Autodesk Vault Migration Best Practices
A Vault migration occurs where the Vault environment is being migrated from one release to a later release (e.g. 2022 to 2023).
Migrations need to be planned out and not left too long between releases and from the current release to avoid issues with data and config migrations which ultimately leads an increase in the time and cost to migrate Vault to the designated release.
Planning the Migration
If Vault migrations are left too long between releases or is migrated to a release that is more than 3 releases from the current, issues can arise in a migration where there are errors in configurations and database relationships due to:
- Double and triple migrations
- Autodesk integrating too many changes between releases and the old configuration not being supported in the new release.
- Users may miss issues during testing and handover phase, etc.
- Release is end of life and no longer support from Autodesk
- Forced to do a double migration
- Cyclical problem of too many changes between releases (being too far apart) and errors, can’t go forward until issues are resolved.
What is a Double Migration?
Vault can only be migrated within 3 releases. A Vault environment on 2020 can only be migrated to 2022. If the current release in this scenario is 2023, then another migration is required to go from 2022 to 2023.
A triple migration is basically when the Vault release is far back from the desired release. In one example, Design Consulting migrated Vault from 2015 to 2017, 2017 to 2019 and then 2019 to 2021.
The time taken and steps involved to migrate are virtually replicated, resulting in a duplication in costs every time a migration is required, so planning your Vault migration is important to get the best value for money when migrating and also have users take advantage of the additional productivity features in the new releases of Vault and CAD software.
On one hand IT may want to delay the inevitable for as long as possible to reduce their workload on a 1, 2 or 3 year interval, however, the user base can lose out on new features that makes the business more productive and if there are issues with the migration due to unforseen errors in data and configuration, any time savings in IT may be minimal compared to these aforementioned factors.
Vault Migration Best Practices
While things get busy and there may be budgetary constraints, however, if possible, the best practice for Vault to optimise the migrations are:
- To ensure backups are scheduled, not failing and up to date
- Vault Server and CAD System Requirements are being met
- Try migrating within 3 releases to avoid a double migration (2019 to 2021, 2021 to 2022 double migration costs the same as 2019 to 2021, 2021 to 2023)
- Stay 1 release behind the latest or wait for the major service pack release to avoid any unforeseen issues.
- Test environment – Have a compatible server, job processor (if required), CAD-level workstation, etc. as a test environment for the migration that users can connect to, before rolling it out the migrated Vault release into production.
- For larger environments of 50x users or more, having in place a more formal ITIL framework or similar.
Get in Touch
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Feel free to contact us on 1800 490 514, info@designconsulting.com.au, by live chat or fill out the form below.
