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MikeLockwood22-Sapphire I
22-Sapphire I
January 4, 2017
Question

Windchill WVS CAD Worker for SolidWorks - server / workstation OS

  • January 4, 2017
  • 19 replies
  • 8924 views

All of our servers are moving to the cloud (Amazon web services - AWS).  We currently publish SolidWorks using a server configured as Win 7 - works perfectly.

There seem to be some restrictions on configuring an AWS WV host with a workstation OS.  The WGM installer simply won't start on a server OS.  We've asked for an AWS host with Win 7 (or 8.1 is listed as being supported) with no luck from IT so far.

Question: For everyone who currently publishes SolidWorks data, how are you managing the CAD Worker for SolidWorks?

    19 replies

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    TomU23-Emerald IV
    23-Emerald IV
    January 4, 2017

    We use Windows 7 and Windows 10 for all of our CAD workers (including SolidWorks).  The WGM matrix does not appear to support any server OS for SolidWorks.

    http://support.ptc.com/WCMS/files/168115/en/Windchill11.0M020CADIntegrationMatrix_12616.pdf

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    pmooteri14-Alexandrite
    14-Alexandrite
    January 5, 2017

    Hi Mike,

    Can you please let me know, Windchill Workgroup Manager version and workstation/server version you are trying to work?

    Regards,

    Pankaj Mooteri

    M
    MikeLockwood22-Sapphire IAuthor
    22-Sapphire I
    January 5, 2017

    Windchill 10.1 M030 CPS 14, WWGM matches but is CPS 13 (no CPS 14 available).

    All our user workstations work perfectly - mostly Lenovo laptops but some Dell, some various desktops.

    For publishing, we need to find what Amazon web services will allow to be a virtualized "cloud" host.

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    TomU23-Emerald IV
    23-Emerald IV
    January 5, 2017

    More info from SolidWorks:  SOLIDWORKS | Hardware & System Requirements | SOLIDWORKS

    I would be surprised if PTC would support running the SolidWorks WGM on a server OS when Dassault does not support running the SolidWorks software on a server OS.  Not saying it won't work, but it sure seems like it would be unsupported.

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    TomU23-Emerald IV
    23-Emerald IV
    January 5, 2017

    Just for fun I went ahead and tried it myself.

    Windows Server 2016 Standard, Windchill 10.2 M030 CPS18

    • SolidWorks 2016 SP05 Installed fine
    • Java 8 Installed Fine
    • Windchill Workgroup Manager will not install. 

    By the way, even though SolidWorks seems to run fine, diagnostics does recognize that this is an unsupported OS.


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    jherendeen1-Visitor
    1-Visitor
    January 5, 2017

    We have this problem too. The WGM installer will not start on our Windows Server OSs (2012 or 2008).

    We have been working around the problem by copying the WGM folder from a Windows 10 machine, then run this command:

    c:\ptc\wgm\x86e_win64\obj\uwgm_client.exe -autoreg_only -uwgm_nographics -out c:\ptc\wgm\register.log

    You will also need to install WFS manually:

    msiexec /i C:\ptc\wgm\installer\PtcVfs.msi /l C:\ptc\wgm\installer\logs\PtcVfs_manual_install_after_msicuu.log
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    MikeLockwood22-Sapphire IAuthor
    22-Sapphire I
    January 5, 2017

    Appreciate the responses very much.  Just created tech support case C13475543 asking for PTC's official recommendation on this.

    FYI - This is the preliminary comment from our IT group:

    Short Answer: Using a client OS, like Windows 7, is possible.

    Technical Answer: To use Windows 7 in AWS we would have to import our own OS image and use a dedicated host for this EC2 Instance to comply with Microsoft licensing requirements. This is the only option if we want to run it in AWS.

    Note: We would be running an entire dedicated host for a single system though, which just means an additional $3 /hr for the dedicated host in addition to the hourly rate of the Windows 7 EC2.

    WorkSpaces is not a good solution because of the same restrictions. It uses a Windows 2008 R2 OS with Windows 7 skin, so it won't be compatible for Windchill.  Besides that, we don't have control over the EC2 instance since it's AWS managed.

     

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    BineshKumar12-Explorer
    2-Explorer
    January 6, 2017

    Are you planning to have local file servers? If yes, remote CAD worker workstation within your network is an option.

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    SergeyEfimov1-Visitor
    1-Visitor
    January 6, 2017

    Try to set the environment variable WWGM_ALLOW_TO_INSTALL = true.

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      pmooteri14-Alexandrite
      14-Alexandrite
      January 6, 2017

      Hi All,

      Please note that, above environment variable WWGM_ALLOW_TO_INSTALL is not supported by PTC.

      In 10.2 release, PTC does not officially support installation of WGM on server OS. Any issues encountered in usage will not be eligible to be investigated by PTC unless same issue is reproducible on officially certified platform.

      Regards,

      Pankaj Mooteri

      Product Manager, PTC

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      TomU23-Emerald IV
      23-Emerald IV
      January 6, 2017

      Cool option, even if it is unsupported.  Are there plans to support the WWGM on any server OS in the near future?

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      TomU23-Emerald IV
      23-Emerald IV
      April 18, 2017

      PTC now officially supports installing the Windchill Workgroup Manager on Windows Server 2012 R2 for this exact application.

      See https://support.ptc.com/appserver/cs/view/solution.jsp?n=CS245930

      Note:  Pay attention to the known issues at the bottom of the article.

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