Changing license keys for database servers and their geodatabases

This topic applies to ArcGIS for Desktop Standard and ArcGIS for Desktop Advanced only.

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 for Desktop and ArcGIS Engine or ArcGIS for Server Workgroup.

When you create a geodatabase on 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 that must be updated to update your license key: the registry and each geodatabase. You must run the Enable geodatabase storage on SQL Server Express portion of the setup wizard to update the license key in the registry, then you must detach and reattach each existing geodatabase to update the license in the geodatabase if you need to change license keys in any of the following situations:

• You need to authorize your database server with a new ArcGIS for Server Workgroup license key, such as when you move from ArcGIS for Server Workgroup Basic to ArcGIS for Server Workgroup Advanced.
• You are converting your database server licensed through ArcGIS for Desktop or ArcGIS Engine to a database server licensed through ArcGIS for Server Workgroup.
• You are converting your database server licensed through ArcGIS for Server Workgroup to a database server licensed through ArcGIS for Desktop or ArcGIS Engine.
• You were using an EDN or education site license but are moving to a production ArcGIS for Server Workgroup license.

The following set of steps instruct you how to update the license key in the registry and each of the geodatabases:

Steps:

1. As a Windows administrator, log in to the computer on which the SQL Server Express instance is installed.
2. Access the ArcSDE for SQL Server Express installation wizard. (This may be on DVD or is an executable that you downloaded from the Esri Customer Care Portal.)
   • If you are changing the licensing on your database server from ArcGIS for Desktop or ArcGIS Engine to ArcGIS for Server Workgroup or if you are updating your ArcGIS for Server Workgroup license key, run the ArcGIS for Server Workgroup executable.
   • If you are changing your license from an ArcGIS for Server Workgroup to an ArcGIS for Desktop or ArcGIS Engine license, run the executable that comes with ArcGIS for Desktop or ArcGIS Engine.
3. When the installation options dialog box appears, click ArcSDE for SQL Server Express.
4. Click Next to proceed with the wizard.
5. Uncheck Microsoft SQL Server Express Edition, leave Enable geodatabase storage on SQL Server Express checked, then click Next.
6. From the drop-down menu, choose the name of the SQL Server Express instance for which you want to change the license key and click Next.
   Note:

   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.

7. If you are changing your license to an ArcGIS for Desktop or ArcGIS Engine license, click Finish.
8. If you are changing from an ArcGIS for Desktop or ArcGIS Engine license to an ArcGIS for Server Workgroup license or are updating your ArcGIS for Server Workgroup license, you must authorize the ArcGIS for Server Workgroup software by navigating to the ArcGIS for Server Workgroup license key.
   Note:

   If you have not registered ArcGIS for Server 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 for Server Workgroup license.

9. To complete the authorization, click Finish.
Now that the registry has been updated, you must update the license in the individual geodatabases.
10. To update the license in a geodatabase, log in as a server administrator, start ArcMap, then open the Catalog window.
11. Connect to the database server for which you just finished updating the registry.
12. On the Contents tab, right-click the first geodatabase on the database server, click Administration, then click Detach.
    Note:

    Make note of where the database file is located so you know where to look for it to reattach it.

13. 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.
    Caution:

    There must be no other existing connections to a geodatabase when you detach it; if there are, the detach operation fails.

14. Right-click the database server and click Attach.
15. On the Attach Geodatabase dialog box, browse to the .mdf file of the geodatabase you just detached.
16. After you specify the file, click OK on the Browse dialog box.
17. Click OK on the Attach Geodatabase dialog box.
18. If there are additional geodatabases on the database server, repeat the preceding six steps to update the license keys 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. Therfore, if you were using a database server licensed through ArcGIS for Desktop, you will still be restricted to three users for those geodatabases.