Cracking the Vault

The CHECK_POLICY and CHECK_EXPIRATION options cannot be turned OFF when MUST_CHANGE is ON.

When trying to "Add Workgroup", after entering the Replication Credentials, appeared this message in the User Interface.

The CHECK_POLICY and CHECK_EXPIRATION options cannot be turned OFF when MUST_CHANGE is ON.

 

In the ADMS Console running from the Publising Workgroup, was this entry.

2/02/2013 2:50:22 AM Connectivity.Application.VaultManager.ServiceException: The CHECK_POLICY and CHECK_EXPIRATION options cannot be turned OFF when MUST_CHANGE is ON. ---> System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: The CHECK_POLICY and CHECK_EXPIRATION options cannot be turned OFF when MUST_CHANGE is ON.
   at Connectivity.Core.Database.TransactionContext.OnSqlException(SqlException e)
   at Connectivity.Core.Database.SqlAccess.ExecuteNonQueryInternal(SqlCommand cmd)
   at Connectivity.Core.Database.SqlAccess.ExecuteNonQuery(CommandType commandType, String commandText, Int32 commandTimeout, SqlParameter[] commandParameters)
   at Connectivity.Core.DataAccess.DatabaseSecurity.CreateDatabaseLogin(DatabaseUser databaseuser)
   at Connectivity.Core.BusinessLogic.WorkgroupBL.Create(String sqlServer, String description, String sauser, String saPassword, String agentUser, String agentPassword, String Label)
   at System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.Message.Dispatch(Object target, Boolean fExecuteInContext)
   at System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.StackBuilderSink.SyncProcessMessage(IMessage msg, Int32 methodPtr, Boolean fExecuteInContext)
   --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
   at Connectivity.Application.VaultManager.AddWorkgroupCommand.AddWorkgroup(String remoteServerName, String remoteWorkgroupName, String remoteSQLServerUser, String remoteSQLServerPassword, String remoteWindowsUser, String remoteWindowsPassword, Boolean useDefaultPassword, String workgroupLabel)
   at Connectivity.Application.VaultManager.AddWorkgroupCommand.AddWorkgroup(AddWorkgroupForm form)

 

This happened because the VaultSys account on the Subscriber  was not correctly configured and suffered from a Microsoft UI bug.

On the Subscriber it was necessary to run this Query, afterwhich the problem went away.

ALTER LOGIN VaultSys WITH PASSWORD='%DefaultVaultSyspwd%'

Error message "The selected file did not contain any mappable properties" on specific Inventor File

You find yourself in a situation where Vault can´t read properties anymore from an Inventor file.

Symptoms are for example that you can´t map any properties anymore with this file.
If you import properites from Vault and pick this file you get this error message:

"The selected file did not contain any mappable properties"
If you try to import from a file you get this error:

"Unexpected Error"

If you open the file in Inventor it looks ok.

Usually the problem is caused by some corrupted or incorrect UDP names or UDP values in Inventor.

To find the property which is causing the issue you need to perform some trial and error.

You need to delete every property one by one and check if the problem reoccurs or not.

Please be aware that multiple UDPs can cause the issue.

If you could identify the properties which cause the issue you can try to modify their names and values to understand if the issue is the property name or property value.

A know issue is for example if you have a property name with the German character "ß". This could cause problems reading the properties properly from Vault.

SP1 of Vault 2013: What does it include?

Usually a servicepack such as SP1 for Vault 2013 cotains all previous hotfixes.

However this applies only for global hotfixes (something which is fixed for all Vault languages).

Hotfixes which only applies to a specific localized Vault environment (such as German, English, French, Italian etc.) are usually not part of the a servicepack!

Esepecially this German hotfix Unable to invoke the Vault Log In dialog from Inventor Task Scheduler is not part of Vault 2013 SP1!

So if you experience the problem in German Task Scheduler which was described in the previous blog post after installing SP1 of Vault 2013 please make sure you apply this hotfix.

Cannot drop the database 'databasename' because it is being used for replication

Problem.

 

Trying to delete a database from the ADMS Console resulted in this error.

