Cracking the Vault

#16 Do... Apply the latest Vault Updates. Read the instructions in the readme

In the past Autodesk would release a Vault Hotfix for each issue that is discovered. This was a good strategy to get Hotfixes released to address specific issues that were affecting production. But the feedback we received from Administrators was that it was practically very difficult to roll these individually over multiple systems. So lately you may have noticed that many of the Hotfixes being released now for Vault x 2011 and 2012 are now cumulative. So a "Multi Issue Hotfix" should contain most (if not all) of the hotfixes that preceded it. There will still be Hotfixes released to address hot issues, but these should be consumed with the next Multi Issue Hotfix. There may also be the situation where a specific hotfix is released immediately prior to a Multi Issue Hotfix, but is not consumed within it. In that case, we just couldn't get it in, in time but didn’t want to delay a big patch that could help most users. You should look at the readme of the Multi issue Hotfix to see if the issue is listed or not. If it is not listed, it should be consumed in the next Multi Issue Hotfix.

 

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#15 Do...Add common Autodesk Filetypes to the domain Antivirus exclusion list.

When a file is created on a server running an Antivirus scanner. This will cause performance problems not only during the Check in\Add to Vault process, but also during the backup process. The problem is made worse still when the Filestore is remote from the Vault Server itself or if you backup to a remote share on another server. To avoid this add the following common Autodesk filetypes to the Antivirus exclusion list on all servers and clients. 

1. .dwg
2. .ipt
3. .iam
4. .idw
5. .ipn

Additionally, if you regularly Vault other filetypes, add those as well. (.doc, .xls, .ppt)

 

You can view all the best and worst practice blog posts by selecting the "Best Practices" or "Worst Practices" category in the right hand column of this site.

#14 Do... Prevent any environmental changes to the server once it enters production

This includes changes to the network, the hardware or software. It also includes any configuration changes to the Vault software itself, made via the ADMS Console or any Administration Vault or Global Settings made from a Vault Client. If changes are necessary, ensure that they are carried out on the test server first.

 

You can view all the best and worst practice blog posts by selecting the "Best Practices" or "Worst Practices" category in the right hand column of this site.

#13 Do... Turn off windows updates once the server enters production.

Once the Vault Server has been installed and passed any User Acceptance Tests, turn off Windows Updates. This prevents any unplanned changes being made to the system. Microsoft and other software vendors regularly release security updates. The best advice would be to isolate the Vault Server from any potential security risks by placing it behind a firewall. If it is necessary to apply the latest updates to the server, ensure that they are applied to the test server first to gauge their impact

Error 1328 Vault 2012 Update 1 Civil 3D 2012 Error

A new Vault 2012 Update 1 issue has been identified with this combination of products:

• German Operating System
• German Autodesk Civil 3D 2012
• German Autodesk Vault Collaboration 2012

 

Fehler 1328. Fehler beim Andwenden eines Patches auf die Datei C:\Config.Msi\<XXXXX>.tmp. Die datei wurde wahrscheinlich bereits anderweitig aktualisiert end kann durch diesen Patch nicht modifiziert werden. Wenden Sie sich an den Hersteller des Patches, um weitere Informationen zu erhalten

The problem this time is with the following file:-

"C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD Civil 3D 2012\Connectivity.Proxies.utils.dll"

We appreciate your patience as we work towards addressing this issue

#12 Do...Regularly restore your backup to the test system.

Regularly restore backups from your production Vault Server to:-

1. Test the validity of the Vault backup (to check that there are no restore errors and to check that all the files are present). One recent support scenario revealed that although regular Vault Backups were being taken and the backup validation completed successfully, each file in the Filestore was immediately quarantined then deleted by the Antivirus checker. This continued unnoticed for months until a catastrophic event on the Vault Server prompted the need to use the last known “good” backup. (It was discovered that a Vault backup that should have been 100GB in size was just 1GB as the backup Filestore was empty.)
2. To familiarize yourself with the process and to understand how long it will take to copy and restore data to and from your production Vault Server.

#11 Don't... Use a proxy server for internet traffic.

Unless you understand how to re-configure Vault as per the Advanced Configuration Guide for Vault, don’t use a Proxy server for Internet traffic.

#11 Do...Formulate a disaster recovery plan that addresses your business needs.

Disaster is not a dirty word. In fact, preparing for the worst can keep you competitive. Questions that need to be answered are:-

1. How much would it cost per day if the Vault Server suddenly stopped working?
2. What would happen if the Vault Server was no longer available to clients?
3. What steps do you need to go through to get a Vault Server up and running with the latest ADMS Console backup.
4. How long will it take to get Vault Server back up and running again in an emergency?

How To... Assign Items to Multiple Files With The Same Part Number

If you are trying to Assign Items to files that share the same Part Number you may have noticed a peculiar behaviour. Consider the following Assembly...

