Cracking the Vault

Vault Licence Release Behaviour

I wanted to post this information because Autodesk Support are frequently asked to investigate why licences are not being released automatically following a period of client inactivity. So I wanted to share my observations in the hope that you may find it useful.

(Click the image below to enlarge)

There are two background processes running on the Vault Server.

• SessionInactiveTimeoutInterval (default = runs every 30 minutes)
• SessionInactivityCheckInterval (default = runs every 5 minutes)

There are three states that the licence can be in.

• Active (Consumed by a client)
• Inactive (Consumed by a client and can be reconsumed by that same client but not yet in the pool of "available" licences)
• Available\Released (The licence is available to any client)

The licence will not become Available\Released, until the SessionInactivityCheckInterval process runs and detects that a licence is Inactive.

If the user logs out of the Vault Server or closes the client application, the licence is immediately Available\Released.

So using the above image as an example, a user logs in to a Vault Workgroup "Thick" client at 12:01 but then leaves the session inactive. At 12:31 their licence will become "Inactive", then running at 5 minute intervals at 12:35, the Vault Server checks what licences are Inactive and Releases them to be available to any other user. Between 12:31 and 12:36, the user can reclaim their licence. After 12:36 they cannot be guaranteed that they will get their licence back, requests for a licence will be subject to number of licences available. If the frequency of licence refusal is increasing, you should ask other users to log out, or if they are actually using the licences, purchase additional licences.

The same process also applies to the thick Vault Professional (VP) client. However, it will poll the VP server every 5 minutes for any ECO Notification (Hard-coded). This polling will ensure that so long as a user is logged into the VP Server from a thick VP client, the licence will never be released. The Vault Addin for AutoCAD will perform a similar poll in VW\VC\VP as it checks for updates to any XREFS.

Ordinarily, when a user logs into a licenced Vault Server from either a Vault Workgroup (VW) or Vault Collaboration (VC) "Thick " client or licenced CAD Addin, after 30 minutes of inactivity, the licence will become "Inactive". (As soon as the user makes any request to the Vault Server the "SessionInactiveTimeoutInterval" countdown is reset). 

Improving SQL Merge Replication Performance in Connected Workgroup Environments.

In a SQL Replicated environment (Connected Workgroups) it is necessary to run regular SQL Maintenance plans on each site to keep the database healthy and optimized for performance. This should be done from one Vault Server in each workgroup. Autodesk has observed significant performance benefits specifically in the merge replication by using the ADMS Console defragmenting tool immediately prior to running a SQL maintenance plan.

The ADMS Console defragment command can be run via

A) the User Interface

B) a windows CMD line by running a batch command as follows:-

Connectivity.ADMSConsole.exe -Odefragmentvault –NVaultDB -VUAdministrator -VPadmin -S

Connectivity.ADMSConsole.exe -Odefragmentlibrary –NCustom_Library -VUAdministrator -VPadmin –S

 

If the command is run via the User Interface or without the –S switch, the following message will appear requiring user input

“This operation cannot be performed if the vault is unlocked and available to users. Would you like to lock this vault now? Selecting ‘No’ will abort the operation.”

This message will remain on the screen until Yes or No is clicked. Similarly if you run the command whilst the ADMSConsole is open you will see this message.

Run the ADMS Console defragmentation to see how long it takes. It will vary from one time to another dependent on user activity since the previous ADMS Console defragmentation. One example may be… if it takes 1 hour to process an ADMS Console defragmentation on all databases, double it, then use that time to schedule it before running the SQL Maintenance plan.

An example could be, the following.

The Administrator responsible for running SQL Maintenance on each database, has configured a SQL Maintenance plan to run at mid-day on each Saturday. Testing has revealed that defragmenting all the Vault and Library databases takes 5 hours. Allowing for fluctuations in user activity, since the previous defragmentation, (in the near future) they choose to run the ADMSConsole defragmentation 10 hours prior to the scheduled SQL Maintenance plan.

	Defrag	SQL Maintenance
1 Vault Site Server in Workgroup1	Run Weekly on Saturday @ 0200	Run Weekly on Saturday @ midday
1 Vault Site Server in Workgroup2	Run Weekly on Saturday @ 0200	Run Weekly on Saturday @ midday
1 Vault Site Server in Workgroup3	Run Weekly on Saturday @ 0200	Run Weekly on Saturday @ midday

Note:

                The ADMS defragmentation only needs to be run from 1 Vault Site server in each Connected Workgroup.

"Vault Professional 2013 PLM 360 Extension" has been released

The Autodesk Vault Professional 2013 PLM 360 Extension - PLM 360 Sync - enables customers with Vault Professional 2013 on subscription with a one way synchronization of their Vault item master, complete with metadata and BOM structure, to designated Autodesk PLM 360 Workspaces in order to leverage the information as part of business processes.

To download it you will need to log into Subscription Center and go to the "Product Enhancements" section.

 

Troubleshooting Vault Professional for SAP Integration issues

If you encounter an issue with the SAP Integration for Vault Professional the first thing to do is to enable debugging in the "vault_sap_interface.xml" file.

This is located in this folder

C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Vault Professional 201x\Explorer\Extensions\Integration for SAP.

Edit this file with Notepad and change DEBUG="0" to DEBUG="1"

Then restart the Vault Client and reproduce the error.

Then in the SAP Integration click SAP>About

Click Export to XML

Name the log file as Debug (for example).

Error messages will appear in this debug file.

If you cannot find the solution to the error yourself, you will need to supply both the "vault_sap_interface.xml" and the debug file to Autodesk support for further investigation.

