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).
IIS provides faster transmission times between IIS and compression-enabled browsers.
Dynamic Compression means faster load times for your DriveWorks user forms that display dynamic content (Pictures, DriveWorks 3D Files etc.) on the clients browser.
IIS runs as a service on your computer.
This means that care must be taken when setting up credentials in IIS but has the benefit that you don't need to be logged on to a machine to run an application.
This article explains how to set up IIS so DriveWorks Live can be accessed without having to run the application.
Setup DriveWorks Live (the application) on the Server machine before attempting to run through IIS
This includes the following steps:
This can be done either by:
Launching DriveWorks Live and connect to the license server.
Please see Licensing DriveWorks Live for more information.
Or
Please see How To: License DriveWorks Live Using Environment Variables for more information.
IIS and mapped network drives
To run DriveWorks Live through IIS your project should not use any mapped network drives. Mapped network drives are user specific, therefore it is much harder to ensure that the user you set up in IIS can access them.
All network locations should therefore be specified using a UNC (Uniform Naming Convention) path, for example:
\\< ServerName>\< ShareName>\ProjectFile.
Paths that should be specified using UNC include:
Microsoft Excel and Word Document Generation
Ensure the projects being specified through DriveWorks Live have any Microsoft Excel or Word documents generated by an Automatic State in the Specification Flow. This will allow these documents to be created by DriveWorks Autopilot and not DriveWorks Live (which it will not be able to do when running as a service through IIS).
Services do not have access to many programs, especially COM programs such as Microsoft Word and Excel
To maximize performance and for the best user experience, we recommend that as much processing as possible happens when in an Automatic state (Since the processing will be performed by DriveWorks Autopilot).
All DriveWorks plugins used must be installed locally on the machine hosting IIS.
Network located plugins will not run through IIS.
The Integration Theme requires the .NET Core Hosting Bundle to be installed on the hosting system.
This can be downloaded from Microsoft by clicking here.
Note, the linked page includes downloads for the SDK. When running IIS on Windows please select the Runtime & Hosting Bundle.
Microsoft have recently released v3.0.0 of the Runtime & Hosting Bundle. This will not run with the Integration Theme.
Please revert to v2.1 to run the Integration Theme.
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.
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. |
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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
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:
The ProgramData folder may be hidden. To make this visible:
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:
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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:
Both options require permissions to access the folder. |
When using IIS DriveWorks Live needs to know certain Connection and Configuration settings.
This is done using:
The Group Connection String holds two pieces of information critical to ensuring DriveWorks Live runs with Internet Information Services (IIS).
To change the Group Connection String:
<driveworksLive>
<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.
Name | Meaning |
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ProServerMachine | DriveWorks Pro Server is located on a machine named ProServerMachine. |
localhost | DriveWorks Pro Server is located on the local machine i.e. the same machine running IIS (not ideal scenario). |
Name | Meaning |
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ProductionGroup | The name of the Shared Group hosted on the DriveWorks Pro Server machine to connect to. |
MyCompanyGroup | The name of the Shared Group hosted on the DriveWorks Pro Server machine to connect to. |
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;">
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.
Use the Web Theme to create a web site for your DriveWorks Implementation.
Choose from a number of customizable skins to select your preferred user experience.
Gives your DriveWorks Implementation the look and feel of a desktop application in a browser.
Hosts the DriveWorks Live Web API enabling you to embed your DriveWorks Implementation in an existing web site or application.
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:
<preview serverName="localhost">
Name | Meaning |
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localhost | The DriveWorks Autopilot that hosts the 3D Preview service is located on the local machine. |
AutopilotMachine | The DriveWorks Autopilot that hosts the 3D Preview service is located on the machine named AutopilotMachine. |
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.
%ProgramData%\DriveWorks\[version number]\Live\Themes\Web
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:
%ProgramData%\DriveWorks\[version number]\Live\Themes\Web\DriveWorks.config
The full path of the new location should be noted.
<driveworksLive groupConnectionString="Provider=RemoteGroupProvider;Server=MachineName;Name=GroupName;">
If you have followed step 3 above you will see the groupConnectionString has been inserted.
<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;">
If using the Integration Theme please see the MaxRequestBodySize element in the topic Integration Theme Settings.
This value should be applied directly in the web.config file.
To change the maxRequestLength value:
%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
<httpRuntime targetFramework="4.6.1" maxRequestLength="<default value>"
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.
Web Theme
Locate the line below:
<requestFiltering allowDoubleEscaping="true" />
Change this to be:
<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:
<system.webServer>
Change this to be:
<system.webServer> <security> <requestFiltering> <requestLimits maxAllowedContentLength="Value" /> </requestFiltering> </security>
Where Value is the same value used for the maxRequestLength in step 4 above.
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.
Knowledge Base Article Ref: | KB13103033 |
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See Also: How To: Troubleshoot IIS