DriveWorks Pro 17: How To: Configure DriveWorks Live For IIS (KB13103033) [send feedback...]

How To: Configure DriveWorks Live For IIS

DriveWorks Live can run directly as an application or as a service through Internet Information Services (IIS) v7.5 or later (Requires Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems or later).

This article explains how to set up IIS so DriveWorks Live can be accessed without having to run the application.

Before you begin

1. Install Internet Information Services

By default, the Web Server role (IIS) is not installed on Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. Additionally, some of the IIS Manager features and IIS 7 functionality are not available on all editions of Windows 7.

Please refer to the external links below for procedures to install IIS 7.

Installing IIS 7.5 on Windows Server 2008 R2.

Installing IIS 7.5 on Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate.

Installing IIS 7.5 on Windows 7 Home Premium, Home Basic, or Home Starter.

2. Add the Site to Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager

Follow the steps below to add your site to the IIS Manager.

Step 1		Launch Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager. This can be found by launching the Control Panel (from the Windows Start Button), selecting System and Security, then select Administrative Tools and then double clicking Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
Step 2		From the connections pane expand the computer name link and select the Sites node. Right click on the Sites link and select Add Web Site.
Step 3		On the Add Web Site dialog enter a Site Name - This name identifies the site in the IIS Manager only, it does not appear externally, although it is good practice to use the same name as your site (for instance www.driveworkslive.com). Click the  button at the end of the Physical Path field. Browse to the location of the DriveWorks Live theme that contains the web.config file required to be used with this site. This will be one of the following locations: Web Theme - %PROGRAMDATA%\DriveWorks\[version number]\Live\Themes\Web Integration Theme - %ProgramData%\DriveWorks\[version number]\Live\Themes\Integration Application Theme - %PROGRAMDATA%\DriveWorks\[version number]\Live\Themes\Application The ProgramData folder may be hidden. To make this visible: Close the browse window that was opened from browsing to the physical path field Open Windows File Explorer Select the Drive the software is installed on (usually C:) Select View from the File Explorer menu bar Select Hidden items from Show/hide section Back in IIS Manager, Click the  button at the end of the Physical Path field Set the Port number to 80 Port 80 is the default port for HTTP traffic. If port 80 is in use by another web service on your web server you may need to change this to the next available port. For more on assigning bindings to sites please see the TechNet article  Add a Binding to a Site (external link). Click OK.
Step 4		From the IIS Manager select Application Pools from the Connections panel. From the Application Pools list locate the site that was added above and click the Advanced Settings link in the Actions panel. This will launch the Edit Application Pool dialog.
Step 5		From the .NET Framework version drop down select .NET Framework v4.0.
Step 6		From the Enable 32-Bit Applications drop down select: True - if running a 32bit machine. False - if running a 64bit machine.
Step 7		Check the Identity the service is to run under is correct. This should be the login credentials DriveWorks Live was installed and run under on the machine IIS is being set up on. If the Identity is correct, click OK and proceed to Step 9. If the Identity requires to be changed: From the Identity field launch the Application Pool identity by clicking the button at the end of the field. Ensure Load User Profile is set to True. Proceed to Step 8.
Step 8		From the Application Pool Identity dialog select the Custom account type and click the Set.. button. Enter the User name, Password and Confirm Password. Click OK. Click OK in the Advanced Settings dialog to apply the changes.
Step 8b (Integration Theme Only)		Integration theme Only With the site still selected in the Application Pools, click Basic Settings from the Actions panel. In the Edit Application Pool window, set the .NET CLR version to No Managed Code. Click OK to apply the changes.
Step 9		Select the site from the Connections panel. Click the browse link in the Actions Panel. This will launch your default web browser with the landing page of DriveWorks Live loaded. You will not be able to login until you have set up your group connection string or group aliases (see below).
Step 10 (Optional Integration Theme Only)		How to serve files outside of the root directory - Integration Theme Only There are two options to achieve this: Add virtual directories to the site. Update the StaticFilesPath value located in C:\ProgramData\DriveWorks\<version number>\Live\Themes\Integration\DriveWorksConfigUser.xml This setting is used by PWE/ Live Application and updating it for IIS will update it for both. Both options require permissions to access the folder.

3. Set the Group(s)

When using IIS DriveWorks Live needs to know certain Connection and Configuration settings.

This is done using:

• Web Theme and Application Theme - connection strings in the .config file.
• Integration Theme - Connection and Configuration settings in the DriveWorksConfigUser.xml file.

Web Theme and Application Theme

The Group Connection String holds two pieces of information critical to ensuring DriveWorks Live runs with Internet Information Services (IIS).

• Server - is the location or name of the computer running DriveWorks Pro Server.
• Name - is the name of the Shared Group that exists on the computer running DriveWorks Pro Server and is required to be connected to through IIS.

To change the Group Connection String:

1. Using Windows Explorer locate the config file for the theme being used and make a copy for back up purposes.
   The name of the .config file depends on the Theme being used, for the:

   • Web Theme it is named %ProgramData%\DriveWorks\[version number]\Live\Themes\Web\DriveWorks.config
   • Application Theme it is named %ProgramData%\DriveWorks\[version number]\Live\Themes\Application\web.config
2. Open the .config file using notepad or a similar text editor.
3. Locate the line below (Web and Application Themes only):
   .config file

    <driveworksLive>

4. Modify the appropriate line to read (Web and Application Themes only):
   .config file

    <driveworksLive groupConnectionString="Provider=RemoteGroupProvider;Server=MachineName;Name=GroupName;">

   Where MachineName is the name of the machine hosting DriveWorks Pro Server.

