1. Preparation in the PDM Environment

Before manually updating your SOLIDWORKS Toolbox in the SOLIDWORKS PDM vault, make sure that the database and archive have been fully backed up.

Next, ensure that no Toolbox parts are checked out or are used by currently checked-out assemblies: During the update, some parts of the Toolbox will be rearranged and updated. These actions can only be performed on checked-in data, so the update will fail on checked-out files.

To check if SOLIDWORKS Toolbox parts are currently checked out:

In a local vault view, log in as 'Admin' and use the search tool (search.exe), then check that no files are checked out in the Toolbox folder in the vault.

Run the SOLIDWORKS PDM report ‘ListAllCheckedOutParentsWithToolboxParts.crp’ to determine if Toolbox parts are being used by checked out assemblies. This report can be downloaded from SOLIDWORKS knowledgebase article S-058099.

Knowledgebase articles can be accessed via the SOLIDWORKS Customer Portal (www.solidworks.com).

Check in  all those assemblies that are listed in the results of the report. If some of thoseare checked out by other users, then please ask them to check in.

2. Update the toolbox

1. ensure that nobody is accessing the Toolbox during this process.
2. log in to your local PDM view as ‘Admin’.
3. check out the complete toolbox folder in the PDM vault > usually ‘SOLIDWORKS Data’:
   
4. navigate to the SOLIDWORKS installation folder > usually ‘C: \Program Files\SOLIDWORKS Corp\ SOLIDWORKS’; and then right-click on ‘Toolbox \ data utilities’; right-click on ‘UpdateBrowserDatabase.exe’ and select ‘Run as administrator’.
5. click on the ‘...’ button to search for the ‘swbrowser.sldedb’ file.
6. click on the ‘Update’ button to start the upgrade.
7. confirm that the toolbox update was successful by repeating step 4 and step 5 again. The database version should now match the update version.
8. once the update is complete, start SOLIDWORKS and check that the correct path for the updated toolbox is specified under Tools> Options> System options> Hole wizard / Toolbox.

3. Update the templates

Navigate to SOLIDWORKS installation folder > usually ‘C:\Program Files\SolidWorks Corp\SolidWorks’, and run ‘sldtoolboxupdater.exe’ as administrator.    

SOLIDWORKS/Toolbox installation media location = File path to the toolbox zip files in the SOLIDWORKS installation files.

Note: These files are located in the administrator installation image under \64bit\Toolbox.

Click Process and wait until all are marked with a green tick.

When 'Process' appears at the end, the update is complete -> close the window.

System options

Once the upgrade is complete, check that the correct path to the upgraded toolbox is specified in SOLIDWORKS, under Tools > Options > System Options > Hole Wizard/Toolbox.

Check in

Then, select the complete toolbox folder in the PDM vault (> usually ‘SOLIDWORKS Data’) and check it in again.

4. Update the other client computers

Log in as a user who has at least read authorisation for the Toolbox folder on other client computers. 

• select the Toolbox folder in the PDM vault and click on ‘Get latest version’ (or right-click on the ‘SOLIDWORKS Data’ folder and select the ‘Get latest version’ option in the context menu).

Also make sure that all client computers in your environment use the same toolbox path in PDM. This is specified in SOLIDWORKS under Tools > Options > System options > Hole Wizard/Toolbox.