SharePoint update status: Cannot Upgrade content database

Question

I did an update of SharePoint 2013 using December 2017 CU. In central admin I see this info:

Configuration database version: 15.0.4989.1001 
Status: Upgrade available

In Upgrade Status page I see that the upgrade was successful without errors.

However, using stsadm.exe -o localupgradestatus I get this:

<object>
    <name>SPDB1</name>
    <type>Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPContentDatabase</type>
    <level>5</level>
    <status>Cannot Upgrade</status>
  </object>

[4] content database(s) encountered.
[2] content database(s) still need upgrade or cannot be upgraded.
[250] site collection(s) are contained in the content databases.
[0] site collection(s) still need upgrade.
[33] other objects encountered, [1] of them still need upgrade or cannot be upgraded.

In one of the posts they suggest to run one or both of these commands:

psconfig.exe -cmd upgrade -inplace v2v -wait  (if you want to upgrade product version) 
psconfig.exe -cmd upgrade -inplace b2b -wait (if you want to apply SharePoint patch, such as SP1 or June CU) 

Which one do I run and are there any other steps or checks that I need to perform?

Also any idea why it cannot upgrade the other two content databases?

Answer 1

Try to run the below cmdlet to upgrade all content database that still needs upgrade

Get-SPContentDatabase | ?{$_.NeedsUpgrade -eq $true} | Upgrade-SPContentDatabase

For more details check Database running in compatibility range and upgrade recommended

Note: If your farm has been on a patch level lower than July 2015 CU and would like to go to a CU equal or higher than July 2015 CU, you should run the below cmdlet

PSConfig.exe -cmd upgrade -inplace b2b -wait -cmd applicationcontent -install -cmd installfeatures -cmd secureresources -cmd services -install

For more details check December 2017 CU for SharePoint 2013 product family is available for download