Vault Virgin. Where do I Start

[sbrusco]

Hi All,

Please be gentle as this is my first time getting and installing a license manager.

We bought 6 licenses of Vault Pro. IT set up a server to hold the license manager and gave me the server name and Mac Address and asked me to get the LM from Autodesk and install it.

W-W-W-WHAT????

Where do I go for that? How do I install it? Can someone please give me help?

Step-by-step instructions would be great because our VAR set up a LM for us for other software a couple years ago as I watched but he did a lot of "oops, let's back up a little" and "oh wait, skip that" so I didn't really learn how to do this.

I suspect there is/are instructional documents available on the Autodesk site but I couldn't find them.

TIA,

Sal

[cbenner · Accepted solution]

This might be a good place to get started:

http://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/How-to-...

Come back with any more questions,... maybe we can get Darren involved... he's our EE lisencing guru.

[Neil_Cross · Accepted solution]

The LM is the Network License Manager, it's a small lightweight application which comes on all Autodesk software media.

For Vault, you usually find the License Manager installer here:

64bit - x64\Tools\NLM\NLM.msi

32bit - x86\Tools\NLM\NLM.msi

Those folders are in the Vault download/memory stick.

The license manager is installed on a server, usually the Vault server itself unless you have good reasons for it to be somewhere else.

The license manager will then tell you your server name and MAC address.  If you look at the image below, this is a caption of one of my servers.

Red star is the server name.

Blue star is the MAC address.

To get your license file, you either email Autodesk or go to https://registeronce.autodesk.com and log in with your Autodesk Account associated to the licenses.  You give Autodesk the serial number, server name & MAC address and they'll send you back a file with a .LIC extension which is your license file.

Once you have your license file, you need to plug it into the license manager and set up the service.  If you're not comfortable doing that, post again here or give your local VAR a shout.

[sbrusco]

Thanks Chris and Neil,

This is why you guys are EEs. This is just what I think I need and you both offered further help if needed.

I'll get started with this and let you know how I fair.

Hope to see you at AU2014.

Sal

[Neil_Cross]

I'm in the UK and currently working on a large Vault Pro implementation, so not likely to be there  Hope to get there some time in the future.

Good luck on your Vault journey.  Best advice I can give, which is easier said than done, is to get it as right as you can from day 1 and always always have a test server, test everything first before committing to a live server if you're not sure on something.  Vault is one of those beasts that if you realise you've configured something incorrectly at the start, some things can be a real pain if not impossible to correct in the future without major lengthy disruptive surgery  

Shout out onto the forums if you need any help on anything at all.

[cbenner]

Good luck!  I will be at AU, bouncing around from place to place, but will definitely be spending a lot of time in the Community pavilion.  See you there!

[sbrusco]

Thanks to Chris and Neil, i was able to download and run lmtools and register with Autodesk who graciously sent me a LIC file.

So that completes the first step.

I guess now i load the client software on all the users' workstations?!? I suppose at that time i will be asked to point them to the server/lic file?

(Sheesh, i feel like i'm in 1st grade again.)

Thanks again guys.

I may be back here in the not too distant future.

Sal

[Neil_Cross]

No Sal you don't point the clients to the license file, it works a little differently for Vault. When you installed the Vault ADMS you would have specified the license server in that setup. Therefore when a client logs into Vault the ADMS will get a license for the client on its behalf, the ADMS essentially dishes out the licenses on log in.
There's a licpath.lic file in the ADMS directory with the license server specified there if you need to change it.

[DarrenP]

the client doesn't even ask for any serial number info when installing

like what was said above the ADMS console controls the licensing

[sbrusco]

Hi,

Well, "virgin" may have been a nice way to say it. I feel like a flamming IDIOT! It can't be this convoluted, can it?

I installed the client from the two disk set i purchased from Autodesk onto my computer and when i run it, i get the Log In screen attached. The only information i know is server name. How do i setup users with passwords? And what are "Authentication" and "Vault"?

On top of that, our over seas sister company is setting up the contents of our vault and they're asking me for the server and client setup files. I downloaded and ran the license manager (server setup?) as earlier posts here suggest, but what is the client setup they're looking for? Isn't this what i'll be installing here? And would the client be a single file? Wouldn't they need all the files that are on the client disk?

Help me, i'm drowning.

Sal

[Neil_Cross]

It's easy when you know how, but knowing how takes years of practice & experience 

I'll try and explain the bones of the login dialog.

Authentication:  This is the type of user account you're logging in with.  There are two types, Vault Account and Windows Account.  

A Vault account is the standard login account, created purely within and isolated to Vault, it has a user name and password and you punch that into the login dialog you're seeing there.  

A Windows account is an account which is linked to your Active Directory.  Within ADMS you can 'import' a user from your domain active directory.  However I wouldn't go there until you're confident and comfortable with Vault as a package.  For now, create users and only use the Vault Account option.  

To setup users, go to ADMS and select Tools > Administration > Users.  Click the new user button.  In there you can give the account a name, password, a permission based role and you need to make sure your Vault is selected so that user is allowed to login to your Vault.  Hopefully that area is straightforward.

User Name: This is the user name you specified when you created the user account.  If you're using a Windows Account, this will auto-populate from active directory.

Password: This is the password you specified for the user.  If you're using a Windows Account, this will auto-populate from active directory.

Server: This is name of your Vault server, which you said you know.  Optional, but you can also use IP address or the FQDN if you have DNS issues.

Vault: This is the name of the Vault you created within ADMS.  Next to the text entry area is a radio button (...), if you click this it'll query the Server and list the Vaults you're able to log into.  

Personally I've no idea what your sister company means by the 'client setup files'.  Normally that would mean the Vault Client installation media, but that's generic media and if they already use Vault, they can use their own installation media.  They just type your server name into the login box instead of their Vault server name.  If they don't have the installation media, and they don't use Vault, then I'd be wary and think again about letting them set up your Vault for you...! 

[sbrusco]

Hi Neil,

I can still feel the waters of uncertainty lapping around me but at least now, thanks to your explaination, i'm not stretching my neck to breathe.

Thanks so much for sticking with me through this. I have rescheduled a couple classes at AU2014 to give me a more Vault centered exposure. Maybe some day i can offer assistance to others.

Oh, one more thing. On the login screen it defaults to "Administrator" for user. What is the Admin's password or how can i find that?

Sal

[Neil_Cross]

It's fine  I remember the very first time I had to install Vault, I still vividly remember the overwhelming feeling of confusion at what it was expecting of me! 

If you've installed Vault from scratch and have an empty Vault and total default setup, the Administrator password will be blank.  

[sbrusco]

Thanks Neil,

It is always refreshing to hear from you. It make me feel like i can do it. Yeah, i can do it!

So i'll give it a try and just keep breathing.

Sal

[DarrenP]

here is a good starting point:

http://help.autodesk.com/cloudhelp/2015/ENU/Vault/files/GUID-428B79D5-7F4B-4182-932A-D52D61BD962D.ht...