Vault Basic Over Internet

[NachoShaw]

Hi

We are trying to make best use of the Vault Basic that came with our Product Design Suite. We have 4 users (3 in office and 1 remote - me).

Before i get too deep down the rabbit hole, can i (the remote user) access the vault server over internet using the client?

Thanks

Nacho

[johannes.bauer · Accepted solution]

Hi Nacho,

Yes, you could either open up the Vault Server to the Internet using firewall rules, but I would suggest using HTTPS for this.

Or you could give access to the remote user via VPN so he can access the server in your environment directly with VPN.

A third option would be to install the vault server in the cloud and have all user access this server.

[Richard.Rankin · Accepted solution]

Hi @NachoShaw,

I just read this thread and realised that @johannes.bauer' advice is technically correct, but be careful. You need to be aware that installing Vault Basic in a hosted environment would be considered a violation of the End User License Agreement because it is not a licensed product. To avoid a violation, you would first need to upgrade Vault Basic to Vault Workgroup or Professional.

@ihayesjr also mentioned this in a recent thread. Vault server basic in the cloud

What versions of Vault are supported in a cloud hosted environment like Amazon Web Services or Micro...

I'll be honest, I wasn't aware of this myself until Irvin mentioned it, so thanks for the information Irvin!

[johannes.bauer]

Thanks @Richard.Rankin for the insights. Was not aware myself.

[ihayesjr]

Just to add clarity, it is not against the EULA to open a firewall port or offer VPN access to your Vault Basic Server to the remote user. What is against the EULA is placing the Vault Basic Server in a hosted cloud environment (AWS or Azure).

[Anonymous]

Good afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen, and apologies for re-opening this thread, being it, over one year old.

The thing is that we have set the Vault server as instructed on the document you sent the link to, and the Clients work perfectly, as long as they are in the same network.

When we try to connect to the Vault from a remote location (i.e. using the hot-spot from the phone on the go), it won't find the Server.

Am I missing something obvious?

I'm not an expert when it comes to these settings and mods, so any help very much appreciated. 🙂

Thanks!

Sergio

Autodesk Vault Basics 2020

[NachoShaw]

Hi

If the server is running on your own server machine, you will need to do a few tings in order to access via dns

1. make sure the port is forwarded to the machine.

2.make sure the port is the same in the ADM website setting in IIS (set at installation)**

3. add the port to the end of your ip address in your login.

** you can change it by editing the site properties but there are also few other files to update in the web.config etc

if you are intending to use a URL, you need to have that set up with your domain record to redirect to your static IP.

Example of DNS with port (server field in the login form)

231.21.65.214:8080

http://myvaultlink.com:8080

as mentioned above, you cannot host Vault basic in a cloud service like AWS or Azure but you can expose the port in your router and redirect it to your machine

Thanks

[Anonymous]

Thanks very much for your prompt response @NachoShaw .

I've been doing some research taking into account the info you provided me with and playing a bit with it all, but I got nothing, unfortunately.  😞

Yes, the Vault Server is installed on my machine, using this as server for all the other clients.

Like I said before, I'm not an expert when it comes to ports forwarding, and well, none of these mods really, so I'm not sure about your point 1:

"1. make sure the port is forwarded to the machine."

On your point 2:

"2.make sure the port is the same in the ADM website setting in IIS (set at installation)**

** you can change it by editing the site properties but there are also few other files to update in the web.config etc"

I have added Port 443 to Site Bindings on Default Web Site on IIS, and modified files:

-Web.Config

-Connectivity.ADMSConsole.exe.Config

-Connectivity.WindowsService.JobDispatch.exe.config

-SiteConfiguration.xml

as described on:

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/vault-products/learn-explore/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/C...

As for your point 3:

"3. add the port to the end of your ip address in your login."

I have done that, however, the FQDN I used is the name of the machine and has no domain, looking something like this: "Desktop-1234", hence I'm not using any IP.

It will work for the clients within the same network, but not when trying to access it remotely.

I'm wondering then, if the problem when trying to access the Vault remotely is caused by a wrong FQDN (Missing domain or IP?), port not forwarded, or even wrong configuration on the client that is trying to access remotely, however it works properly when connected via WIFI on the same network.

Apologies if I'm making a mess of  this, and many thanks in advance.

Sergio

[NachoShaw]

Hi

regarding point 1.

you need to log into your router and forward the port. To get your router address, you can open a CMD prompt and type in IPCONFIG. The Default Gateway in your router ipaddress

log into your router using the ip address (check with your ISP,usually it on the router or in the booklet). Look for port forwarding, i have a Linksys router and my PF is in Security/Apps/Single Port Forwarding. It should typically look like this (or very similar)

You add a new port forwarding with external / internal port, protocol = Both and the ip address of the machine hosting Vault.

in your IIS ADMS site bindings along with the 3 files you called out, the IP address needs to match the forwarded port. 443 is typically SSL, is that what you want? Vault is behind its own firewall & WD firewall. Im not sure if 443 would give you issues as its SSL

Lastly, the address that gets you connected. Internally on LAN, you should be able to use the machine address or Localhost easy enough because thats all internal on the same network but remote is different, you will need an external point of reference (public ip address) to get to your network.

If you have a staticIP public address, its much easier as that remains the same always otherwise you may need to use a DNS server like dynDNS.

StaticIP method

google whats my ip address to get your public ip address. This address combined with your port number is what allows you access to Vault. Example: 56.132.55.254:8080

dynDNS method

dynDNS is a service that allows you to use the same address while your public ip address is not static. Usually you can add this to your router settings. it calls back to provide your current public ip address. Typically once you have set up your account and router, this is the address combined with your port number that you should use: yourinfo.dyndns.org:8080

so, once everything is set up as above, the connection methods work like this (StaticIP as example)

• Vault Client server = 56.132.55.254:8080
• connection attempts to reach ip address 56.132.55.254
• connection is greeted by Router and router wants to know what you want / where you want to go
• the port number is the answer :8080
• Router sees that, sees that there is forwarded port for 8080 so directs you to that port
• at the end of that port is the Vault machine
• ADMS in IIS is waiting on port 8080 for any incoming traffic
• IIS picks up the incoming traffic, sees that its ADMS and directs you to the ADMS site
• ADMS webservice establishes connection & credentials with the incoming traffic and grants access
• Vault Client establishes connection to Vault Server

Hope that helps

[Anonymous]

@NachoShaw, I have no words to thank you enough for such a brilliant and detailed information.

However, (yes there is a "however" 🙄) Still struggling to connect.

I'm going to play a bit more with it and will come for more help tomorrow 🤦🏿‍♀️.

You mention that Port 443 may give some problems? I only selected that one because it is the one mentioned on the document from Autodesk.

I tried modifying all the .config files and IIS bindings to Port 8080, but it wouldn't work, not even local clients.

Like I said, I'm going to give another go, and hopefully, I'll be back here tomorrow to say "Thanks!" again because I finally got it 🙂

Sergio