Autodesk Revit Server Installation, Configuration and Workflow Revised 12/6/2010

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Autodesk Revit Server Installation, Configuration and Workflow Revised 12/6/2010"

Alfred Glenn
5 years ago
Views:

Autodesk Revit Server Installation, Configuration and Workflow Revised 12/6/2010 The information contained in this document is time-sensitive as the technology and system requirements continually

1 Autodesk Revit Server Installation, Configuration and Workflow Revised 12/6/2010 The information contained in this document is time-sensitive as the technology and system requirements continually evolve. While D C CADD has made every attempt to validate all information, please verify and refer to the official Autodesk System Requirements posted on autodesk.com. Unless otherwise noted, all information applies only to the Autodesk 2010 versions. Please let us know at Support@dccadd.com if you spot an error in this document. Revit Server Overview Revit Server is a tool that enhances and improves collaboration over a WAN for geographically dispersed offices, and is free for active Subscription customers. It works for all three flavors of Revit: Revit Architecture, Revit MEP and Revit Structure. It comprises three main components: Central Server: A file server that hosts the central file for all locations on the WAN. Normally, however, users will not directly communicate with this server if it is not located in their physical location. Local Server: A file server installed in each physical location to which users synchronize. A copy of the central file is stored on this server. The Local Server will synchronize automatically with the Central Server in the background. Revit Server Add on for Revit: Allows for connection to the Revit Server from the Revit application. Once all components are installed and configured, the user will synchronize to a Central File stored on their Local Server, so that they are synchronizing across their own LAN. Once that is complete, the changes will be propagated up to the Central Server across the WAN, and then propagated to the rest of the Local Servers. In this way, synchronizing with the central file should not take any longer than it normally would in a completely LAN-based operation. The following image shows this relationship: Austin Dallas/Ft Worth San Antonio

2 Page 2 If the Central Server exists in the same LAN as a group of users, however, there is no need to install a Local Server in that location. Under this scenario, the Central Server serves as the Local Server for that location; the remaining locations will each have a Local Server installed in their locations that will synchronize with the Central Server across the WAN as shown in the following image: The second scenario shown above is probably the more truly typical of the two, and by allowing the Central Server to do double duty for that location, you can save the expense of an extra Local Server. Important Note: You must be on Subscription in order to use Revit Server. The Revit Server application can be downloaded for free from your subscription web site. Click the Download link under Product Enhancements then look for the Subscription Advantage Pack for Revit. On the next web page you will see a link for the Autodesk Revit Server Extension. You should also make sure that you have all current updates and service packs installed as well as the Subscription Advantage Pack for Revit before installing the Revit Server. In addition to the Revit Server application, you should also install and run Autodesk s Project Bluestreak on all workstations using Revit. The Worksharing Monitor (available on the Autodesk Subscription Website) is not compatible with Revit Server. Bluestreak will allow for real-time notifications and communication across the LAN and WAN in a worksharing project. You can download and install Bluestreak from Autodesk Labs for free at the following location:

3 Page 3 Revit Server Installation As indicated previously, there are three primary components that need to be installed for Revit Server, the Central Server, Local Server and Revit Server Add-in. Central Server and Local Server System Requirements: In general, a fairly powerful server and fast Internet connection are necessary to achieve acceptable results with Revit Server. It s all about performance. Specific requirements include: Windows Server bit. Revit Server has not been tested under any other environments. It will not install on a 32 bit system, and Windows Server 2008 R2 is NOT supported. 8 GB of RAM Hard Drive with a spindle speed of 7200 rpm and at least 3.0 Gb/s transfer speed Server-class (gigabit Ethernet or better) network Microsoft.NET 3.5 SP1 (The Revit Server installation will check for this, and if not present will install it automatically). Microsoft.NET 3.5 is not sufficient. Preparing the Revit Central Server and Local Servers for Installation Once the above system requirements have been verified on the Central and Local Servers, IIS version 7.0 for Windows Server 2008 must be installed and configured on all servers (it is strongly recommended that the following steps be performed with the assistance of the System Administrator or IT department): From the Start Menu, click All Programs -> Administrative Tools -> Server Manager 1. On the Server Manager, click Roles. 2. Under Roles Summary, click Add Roles. 3. Click Next to display the Select Server Roles dialog. 4. Select Application Server from the Roles list. Only click this role. Do NOT click Web Server (IIS). 5. Click Next twice to display the Select Role Services dialog for the Application Server role. 6. Select the Web Server (IIS) Support check box. You may be prompted to install additional role services and features. If so, click Add Required Features. 7. Expand Windows Process Activation Service Support and select TCP Activation. You may be prompted to install additional role services and features. If so, click Add Required Features. 8. Click Next twice to display the Select Role Services dialog for the Web Server (IIS) role. 9. Expand Web Server, and then expand Application Development. 10. Select ASP, CGI and Server Side Includes. (Make sure that you do NOT select ASP.NET by mistake.) 11. Expand Management Tools, and then expand IIS 6 Management Compatibility. 12. Select IIS 6 Scripting Tools. You may be prompted to install additional role services and features. If so, click Add Required Role Services. 13. Click Next to display the summary of selections. 14. Ensure that the following items are present in the summary of selections: TCP Port Sharing, TCP Activation, ASP, CGI, Server Side Includes and Non-HTTP Activation. 15. If the summary of selections is correct, click Install. 16. When the installation completes, click Close. Download the Server Installation Package and Revit Application Installation Package Revit Server includes two downloads the server installation and the application installation. These instructions will walk you through the process of downloading the both installation packages: 1. Log in to your subscription page. Click the Download link under Product Enhancements. 2. Locate and select the link for the Subscription Advantage Pack for your version of Revit.

