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How to Upgrade SOLIDWORKS PDM Standard to PDM Professional (Full Guide)

Follow this phased process to move your vault from PDM Standard to PDM Professional with a complete backup.

This guide walks you through upgrading a SOLIDWORKS PDM Standard vault to PDM Professional. It covers the full sequence at a high level and links out to standalone guides for each major step, so you can complete the upgrade with a tested backup.

Before you start

Confirm you have access to the following.

  • Administrative access to the PDM Administration tool and the SQL Server instance hosting your vault database.
  • Local administrator rights on the server(s) running the PDM Archive Server and SQL Server, and on any client machines you'll upgrade.
  • A maintenance window where no users are checked into or working in the vault.
  • Free disk space at least equal to your current archive folder size plus your database size, to hold a full backup.
  • PDM Professional installation media that matches your current PDM version family. Don't mix installers from different major versions.

This guide assumes a single-server setup, where the PDM Archive Server and SQL Server run on the same machine. If your client's environment splits these across separate servers (a common option for larger vaults or better performance), the same steps apply, just run SQL-specific steps on the database server and archive-specific steps on the archive server.

Upgrade phases

  1. Back up your vault. Take a full backup of both the archive folder and the vault database.
  2. Verify SQL requirements and upgrade if needed. Confirm whether your current SQL Server edition meets PDM Professional's needs, and upgrade it only if it doesn't.
  3. Upgrade PDM to Professional. Install PDM Professional over your existing installation and migrate the vault database schema.
  4. Verify the upgrade. Confirm the vault, archive server, and clients are all functioning correctly on PDM Professional.
  5. Roll back if needed. Restore from your backup if verification fails.

Phase 1: Back up your vault

Before making any changes, take a full backup of the archive folder and the vault database. Do this even if you don't expect to need it.

See the standalone guide: Back Up Your SOLIDWORKS PDM Vault (Archive and Database)

Phase 2: Verify SQL requirements and upgrade if needed

PDM Professional is not supported on SQL Server Express and will need to be upgraded to Standard/Enterprise. If your server is already running SQL Server Standard or above, it will not need to upgrade SQL Server at all.

If your current edition doesn't meet those requirements, upgrade it now. In this scenario a full backup of your SQL instance is recommended.

See the standalone guide: Upgrade SQL Server Express to Standard

Phase 3: Upgrade PDM to Professional

Install PDM Professional on the archive server, migrate the vault database schema to the new edition, and update any existing client installations.

See the standalone guide: Upgrade the PDM Archive Server and Vault Database to PDM Professional

Phase 4: Verify the upgrade

After the upgrade completes:

  1. Log into the vault through PDM Professional client and confirm you can check files in and out.
  2. Confirm existing file history, workflows, and data card values carried over correctly.
  3. Confirm any PDM Professional-only features you plan to use (for example, additional workflow actions or advanced search) are available and configured.