Preparing for a live upgrade

• You need a 2024 R2 license key for the upgraded version.
• Indexes or statistics are not removed from databases during upgrade. A database column with a statistic or index may cause an error during the upgrade process. Delete any automatically created indexes or statistics (beginning with "_dta_index_" or "_dta_stat_") that cause problems and then run a database optimization process after the install. For example, the MSSQL Database Tuning Advisor.
• Users and administrators can access Welcome Dashboards after upgrading to 2024 R2.
  • If there were no default dashboards set in the version being upgraded, the Welcome Dashboards are displayed as the default dashboards.
  • If there were default dashboards set in the version being upgraded, the Welcome Dashboards are included in the dashboard drop-down list.
• If you plan to upgrade after office hours, retrieve the license key and test it during office hours so you can address any problems while assistance is available. To test the key, start the upgrade. If the key is not accepted, cancel the upgrade and contact your license key provider. If the key is accepted, cancel the upgrade.
• IIS is stopped during an upgrade. This affects customer sites if there are other web applications running on the same server as Sage CRM. You should install Sage CRM on a dedicated server if possible.
• Notify end users that they'll be unable to use Sage CRM during the upgrade.
• Perform a manual backup of the database, registry, and program files. For more information, see Overview of manual backups.
• Back up customized system views as they may be overwritten during the upgrade.
• Upgrade to the very latest Sage CRM release, up to and including the latest patch service pack.