Neo4j - Spring Data Neo4j - Failed to start Neo4j with an older data store version

I am trying to open graph db using neo4j but constantly get this error after trying couple of workarounds.

• To enable automatic upgrade, please set configuration parameter "dbms.allow_format_migration=true"

• changing neo4j-kernel version in pom.xml

here are my dependencies:

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.springframework.data</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-data-neo4j</artifactId>
    <version>3.1.1.RELEASE</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.neo4j</groupId>
    <artifactId>neo4j-kernel</artifactId>
    <version>2.1.1</version>
</dependency>

Is there any way to overcome this issue.