How to upgrade Sharepoint Internal Databases to 2013 on a Windows Server 2012 R2 box

You do this because you end up seeing messages in the health analyzer about databases not upgraded (you open it because your site stopped working):

"The following databases have versions that are older than the current SharePoint software, but are within the backwards compatible range:
User Profile Service Application_SocialDB_c364a011f36f4e9ba210bed78f964665,
Search_Service_Application_AnalyticsReportingStoreDB_89dd14f5835d4d368b8912cb2ff2d17e,
Bdc_Service_DB_29ef5f7ce1d14088bfbd5d63223872a2,
SharePoint_Config_f82eb164-7374-435a-b987-c1766e914af3,
AppMng_Service_DB_556cc2d02a9140e7887ed67db619001f,
SharePoint_AdminContent_51fce7bf-6f79-45db-9682-fd7a104839ad,
WSS_Content_318a3672-b982-4b1e-bc54-4181dfd3f8c0,
Search_Service_Application_DB_cd636bd8e1d149f19dfcfba6b27937ae,
User Profile Service Application_ProfileDB_cdd94abe9d66468685df50e618f0564f,
WSS_Logging_4b6ad66f-2b8c-4e6f-9264-acba62dcc35b,
Search_Service_Application_LinksStoreDB_b48f5e42753d4600a0ec6eb62e1602a9."

You find this link which tells you how to do it:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263299.aspx

But you have no idea how to open the shell because it is not available anywhere.

1. Open powershell on your server and install the sharepoint powershell dll:

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\InstallUtil /LogToConsole=true C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell\v4.0_15.0.0.0__71e9bce111e9429c\Microsoft.SharePoint.Powershell.dll

http://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/questions/82797/the-windows-powershell-snap-inmicrosoft-sharepoint-powershell-is-not-installed 

2. Then setup your powershell to use all sharepoint commands:

New-PSSession -ComputerName SP2013Server
Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.Powershell

http://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/questions/101038/how-do-i-install-the-2013-sharepoint-powershell-module-on-my-windows-7-client-co

3. Then run commands like this for every database which needs to be upgraded:

Mount-SPContentDatabase -Name Application_SocialDB_c364a011f36f4e9ba210bed78f964665 -DatabaseServer servername -WebApplication http://servername

After you do all this, it may die with unable to register sharepoint services. To get ahead of this issue and the next one, use the below links:

1. Add registry value:

Name: AcknowledgedRunningOnAppServer
Type: DWORD
Value: 1

Under:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office Server\{version}\LauncherSettings
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office Server\{version}\LoadBalancerSettings

http://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/questions/116901/products-configuration-wizard-failed-to-register-sharepoint-services

2. Share the analytics folder:

a. Open explorer and go to: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office Servers\15.0\Data\Office Server.
b. Right click the Analytics_{GUID} folder -> Sharing -> Advanced Sharing.
c. Click “Share This Folder”, leave the Share name defaulted, then click Permissions.
d. Because this is a dev instance, just give Everyone Full Control access (and feel OK about it).
e. Re-run the wizard.

https://www.axian.com/2014/06/11/sharepoint-2013-configuration-wizard-issues-when-installing-local-development-instance/ 

So far, doing all the above steps let you move ahead.

I can now confirm all steps worked and the upgrade worked fine!