 12/01/2013 3:22:58 PM Connectivity.Application.VaultManager.ServiceException: Cannot drop the database 'TEST' because it is being used for replication. ---> System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: Cannot drop the database 'TEST' because it is being used for replication.
   at Connectivity.Core.Database.TransactionContext.OnSqlException(SqlException e)
   at Connectivity.Core.Database.SqlAccess.ExecuteNonQueryInternal(SqlCommand cmd)
   at Connectivity.Core.Database.SqlAccess.ExecuteNonQuery(CommandType commandType, String commandText, Int32 commandTimeout, SqlParameter[] commandParameters)
   at Connectivity.Core.DataAccess.KnowledgeMasters.DropDatabase(String databaseName)
   at Connectivity.Core.Operations.DeleteBase.Execute()
   at Connectivity.Core.Operations.DeleteVault.Execute()
   at Connectivity.Core.Services.KnowledgeVaultService.DeleteKnowledgeVault(Int64 vaultId, OnProgressDelegate onProgress)
   at System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.Message.Dispatch(Object target, Boolean fExecuteInContext)
   at System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.StackBuilderSink.SyncProcessMessage(IMessage msg, Int32 methodPtr, Boolean fExecuteInContext)
   --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
   at Connectivity.Application.VaultManager.ProgressCommand.Execute()
   at Connectivity.Application.VaultManager.DeleteVaultCommand.OnExecute(ExplorerCommandContext context)

 

Solution 

USE [database]

EXEC sp_removedbreplication @dbname=[database]

GO

Cannot login to ADMS 2013 after installing SP1

Issue:

When trying to login to ADMS after installing Vault 2013 SP1, You are prompted with the SQL account login and password dialog for ADMS and cannot login using any known SQL Administrator account passwords.

 

Solution:

We discovered ESET Nod32 4.2.71.2 Anti-Virus was installed on the Server.

We removed this Anti-Virus from the Vault system, restarted the server then were able to successfully login to ADMS SQL account then administrator account.

The migration process initiated properly and completed successfully.   

 

Please see previous blog mention for ESET NOD32

IIS is not running as the default web server

Issue:

When applying Vault 2013 ADMS SP1 you receive the following error:

"iis is not running as the default web server"

 

Thi happens because the installer is not recognizing the new port number you have assigned to your IIS
service.

 

Solution:

Change port to port 80

IISRESET

re run SP1 installer

Change port
back to your custom port

Invalid object name 'dbo.sysmergesubscriptions'

Trying to Disable Workgroup Replication returned this error in the ADMS Console Log

17/12/2012 9:43:09 AM Connectivity.Application.VaultManager.ServiceException: Invalid object name 'dbo.sysmergesubscriptions'. ---> System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: Invalid object name 'dbo.sysmergesubscriptions'.
   at Connectivity.Core.Database.TransactionContext.OnSqlException(SqlException e)
   at Connectivity.Core.Database.SqlAccess.ExecuteNonQueryInternal(SqlCommand cmd)
   at Connectivity.Core.Database.SqlAccess.ExecuteNonQuery(CommandType commandType, String commandText, Int32 commandTimeout, SqlParameter[] commandParameters)
   at Connectivity.Core.BusinessLogic.WorkgroupBL.Database.RemovePublisher(String sqlPublisher)
   at Connectivity.Core.BusinessLogic.WorkgroupBL.DisableReplication()
   at System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.Message.Dispatch(Object target, Boolean fExecuteInContext)
   at System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.StackBuilderSink.SyncProcessMessage(IMessage msg, Int32 methodPtr, Boolean fExecuteInContext)
   --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
   at Connectivity.Application.VaultManager.KnowledgeMasterService.DisableWorkgroupReplication(String dbUser, String dbPass)
   at Connectivity.Application.VaultManager.ReplicationUtil.DisableWorkgroupReplication_DoWork(Object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)

Running this SQL Query indicated that even after disabling replication to subscribers, they were marked as being still replicated.

SELECT DISTINCT name, category
     FROM   master.dbo.sysdatabases
     WHERE ((category & 4) = 4)
   and databasepropertyex(name, 'Updateability') = 'READ_WRITE'
        and has_dbaccess(name) = 1

I don't know the circumstances that led to this behaviour, but to Workaround this I ran this Script against all the databases to overcome it. WARNING!!! DO THIS ONLY IF YOU ARE CERTAIN THAT THESE DATABASES SHOULD NOT BE REPLICATED TO ANY SUBSCRIBER.

Use <Vault>
sp_removedbreplication

Vault Server SP1 installation error.

I just had a rather odd Installation error whilst trying to apply "Autodesk Vault 2013 Service Pack 1 (Server).msp" on my laptop.

I neglected to take a screenshot of the error (my bad), however a MSI log file in the %TEMP% folder had the error I got on the screen. It contained simply....

