Available with Standard or Advanced license.
When you enable a SQL Server Express instance to store geodatabases, a key is written to the Windows registry. This key indicates whether the database server is licensed under ArcGIS Desktop or ArcGIS Engine, or is licensed under ArcGIS Server or ArcGIS Enterprise workgroup.
When you create a geodatabase on the database server or attach a geodatabase to the database server, the key is read from the registry and populates a field in a geodatabase system table.
Therefore, there are two different places you must update your license key: the registry and each geodatabase. Run the Enable geodatabase storage on SQL Server Express portion of the Database Server setup wizard to update the license key in the registry. Next, detach and reattach each existing geodatabase to update the license in the geodatabase if you need to update license keys in any of the following situations:
- You need to authorize your database server with a new workgroup license key, such as when you move from ArcGIS Server Basic workgroup to ArcGIS Enterprise Advanced workgroup.
- You are converting your database server licensed through ArcGIS Desktop or ArcGIS Engine (desktop) to a database server licensed through ArcGIS Server or ArcGIS Enterprise workgroup.
- You are converting your database server licensed through ArcGIS Server or ArcGIS Enterprise workgroup to a database server licensed through ArcGIS Desktop or ArcGIS Engine.
- You were using an EDN or education site license but are moving to a production ArcGIS Server or ArcGIS Enterprise workgroup license.
The following set of steps instruct you how to update the license key in the registry and each of the geodatabases:
- As a Windows administrator, log in to the computer on which the SQL Server Express instance is installed.
- Access the Database Server installation wizard. (This is usually an executable that you downloaded from My Esri.)
- If you are changing the licensing on your database server from desktop to workgroup, or if you are updating your workgroup license key, run the ArcGIS Database Server Workgroup executable.
- If you are changing your license from a workgroup to a desktop license, run the ArcGIS Database Server Desktop executable.
- When the installation options dialog box appears, click Database Servers.
- Click Next to proceed with the wizard.
- Uncheck Microsoft SQL Server Express Edition, leave Enable geodatabase storage on SQL Server Express checked, and click Next.
- From the drop-down menu, choose the name of the SQL Server Express instance for which you want to update the license key and click Next.
Tip:
You will receive a message indicating no administrative user was added. That is fine; you are running this against an existing database server that already has a server administrator user, so you do not have to add another one. Click OK to dismiss this message box.
- If you are changing your license to an ArcGIS Desktop or ArcGIS Engine license, click Finish.
- If you are changing from a desktop license to a workgroup license or updating the existing workgroup license, you must authorize an ArcGIS Server site by browsing to the ArcGIS Server workgroup license key.
Note:
If you have not authorized an ArcGIS Server site or need to register additional components, you must provide your registration information to Esri to obtain a license file. Once you receive your license file, rerun the wizard to authorize the geodatabase with the ArcGIS Server workgroup license.
- To complete the authorization, click Finish.
- To update the license in a geodatabase, log in as a server administrator, start ArcMap, and open the Catalog window.
- Connect to the database server for which you just finished updating the registry.
- On the Contents tab, right-click the first geodatabase on the database server, click Administration, and click Detach.
Note:
Make note of where the database file is located so you know where to look for it to reattach it.
- Click Yes to confirm that you want to detach the geodatabase. The geodatabase should disappear from the database server connection in the Catalog tree. Press F5 to refresh to ensure the geodatabase was detached.
The detach operation will fail if any other connections exist to the geodatabase.
- Right-click the database server and click Attach.
- On the Attach Geodatabase dialog box, browse to the .mdf file of the geodatabase you just detached.
- After you specify the file, click OK on the Browse dialog box.
- Click OK on the Attach Geodatabase dialog box.
- If there are additional geodatabases on the database server, repeat the preceding six steps to update the license key in each of these geodatabases.
Caution:
If you do not update the license key in the geodatabases, they retain their original key information in the database. For example, if you were using a database server licensed through ArcGIS Desktop, you will still be restricted to three users for those geodatabases even if you update to a workgroup license in the database server.