Good Morning Forum:

We have been using the same vault since ~2009 and it has some backend issues, so we are planning on creating an entirely new 2018 vault/Archive server/SQL backend. The current vault is 2016 and our SolidWorks installs are 2015/2016. I've got a few questions about migration of data and administration of 2 vault versions. Once the 2018 vault is running smoothly we plan on decommissioning the 2016, but for the transition period, I'd like to have a few things ironed out.

1. Exporting some of the filecards/variables/Workflows to the new Vault. - Will there be an issue exporting a cex from 2016 and importing in 2018?
2. Transferring current vault files to new vault. - Can we move them to a non-vault location, and then import into a new vault while maintaining metadata & references(assuming variable names are the same)?
3. Can the 2018 Administration tool access and administrate a 2018 and 2016 vault?
4. Will a desktop with the 2018 PDM client be able to access a vault running on a 2016 backend?

I'm hoping that I will not have to upgrade the old vault to 2018 during this process, but I have a feeling that It might be required.

**I should mention I know that SW2015 is not officially supported for a 2018 PDM client. It will be phased out as well.