Vault Basic Server

[Anita Damelio]

Thefirst thing we want to look at is where we are going to host our Vault. This will have to be a separate machine that meets the system requirements outlined by Autodesk. The requirements shift from year to year but can be found through the Autodesk article below:

What we want to look at are the Hardware specs, Windows Operating System, and SQL Server version. However, we need to make sure that the machine we plan to use can handle hosting Vault. It should be able to manage the traffic that will come from users checking in and out files.

Once we confirm that the hardware meets our system requirements, we should ensure that SQL and Windows OS also meet our requirements as well. This will ensure that we can install Vault Basic Server without any errors.

In the case of SQL Server, there are a few options that we can go with: Express, Standard, and Enterprise. If we are implementing Vault Basic for the first time, we can use SQL Express. This free version of SQL will allow the Vault Database to grow up to 10 GB before it needs upgrading to Standard or Enterprise (Paid Versions). Once the decision on the type of SQL has been reached, we can move on to step 2 and get the software installed.

Before we install Vault server, there are some steps that we must go through that will make the installation goes smoother. We need to install Internet Information Services (IIS) on the Server, the article below outlines the steps to install IIS on Windows Server 2012 or 2016:

IIS can be installed by the Vault Service installation process automatically. However, we recommend installing it before the Vault server to avoid multiple reboots of the machine before the final installation.

Once IIS is installed, we install the version of SQL that was established in step 1. The process to install SQL is standard whether it is Express, Standard or Enterprise. The following link goes through the process of installing SQL for Vault 2017. The only different between these instructions and the ones that will be used to install on your new environment will be the supported versions of SQL. The reason is that we decided this in step 1 we can skip down to the installation steps.

After the required software in Autodesk Vault Basic is installed, we can move on to the Vault server. The installation media is available through the manage.autodesk.com portal. The Contract Manager or Software coordinator for your company will have access to software downloads.

With the installation media downloaded, we can start the installation of Vault Basic. The first thing we do is to run the System Pre-Checks. Running the Pre-Checks before the installation allows us to address any issues that are present before we run the installation.

The installation runs its own pre-checks but just like the installing IIS and SQL beforehand, running the pre-checks first allows us to address them before inputting any information through the installation process.

After installing ADMS, we can create a Vault that will be used in our environment by our users. By default, there is an Administrator account with a blank password that can be used to set up the Vault and add new users. The link below goes over the crucial step of creating a Vault in a new environment and setting up a Vault project file. It will allow full functionality in the Vault Client. Not only does it go over the initial creation of this workflow, but it also goes over the recommended workflow when working with Inventor in Vault.

The final step we have is to add the users that will work in this environment. We want to make sure that each user is identifiable in the Vault environment. Hence, we recommend using a username format that may be familiar to the users. In many cases this would be the same format as their company email or a FirstInitial.LastName format. Whichever format is chosen, we want to ensure it is consistent across all users. This process is done through the ADMS, Tools -> Administration -> Manage Users

After adding our users, we want to make sure they have the necessary permissions to do their jobs in Autodesk Vault Basic. Our recommendation for configuring these permissions is to do it through Groups in Vault. You can create them in a similar way that you create users. However, a group cannot be created and left empty. Therefore, we recommend you create your users first and then place them in a group they belong.

Working with groups makes managing the roles of each group and user easier. If you need to change for a user, you just need to add them to the appropriate group or edit the permissions for the group.

KETIV prides itself on the guidance, technology and support that we offer our customers. This article will help many of our customers get started in their journey using Vault and KETIV is here to make sure that the journey as is as smooth as possible. Check out our Autodesk Virtual Academy Session on this topic here! Or you can read our blogs here.

This is a comment I left in one of you nice videos in youtube with no reply so far. Since it has to do with the above Vault presentation article, I dared to post it here, in case is more visible to you, Thanks a lot.

Thanks for this nice and interesting video

Could you please recommend best practice in the following upload non-native Vault project to Vault scenario:

Nowadays we have a bunch of old projects outside Vault with the same folder structure than the ones we are nowadays checking in since we had Vault installed back in 2018. This means that under a parent folder for the project, both types have a folder for assemblies, a second for parts, and a third for drawings. The only difference in their file structure is a folder in the old projects where commercial pieces were being placed every time we needed it. In that way, the very same standard piece could be found in the same folder of those several old projects. At the present time, most of these parts are still valid in new projects, but since Vault has the chance to reuse recurrent pieces by building a library with them, we place them from a library folder tree into new assemblies.

If we would make up our mind to proceed to check-in most relevant non-vaulted projects into Vault to improve their reusability, we would find each time, an average of 500 occurrences from 80 standard pieces that nowadays keep the same name in the library and could be located by a more or less deep browsing. Estimation for an average of pieces that would find their names changed nowadays and need to be pointed manually in the library could round 150 occurrences from 30 different pieces each time.

Do you think Autoloader would prove in this scenario a better tool for this purpose than Vault Server Check-in project tool from Inventor file menu?

What would be the differences in doing that with one or the other way?

The vault server (ADMS) is necessary and the file server (AVFS) is optional. The file server is useful in cases where you have a remote office - it speeds up upload and download of files by caching them locally. It sounds like you really only need ADMS (vault server) in your situation.

I am not very familiar with question of what media has what installation. Any version of Inventor entitles you as a vault basic user - I believe vault client does come on that media. Regarding the server, you may need to go to the subscription center to download ADMS if it is not on the media.

We currently have a Windows 2012 server on premises, which has 1 client connecting to it. As part of an IT project, there is a requirement to move the server to the cloud (AWS), which we believe we are licensed for.

I have a question around latency and the way Vault Basic manages its files - Does the vault copy the entire model to the client cache, allow the user to edit the assembly, then copy the entire model back to the Vault or does it only copy back the changes made to the assembly?

You cannot use Vault Basic in a cloud hosted environment. It is against the EULA as it is not a licensed product. Only Vault Workgroup and Vault Professional are allowed to be used in a cloud hosted environment with Autodesk permission. Please connect with your Autodesk Partner\reseller for assistance.

I assume the only way to have a server in the cloud and a client on premises is to upgrade the Vault to Workgroup or Pro? As we only have 1 client, and no backup solution when the Vault Basic Server is decommissioned - is there another solution we can look at?

If no server available onsite I would set up the Vault Basic Server on the local client, with a scripted vaultbackup run every night to a local folder. The local folder can then be replicated to the cloud for offsite backup.

My company is currently running 8 Inventor users and 5 AutoCAD Electrical users off of a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device (apparently not a good one either). To say things are slow is putting it nicely and after running a few simple tests opening a large drawing from a few different network and local storages I've convinced management there is an issue. It took 360 seconds to open from the NAS, 100 seconds from a more traditional server, and 10 seconds from my local SSD storage.

Anyone on the forums have their hands in hosting their engineering data? I'm the resident computer geek in engineering but I haven't dealt with "real" servers and business grade hardware before. So if anyone could share their file hosting specs or give suggestions to keep bottlenecks to a minimum I'd appreciate it.

With my knowledge I'd currently push for a decent Xeon processor, 32gb+ ram, fast storage array, and multiple network ports. I think something along those lines could serve files to a dozen or more people without bottle necking.

I would start by reading the linked document fully. It gives the requirements and some recommendations for selecting both the server and the workstations required to run any version of Vault. You mentioned 12 people using the Vault at the same time. If this is the case you will HAVE to make sure your are running a fully copy of Microsoft SQL, Express will not work effectively with this number of users at the same time. Forget about multiple network adapters, the Vault server must be on the same domain as the Vault clients, you only need on network card. One thing to also remember, a server full backup may include a backup of the Vault but DO NOT use it to replace a regular scheduled Vault backup. Virtual servers are also supported by Autodesk Vault and they have some very unique advantages.

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