PDM Health Check and Server Migration: Backup, Rehearsal and Acceptance

Eligibility: valid existing licenses and expired or independently non-renewed maintenance

SOLIDWORKS PDM work is assessed only for customers with valid, lawfully held existing licenses whose maintenance has expired, or customers who independently decide not to renew and plan implementation after maintenance ends. Each case requires review of licenses, existing contracts, third-party access, API/SDK rights and migration conditions. Expired maintenance does not establish license validity or permission for development or migration.

Non-renewal is the customer's independent decision. This article does not recommend terminating contracts or position engineering as a replacement for vendor maintenance. Preliminary scoping may occur earlier, but implementation under this offer requires maintenance to have ended and case-specific rights to be confirmed.

Case-by-case review before work

• Verify license type, validity, entitled version, entity and devices for PDM, CAD, SQL, Task Hosts and dependencies. Do not implement using expired term licenses.
• Review applicable vendor, reseller, maintenance and other contracts for third-party access, confidentiality, IP, development and relocation limits. Obtain legal review or vendor confirmation when needed.
• Confirm authority to commission work and supply data, code, installation media and access. Do not use another party's accounts, keys or restricted support resources.
• Check API/SDK, Document Manager and dependency licenses and access eligibility. Public API documentation is not itself a development or distribution license.
• Assess backups, isolated rehearsal, compatibility, downtime, rollback and acceptance before agreeing scope in writing. Unclear rights or unmet conditions prevent acceptance.

Potential scope and exclusions

After prerequisites are met, assess configuration, integration, approved-API customization, batch output and relocation within the lawfully licensed existing version. Capability, rights and tests determine each deliverable; this is not an unconditional promise.

AxiomX provides independent third-party engineering, not vendor- or reseller-authorized maintenance, dealership or agency services under this offer. Vendor maintenance, renewal, new releases, licensing and activation rights must be confirmed through the vendor or a legally authorized channel.

• Do not provide or promise maintenance renewal, new releases/service packs/media, license sales/transfers/reactivation or vendor defect-fix entitlements. Required rights must be handled through lawful channels.
• No activation/license bypass, impermissible commercial use of trial/education/third-party licenses, unauthorized vendor-code modification or reverse engineering.
• No guarantee that old versions run on every new OS or support every format/API. Newer documentation does not grant an upgrade entitlement.
• Engineering does not automatically preserve, restore or extend vendor warranty, maintenance or other rights; assess effects before work.

References and contractual boundaries

Product names identify existing customer systems and documentation; trademarks and vendor rights remain with their owners. Links are technical references, not vendor authorization, partnership, endorsement or case approval.

This is not legal advice or a guarantee of permissibility under every contract. Applicable agreements and license terms control. Website notices and customer declarations cannot override third-party rights or replace necessary legal review.

SOLIDWORKS PDM health-check and migration specifics

The official 2026 installation guide separates backup/restore from moving server components. Plan for the installed Standard/Professional edition and deployment; do not reuse Autodesk Vault procedures unchanged.

• Inventory vault SQL databases, ConisioMasterDb, Archive Server settings and physical archives. Settings backups do not contain the drawing files.
• Use compatible database/archive backup points. Confirm separate protection for local changes not checked in rather than assuming all changes are in server backups.
• Inventory Archive Server, Database Server, SQL, SolidNetWork License Manager, client vault views, Task Hosts, custom code and interfaces.
• Rehearse server-name/connectivity changes, licenses and accounts; test login, access, check-out/check-in, revisions, workflows and conversion. Follow installed-version guidance and measured tests.

When should you run a PDM health check?

Slow searches, untested backups, aging servers, opaque permissions, recurring job failures and planned upgrades all justify an assessment. The result should be an actionable risk register, not merely a hardware inventory.

• Version and support status for PDM, database, OS and CAD add-ins.
• Database, vault, disk, network, login, search and job capacity.
• Groups, administrators, service accounts, certificates, patching and audit logs.
• Backup success, actual restore, schedules, monitoring, alerts and operating documents.

Inventory dependencies and integrations

• Record PDM/PLM server and client versions, CAD add-ins, database versions and compatibility rules.
• Inventory domain, accounts, DNS, firewalls, certificates and runtime dependencies.
• Confirm license server, files, relocation conditions and vendor support.
• List custom code, scheduled jobs, reports, APIs, batch drawing output and ERP/MES interfaces.
• Name system owners, operating owners and cutover contacts.

Reconcile database and file store together

PDM metadata and the actual vault/archive files must be backed up at compatible points and restored in the vendor-prescribed order. Restoring only one side may leave records without files or broken revisions and links.

• Inventory backups for database, file store, configuration, licenses and custom code.
• Record baseline counts, sizes and sample part/revision relationships.
• Perform a real isolated restore instead of trusting a successful backup message.
• Plan a write freeze, delta handling and final reconciliation.

Rehearse and plan the cutover

Restore an isolated test environment, then validate real representative users and controlled data across login, search, CAD, approval, BOM, output, APIs and permissions. Use measured results to choose the outage window.

• Document owner, duration, checkpoint and failure action for each runbook step.
• Set go/no-go deadlines and rollback triggers.
• Check DNS, certificates, firewall, mail, jobs and client connectivity.
• Prevent old and new environments from both accepting writes.

Post-migration acceptance

• Compare record and file counts plus sampled drawing numbers, revisions, attachments and relationships.
• Test role-specific login, search, download, edit, approval and denial.
• Validate CAD, BOM, jobs, reports, APIs and ERP/MES interfaces.
• Check response times, error logs, monitoring, alerts and backup restore.
• Hand over differences, test evidence, fixes, administrator SOP and ownership.

What determines scope and cost?

Version and support status, data and vault volume, server count, custom code, licensing, outage limits, simultaneous upgrades and integration count affect scope. Customers must separately obtain any required upgrade, media and activation rights through lawful channels; this service does not grant those entitlements. Complete the health check before assessing migration or phased remediation.