Cracking the Vault

Limiting Users Connecting to A Vault Server

In some situations it is necessary to limit the numbers of Users connecting to a Vault Server.

 

This can be achieved in a number of ways, such as using different licence servers for each Vault Server. In this blog article, I am discussing Limiting Web Site Usage by throttling the number of Concurrent Connections.

In Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, on the Default Web Site, in the Advanced Settings, is an expandable node called "Connection Limits". there is a setting "Maximum Concurrent Connections", which in IIS 7.0, has a default setting of "4294967295". Enforcing a non-default setting requires an IISRESET.

Changing this value will limit the number of connections at anyone time to the Vault Server. When the limit is reached, a user will receive a message like this.

"The request failed with HTTP Status 503: Service Unavailable"

Notes 

Each Vault Client application will consume 1 connection. (Example 1 machine with 1x Vault Thick Client and 1x Inventor, runing and logged into Vault, will consume 2 connections)

Logged in but inactive clients release connections, which is then re-acquired following any client-server communication, such as browsing.

When mulitple users are connected to a Vault, the above error message will persist until the total number of connections to the Vault server drops below the defined limit, or the user logs into another Vault Server.

Vault Professional will poll the Vault Server every 5 minutes, see "Vault Licence Release Behaviour"

 

Monitoring Current Connections.

You can use the Windows Performanc Monitor to see the number of users who are connected to the Vault Server using the Web Service\ Current Connections Counter.

The instance selection will depend on if there are other websites running on the same server. For default Vault Server installations, selecting either the "_Total" or "Default Web Site" should be sufficient.

Auto Numbering Not Working for Inventor Drawings and Presentation Files?

You notice that although you have configured a Custom Numbering Scheme within the Vault Client, it doesn't seem to work for Drawings and Presentation files (.idw, .dwg, & .ipn).

By default, when you create these files, they will assume the name of the model file. So if you create a new file and the Custom Numbering Scheme creates the file name of 10001.iam, when you create a drawing from that file, it will give it the same prefix of 10001.idw.

However, if you need your Drawings a nd presentation files to use the Custom Numbering Scheme as well you will need to enable the "Generate file numbers for drawings and presentation files" in the Vault options. (see image below)

System.OutofMemoryException Messages

When trying to perform some commands from a Vault client, such as Copy Design, Pack and Go, Grid Population or Get\Checkout, you can sometimes receive an error like this:-

Exception of type 'System.OutOfMemoryException' was thrown.

This message occurs due to a limitation in the amount of memory that can be addressed by a 32-bit process such as Vault 2012 (or earlier). Autodesk is aware of this memory limitation and is exploring ways to overcome it.

The Server Log will display this message.

Exception(Inner): Exception of type 'System.OutOfMemoryException' was thrown.

The Windows Event Viewer may display errors afterwards depending on the IIS timeout settings, such as:-

Source: ASP.NET x.x.xxxxxx.x

Event ID: 1309

Exception information:

Exception type: HttpException

Exception message: Request timed out.

 

Some customers may experience this error for the time after upgrading, which may be attributed to various factors such as the introduction of newer and more complex functionality interactions between the Vault client and Vault Server. 

If you experience this error, we recommend that you try the following:-

1. Upgrade to Vault x 2012 Update 1 (where several improvements were made to better manage the 32-bit memory limitations)
2. Once, after applying Vault 2012 Update1, run "Update File References" and repeat until the process completes, successfully.
3. Re-organize files/folders into logical projects/products to avoid operations on large numbers of files.
4. Reduce the number of unnecessary columns displayed, especially Thumbnails (Right click on the column header> "Remove This Column")
5. Press F5 to refresh immediately prior to executing the command.Start
6. Start a new Vault Explorer session with no "Preview" or "Open in Window" memory cache history.

On the Vault Server itself,

1. Ensure that SQL has the latest supported service pack for the version of Vault being used.
2. Ensure that Vault Server is running the latest Service Packs and Hotfixes
3. Ensure the latest recommended SQL Maintenance Plan is configured and is scheduled to run regularly.
4. Analyse and address possible performance bottlenecks, such as Disk I\O, CPU and Memory.
5. Consider employing different strategies to reduce the impact. Such as limiting the number of connections to the Vault Server via licensing or IIS, Connection Limit Settings. (see this later blog posting "Limiting Users Connecting to A Vault Server" for one idea). Or adding additional Vault Server Sites using remote SQL (Not available in Vault Basic).
6. Removing any 3rd Party Bulk processing Addins, connecting to the Vault Server
7. Upgrade the Vault Server and Clients to a newer release. Vault 2013 is the first release to run the Application Pool as a 64 bit process and is large memory aware. It has many performance enhancing features, refer to the readme for more information.

UPDATE 25/4/2012

Vault 2013 has further improvements making this less likely to occur.

 

UPDATE 04/01/2013

Vault 2012 Update 2 reduces memory leaks and adds large memory awarenes

How To...Index IDE iFeature iProperties

If you need to index iFeature iProperties (.ide) in 2011, here is a handy tip.

On the server:-

Edit the "C:\Program Files (x86)\Autodesk\ADMS Professional 2012\Server\Components\ProviderConfig_Inventor.xml" file in Notepad.

If you need to read\write to the value from a Vault client, on the Vault Client

"C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Vault Professional 2012\Explorer\ProviderConfig_Inventor.xml"

Just add the ",.ide" file extension to the FileTypes Supported section.

BEFORE

AFTER

You will need to restart the web serrvice on the server (IISRESET). 

After restarting the webservice you will need to reindex properties to Index all Vaulted files or check new files in. The .ide file extension will then appear as a recognised Provider.

 

GetItemProperties() There is an error in the XML document.

