Discovering SOLIDWORKS PDM Web2.0
Written by: Wayne Marshall
Published: Nov 14, 2022
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Do you have team members who would benefit from access to the data in your PDM Vault but are excluded from the desktopclient because they use macOS or even Linux (Ubuntu) based hardware? If that is the case then the SOLIDWORKS PDM Web2.0 client may be the solution. Web 2.0 provides a robust, multi-platform interface to PDM via most web browsers and although most commonly used within a company’s network, can also be configured as a secure website to allow external users / field engineers, controlled access to PDM data.
Figure 1| Embedded eDrawings Preview with full UI
Web2.0 is included with SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional and can be accessed using either a web or a viewer license noting that a web license is essentially interchangeable with each CAD editor, contributor, or universal license you have available to you.
Web2.0 allows you to dynamically access your SOLIDWORKS files using the main web browsers (Edge, Chrome etc.) without loading plug-ins., meaning MacOS and Ubuntu users can view, upload and interact with Data using their preferred platforms whilst mobile users, who also have the eDrawings App installed can view data and participate in workflows wherever they are.
Figure 2| Change Workflow State with Web2.0
Figure 3| View File History in Web2.0
Watch an overview of Web2.0 viewer on desktop
Discover a quick demo of Web2.0 on a mobile phone
Web2.0 Installation Overview
The diagram above shows the typical infrastructure of a PDM Professional installation which includes Web2.0 and where the website will be accessed as an ‘intranet’ (within the LAN/WAN). Below you will find a high-level overview of the steps required to Install / configure Web2.0 in this way. Please note that there are detailed instructions in the SOLIDWORKS PDM Installation Guide, and you should always refer to the correct version of the guide for the version of PDM you are installing in order to determine any version specific pre-requisites / options for that installation. Simply change the ‘year’ in the URL below to grab the relevant document.
Steps to Install/Configure Web2.0 in ‘intranet’ Style
- Verify prerequisites are met including the installation of IIS, if required.
- Install Web2.0 Server software with a PDM Client
- Modify the Web.config file
- Create a local vault view on the Web server
- Identify or create a Windows User account that will be used for the application pool identity
- Identify / Create a local admin user on the server that will be used as the Web2.0 application account (Disable password policy rules if you do not want to have to reset the password regularly)
- Log in to the server using the user defined in step(a)
- Log in to the local vault view with ‘any’ PDM user (Admin is fine)
- Browse to any file and ‘Right click’ over it before dismissing the pop-upmenu and instead previewing the file to confirm installation is complete.
- In IIS, change the Application Pool identity used for the Web2.0 website to instead execute using the windows account defined in step(4)
- Test operation of Web2.0 on the server (us the “Browse *.80 (http)” command from within IIS)
- Log In as PDM User
- Locate / View any file to confirm setup
- Test on another PC / Device within the network. The default URL is “ servername /SOLIDWORKSPDM” where “ servername ” is the name of the Web2.0 server.
For Customers also wishing to access Web2.0 using the internet, it is possible to configure the webserver to use SSL, attach a valid security certificate (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/324069/how-to-set-up-an-https-service-in-iis) before exposing the webserver externally using a redirect with the helpof your ISP.
The diagram below illustrates the architecture in a typical ‘WWW’ based implementation with the standalone webserver outside the LAN with all typical security considerations in place.
Note: If the IIS server is Windows 10 or Windows 2016 then there is currently a requirement for the site binding to have “HTTP/2” disabled in order to allow multi-file upload to work within a Web2 SSL connection. This setting is enabled by default. In Windows 10 it can be controlled under Site Bindings, for Server 2016 a Computer Registry change is required
If after reading this blog you would like to set upa Web2.0 Server within you organisation but would prefer to have this done by a member of our team, then this is something we are able to offer as a standard service.
As well as installing and configuring the website for access within your organisation, we will also implement a daily scheduled event to ensures that any temporary session files created when users access / View files via Web2.0, are cleansed from the system to avoid having to do this manually. This is something I have discussed before in my blog about Managing Disc Space
Figure 4| Download With References in Web2.0
Categorised as: Data Management | SOLIDWORKS PDM
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