Skipped releases.

[Scott_Stubbington2]

Hello, 🙂

Are there any Autodesk Inventor limitations, risks, or unsupported scenarios when upgrading files, projects, or installations across multiple skipped releases (e.g., Inventor 2018 directly to 2027)?

Thanks in advance for your help.
Scott

[Gabriel_Watson]

Some concerns around any Styles you might be leaving behind, but no particular limitation. See this presentation for a general workflow:
https://www.autodesk.com/autodesk-university/class/Inventor-Migration-Previous-Releases-All-Steps-Op...

[hollypapp65]

There will be new functions, UI change, behavior change.  Might need to read through all "What's New" in each version.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi Scott,

Aside from migrating Style Library and template files, you may want to migrate the Inventor files (at least iam and idw files) from 2018 to 2027 due to Model States. Back up the files before starting to migrate them. Make sure all files are migrated properly and the result is satisfying.

Before you proceed, make sure all the critical Windows updates, the latest graphics driver, and all the critical PC vendor updates (including BIOS) are installed. Then install 2027.0.1 update.

Many thanks!

[SharkDesign]

If you're using Vault you can only skip one version. But you can keep skipping one version til you get to the one you want, just takes a long time. 

[Scott_Stubbington2]

Hello Johnson,
I for some reason felt skipping more than two releases may cause corruption to the database schema in our Inventor Part files, am I imagining this or is there an increased risk of corruption?

[Scott_Stubbington2]

Hello,
Where you say you you can only skip one version, if we are to move to Inventor 2027 from Inventor 2023, would we need to install version 2025 as a stepping stone?  We are using Vault Professional so this is potentially is important and I don't want to misinterpret anything.

[Scott_Stubbington2]

We are moving from 2023 to 2027, I know the original question mentioned 2018 to 2027, but that was inaccurate.  I am really concerned about part file corruption as I have files from Inventor 5 kicking around still and having posted an iPart here, file corruption was mentioned and it was suggested I rebuild the file, I don't have the time and and want to avoid this. 🤔

[johnsonshiue]

Hi Scott,

These old files should just work fine. Inventor migrates files saved in prior releases on open. Though R5 files are old, they can be migrated without a problem. If you do want to migrate the files right away, you may use Task Scheduler to do it automatedly.

Many thanks!

[m_gasztych]

I tend to skip versions every 3-4 years (mainly because we use Vault and normally upgrade hardware at the same time as the software and Vault server update, to minimise work interruptions). Over the past ten years we've gone from Inventor 2014 to 2017, 2017 to 2021, and 2021 to 2026.

Normally there are no issues, although all style libraries need to be migrated. I'd also recommend using Task Scheduler for migrating files, as you don't want to do it manually for large assemblies and have to sit through all the confirmation boxes during check-in etc.

All in all it should work without any major issues. Depending on your workflows you may experience some small quirks - for example, for us we noticed that Model States, introduced in 2022 to replace Levels of Detail from prior versions, slightly changed how part numbers were assigned during check-in/item update in Vault for specific LODs. Now each Model State can have its own individual part number (though that might just be down to our workflow and how we assign part numbers).