Revit Server 2013 & 2014 questions...

[ukdxb012]

Reviteers,

We have just implemented Autodesk Revit Server 2013 & 2014 as a Host, Admin and Accelerator on a single VM Server with Windows Server 2012. We applied the newly released hotfix for Revit Server 2013 which was a pretty straight forward process but now want to look at automated updates and Backup processes before this goes live with a remote office.

What i'm looking for is a very simple automated means to lock all models in a single project folder (including sub-folders) on Revit Server 2013 and 2014 (Both on VMware), backup all the models (create copies) on the same Server and then release the locks on the original models and verify that everything has been successfull for whenever we need to apply Windows Updates to Windows Server 2012 or Revit Server hotfixes.

Does anybody have any examples of what they do and how successfull they are. Is automation the answer or is preferring to do this manually more successful.

One question i have... is it ok just to simpy apply automated windows updates and restart out of office hours without locking models when no one is accessing models on Revit Server.

Regards,

Duncan

[ukdxb012]

Further information which i missed out.

As our current backup process we utilise Netbackup for the C: and 😧 drive of the VM every 24 hours.... with this in place, do we need to go to the extent of scheduling locks, copies of models etc as an other backup process to monitor.

Regards,

Duncan

[Lance.Coffey]

The following Revit help topics have information on locking Revit Server for the purpose of making backups:

Locking Models for Backup and Restoration

Revit Server Lock Command-Line Utility

To automate the process, I would suggest looking at the command line utility.

Regarding backing up the model data without locking it first, I wouldn't recommend doing this without ensuring that no one is accessing the server. I have seen synchronize processes get locked, and users let them sit overnight to finish.

Additionally, Revit Server 2013 is not supported and we have found that it will not function on Windows Server 2012. This is due to an issue with the version of SQLite included with Server 2012. While Revit Server 2013 will install, you will not be able to successfully save projects.

[ukdxb012]

Hi Lance,

Can settings be modified on Windows Server 2012 to accommodate Revit Server 2013.

Regards,

Duncan

[Lance.Coffey]

I am not aware of any settings that would clear the issue.

[ukdxb012]

Hi Lance,

Have you come across these links before? http://whatrevitwants.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/revit-server-2013-on-windows-server-2012.html and http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?145504-Revit-Server-2013-on-Windows-Server-2012

Regards,

[Lance.Coffey]

I had not seen those links previously. As described in the links, I have found that the pre-requisites can be loaded onto Server 2012, and Revit Server 2013 can be installed without encountering errors, but (as noted in the AUGI thread) projects cannot be successfully saved to the server.

[ukdxb012]

Hi Lance,

That would be my findings also! Thanks for your input. I'm curious if the originator of the video actually got Revit Server 2013 to work with Windows Server 2012 as i cannot see any evidence of this... just a suggestion on the settings to apply. It doesnt actually confirm that the user was able to successfully save to Revit Server 2013, just how to apply the correct settings.

P.S - Are there plans to make Revit Server 2013 work with Windows Server 2012 in the future?

Regards,

Duncan

[Lance.Coffey]

The system requirements for Revit Server 2013 include the following supported operating systems:

Microsoft® Windows Server® 2008 64-bit

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit

Support for Server 2012 was introduced in the 2014 version of Revit Server.

I don't expect to see a change in this behavior with the 2013 version (of Revit Server).