When trying to Export Items over to SAP using the Autodesk Vault Professional 201x Integration for SAP, (RMB on the Item>SAP>Create SAP Material), you see this message.

GetItemProperties() There is an error in the XML document.

In the Vault-SAP Interface Log is the following error.

Error on checkOutDocument() 1003

and

Field 'Title (Item,CO)' not found!

This is caused because of a mismatch between the servers Web.config setting and the clients config setting. To mirror the setting in the server config file, this can be addressed by adding the following line in the "C:\Program Files (x86)\Autodesk\Vault Professional 2011\Explorer\Connectivity.VaultPro.exe.config". maxMimeParts="1024" serverMode="optional" />

Here is an example.

 

<microsoft.web.services3>
  <messaging>
   <maxMessageLength value="51200">
   </maxMessageLength>
   <mtom clientMode="On" maxMimeParts="1024" serverMode="optional" />
  </messaging>
  <security>
   <!-- Specifies the time buffer used by WSE to determine when a SOAP message is valid.
          set to the max of 24hr in seconds -->
   <timeToleranceInSeconds value="86400"/>
  </security>

Inventor 2011 SP2 Break Auto-Silent Login (UPDATED)

We have had reports from a couple of customers installing Inventor 2011 SP2, and using Windows Authentication, that it brings back the problem fixed by DL15651099. The issue was also reported on this blog here: Cracking the Vault

This issue is now addressed with Hotfix DL17369066

Implementing Redundant and Distributed Licensing Models On The Vault Server

Note. This article only applies to the following versions of Vault Server

• Autodesk Vault Server Workgroup
• Autodesk Vault Server Collaboration
• Autodesk Vault Server Professional

Vault Server supports multiple Licencing Models.

• Single Server
• Distributed Server
• Redundant Server

For the definition of the licensing models see the "Licensing, Registration & Activation" website.

By default, Vault Server is configured for the Single Server Model. This is defined in the LICPATH.lic file located in this folder

C:\Program Files\Autodesk\ADMS x 201x

(Where x denotes the version of Vault server being used)

To enable the Distributed or Redundant Server Models:-

1. On the Vault server, create a System variable called ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE.
2. Enter the names of the Servers preceded with an @ symbol and separated by a semicolon. Example "@SERVER1;@SERVER2;@SERVER3".
3. Restart the "World Wide Web Publishing Service" (IISRESET)

For more information on Network Licencing can be found in the Network Licensing Guide

Want to Know How Properties Work In Vault 2011 (or later)?

There is a very useful and informative document posted on the Autodesk Website that goes into great detail about how properties work in Vault 2011 (and later).

AUTODESK® VAULT 2011

PROPERTIES INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

Concepts and common administrative tasks are described in this paper. This paper is not a comprehensive description - complete details are available through Vault 2011 Help. Most of the features described are in all Vault 2011 products. However, some features are only available in the higher levels of the Vault product line.

The complete document is published here....

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=15948799&linkID=9261341

 

 

Procedure For Applying Vault Server Hotfixes in a Multi-Site and Connected Workgroup Environment

Traditionally, Vault Server hotfix readme's have not included precise steps to install the hotfix in a replicated (Filestore only and Filestore\SQL Replication environment. Since this was brought to our attention, we have started to include more detailed instructions in the newer hotfixes. We are planning to update the already published readme's and they should be the first point to look for the precise install instructions. However, in their absence, please follows these steps.

Hotfix Installation – applied to every Autodesk Data Management Server (ADMS).

1. Reset the web service by typing 'iisreset' at the command prompt.
2. Run tsxxxxxxx on the ADMS server to install the hotfix.
3. Repeat the preceding steps for every ADMS server.
4. Open ADMS Console and migrate all unmigrated databases and libraries before proceeding.
   1. NOTE: It is sufficient to utilize a single ADMS Console on;
      1. Multi Site (file replication)
      2. Connected Workgroup (file and SQL replication) on a Publisher Workgroup ONLY
5. Close the ADMS Console application.

Database Update – applied ONCE from one Autodesk Data Management Server (ADMS) as specified.

1. WARNING: DO NOT PROCEED until the hotfix has been successfully applied on ALL ADMS servers.
2. It is sufficient to utilize a single ADMS server on;
   1. Multi Site (file replication)
   2. Connected Workgroup (file and SQL replication) on a Publisher Workgroup ONLY
3. Open a command prompt and navigate to the installed location of Connectivity.ADMSConsole.exe.
4. Run ADMS b2bmigrate operation in command line mode:
   1. Example: Connectivity.ADMSConsole.Exe -Ob2bmigrate -VUadministrator -VPadmin_password -DBUsql_user -DBPsql_password
   2. NOTE: Replace 'admin_password' with the appropriate administrator password for the -VP switch.
   3. The last two command line parameters are required only if the 'sa' password is not the default password.
5. A 'migration successful' dialog will display when the b2bmigrate operation has completed.
6. Open the Autodesk Data Management Server console and begin a Rebuild Search Indexes.

 

Autodesk releases the Inventor 2010 SP4 compatibility patches for Vault 2012 and Vault 2011

Autodesk have just released the Inventor 2010 SP4 compatibility patches for Vault 2011 and Vault 2012

Autodesk Vault 2012

Autodesk Inventor 2010 Subscription Advantage Pack Service Pack 4 Client Update for Autodesk Vault 2012 Server Releases

Autodesk Inventor 2010 Service Pack 4 Client Update for Autodesk Vault 2012 Server Releases

 

Autodesk Vault 2011

Autodesk Inventor 2010 Subscription Advantage Pack Service Pack 4 Client Update for Autodesk Vault 2011 Update 2 (SP2) Server Releases

Autodesk Inventor 2010 Service Pack 4 Client Update for Autodesk Vault 2011 Update 2 (SP2) Server Releases