point all our projects and layers to a different data source.

Has anyone been in this situation? Did it work out fine?

Re: SQL Server in place update 2016 ->2022

BillFox — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 16:30:08 GMT

hi @GIS412 what's the OS level on that sql server machine?

Re: SQL Server in place update 2016 ->2022

GIS412 — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 18:52:41 GMT

Windows Server 2016, but planning on doing an upgrade to 2025 depending on what strategy we use for updating our sql server

Re: SQL Server in place update 2016 ->2022

BillFox — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 20:10:07 GMT

is ArcMap still in the game anywhere?

Re: SQL Server in place update 2016 ->2022

GIS412 — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 20:38:06 GMT

I think I used it one time to do a enterprise geodatabase update. But we all use arcgis pro now.

Re: SQL Server in place update 2016 ->2022

BillFox — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 20:43:14 GMT

ok, then you will be fine

see a few tips here:

Re: SQL Server in place update 2016 ->2022

GIS412 — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 20:46:26 GMT

The links are for upgrading windows server. I'm talking about doing an in-place upgrade for our sql server from 2016 to 2022.

Re: SQL Server in place update 2016 ->2022

BillFox — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 20:50:09 GMT

sketch up a workflow matrix between the os, sql, odbc driver and esri pieces to do it in phases

https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-enterprise-questions/sde-upgrade-sql-2008-to-2012-does-it-blow-up/td-p/550981

Re: SQL Server in place update 2016 ->2022

BillFox — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 20:53:21 GMT

and the compat levels too

https://community.esri.com/t5/geodatabase-questions/arcsde-sql-server-compatibility-level/td-p/761725

Re: SQL Server in place update 2016 ->2022

Scott_Tansley — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:15:42 GMT

It's quite normal that you perform an in-situ upgrade, just follow Bill's advice. The gotcha that I've sometimes seen is that the 2016 DB software becomes 2022, but the compatibility level of the DB file stays at 2016 and needs to be upgraded as well.

I like your approach of taking lots of snapshots as you progress. I'm very risk averse and take exactly that approach for upgrades and patches.

One thing that I've sometimes seen is that there can be good value in creating a new database, and new geodatabase and then migrating datasets. It's a big exercise, and hard to do if you're using traditional versioning, but it gives you a nice clean container and a fresh start. The ability to do this depends on many things, but could be worth exploring if things aren't too complex in your workflows.

Re: SQL Server in place update 2016 ->2022

GIS412 — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:55:22 GMT

Thank you for all your responses!