SOLIDWORKS PDM Web2 Guide: Server Setup, Accounts, Application Pools & Testing

PART 1: ­­Set up web2: Install the Software

In this section, we will present the steps to properly set up Web2 on the server. Each step will be covered in detail throughout this guide.

Prerequisites on the server for Web2

Prerequisites will vary depending on the version of Web2 being installed. The prerequisites can be verified by looking in the  Installing PDM Web2  section in the  PDM INSTALLATION GUIDE  for the version you are installing or by going to the  SOLIDWORKS and SW Data Management System Requirements .

For example, Web2 2021 needs the following prerequisites:

• Microsoft .NET 4
• Microsoft Internet Services 7 or higher (IIS)
• Windows Server 2016 or higher
• Microsoft Visual Studio C++ 2013 runtime

Install IIS

IIS is short for Microsoft  I nternet  I nformation  S ervices. This is extensible web server software created by Microsoft. Web2 uses this software.  

To install IIS

IIS comes with Windows. We only need to turn it on in the  Windows Features  dialog. This dialog can be accessed through the Control Panel.  If  Category  is selected, then choose  Uninstall a program .

If  Icons  are selected, then choose  Programs and Features .

In  Programs and Features  select (in the top left)  Turn Windows features on or off .

In the dialog  Windows Features,  expand  Internet Information Services.

Expand  Web Management Tools  and select  IIS Management Console .

Expand  World Wide Web Services .

Under  Application Development Features  select:

• .NET Extensibility 4.x (depends on which .NET 4 is installed)
• ASP .NET 4.x
• ISAPI Extensions
• ISAPI Filters
• Sever-Side Includes

Under  Common HTTP Features  select:

• Default Document
• Directory Browsing
• HTTP Errors
• Static Content

Under  Health and Diagnostics  select:

• HTTP Logging

Under  Performance Features  select:

• Static Content Compression

Under Security select:

• Request Filtering

 Select  OK  on Windows Features. IIS will install.

Install Web2 Software

Run the SOLIDWORKS Installation Manager to install the Web2 software. Using SOLIDWORKS Installation Manager will ensure that all prerequisites are installed. SOLIDWORKS Installation Manager is accessed by running setup.exe from the first level of the folder containing the installation file set.

In the SOLIDWORKS Installation Manager, select  Install Server Components  and check the box for  Install SOLIDWORKS PDM Server components on this computer.

Select  Next  at the bottom of the window.

Select  Change  for  SOLIDWORKS PDM Server . This will allow selection of components to install.

Select  SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional  for  Server Product .

Under  Select Features  choose  Client  and  Web2 Server .

Choose  Back to Summary.

Accept the terms of the SOLIDWORKS License Agreement.

Select  Install Now .

SOLIDWORKS Installation dialog will show.

Choose  Finish  to complete the install.

Verify the Client install type

If the Web2 users are expected to add and edit files in the vault, then the PDM Client must be an Editor or Contributor. A PDM Client that is only a Viewer will limit Web2 users to only viewing files in the vault. To verify the client license configuration, start the PDM Administration tool.

The PDM Administration tool can be started by going to the Windows  Start  menu, then  SOLIDWORKS PDM: Administration .

In the PDM Administration tool, select  Help: About SOLIDWORKS PDM Administration…

Verify the  Client Type  is  SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional CAD Editor and Web  or  SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional CAD Contributor and Web .

Install a vault view on the Web2 server

Installing a vault view has already been covered in several other documents. Please watch the video  Creating a Vault View Using the ‘View Setup’ Tool .

Modify the Web.config file

This can be done by modifying the file directly or by using IIS. If you wish to modify the document directly, browse to the file C:\inetpub\wwwroot\SOLIDWORKSPDM\Web2\Web.config”. The file is an XML format. Double-clicking it will open the file in  Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Applications .

The two most important items to edit are the  VaultName  and VisibleVaults. “VaultName” is the name of your primary vault. “VisibleVaults” lists the vaults that are visible to Web2 users so it must contain the name of the primary vault.

