1 How the database is updated
The database is updated by the SoftwareCentral installer when you update SoftwareCentral.
Follow the steps in Update SoftwareCentral. The database is updated as part of those steps, so you do not need to download an update script or run it on the database server. An update needs a few minutes of down time for SoftwareCentral.
2 Back up first
Take a backup of the SoftwareCentral database before you update it.
Before updating the database it is highly recommended to take a backup. If you do not take a backup of the database, you will be unable to roll back to the current version after the update.
3 Check the update
When the update has finished, the database is at the same version as SoftwareCentral.
SoftwareCentral compares the newest version recorded in the database with its own version (the major and minor numbers). It makes this check when a page is first loaded. If the database is older than the program, SoftwareCentral shows the message in the troubleshooting table below. If the last database update is more than a year old, the version label turns red.
| You see | What it means |
|---|---|
| Database not up to date message | The database is older than SoftwareCentral. Update SoftwareCentral. |
| Out of date warning in red beside the version label | The last database update was more than a year ago. Update SoftwareCentral. |
4 Best practice
- Back up before every update. Without a backup you cannot roll back to the current version.
- Update the database and SoftwareCentral together. When the database is older than the program, SoftwareCentral shows the database message and writes a critical entry to the log, which says that some functions might not work as intended.
- Update at least once a year. After a year without a database update, the version label turns red for every user, and administrators also see a warning box.
- Keep the service account's database permissions. The permissions in Prerequisites (read, write and execute, not for Azure SQL) stay needed after an update.
5 Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "The database is not up to date. The database is currently at version X.Y - Please update the database to version A.B" | The newest version recorded in the database is older than the version of SoftwareCentral. The message is shown on the error page. | Update SoftwareCentral as described in Update SoftwareCentral. The check is kept for about 10 minutes, so the message can stay for a short time after the update. |
| "This version of SoftwareCentral is out of date" in red beside the version label | The last database update is more than a year old. | Update SoftwareCentral. Administrators also see the warning in a box on the page. |
| The red out-of-date warning is still shown after a successful update | SoftwareCentral keeps the out-of-date result for up to seven days. | Wait for the result to expire. Contact SoftwareCentral support if the warning stays longer than seven days. |