How to upgrade your Forecast 5 database to SQL Express on your local PC

It is common for larger users of Forecast 5 to upgrade to SQL Express from the standard LocalDb.

Upgrading to SQL Express or higher is strongly recommended for multi-user sites, licenses with consolidations and integrations, and network/server installations.

Please ensure that you have checked your PC against the system requirements and make any necessary changes before completing the upgrade.

Steps to upgrade to SQL Express from Localdb.

1. Export the forecasts from your existing database and store them in a folder on your desktop. See instructions on exporting forecasts here.

2. Download and install SQL Express (Usually the latest version will work but you can check the latest version compatible with your PC in this article from Microsoft to assist).

- Download SQL from here - Ensure that you choose the SQL Express version. Note; you can choose to create a SA password during this stage but it is not necessary if you are only using F5 locally.

- See our Installation guide with instructions on installing SQL. Note: the installation guide uses SQL Express 2017, the process will be similar for newer version, e.g. 2019)

3. Once you have exported all forecasts from your local db, close Forecast 5 and complete this config update - See instructions on updating the config here.

4. Open Forecast 5 and you should have a blank database. Import your forecasts from the folder on your desktop. See instructions on importing forecasts here.

You are now connecting to Forecast 5 using an SQL Express database and should notice an improvement in speed.

If you have any issues with this process or would like Forecast 5's experienced consultants to complete this for you, please contact us on support@forecast5.com