Access to multiple vaults using Web2

If it is desired for the Web2 users to have access to more than one vault, then a local vault view must be created for each vault on the Web2 server. Additionally, “VisibleVaults” must contain the names of the other vaults. The format is to list the vault name with “|” between them.

Example: <add key="VisibleVaults" value="Acme|Vault2"></add>

Optional Settings

There are optional settings that can be used to control download permissions or to set the vault to  View only.  Please refer to the  SOLIDWORKS PDM Installation Manual , the section  Configuring SOLIDWORKS PDM Web2  for more information.

Editing the Web.config file in IIS

The Web.config file can also be modified in IIS. On the Web2 server, start the  IIS Manager  by typing  IIS  in the Windows  Search  area. Select  Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager  from the list. 

In the IIS Manager expand  Sites  until  SOLIDWORKSPDM  shows. Select  SOLIDWORKSPDM . Double-click  Configuration Editor .

In the  Configuration Editor: Section  choose  appSettings  from the drop-down list. The  Count  will vary a little depending on the version of PDM.

Right-click in the same box as the (Count = 19) so the three dots show on the right and select.

This brings up the  Collection Editor.  It is a little easier to edit the values here rather than as an XML document. Select anywhere on the line that lists the parameter you want to edit. The property will be listed below, and it can be edited.

Be certain to edit both the “VaultName” and “VisibleVaults”.

Once edits are complete, select the “x” in the top right corner of the dialog.

Now select  Apply  in the top right corner to save your changes.

There will be a confirmation the changes were saved successfully.

This concludes this portion on installing Web2 on a server. Please continue to the next section that explains setting up and assigning the Web2 user account.

PART 2: The web2 User Account

Web2 requires an account on the server to run. By default, a “NetworkService” account will be assigned. However, this account will not allow Web2 to run properly. Instead, a special account will need to be created. The requirements for that account are listed below.  

Many issues with Web2 not working correctly can be traced to the account used to run Web2. Setting up the account correctly is very important for the proper operation of Web2.

Web2 User Account requirements

Account set up:

• The account must be a member of the local  Administrators  group
• The account must be a member of the local  IIS_IUSRS  group
• The account must be a PDM login

 Once the account is set up, the following actions must be performed:

• Log in to the Web2 server as the Web2 User
• Log in to the local vault view as the Web2 User
• Browse into the vault and view a file
• Assign this user as the account to run Web2 under

Create the Web2 User account in Windows

Right-click the Windows  Start  menu and choose  Computer Management.

Expand  Local Users and Groups . Right-click  Users  and choose  New User.

Create a name for the user and a password. Uncheck  User must change password at next logon  and check  Password never expires . This will ensure that Web2 will continue to work. Change the password as frequently as your security dictates but do it manually so the Web2_User login continues to work.

Choose  Create  then  Close  to complete creating the account.

We need to add this user to two groups. Right-click Web2_User from the list and choose  Properties  or double-click the user.

Select  Member of  and  Add.

Type  Administrators  then  Check Names  Note the name must match exactly the name of an existing group. Select  OK .  

Repeat the process with the ‘IIS_IUSRS” group.

You may find it easier to go to each group and add the user from there. 

With the groups listed in the box  Member of , select  Apply  and then  OK .

Close the  Computer Management  window.

Add Web2_User to PDM

The Web2_User must have a valid PDM login. It can be either a Windows login or a PDM login. It is probably easiest to make this a PDM login so the Web2_User doesn’t need an AD account. If your current login type is  Windows  then you will need to allow PDM logins on the archive server.

If your existing login type is already  PDM Login  then you can skip to adding the user in the PDM administration tool.  

Allow SOLIDWORKS PDM logins

Login to the archive server.  

Start the  Archive Server Configuration  tool from the Windows start menu by selecting  SOLIDWORKS PDM: Archive Server Configuration . If the interface doesn’t come up, then it has already been started. 

If that is the case, select the  up arrow  in the bottom right corner of the computer screen. This is the  Hidden icons  selection. The SOLIDWORKS PDM Archive Server icon is there. 

