By Chris Turner
We frequently speak with customers regarding the upgrade of their Vault and depending on the number of releases, this can sometimes be more challenging. Not only do we need to make sure that the Vault is upgraded in 2 release steps, but also the Inventor Design Data styles, Templates and any Custom Content Centre Libraries (databases).
The Inventor Standard Content Centre libraries (databases) are fantastic with literally millions of industry standard components ready for you to use. Many of our customers create a library of their own and copy some of these, and then update them to match their particular requirements, such as Part Number or Materials etc.
There are 2 choices when storing these library databases. They can be: -
- Kept in the Vault and everyone accesses them from there
- Stored in a network location that everyone has access to the IDCL files
When migrating these Custom Content Centre Libraries (databases), it is important to follow the correct steps to ensure a successful migration.
IMPORTANT: Remember the 2 release steps should be taken, but the process will be the same.
For Vaulted Custom Content Libraries, I recommend the following process which works well.
-
INVENTOR IPJ PROJECT FILE
First, use Inventor and in the Projects file settings, check your Design Data Styles are available and active as necessary (keep in mind your Project file might be read only). -
INVENTOR DESIGN DATA
Migrate the Inventor Design Data using the Inventor Style Library Manager.
Tip! In Inventor, make sure you activate your IPJ project and check the Design Data is not read only. -
INVENTOR TEMPLATES
Migrate your Inventor Templates to the latest release. Simply open them in Inventor, update the styles and save them. If you have lots of Templates, you could maybe consider using the Inventor Task Scheduler. -
VAULTED INVENTOR CONTENT CENTRE LIBRARIES
In the Autodesk Vault ADMS, expand the Libraries and make sure you have all the latest Inventor Standard Content Centre Libraries including your own ones that require migration.
In my example, I am migrating 2 x Custom Inventor Content Libraries from 2021 to 2023. -
COPY LIBRARIES
Right Click and COPY each Custom Content Library to the 2023 partition, to enable Inventor 2023 to access it. -
INVENTOR CUSTOM LIBRARIES OUT OF DATE
Back inside Inventor, login to Vault and access your Inventor IPJ project file again. Go to your Content Centre Settings and view the libraries being used. The Standard Inventor 2023 Read Only Libraries are available, but you will notice your Custom Libraries have a yellow warning symbol. These will need to be updated using the Update Tool wizard.
TIP! Make sure you have ALL of the Standard Inventor 2023 Libraries also available, as some Custom Content may be linked to them when they were created. -
CONTENT CENTRE LIBRARIES UPDATE TOOL
Use the Update Tool wizard and once complete, check to see if there were any errors and if any of the libraries require fixing. -
UPDATED CUSTOM CONTENT LIBRARIES TOP 2023
The Libraries should now be all ready and good for Inventor 2023.
The process is similar for Inventor Content Centre Libraries being used outside the Vault.
Generally, you would update the IDCL files instead.