To upgrade an output database permanently, you must either open the file with write permissions and convert it when prompted or use the abaqus upgrade utility (see Output database upgrade utility). You can use the abaqus upgrade utility to upgrade a remote output database only from the system on which the database resides.
When a model database or an output database from a previous release is opened, Abaqus/CAE does one of the following:
If Abaqus/CAE has permission to write to the original file (i.e., it is an output database file that you have chosen to open with write privileges or a model database file), you are prompted to convert the file to the current release. During the conversion Abaqus/CAE creates a backup of the original model or output database and the journal file associated with the model database; the converted database file and the new journal file are saved in the current directory (the directory from which you opened Abaqus/CAE) with the original file names. If the database was opened from a directory other than the current directory, that directory will still contain the original version of the file with the original file name.
When the conversion is complete, Abaqus/CAE creates a log file called file_name-upgrade.log that indicates the result of the conversion. For upgrades of model database files, Abaqus/CAE also displays a dialog box that provides the name of the conversion log file and includes the View the conversion log file option. Toggle on this option, and click OK to display the conversion log file in an Abaqus/CAE dialog box from which you can browse the log file or search its contents for error messages.
If you are opening a local output database file as read-only, Abaqus/CAE automatically creates a converted version of the output database that is saved to a temporary location. The converted output database file is saved to the directory defined by the $TMPDIR (Linux) or TEMP (Windows) environment variable on your system; if this variable is not defined, the new file is saved to the current working directory. This temporary version of the output database file is deleted when you exit Abaqus/CAE.
If you are opening a remote output database file, Abaqus/CAE tries to create a converted version of the output database file that is saved to a temporary location. The converted output database file is saved to the /tmp directory on the remote system or to the directory defined by the $TMPDIR environment variable on the remote system. If the temporary directory is not defined, the database upgrade fails. This temporary version of the output database file is deleted when you exit Abaqus/CAE.
When you upgrade an older model database, the upgrade process may place keywords that you added manually to a model in the wrong location in the upgraded input file. As a result, you may experience problems when you submit the model for analysis in the Job module. If that is the case, you should open the upgraded model, return to the Keywords Editor, and click Discard All Edits to delete all of the keywords that you added. You can then recreate the keywords in the correct location in the input file.