4 Page 4 3. Click the link for the Autodesk Revit Server Extension. Note that there is also a link for the Subscription Advantage Pack. You should download and install that as well, if you have not already done so. 4. On the next page, download and save the Server Installation to a convenient location. It is recommended that you download the Server Installation to each server separately, as it is probably faster than copying it across the WAN. 5. Navigate back to the Subscription Advantage Pack download page and click the link for the Application Extension and save it to a location on your network that is accessible by all of your workstations. Central Server Installation Note: If your servers are behind a robust firewall and you ve chosen to disable the Windows firewall, you can skip to step 2 below. 1. Configure your server firewalls. Make sure that you have allowed ICMP requests this must be done for the Local as well as the Central servers. 2. Extract the revit_2011_ap_rss_win_001.exe file that was downloaded from the subscription web site. Setup.exe should launch automatically after the extraction is complete. If not, navigate to the extraction target folder and launch it manually. 3. On the Begin Installation page, click Configure. 4. On the Select Installation Location page, select the server location. 5. Click Browse to change the install location path if desired. 6. Select the location for the Revit project cache on the Revit Projects Directory. These locations need to be on a local drive, not a mapped drive or remote storage device. 7. Select the location for shared Revit projects on the Revit Projects Directory page. Again, this location needs to be on a local drive. 8. Click Configuration Complete. 9. Select Central Server on the Select the Server Type page. Installation and configuration of the Central Server is complete. It will run as a service whenever the server boots up. Local Server Installation Note: Remember, if you have Revit users in the same physical location (on the same LAN) as the Central Server, you do not need to configure a Local Server for that location. Those users can synchronize directly to the Central Server. The following needs to be done on each Local Server: 1. If you have a firewall enabled on your server, make sure that you have allowed ICMP requests. 2. Extract the revit_2011_ap_rss_win_001.exe file that was downloaded from the subscription web site. Setup.exe should launch automatically after the extraction is complete. If not, navigate to the extraction target folder and launch it manually. 3. On the Begin Installation page, click Configure. 4. On the Select Installation Location page, select the server location. 5. Click Browse to change the install location path if desired. 6. Select the location for the Revit project cache on the Revit Projects Directory. These locations need to be on a local drive, not a mapped drive or remote storage device. 7. Select the location for shared Revit projects on the Revit Projects Directory page. Again, this location needs to be on a local drive. 8. Click Configuration Complete.

5 Page 5 9. Select Local Server on the Select the Server Type page. Installation and configuration of the Local Server is complete. It will run as a service whenever the server boots up. Basic Permissions Setup for Revit Server Before configuring the workstations and beginning to work with Revit Server, you should establish the permissions for the Revit Server Administrator application on the Central Servers and Local Servers. While you can wait to do this until later, if you make changes to the permissions after establishing Central Files on the Revit Server, user access to those files will be limited and the will have to be recreated. For that reason, you should perform the following steps on the Central Server and the Local Servers before establishing your first real project in Revit Server. Important Note: Our experience in testing indicated that the Revit Servers must be on the same domain as the users before full permissions will be granted. Also, before beginning the process below, make sure you have Basic and Windows Authentication installed and that you have also installed the URL Authorization feature. 1. Click Start->Administration Tools -> Server Manager 2. In the left pane of the Server Manager, expand the Roles tree node. Select the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager node. 3. In the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, expand the tree node corresponding to the name of the server. 4. Expand the Sites node, then the Default Web Site node. 5. Select the RevitServerAdmin node. 6. In the Features View pane, double-click the Authentication icon. 7. Verify that the Basic Authentication and the Windows Authentication are set to Enabled. 8. Verify that Anonymous Authentication is set to Disabled. 9. Re-select the RevitServerAdmin node. 10. In the Features pane, double-click the Authorization Rules icon. 11. In the Authorization Rules pane, select and remove the All Users rule. This will restrict access to All users. 12. In the Actions pane, click Add Allow Rule. This is where you add specific users or groups to grant access permission to. 13. In the Add Authorization Rule dialog, do one of the following a. Select Specified Roles or user groups and enter the role/group to which you want to grant access. b. Select Specified Users and enter the specific users to which you want to grant access. Installation of Revit Server Extension for Revit Application Make sure, before installing the Revit Server Extension on the workstation that you have first done the following: Update Revit to Web Update 2. You will find the latest downloads for the various Revit products on the Autodesk web site. Download and install the Subscription Advantage pack from the subscription web site. From your subscription home page, click the Download link under Product Enhancements, then find the link for the Subscription Advantage Pack for Revit.