Select the Archive Server icon and then  Open . This will open the Archive Server graphical user interface.  

In the Archive Server interface, double-click  Archives  to see your vaults. Right-click your vault and select  Properties .

Select  Allow SOLIDWORKS PDM login .

Select  OK  to save your settings and exit the dialog.

Add the Web2 User in the PDM Administration tool

Start the PDM Administration tool and log in to your vault. 

Right-click  Users  and choose  New User . 

In the  Add Users  dialog box, select  New SOLIDWORKS PDM User.

Enter the  Web2User  name exactly as it is in the local Windows account. You may want to go back to  Computer Management: Users  and verify the spelling of the name.  

Select  OK  to save your changes.  

Enter the same password for the Web2User as was used in the Windows account.  

If there is someone to copy permissions from, you can select that person here. If not, add the Web2User to a group in the next dialog.

In the  Web2User – Properties  dialog, select  Group , and  Add .

Add him to a group that has checkout rights in the vault. Whichever group you are using for your designers would be best.  

Select  OK  to exit the  Group Memberships  dialog and then  OK  again to exit the  Web2User – Properties  dialog.

The Web2User now has an account in both Windows and PDM.

Create the registry settings for Web2User

These next steps are important as they will create the registry entries for the Web2User. These registry settings are required for Web2 to work properly.  

Login to the Web2 server using the Web2User Windows account. 

Login to the vault view on the Web2 server with the We2User account.

Browse into a folder in the vault and preview a file.

The Web2User account is now set up properly and is ready to be used as the application pool identity for Web2. Please see  Application Pool Identity and Testing Web2  for the configuration of the next steps of the Web2 setup.

PART 3: Application Pool Identity and Testing Web2

When Web2 is first installed, the default  Application Pool Identity  is the built-in account “NetworkService”. This will not allow Web2 to work properly. The Application Pool Identity must be a special account that has been prepared. Please see the section  Set up Web2 – User Account  for directions on preparing the account  Web2User  for use as the Application Pool Identity.

This section will describe how to assign the Web2User as the Application Pool Identity for Web2 in Internet Information Services (IIS).

Once the user is assigned we will go over testing operation of Web2.

Access the Application Pool Identity

Start the IIS Manager by typing  IIS  in the Windows search field and selecting  Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager .

Select  Application Pools  in the top left. Notice that the application pool identity for  SOLIDWORKS PDM Web2  is  NetworkService .

Right-click  SOLIDWORKS PDM Web2  and choose  Advanced Settings .

In  Advanced Settings: Process Model: Identity , click next to NetworkService. Three dots will appear. Select these three dots to edit the Identity.

In the  Application Pool Identity  dialog, select  Custom account  and  Set…

Enter credentials for the Web2User.

Select “ OK ” twice to get back to the “ Advanced Settings ” dialog.

 In the  Advanced Settings  dialog verify that  Load User Profile  is set to  True .

Select  OK  to exit the dialog.

Back in  Application Pools  verify that  Web2User  is now the Identity for  SOLIDWORKS PDM Web2 .

Congratulations! You have successfully set the  Web2User  as the  Application Pool Identity  for  SOLIDWORKS PDM Web2 .

The next step is to test the operation of Web2.

Testing Web2 Server

The first step in testing the Web2 server is to test operation of Web2 on the Web2 server. This is done by expanding the  Sites  until  SOLIDWORKSPDM  is revealed. Select  SOLIDWORKSPDM  and the (on the right)  Browse *80 (http) . This will open the default website.

This will start the Web2 application on the local server and bring up the Web2 login screen.

Log in with a valid SOLIDWORKS PDM account. It is fine to use “Web2User” for the account.

Once successfully logged in, your vault should appear. Browse down a few folders and select a file.

A preview of the file will appear.

This verifies Web2 is working on the server. Run the same test on a client. The address for Web2 is  http:// servername /SOLIDWORKSPDM   where “ servername ” is the name of your Web2 server.

Congratulations! Your Web2 server implementation is now complete.