Migrating Inventor Files from 2018 to 2020

[dsouva]

I've been tasked with migrating our Inventor files in Vault from 2018 to 2020 prior to our upgrade to 2022. I've been trying to use task scheduler 2020 but I can't figure out a quick way to do it. The only options available are by selecting files, selecting folders, or by project. Selecting files only lets me select one file at a time. By folders doesn't seem to do sub-folders so that would be almost 16,000 folders one at a time. I'm not sure what by project would do but we only have one project and I'm afraid if I do all files for that project, the task would be too large. Any advice on the best way to accomplish this task?

[ihayesjr · Accepted solution]

Hi @dsouva 

Why do you need to migrate these files to the latest version of Inventor? 

The files can be migrated as you use them.

Also, if you need to migrate them all, why not just migrate them straight to Inventor 2022? Save yourself a huge step.

You should only have one Inventor project in Vault for all files. By using the by project method, all files should get migrated.

[dsouva]

@ihayesjr 

It's my companies policy to migrate them to 2020 prior to our 2022 upgrade(Our last deployed version). Since we haven't deployed 2022 yet, no other users have it on their machines and wouldn't be able to open 2022 files until deployment. I'm afraid to use the by project method in case it fails to complete. Won't all the files remain checked out if it fails? 

[ihayesjr]

Just seeking a little more clarity.

You are on Vault 2020 and all of your users are on 2020, correct?

If so, when are you planning to migrate to 2022?

If it is soon, it is still more efficient to migrate them to 2022 after all of your users and the server are on 2022.

Only the failed files might remain checked out. The migration step will check out the files as it migrates them. It will not check all of them out at the same time.

[ihayesjr]

Another recommendation is to perform this migration on a test server.

This will set your expectations on the process as well as if files will fail and what happens.

It will also tell you how long it will take.

[dsouva]

@ihayesjr 

Thanks. I'll try to convince the company that migrating isn't necessary. Until then I'll do the by project method and let you know how it works. Thanks for the help!

[dsouva]

@ihayesjr 

Just realized I didn't answer any of your questions.

You are on Vault 2020 and all of your users are on 2020, correct?

Yes.

If so, when are you planning to migrate to 2022?

We are planning to deploy 2022 at calendar year end. We won't migrate files to 2022 until we are preparing to deploy 2024. Our previous CAD managers recommended that our files to be no more than one deployed version behind.

[ihayesjr]

So when you deploy 2022, your users are going to be using Inventor 2022 and Vault 2022?

[dsouva]

@ihayesjr 

That's correct and our policy dictates that all are Inventor files be at least 2020 before deploying 2022. I think this is a decision that was made some number of deployments ago (maybe 2 or so) that required Inventor files to be migrated incrementally (ie. files older than 2018 had to be migrated to 2018 first and then migrated to 2019. Not sure the exact years but just for example). 

[ihayesjr]

Ok, it seems to be a wasted effort if you are not going to migrate the files all the way to the version you are going to eventually use. 

From what you are saying, once you get to Vault 2024, any files not already migrated to Vault 2022, you are going to migrate them to Vault 2022 while using Vault and Inventor 2024. Correct?

[dsouva]

@ihayesjr 

We don't have plans to start using 2024 at the moment but once we do, we will migrate everything to 2022 before we deploy 2024. Keeping files one release behind our planned deployment. My predecessors who implemented this policy had a lot of misinformation that prompted them to  create this policy. Too many details to explain here. Until I'm more comfortable in this role, I'll uphold the policy since I'm already late getting this deployment launched and don't want to delay any longer. 

FYI, I've started the "by project" method last night and it seems to be working so far.

[dsouva]

@ihayesjr 

See attached. It doesn't look like any files were migrated when I did the by project method. 

[RajSchmidt · Accepted solution]

Hi @dsouva, 

I asked Autodesk support a while ago about migrating files. And I got the clear message that it is not necessary to migrate files younger than version 2008. They will get migrated on the fly when opening them, just as pointed out by @ihayesjr.

Furthermore, when migrating files stored in Vault, the task scheduler will always only grab the latest version.

IMHO there is no need to do a mass migration as in the olden days.

[dsouva]

@RajSchmidt and @ihayesjr 

Thanks for your help. I will skip the migration step. Our 3rd party consultants also told us that it isn't necessary a while back. I think I have enough to convince the company that we don't need to migrate the files.