The pace of the world moves fast, and it’s important we keep our businesses up to speed with constantly evolving industry. One way we can do that is by keeping our tools sharp. A chef with a dull knife isn’t going to get the food out of the kitchen as fast as one that keeps up with maintaining their tools, and they’re probably going to get a couple extra cuts along the way. To avoid falling behind and avoidable mistakes, we must make sure we’re keeping our tools up to date, and the tool we’re sharpening today is SOLIDWORKS Electrical.
This checklist will give you a preliminary understanding of what is necessary for a successful upgrade.
Prepare (Recommended 1 Week Before Upgrade)
- Plan for users to be off production while the upgrade is being done. There will be SQL server downtime so plan ahead and dedicate that time for other tasks.
- Make sure you have the correct version you want to upgrade to. Electrical can be downloaded any of the three ways listed:
- “Check for Updates” (SW Installation Manager)
- Full download link from VAR support team.
- Customer Portal (if SW isn’t already installed)
- Verify system requirements: SOLIDWORKS Electrical Schematic runs off a Microsoft SQL Database, therefore it is important you have the OS, RAM, and other system requirements for the new version of Electrical.
NOTE: Windows 11 OS is compatible with SOLIDWORKS Electrical 2022 SP2 and newer
SOLIDWORKS License Manager (recommended several days before upgrade)
Upgrade the license manager using the SW Installation Manager
On the system serving as the license server, run ‘Setup.exe’ from the downloaded folder
- Choose ‘Server products’ then ‘Upgrade SolidNetwork License Manager.
- Reactivate SolidNetwork License Manager
- ‘SolidNetwork License Manager Admin’ from Start menu, then ‘Modify’
- The last step to update the SolidNetwork license server
Backups (Immediately Before Upgrade)
- Always backup your data to ensure it is safe. It’s recommended you are already archiving your environment at a minimum of once a month. Learn more about backups and data restoring.
- Use Archive tools present in Electrical environment archive.
SOLIDWORKS PDM (if applicable)
Refer to this PDM upgrade article: SOLIDWORKS PDM Upgrade Checklist for SOLIDWORKS Administrators
SOLIDWORKS Electrical Schematic server upgrade
Electrical 2023 uses SQL Server Express 2019. For older versions refer to figure above.
- Upgrade the SQL instance.
- Upgrade the SOLIDWORKS Electrical Server program.
Step 1: In the installation manager select Install server components then check Upgrade/Install SOLIDWORKS Electrical (Share data) on this computer, click Next.
Step 2: Under Electrical Options click Change to set up your electrical database.
This is where the client is going to point to, as well as the required features on the machine for Electrical to function properly. Whether it is a server install or standalone, you will need an electrical data folder, collaborative server, and SQL Server all on the same machine.
After those are set up, click Back to Summary, accept terms of agreement, then click Download and Install.
Step 4: Go to the Data Folder that was just created and ensure all electrical users have full read/write access.
SOLIDWORKS Electrical Schematics 2D Network Client Upgrade
Log into Windows as the Local Administrator account (ensure full local permissions)
Paste Serial Number into highlighted field.
You will be prompted to choose to create a new installation of SW or upgrade an existing version NOTE: You can only have one version of SW Electrical on your machine.
Next, select Electrical Options.
These electrical options fields will be the same as the ones in Step 2 for the Data Location and Collaborative Server. The only change will be selecting “Use and existing SQL Server Database” and then refer to the one already created.
Accept terms then Download and Install.
Standalone Upgrade/Install:
For standalone upgrade you will have the same process as above with a slight variance in options. Instead of connecting to an external SQL server, you will be connecting to a local SQL server.
SOLIDWORKS 3D and Electrical 3D (if applicable)
SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D will have to be upgraded with SolidWorks 3D concurrently.
NOTE: This step can be done at the same time as the 2D client upgrade.
Install server components, and repeat the same steps for Data Location, Collaborative Server, and SQL Server that were done for the 2D Client install.
There are plenty of moving parts in this upgrade, remember this is your business’ data and operations at risk if the upgrade doesn’t go according to plan. Take the pressure and risk away by having experts who perform these upgrades on a regular basis. The TriMech team is here to support your business in every way, including performing these upgrades for clients so they can have full confidence in the process and performance of the tools long-term. Poor execution of the upgrade can result in extended downtime, loss of data, and further bugs/performance issues down the road.
Reach out to our team for assistance with our Electrical Deployment Service (EDS) to get your tools sharpened efficiently, confidently, and get those plates out of the kitchen faster than before.