When you assign Items in Vault Professional 2012, using the "Auto-select first duplicates" option you can see this result.

Notice that the last Item Number for the 444.ipt file, will be replaced another Item Number, 100001. But 100001 will be replaced with Item Number 123456, causing a cyclic relationship. Indeed, if you click Finish at this point you will get this message.

#10 Don't... Make direct changes to the databases unless guided by Autodesk.

Direct access and editing of the Vault database is not supported. Autodesk can provide no assistance once it has been established that the database has been modified manually. This rule also applies to the server file store.

 

All access to the Vault server data must go through the Web Service API. If it is not possible to achieve the desired functionality through the API, it should be assumed that it is outside Vaults design parameters and therefore not supported. In this situation you can log a Support Request and ask for this to be supported in a future version.

 

Here are some examples of prohibited actions:

• Adding rows to a Vault table
• Updating rows in a Vault table
• Adding or updating triggers to Vault tables
• Adding or updating Vault stored procedures
• Adding or updating Vault table constraints
• Adding tables to a Vault database
• Adding columns to a Vault table
• Replacing a file in the file store
• Deleting anything in a Vault database or file store
• Using SQL Management Studio to manually Attach, Delete, Backup or Restore Vault or Vault Library databases to the AUTODESKVAULT instance.
• Modifying users or security in the AUTODESKVAULT SQL instance
• Adding another database to the AUTODESKVAULT SQL instance.

 

Making changes to replicated environments is not supported unless executed from the ADMS Console.

 

Database maintenance actions are allowed.  These commands include re-indexing, and backup. Autodesk does not recommend Defragmenting any of the database within the AUTODESKVAULT instance for performance reasons.

#10 Do...Optimise the Vault backups using Windows Task Scheduler .

When you configure a scheduled task in Windows, by default the priority is set to low (Priority 7). You can reduce the time it takes to create a ADMSConsole Backup by increasing the priority to 3 or 4 See “Improving Time to perform a Vault Server Backup”

This Vault database has not been configured for use with Civil 3D

When trying to log in to a licenced Vault Server, you get this message:-

 

Please have the administrator import the required configuration. More information can be found in Help under the Project Management section.

In German

Diese Vault-Datenbank wurde nicht für die Verwendung mit Civil 3D konfiguert.

Bitten Sie den Administrator, die erforderliche Konfiguration yu importieren. Weitere Informationen finden Sie in der Hilfe unter Projektverwaltung.

This happens becasue the configuration file to enable the Civil 3D features has not yet been imported intothe ADMS Console.

To quote the Vault x Readme

When using Vault Workgroup, Collaboration, or Professional with AutoCAD Civil 3D, a configuration file must be imported into every Vault database which will be accessed from a Civil 3D client. The configuration file is named Civil3D_Vault_Configuration.cfg and can be found in these locations:

• On 32-bit Operating Systems: C:\Program Files\Autodesk\ [ADMS Release] \Custom Configuration.
• On 64-bit Operating Systems: C:\Program Files (x86)\Autodesk\ [ADMS Release] \Custom Configuration.

#9 Don't... Use a network shared folder for the clients workspace.

Before implementing Vault, a common practice was to configure a user’s workspace to point to a network share. The main reason for this was to ensure that their files were regularly backed up. This had a negative impact on the users productivity performance as well as increasing overall network activity. With Vault this practice is unnecessary. If all files are routinely checked into Vault, at least at the end of the working day, if not more frequently, the regular Vault Server backup should negate the main reason for saving files regularly over the network.

#9 Do... Regularly check the Backup Log files.

Every time that the Vault is backed up via the ADMS Console, it’s possible to configure a running log file with the “-L” switch. If any errors start appearing that you do not understand, it may result in restoring the last known good Vault Server backup. How often the backuplogs are checked depends on the needs of the business.

Access Problems on Autodesk FTP Site

If you have a case with Autodesk it is sometimes necessary to open an FTP connection if you are asked to transfer very large files to Autodesk.

From time to time we get the message that our customers/partners can´t access the FTP site.

In rare scenarios there is something that needs to be done from the IT of the customer to allow this FTP connection.

However usually the reasons for this issue are multiple tools or methods are used to open the FTP connection.

In this short Video I am showing a short, simple method how to open the FTP connection via Windows Explorer:

 

Problems vieiwing this video? Click here http://www.screencast.com/t/2uXO4fFck5zW

 

Steps in Words:

1. get the email from Autodesk about the FTP connection

2. copy the link ftp://apsportal.autodesk.com/[XXXXXX]/ into Windows Explorer and execute (press enter)

3. an error message pops up that you won´t have access to this site

4. In Windows Explorer menu go to File - Login As (a log in dialog pops up)

5. Copy the User name of your email to the User name of your log in dialog

6. Copy the Password of your email to the Password of your login dialog

7. Press Log On

Now you should be connect successfully to our FTP site and you can now copy the files just via drag and drop to our FTP site