Cannot save to mapped network drive

[itservicedeskUAPS2]

When trying to save a project to a mapped network drive we are receiving the following error:

Problems encountered while saving the document.
 - Failed to create folder, "O:\MyProfile\Documents\"

It is essentially a mapped OneDrive acount that is done via a 3rd party application (Cloud Drive Mapper) supplied by our Office365 account federator IAM Cloud.

Along with this drive being mapped with a given letter O: a folder redirection policy is set for the standard 'Documents', 'Pictures, etc. folders. As we're unable to save in the root folder of the mapped drive I've assumed this isn't a contributing factor to the issue.

This is unrelated to the numerous issues people have where they cannot see the mapped drive - we can see and browse to the mapped drive location when browsing via 'save as' without issue. The issue only occurs after pressing the save button.

I suspect it is a permission issue somewhere along the lines but cannot for the life of me work out what needs to be changed.

[Anonymous]

Do you mind if I ask why you are working from a cloud drive instead of a local or network location? I'd like to see if there is a better way to accomplish what you would like to do

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! I believe it has something to do with the default local folder for your OneDrive and also the privilege to write to the folder. What is the default local folder to the drive? Inventor only recognizes Windows file path, not URL-like address.

Many thanks!

[itservicedeskUAPS2]

I'm a sys admin for a college, local document locations are a massive no of course as devices are used by multiple students. We previously had on-prem network drives however we were ransomware attacked earlier in the year and all the data is lost, space was becoming an issue prior to the attack as well.

We've therefore now opted to utilise the Mapped Onedrive service along with a folder redirection (mapped via registry keys instead of group policy) we have included with our federator IAM Cloud - mainly because it's more secure, allows users to access their work from anywhere and our recent heavy usage of teams and sharepoint allows onedrive to work more seamlessly on a daily basis.

I'm open to suggestion. However a change to the current setup after weeks of planning, configuring and educating users is't exactly my ideal route.

[itservicedeskUAPS2]

Hi,

Yes I believe is has something to do with privileges/permissions from applications to write too.

Not following exactly what you mean by 'default local folder to the drive'. I've attached a screenshot if you're asking where the drive is located in relation to drives and it's given drive letter.

Or, if you question is in relation to how the folder redirection and how it maps to the 'local' save area then it is mapped via registry keys the drive mapper software uses for each type of standard local folder such as documents, pics, etc.

I'm uncertain exactly how the application maps the drive itself as i'd need to know how it was developed - All I know is that it links via sharepoint, which does likely involve URL based connections.

Can I ask why URL based network drives wouldn't work?

[itservicedeskUAPS2]

An update on testing:

If an inventor file is created and saved to any random local area on the PC and then I paste that file into a redirected area, or anywhere on the mapped drive, I can open, edit and save that file via Inventor on the network drive without issue.

It appears the issue only exists when creating/saving NEW projects. This confirms that inventor can recognise the network location and has permission to write to it.

[Anonymous]

This is not something I have encountered before, but I just tried my onedrive account mapped to a letter and had the same error. It looks like it is something that has been known about for a while and is related to having a UNC path as opposed to an IP path.

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-forum/failed-to-create-folder/td-p/5243217

I don't spend a lot of time with one drive, is there any way to map it as an IP path?

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! I am sorry my reply was not as clear as it should be. I may have created some confusion. Based on my own experience, when you set up One Drive, the default folder should be under C:\Users\"username"\. If this folder is a shared network drive, it can cause confusion. The issue here is that Inventor at the moment can only recognize a network path or a logical drive location. It does not yet have the ability to handle URL like file location or a combo path.

Many thanks!

[itservicedeskUAPS2]

Interesting find, sounds like the exact same issue we're having. Also interesting this was a fault found in Inventor 2014 and 7 versions later no progress made to fix this seemingly normal method of saving work. Fortunately I'm in education so audodesk products are free to use, if I was from any other paying enterprise I'd seriously question what I'd be paying for..

Anyway back to the issue, I wouldn't be able to map via IP using the Cloud Drive Mapper tool we've got installed as it's a 3rd party app not developed by us. Even if i could change the connection method on the app, it doesn't look like OneDrive can be mapped via an IP address as it's essentially connecting to Microsoft's SharePoint platform.

The only alternative I can think of at this point is to try and test the built in OneDrive sync client which integrates into file explorer, just confirmed with our federator it will function.

[itservicedeskUAPS2]

I'm not sure how or why this is still an issue. It's been pointed out on this post that this has been an issue since Inventor 2014 - No idea if you have the capability to run this issue 'up the chain' at AutoDesk, but it's an issue which you wouldn't expect to be present when syncronisation of files to cloud based storage is now widespread in large organisations.

[Anonymous]

I'm going to have to stick up for Autodesk on this one, working from a cloud drive is the last resort when it comes to working with Inventor and CAD systems in my opinion. Much preferred would be these:

1. Dataset on local drive

2. Dataset on private onsite server

3. Dataset on private offsite server

4. Dataset on Autodesk's CAD aware cloud service (fusion team)

You'd consider switching from Autodesk because they don't let you save directly to OneDrive? Fair enough, everybody has their choice. The fact of the matter is that this "seemingly normal" workflow is not one that I could recommend from a reliability standpoint. While this may be a limitation of the software, I am glad that Autodesk has focused on (to me) more useful updates/upgrades for use in industry-I'd much rather have nesting ability built in as opposed to saving to OneDrive for example.

Does the built in sync client work similar to how BOX does theirs, as a subfolder in My Documents(or wherever it is)? Having used BOX before as a way to work with client data I can confirm that it works, however it may give you/students headaches. Because the sync is not instant there are times where I would have two versions of the same file in memory. Just something to note.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! It is true that Inventor is not able to interact with cloud drive properly. It works with One Drive, depending on how One Drive was set up. But, I have seen failed cases also.

To connect to Fusion Team, Inventor does need to utilize Autodesk Desktop Connector at the moment. We are indeed looking into cloud-connected workflows. In theory, Inventor should be able to access (read and write) to any storage recognized by Windows. At the moment, we are not there yet.

Many thanks!

[itservicedeskUAPS2]

Understood with alternative methods of storage however I've given the reasons why OneDrive is preferred. I'll move onto setting up a test environment for it and update with my findings.

Not sure where you think I said i'm "consider switching from Autodesk" so lets not get off topic.

I have no experience of using BOX, or how their client communicates with their servers.

[itservicedeskUAPS2 · Accepted solution]

The IAM Cloud cloud drive mapper app was incompatible with Inventor. The native OneDrive app built into file explorer and even using folder redirection works absolutely fine with Inventor.