This article describes how to create a new database in the Visual SourceSafe versions listed above. Visual SourceSafe 6.0 has a Create Database feature in the Administrator program that allows you to create new databases in version 6.0 or 5.0 format. Earlier versions of Visual SourceSafe use MKSS and DDCONV utilities to create a DATA directory, and you have to create the remainder of the database manually.

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Steps to Create a New Database in Visual SourceSafe 6.0

1.	Open the Visual SourceSafe 6.0 Administrator program. From the Tools menu, select Create Database.
2.	Type or browse for the path to where you want to create the new database in the Create new VSS Database in edit box.
3.	The New 6.0 database format checkbox is selected by default. If you want your new database to be in the 5.0 format, clear the checkbox.
4.	Click OK. A dialog box will appear saying, "Database Creation Complete." Click OK.

The Create Database feature will produce the following directories and files:

•	Temp (directory)
•	Data (directory)
•	Users (directory)
•	Srcsafe.ini
•	Users.txt

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Steps to Create a New Database in Earlier Versions of Visual SourceSafe

1.	Create a target directory for the new database.
2.	Create a directory called "Temp" inside the target directory.
3.	Create a directory called "Data" inside the target directory.
4.	Copy the Users directory from an existing database into the target directory. Delete all directories inside the Users directory except for Admin and Guest.
5.	Copy the Users.txt file from an existing database into the target directory. Open users.txt and remove all lines except the following: Admin = users\admin\ss.ini Guest = users\guest\ss.ini Save the file.
6.	Copy the Srcsafe.ini file from an existing database into the target directory. (Note: If this is a Visual SourceSafe 6.0-installed database, you should have a template directory from which you can get a default copy of the Srcsafe.ini file.) Open Srcsafe.ini and modify the following variables to point to the correct location: Data_Path = data Temp_Path = temp Users_Path = users Users_Txt = users.txt Save the file. Mkss.exe and Ddconv.exe are located in the Win32 directory in Visual SourceSafe 4.0 and later. Mkss.exe and Ddconv.exe are located in the Admin directory in versions prior to Visual SourceSafe 4.0.
7.	Run MKSS <path to the Data directory (created in Step 3)>.
8.	Run DDCONV <path to the Data directory (created in Step 3)>. If you have a version of SourceSafe prior to version 4.0, you must complete an additional step.
9.	Execute SERIALIZE <path to the Data directory (created in Step 3)>-s<serial number>, to initialize the database with serial number information.

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