IIS is not running as the default web server
=== Logging stopped: 13/12/2012  21:28:37 ===

The message sent me off in the completely wrong direction trying to check settings in the registry, searching the web for similar issues, none of which helped.

No VP Client could connect.

I started the ADMS Console and saw this error.

 

13/12/2012 21:32:45 *******************************************************************
Error: The connection to the database has been broken. Reattempting operation.
Exception: A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: TCP Provider, error: 0 - No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.)
Stacktrace:    at Connectivity.Core.Database.TransactionContext.OnSqlException(SqlException e)
   at Connectivity.Core.Database.TransactionContext..ctor(TransactionDatabase database, DatabaseUser databaseUser, Boolean transact)
   at Connectivity.Core.Database.TransactionBase.SetupTransactionContext(TransactionReqs transactionReqs, TransactionDatabase database, Nullable`1 databaseUser)
   at Connectivity.Core.DataAccess.LegacySystems.DetermineKVMName()
   at Connectivity.Core.DataAccess.LegacySystems.LegacyTransaction..ctor(TransactionReqs transactionReqs)
   at Connectivity.Core.DataAccess.SiteCompatibility.GetSiteCompatibilityWithKnowledgeMaster()
   at System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.Message.Dispatch(Object target, Boolean fExecuteInContext)
   at System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.StackBuilderSink.SyncProcessMessage(IMessage msg, Int32 methodPtr, Boolean fExecuteInContext)

13/12/2012 21:34:49 Unable to check the Autodesk data management server system state.  After closing this message box, you can press F5 to try again. 
If the error condition continues, contact your IT administrator.
__________________________

Operation failed:  System error.  Please contact your system administrator.

A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: TCP Provider, error: 0 - No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.)
13/12/2012 21:37:30 Operation failed:  System error.  Please contact your system administrator.
Connectivity.Application.VaultManager.ServiceException: A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: TCP Provider, error: 0 - No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.) ---> System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: TCP Provider, error: 0 - No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.)
   at Connectivity.Core.Database.TransactionContext.OnSqlException(SqlException e)
   at Connectivity.Core.Database.TransactionContext..ctor(TransactionDatabase database, DatabaseUser databaseUser, Boolean transact)
   at Connectivity.Core.Database.TransactionBase.SetupTransactionContext(TransactionReqs transactionReqs, TransactionDatabase database, Nullable`1 databaseUser)
   at Connectivity.Core.DataAccess.LegacySystems.DetermineKVMName()
   at Connectivity.Core.DataAccess.LegacySystems.LegacyTransaction..ctor(TransactionReqs transactionReqs)
   at Connectivity.Core.DataAccess.SiteCompatibility.GetSiteCompatibilityWithKnowledgeMaster()
   at System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.Message.Dispatch(Object target, Boolean fExecuteInContext)
   at System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.StackBuilderSink.SyncProcessMessage(IMessage msg, Int32 methodPtr, Boolean fExecuteInContext)
   --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
   at Connectivity.Application.VaultManager.KnowledgeMasterService.GetSiteCompatibilityWithKnowledgeMaster()
   at Connectivity.Application.VaultManager.ConfigUtil.InitializeSystemState()

SOLUTION

For some reason the AUTODESKVAULT SQL Service had not started since bootup!

Nothing to do with IIS or the web service. After starting SQL in the Services (and losing 10 minutes of my life that I will never get back again), Vault 2013 Update 1 was applied successfully.

 

 

SP1 of Vault 2013 and SP2 of Vault 2012 released

I am happy to announce that the SP1 for Vault 2013 and SP2 of Vault 2012 is now released!

Highlight besides many fixes is the reintroducing of Purge.

Please read the instructions in the readme carefully about Purge.

In the readme there is for example mentioned how to enable Purge and how to manually repairing references

Downloads:

Vault 2013 SP1                   Readme Vault 2013 SP1

Vault 2012 SP2                   Readme Vault 2012 SP2

Error 1405 Item Version Identified Incorrectly in the Item Master

If you select items in the item master in Vault Professional you may get this error message:

"Error 1405: Item version identified incorrectly. Please refresh and try again."

On the client try to delete/rename the file WorkingFolders.xml on your workstation.

You usually find this file under:

C:\Users\[YourUserID] \AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\VaultCommon\Servers\Services_Security_6_29_2011\localhost\Vaults\<YourVault>\Objects