v5.x → v6.x Migration Guide

This guide will help you understand, plan, and execute the migration of your Anchore Enterprise deployment from v5.x to v6.1.0 or later. The migration brings your database to PostgreSQL 17 (typically by dumping and restoring it into a new v6.1 deployment), and on first boot, Anchore Enterprise upgrades the database schema and migrates your v5.x SBOM data into the App / App Version / Asset data model automatically.

What Happens During the Migration

The first time v6.1 boots against your restored v5.x data, two things run automatically, and one v5.x feature does not migrate and needs your attention:

  1. Schema upgrade — the standard Anchore Enterprise database upgrade chain brings the schema to the v6.1 level.

  2. Legacy Imported SBOM migration — v5.x Imported SBOMs and SBOM Groups are migrated into the App / App Version / Asset / Artifact model:

    • Each v5.x SBOM Group becomes one App with a single version, with one Asset per SBOM in the group.
    • Each ungrouped v5.x SBOM becomes one App, App Version, and Asset.
    • Only the first 10 annotations per SBOM are carried over; any beyond that are dropped. If annotations matter to you, export them before migrating.
    • Identical SBOM content uploaded into multiple accounts becomes multiple Assets sharing a single Artifact, deduplicated on content hash.

    The Legacy Imported SBOM migration runs in the background after the schema upgrade completes. Your deployment is up and fully usable while it runs, though migrated SBOMs may not all appear as Apps, App Versions, and Assets until it finishes. Avoid interrupting services while the migration is in progress. Progress is recorded in the database, and each migration runbook includes steps to monitor and verify it.

  3. Legacy Application Groups and source SBOMs are not migrated — there is no automatic migration for these. The data is retained in the database, but the Anchore Enterprise GUI no longer provides access to it; it remains reachable through the deprecated AnchoreCTL commands or the API directly. If your v5.x deployment uses Application Groups or source SBOMs, reach out to Anchore Customer Success via support.anchore.com for guidance on a plan to move this data to the App / App Version / Asset model before you migrate.

New Database Requirements in v6.x

Anchore Enterprise v6.x requires PostgreSQL 17 or greater with the pg_cron extension; these are new requirements in the v6.x line (see Requirements).

We recommend a managed database service (such as Amazon RDS, Google Cloud SQL, or Azure Database for PostgreSQL) where available, or the CloudNativePG (CNPG) operator for running PostgreSQL in-cluster on Kubernetes. The runbooks listed in Run the Migration cover both moving your data into a new PostgreSQL 17 database and upgrading an existing external database in place.

Plan the Migration

Before you begin, make sure you have:

  • A valid license entitlement.
  • A review of the Anchore Enterprise Release Notes behind you, with particular attention on the Requirements and Recommended Component Versions sections. Read the v6.0.0 release notes as well, not only the notes for your target version: v6.0.0 carried most of the v6 deprecations and removals, and migrating from v5.x means crossing all of them.
  • A database backup taken before you start. Together with your untouched v5.x data it is your rollback path.
  • Enough disk space for the database dump if you are moving your data with a dump and restore (roughly the size of your v5.x database; the compressed custom format is smaller).
  • A decision on at-rest encryption of sensitive database columns, such as stored registry credentials. It is off by default and can be enabled during the migration or at any time later; see Encrypting Database Secrets at Rest.
  • A maintenance window. The v5.x deployment must be stopped for the dump, and the Legacy Imported SBOM migration runs on first boot of v6.1. As a reference point, roughly 35,000 SBOM records completed in about 2 hours on modest hardware. Scale expectations to your data.

Run the Migration

Follow the runbook for your deployment mechanism; each includes its own verification steps:

Last modified August 11, 2026