When a Windchill user creates information, such as a part or document, content files can be associated with that object. The file vaulting feature of Windchill enables you to specify whether, for a particular type of object in a specific lifecycle state, content files should be stored with the object in the Windchill database or stored in a logical container called a vault.

Each vault contains folders, which correspond to storage locations (for example, directories) on the host system. Based on the vaulting rules you have defined, an uploaded file is stored in the file system location represented by the vault and folder to which it is assigned.

You can improve upload performance by creating a local cache vault which receives and contains uploaded files for later revaulting to their permanent storage location. The cache vault is created on the local system during the startup of a new or migrated Windchill system to enable faster file upload for certain applications without, or before, the system administrator sets up a custom cache vault. It is initially located in a temporary directory with the following characteristics: