Libraries and remote login

[Anonymous]

Without sifting through hours of video - could someone in the know please advise:


ISSUE 1
For a TW2 file, must the libraries be server based libraries? Is it possible to have a mixture of local libraries and a job specific server based one?

Scenario#1: loading across the internet - if I must load AC13 default library + office standard library + our add-on libraries (Cadimage) across the internet - that is a huge load that could be avoided as it is already on (my) laptop. It would be great if I only need to load the project specific library across the "net".


ISSUE 2
For a TW2 file, can I login in the office, save out my workspace, take it home and then only have to sync the changes over the net?

If so this is great as I can significantly reduce internet traffic, as I do not have to download the whole project over the net!


The combination of the above two would be fantastic - question is - is it possible?

[Erika Epstein]

Chazz, stop whining and get your IT people up there.

[Chazz]

I don't whine.

I natter

[Steve Jepson]

Dennis wrote:
My employee was able to start using TW2.0 for work after 5 minutes of quick introduction. Besides the technical part of setting up the BIM server, the actual user's learning curve couldn't be any easier in my opinion.

Hats off to GS, great job and great release.

Yes. It works great and is very easy to install and use. EXCEPT if you want others to be able to sign in from outside of your local network.

Are others able to sign into your BIM Server projects from the internet?

[Holger Kreienbrink]

Your Server has to be accessable from the outside, therefor you ´need a static IP.
GS has made a good archicadwiki about it.
http://www.archicadwiki.com/Teamwork

[Karl Ottenstein]

Holger wrote:
Your Server has to be accessable from the outside, therefor you ´need a static IP.
GS has made a good archicadwiki about it.
http://www.archicadwiki.com/Teamwork

This is incorrect. While a static public IP is one method, a dynamic IP can be used equally well:

http://www.archicadwiki.com/Teamwork/BimServerRemoteConnection#Please_Note

Karl

[Dennis Lee]

Steve wrote:

Dennis wrote:
My employee was able to start using TW2.0 for work after 5 minutes of quick introduction. Besides the technical part of setting up the BIM server, the actual user's learning curve couldn't be any easier in my opinion.

Hats off to GS, great job and great release.

Yes. It works great and is very easy to install and use. EXCEPT if you want others to be able to sign in from outside of your local network.

Are others able to sign into your BIM Server projects from the internet?

Yes I can. Initially, I had my BIM server name use the "computer name", which worked fine within my office. I then wanted the option to access the BIM server from outside without a VPN connection, so I changed the server name to MYCOMPANY.dyndns.org, and did all the necessary things as mentioned in the WIKI article.

The hosts file setting in the local computers was very easy. The hardest part for me was the PAT step, because my network is set up like this:

DSL modem --> SBS 2003 Server --> Router /Switch --> Workstations

For me, the PAT had to be done from within the Server management settigns within the SBS 2003 instead of the router. After I set up all the 4 ports to point to my local workstation that has the BIM server running, everything works great.

On a side note, I shared a project in the beginnng using the VPN connection with the "Computer Name" as the BIM server name, which I was able to download and open from home.

After I changed the name of the server to the XXX.dyndns.org, which esentially is the same computer, same BIM server with just a different name, I was not able to access any of the alrady uploaded BIM server libraries when I connected via the internet w/o the VPN. I had to re-share the project with the XXX.dyndns.org named server, in order for me to access the BIM libraries from the internet.

Long story short, the "Name" of the server is very important! Once you share the project using one name, it's impossible to change the server name / address and continue working from outside with the BIM server libraries.

All of this of course, is in the WIKI article already.

[Karl Ottenstein]

Dennis wrote:
After I changed the name of the server to the XXX.dyndns.org, which esentially is the same computer, same BIM server with just a different name, I was not able to access any of the alrady uploaded BIM server libraries when I connected via the internet w/o the VPN. I had to re-share the project with the XXX.dyndns.org named server, in order for me to access the BIM libraries from the internet.
...
All of this of course, is in the WIKI article already.

Hi Dennis,

Congrats on getting things going, particularly with your (new to me) setup with a server between the DSL modem and the router.

What you did above worked, but it is not necessary to re-share the project. It is only the libraries that are an issue if one changes the name of the server - since the server name is part of the library path. It is enough to just go into Library Manager, reserve the server libraries so that you can edit, remove the existing server libraries (probably not there anyway), and then browse to the new-name for the server and add the libraries back to the project. Release, and send changes.

Congrats again - good to hear a success story!

Karl

[Dennis Lee]

Hi Karl, thanks.

How the TW handles the library is still a bit of a mystery to me. From the office computers, even when I had changed the name of the server, the project and the libraries loaded fine. However from home, since the server name changed, although I could open the project file from the new server name, all the libraries just would not load. I know that the libraries were downloaded into the local c: drive in folders called LIBC or LIBC_0 or something like that, but it just won't give me access to them. In the library manager all the libraries were listed as "Unavailable".

Since the computers at work had no problem using the BIM server libraries, I didn't dare to "remove" any library at all from home and risk coming to the office to find out that the libraries were gone from the office workstations.

I think part of the confusion I had was between the two library dialogs, one from the traditional "Library Manager", and the extra "Manage BIM Server Libraries". In my previous case, I could see the libraries in the "Manage BS Libraries", but they were "Unavailable" in the "Library Manager". Another weird thing was the fact that the work computers had access to the libraries even after the server name change. Is this because I changed the "hosts" file on them???

Anyway, since I only shared only one project (which is all that I have in this economy - still much better than nothing ), I was able to share it again w/o much trouble.

With TW2, it really is a joy to work in a collaborative environment . Even for a 2 person firm like me, it's like day and night - I can't imagine the productvity increase for bigger firms with more people working on each project. I think all the hype from Laiserin and GS really has a lot of merit to them.

[Karl Ottenstein]

Dennis wrote:
I think part of the confusion I had was between the two library dialogs, one from the traditional "Library Manager", and the extra "Manage BIM Server Libraries". In my previous case, I could see the libraries in the "Manage BS Libraries", but they were "Unavailable" in the "Library Manager". Another weird thing was the fact that the work computers had access to the libraries even after the server name change. Is this because I changed the "hosts" file on them???

Hi Dennis,

I agree that it is confusing ... and the sum total of all of the configuration steps can be daunting, at least when providing for external (internet) access. The good news is that once you get it working, then you're done being a computer tech and can get back to being an architect. 🙂

The reason you saw the libraries from home via Manage BS Libraries is that that dialog logs onto the server and sees whatever libraries are loaded there - regardless of how you reached the server. That is, you could reach the BS via a local IP in the office such as 192.168.1.122 or a computer name such as LeeMacPro and see the same thing. Given that you have set up a dynamic host name such as myfirm.dyndns.com and edited your hosts file in the office, you can access the server by that name as well.

From home, your only option to access the server is via the myfirm.dyndns.com name - which from home uses a DNS to find the public IP for the office network and reaches through your port forwarding etc to get to the server.

How Library Manager sees the libraries is (totally?) different.

For a linked library in a solo project, Library Manager stores a path from your hard disk or local network to each loaded library and library part. If the library or part is no longer at that location, it will show as missing.

Similarly, Library Manager stores a path to any BS libraries (whether for a solo or a TW2 project). That path includes the name or IP address used to access the library.

So, if you added a library in the office by browsing using Lib Mgr to your server via the local IP address (192.168.1.122 in my example) or the local machine name (LeeMacPro in my example) ... then that number or name is part of the stored path for finding the library. While it will work on any office computer on your LAN ... it can never work over the internet (unless you use VPN - since that is the same as being on your LAN).

That is most likely the reason that the libraries showed as "missing" at home, even though you saw them from home in the Manage BS Libraries dialog. The libraries were indeed on the server, but the path to them, stored in the TW2 file, was a path that would not work outside of the office.

The solution from home, which would have had no effect on people in the office - assuming that their hosts files were all edited - is to just remove the libraries from Lib Mgr, and then reserve Lib Mgr (green light), use the flyout menu to browse to the server, accessing it via the myfirm.dyndns.com name, and add the libraries back into the project. Release and send/receive. The path stored for the libraries will now use the 'public' name (myfirm.dyndns.com) which will work anywhere.

Alternatively, those same steps could be taken in the office to get the proper global paths to the libraries stored in the project. The difference is that in the office, the libraries would appear OK - but you would remove them in Lib Mgr anyway and then add them back making sure that you access the server using the name myfirm.dyndns.com.

[I'm writing this in some detail to help others also... So, anyone who has a static public IP address would use that IP address in lieu of the myfirm.dyndns.com thing above.]

I wish it was all a little easier, but again, easy once you get it going. One trick to avoid any future problems is to make sure that, in the office, you delete any references to your server that use its LAN IP address or machine name so that you don't accidentally access it by those names in the future.

Glad you have at least one client. 😉 Better than me!

Regards,
Karl

[MMontgomery]

Would a VPN created with Hamachi work?