Vault Basic 2013 and Simulation Moldflow Installation Issue

After installing:

• Autodesk Moldflow Advisor 2013
• Autodesk Moldflow Insights 2013
• Autodesk Moldflow Synergy 2013

Then installing the Autodesk Vault Basic 2013 (Client) from the "\VaultClient\Vault_2013_English_Japanese_WIN_32bit_64bit.exe" file

 You can get this error.

"Installation cannot proceed because no qualifying CAD applications were found. Please ensure that one or more qualifying applications are installed before installing Autodesk Vault 2013"

Autodesk Vault 2013 Revit Integration Enhancement is now live.

This subscription extension provides enhancement to the Revit Integration for Vault Workgroup, Vault Collaboration, Vault Collaboration AEC and Vault Professional. These enhancements include functionality for better adding and managing Revit families, smarter "check-in" and "check-out" of Revit files using new Save to Vault and Open from Vault features, establishing linked files to Revit files within Vault, and downloading missing children. Additionally, the user experience is streamlined for working in a single file or worksharing environment.

You can download the "Autodesk Vault 2013 Revit Integration Enhancement" by logging into Subscription Center and clicking the Product Enhancements link.

Where Can I Download The "Autodesk Vault Professional 2012 Integration for Pro/ENGINEER"?

The "Autodesk Vault Professional 2012 Integration for Pro/ENGINEER", is one of the benefits given to customers who have purchased subscription for Autodesk Vault Professional.

To download the addin, login to Subscription Center. Click the "Product Enhancements" link and scroll down until you see the addin.

Log in and Log out of Autodesk Vault

Introduction to the Vault Interface

Introduction to Basic Vault Tasks

 

Advanced Configuration Guide for Vault 2013 is Now Published

The ACG for Vault 2013 has been posted here.

Vault 2013 Forward Compatibility

One significant new feature in Vault 2013 is the Forward Compatibility. In its simplest form, this allows any client, that can connect to Vault Server 2012, to connect to Vault Server 2013. (For more information see the Vault 2013 readme. Under “2013 Readmes”>Autodesk Vault <edition> 2013 Readme>Autodesk Data Management Server (ADMS)>Support for Prior Vault Clients and Add-Ins.

This greatly simplifies the task of upgrading to the next release of Vault. In the past if a new version of a CAD application was released and you were using Vault, before you could upgrade to the new CAD App release, you had to upgrade your Vault Server and all Clients simultaneously. If you didn’t, the clients would not be able to use Vault.

Now its possible to upgrade to the new release of Vault Server 2013 and upgrade the clients later as needed. Provided that the clients could connect to Vault Server 2012, they will be able to connect to Vault Server 2013 without needing to install anything new on them!

Here are two examples of how this might work.

First for CAD Addins.

At the top there is a client with

• Inventor 2010 SP4
• Vault Professional 2012 (Client) Update 1
• Inventor 2010 SP4 Client Update Patch for Vault Server 2012 Update 1

Because this client could connect to Vault Professional Server 2012, when the server is upgraded to Vault Server 2013, unless the CAD Administrator tells the user that the server has been upgraded, they should see no difference.

At the bottom is a client with

• Inventor 2010 SP4
• Vault Professional 2013

Although the Vault Professional 2013 client will install and will be able to connect to Vault 2013, the CAD ADDIN will not install for Inventor 2010 SP4.

Secondly for the Vault Clients

It is possible to install different releases of the Vault Professional Client on one computer.

The Vault Professional 2011 client will not connect to the Vault Professional 2013 Server.

The Vault Professional 2012 and the 2013 clients will be able to connect to the Vault Professional 2013 Server.

 

There are some caveats.

• New functionality available in Vault 2013 will not be available in older Vault clients and Add-Ins.
• Some functionality in a Vault 2013 client may not work when only an older version of the CAD application is installed or if an older version of the CAD application was last run. Running Inventor View 2013 or the 2013 version of the CAD application and then retrying the operation may resolve the issue.
• The edition of the client must match the edition of the server.

Autoloader Doesn't Upload BOM Information For AutoCAD Mechanical files

From the Vault readme....

"AutoCAD Electrical files, AutoCAD Mechanical files, and Mechanical Desktop files will all be uploaded to the vault as vanilla AutoCAD files. This may result in the loss of file relationships."

If you need to add multiple files from the above applications then you can use the "Check In Folder" command the AutoCAD(PulldownIcon)>Vault Server>Check In Folder

In Which Applications Can I Find the Autodesk Vault Add-in?

A full list of the desktop applications supported by Vault 2013 can be found on the Vault Wiki under

"In which Applications Can I Find the Autodesk Vault Add-in?"

Where Do I Find Instructions For Configuring the Autodesk Office SharePoint Server 2010 Integration?

Before being able to install Vault for SharePoint 2010, you would need to ensure that Microsoft Sharepoint 2010 is installed correctly.

If SharePoint Server is not installed you will see the above message.

"The product can not be installed, requires Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2010"

After installing SharePoint 2010, you can then install the "Autodesk Office SharePoint Server 2010 Integration".

Note that in the above screenshot, Vault Professional 2013 Server is not already installed or selected for install. Only the SharePoint integration will be installed. Separating Vault and SharePoint on different, dedicated servers, helps simplifiy the installation process, maintenance and troubleshooting)

Once installed, there are some configurations that need to be completed.

Instructions can be found in this document.

C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Vault for SharePoint 2010\Autodesk Vault for SharePoint 2010.pdf

A live version of this document can be found on the Vault Wiki here.