Ongoing Toolbox Upgrades

When you upgrade the SOLIDWORKS software, Toolbox is upgraded if parts have been added. If the Toolbox root folder is in a SOLIDWORKS PDM vault, before you start the SOLIDWORKS upgrade, you must prepare the Toolbox folder.

On the first system to perform the upgrade, you must use Get Latest Version to download the Toolbox files to the local cache and check out the Toolbox database file. On other systems that are upgraded, the only requirement is to download the Toolbox files.

  • Ensure that there is a full recent back up of the vault database and archive.
  • Make sure that the Toolbox parts are not checked out or in use by any currently checked out assemblies.

To upgrade Toolbox:

  1. In Windows Explorer, log in to the vault as a user with full permissions (check out, check in, add, delete).
  2. Right-click the Toolbox folder and click Get Latest Version to copy all Toolbox files and the toolbox database to the local cache.
    If your archive server is remote, this may take several minutes.
  3. For upgrades, you must check out the Toolbox database file:
    • From SOLIDWORKS 2014 or earlier, check out: vault_name\Toolbox_folder_name\lang\your_language\SWBrowser.mdb.
    • From later versions of SOLIDWORKS, check out: vault_name\Toolbox_folder_name\lang\your_language\swbrowser.sldedb.
  4. Run the SOLIDWORKS Installation Manager to perform the upgrade.
  5. On the Summary screen, ensure that the Toolbox Options installation location is the location in the vault.

    If it is not, click Change, select Reference or upgrade an existing Toolbox, and browse to the Toolbox location in the vault.

  6. For upgrades from SOLIDWORKS 2014 or earlier, when the upgrade completes, in Windows Explorer, browse to the folder noted in step 3 and add the Toolbox database file swbrowser.sldedb to the vault.
    You can add other local files that are created in this folder to the vault.
  7. For all upgrades, check in the Toolbox folder to add any new or updated files to the vault so that other users can work with Toolbox.
  8. Navigate to your Toolbox folder in the vault and ensure that the following are present:
    • \Toolbox_folder_name\Updates
    • \Toolbox_folder_name\ToolboxStandards.xml
    • \Toolbox_folder_name\Browser\ToolboxFiles.index

    If they are not, contact your Value Added Reseller.

  9. Upgrade the rest of the computers that use SOLIDWORKS PDM integration with Toolbox:
    1. In Windows Explorer, log in to the vault as a user with at least read permission to the Toolbox folder.
    2. Right-click the Toolbox folder and click Get Latest Version to copy the Toolbox files to your local cache.
    3. Run the SOLIDWORKS Installation Manager to upgrade.

      The installer detects that Toolbox is already upgraded.