Problem

This article walks through the steps necessary to resolve the "The program and the file vault are of incompatible versions" message. This message is usually a result of the vault database hosted by SQL Server not being upgraded after a PDM major release upgrade. 

Solution

Use the Database Upgrade Wizard to upgrade the Vault Database with the steps below:

1. This tool can be located in the Swpdmserver\Upgrade subfolder on the SOLIDWORKS DVD or the complete SOLIDWORKS installation package.   
2. Right-click on Upgrade.exe and select 'Run as administrator' to launch the application.

3. Click "Yes" on the message box warning that the upgrade wizard should only be run by an administrator.

4. Review and confirm all the prerequisites have been performed, then click "Next"

5. Select the SQL Server instance from the drop-down list (if it is not listed, we can manually type it in) and click "Next"

6. Enter a Username and Password for a user with sysadmin permissions on the SQL Server and click "Log In"
7. Put a check mark next to the file vault databases that need to be upgraded and click "Next"

8. Click "Next" again to start the upgrade
9. Once the upgrade is finished, review the log to confirm each database was successfully upgraded, then click "Finish"
10. After the upgrade, restart the Microsoft SQL Server. If we do not, we may experience performance drops until a restart is performed

For additional support, existing customers can submit a ticket or new customers can contact Hawk Ridge Systems.