Page 6 Once you have ensured that your copy of Revit has been updated to Web Update 2 and you have installed the Subscription Advantage Pack, navigate to the location where the Application

6 Page 6 Once you have ensured that your copy of Revit has been updated to Web Update 2 and you have installed the Subscription Advantage Pack, navigate to the location where the Application Installation was saved previously and run revit_2011_ap_rsc-cea_win_001_mlp.msi. This should only take a few minutes to complete, after which your copy of Revit will be enabled to recognize Revit Server. Installation of Project Bluestreak Once complete, you are ready to begin working with Revit Server, however it is recommended that you first install Autodesk Project Bluestreak on all workstations first to enable real-time notifications and communication between project team members. You can download and install Bluestreak from the location shown on page 2 of this document. Don t forget to also install the applications listed in the Bluestreak applications gallery. In particular the Revit Activity Stream and the Bluestreak Desktop. Revit Server Workflow Once the Central File and Local Files have been established, working in a worksharing project with Revit Server is not significantly different from a day-to-day use standpoint than working in traditional worksharing environment. Establishing the Central File on the Revit Server Before you can save to the central/local server or open files from it, you first need to establish communications with it: 1. Launch the Revit Application. 2. From the Collaborate tab of the ribbon, click the drop down menu on the Synchronize panel. If this is not available, then the Revit Server Extension for the Revit application was not correctly installed. 3. Click Connect to Revit Server as shown in the following illustration. 4. In the next dialog box, enter the name of the Revit Server (the Local Server established for your location), then click OK. Once you have established communication with the Revit Server as described above, there will be a Revit Server shortcut in the File Open/Save dialog box. If you are creating a brand new central file from an existing Revit project that has not had worksharing enabled in it previously, the process is the same as if you were establishing it on your LAN without Revit Server. The only difference is that when you save the file after enabling worksharing, you save to your Local Server using the shortcut that is in your file dialog box. Once saved to your Local Server, it will automatically be propagated to the Central Server and the other Local Servers. Users can create their local files from their Local Servers and proceed to work as they normally would in any other worksharing envriornment. If you have an existing Central File that you want to migrate to the Revit Server, use the following process: 5. Open the Central File (or a Local File that has been synchronized with the Central File). Make sure to check Detach from Central as shown in the following illustration.

7 Page 7 6. Use the Save As command on the Application Menu to save the file to your Local Server (using the Revit Server shortcut in the file dialog box). 7. Close the file. The Central File should now be on the Central Server and all other Local Servers. Users can now create their Local Files. Note: If you have installed Bluestreak, including the Bluestreak Revit Plugin, the first time you synchronize your Local File to the Central File a dialog will appear as in the following illustration providing you with the opportunity to start sharing activities concerning this project on Bluestreak. It is recommended that you create or select a group to share with. The group should consist of your project team members. Once you initiate sharing with Bluestreak, notifications will be sent to all members of the group whenever you begin and end a Synchronize with Central operation.

8 Page 8 Using the Revit Server Admin Console You can use the Revit Server Admin Console to perform basic management tasks. To gain access to the console, bring up a web browser and enter the following in the address bar: where <ServerName> is the name of the server functioning as either a local server or the central server. If you were granted access rights during the installation and configuration of the Central Server then you should see a folder view of the models being managed on the Central/Local servers. You can lock them, delete them and move them using this console. It is important to use the console to perform those tasks, as the actual revit central files will not be named according to project name and will not reflect the same names as what is visible in the console. For more information on managing central files on Revit Server, refer to the Revit Server WIKI located at: You should check this site regularly; since it is a WIKI the documentation is frequently updated.

CM5708 Connecting the Dots: Implementing Autodesk Revit Server for Multi-Firm Collaboration

CM5708 Connecting the Dots: Implementing Autodesk Revit Server for Multi-Firm Collaboration Speaker(s) Nauman Mysorewala GBBN Architects Autodesk Revit Server provides much faster access to project data