   And GroupName is the name of the Shared Group to connect to.

MachineName Examples

GroupName Examples

Taking the first example from the Server Examples and Name Examples above your Group Connection String should now look like this:

 <driveworksLive groupConnectionString="Provider=RemoteGroupProvider;Server=ProServerMachine;Name=ProductionGroup;">

Integration theme

The Integration Theme uses Connection and Configuration settings.

The DriveWorksConfigUser.xml file for the Integration Theme is located at %ProgramData%\DriveWorks\[version number]\Live\Themes\Integration\DriveWorksConfigUser.xml

Please follow the steps outlined in the topic Integration Theme Settings for creating (if it does not exist) and modifying the DriveWorksConfigUser.xml file when using the Integration Theme.

4. Setup the location of your DriveWorks Autopilot running in 3DPreview mode for versions 14.2 or earlier (Optional)

DriveWorks Autopilot can generate models based on user requests from a browser in DriveWorks Live.

If you are using DriveWorks Autopilot in this way, you will need to tell DriveWorks Live which machine you are using.

The 3D Preview Service Location is the location (if local) or name of the computer running DriveWorks Autopilot that has 3D Preview enabled.

To change the 3D Preview Service location:

1. Using Windows Explorer locate the config file for the theme being used and make a copy for back up purposes.
   The name of the config file depends on the Theme being used, for the:

   • Web Theme it is named %ProgramData%\DriveWorks\[version number]\Live\Themes\Web\DriveWorks.config
   • Application Theme it is named %ProgramData%\DriveWorks\[version number]\Live\Themes\Application\web.config
2. Open the config file using notepad or a similar text editor.
3. Locate the line below
   
   DriveWorks.config (Web theme)/ Web.config (App theme) file

   <preview serverName="localhost">

4. Change the string "localhost" to the name of the machine hosting DriveWorks Autopilot.

Examples

5. Setup the location of your customizations - Web Theme Only (Optional)

Web Themes can be customized, and the customization files can be moved from their default location.

In this case DriveWorks Live needs to know where the customized files are.

The pathToConfiguration string holds information that tells IIS where the Theme customizations are located, when they have been moved from the default location (as specified in the note box above).

To change the Path to Configuration String:

1. Using Windows Explorer locate the config file for the Web Theme and make a copy for back up purposes.
   The default location for the Web Theme .config file is:

   %ProgramData%\DriveWorks\[version number]\Live\Themes\Web\DriveWorks.config

   The full path of the new location should be noted.

2. Open the .config file using notepad or a similar text editor.
3. Locate the line below:
   DriveWorks.config file

    <driveworksLive groupConnectionString="Provider=RemoteGroupProvider;Server=MachineName;Name=GroupName;">

   If you have followed step 3 above you will see the groupConnectionString has been inserted.

4. Modify the appropriate line to read:
   DriveWorks.config file

    <driveworksLive pathToConfiguration="NewLocation" groupConnectionString="Provider=RemoteGroupProvider;Server=MachineName;Name=GroupName;">

   Where NewLocation is the full path to the location of the customized Theme files.

For example:

 <driveworksLive pathToConfiguration="C:\DriveWorks\MyWebConfigurationFiles" groupConnectionString="Provider=RemoteGroupProvider;Server=MachineName;Name=GroupName;">

6. Set File Upload Limits

This value should be applied directly in the web.config file.

To change the maxRequestLength value:

1. Using Windows Explorer locate the web.config file for the Theme you are using and make a copy for back up purposes.
   The default location for the Web Theme web.config file is:

   %ProgramData%\DriveWorks\[version number]\Live\Themes\Web\web.config

   The default location for the Application Theme web.config file is:

   %ProgramData%\DriveWorks\[version number]\Live\Themes\Application\web.config

2. Open the web.config file using notepad or a similar text editor.
3. Locate the line below:
   web.config file

    <httpRuntime targetFramework="4.6.1" maxRequestLength="<default value>"

4. Change <default value> to the required value (in bytes). For example 20 megabytes would be 20971520.
   This value should match the FileSizeLimit applied to the Upload Control.

   If you have more than one Project using an Upload Control, or you have more than one Upload Control in a Project, this value should be the largest value applied in any File Size Limit property.

5. A further setting: maxAllowedContentLength, should be applied to the web.config file. However the location of this setting differs between the Web Theme and Application Theme.

   Web Theme

   Locate the line below:

   Web Theme - web.config file

    <requestFiltering allowDoubleEscaping="true" />

   Change this to be:

   Web Theme - web.config file

    <requestFiltering allowDoubleEscaping="true">
   	<requestLimits maxAllowedContentLength="<Value>" />
   </requestFiltering>

   Where Value is the same value used for the maxRequestLength in step 4 above.

   Application Theme

   Locate the line below:

   Application Theme - web.config file

    <system.webServer>

   Change this to be:

   Application Theme - web.config file

    <system.webServer>
   	<security>
   		<requestFiltering>
   			<requestLimits maxAllowedContentLength="Value" />
   		</requestFiltering>
   	</security>

   Where Value is the same value used for the maxRequestLength in step 4 above.

6. Save the file and close the editor.

7. Enable Web Sockets

One of the limitations to HTTP is that it was designed as a one-directional method of communication. However, many modern web-based applications (DriveWorks Live) require more real-time, two-way communications in order to function optimally.

DriveWorks Live, when run through IIS, utilizes WebSocket Protocol to implement two-way communications over the Internet between a client and server.

To enable Web Sockets please refer to the article IIS 8.0 WebSocket Protocol Support.

See Also: How To: Troubleshoot IIS