Before you upgrade vCenter Server, you can run the VMware vCenter Database Pre-Upgrade Checker on your current vCenter Server database to reveal problems that could prevent the upgrade or affect the performance of your database after the upgrade. You can use the Pre-Upgrade Checker for the following upgrades:
- On a VirtualCenter 2.5 Update 6 or later database before you upgrade to vCenter Server 4.x
- On a vCenter Server 4.0.x database before you upgrade to vCenter Server 4.1 or 5.0
- On a vCenter Server 4.1.x database before you upgrade to vCenter Server 5.0
Note: You do not need to run the Pre-Upgrade Checker for minor update releases: for example, from version 4.0 to version 4.0 Update 3.
The Pre-Upgrade Checker compares your VCDB database signature profile with a known correct standard for your VCDB database version. A database signature profile is a representation of database structure and dependent objects.
The Pre-Upgrade Checker creates a signature profile configuration file for your existing (pre-upgrade) database and compares it with the known correct signature profile for your VCDB database version. If the Pre-Upgrade Checker identifies a difference between your database signature profile and the known VCDB signature profile, the check fails.
If your VCDB database signature profile matches the known signature profile, the check verifies that your database can be upgraded.
The Pre-Upgrade Checker also performs the following checks:
- Check for multiple schemas in the customer database.
- Database user and role check. Checks that the given database user has the correct privilege to upgrade.
- Table and structure check. No data checks are included in this check.
- SQL compatibility mode check for Microsoft SQL Server. Determines whether the compatibility mode is set to an appropriate and supported level.
Learn More via VMware