Ensure that your Microsoft SQL Server database meets requirements, that you have the necessary credentials, and that you complete any necessary cleanup or other preparation before upgrading vCenter Server.
To remove the DBO role and migrate all objects in the DBO schema to a custom schema, see the VMware knowledge base article at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1036331.
Microsoft SQL Server Express is not supported for vCenter Server 6.5. The vCenter Server 5.5 embedded Microsoft SQL Server Express database is replaced with an embedded PostgreSQL database during the upgrade to vCenter Server 6.5. To upgrade without migrating to the PostgreSQL database, see the VMware knowledge base article http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2109321.
To migrate the vCenter Server database from Microsoft SQL Express to Microsoft full SQL Server, see the VMware knowledge base article at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1028601.
Prerequisites
Verify that you have confirmed basic upgrade interoperability before preparing your Microsoft SQL Server database for upgrading vCenter Server. See Database Requirements for vCenter Server on Windows.
Verify that you have backed up your database. For information about backing up the vCenter Server database, see the Microsoft SQL Server documentation.
To set database permissions correctly, see Database Permission Requirements for vCenter Server and Use a Script to Create and Apply a Microsoft SQL Server Database Schema and Roles.
Procedure
Results
Your database is prepared for the vCenter Server upgrade.