Using a File Synchronization-capable Worker with Windchill Workgroup Manager

Integration with Other Applications > Windchill Workgroup Manager Documentation > CATIA V5 > Administrator > Administration and Configuration for CATIA V5 > Using a File Synchronization-capable Worker with Windchill Workgroup Manager

These instructions apply if you are using the CATIA V5 file synchronization-capable worker. This configuration uses the Windchill Workgroup Manager to synchronize Windchill attributes with the attribute values in the CAD files prior to publishing Creo View viewables.

The following is an example of the configuration changes needed to tell Windchill Visualization Services to use file synchronization for publishing data. This general concept applies to all file synchronization-capable workers.

Only the Creo View adapters for Creo Parametric and CATIA V5 support multiple aliased workers (using the dAPI -DA argument) that are also configured for file synchronization on the same host machine.

Perform the following steps to enable the feature for the other file synchronization-capable workers. Note the differences in the command string for each of the file synchronization-capable workers:

1. Append the useworkerdownload variable to the publish.cadconvert.<worker_name> variable in the wvs.properties file using the xconfmanager utility. This tells the publisher to use the worker for the file download (useworkerdownload) and that the username and password to give the worker can be found in the auth.properties file in the Windchill directory.

From a windchill shell, execute the following commands:

a. To display the current value of the publish.cadconvert<worker_name> variable:

xconfmanager -d publish.cadconvert.<worker_name>

b. Append the useworkerdownload variable definition to the publish.cadconvert<worker_name> variable:

useworkerdownload=$(wt.home)$(wvs.dir.sep)auth.properties

Use a comma (,) separator when appending the new value.

For CATIA V5:

xconfmanager -s
publish.cadconvert.CATIAV5=com.ptc.wvs.server.publish.CadConvert
CATIAV5,useworkerdownload=$(wt.home)$(wvs.dir.sep)auth.properties
-t <Windchill>\codebase\wvs.properties -p

where <Windchill> is the location where Windchill is installed.

2. The publish.cadconvert.<worker_name> variable edited in the previous step references the auth.properties file. At this time, the file does not exist and must be created using the following steps:

a. In the above examples, WVS looks for the auth.properties file in the Windchill directory, but, if desired, you can define a new location for this file. For security reasons, the file should not be located in the codebase directory.

b. Create the auth.properties file using a text editor of your choice.

c. Add an authentication variable that includes a user name and password value. This is the only entry in this file.

auth=<username>:<password>

Replace <username> and <password> with valid values. The specified user name must have read access to the Windchill objects to be published through Windchill Visualization Services, and it must have the authorization to download the content from Windchill.

d. Save your changes and close the auth.properties file.

3. Restart the Windchill server.

Configuring the Worker

In order to synchronize the values of properties shared between an authoring application and Windchill during viewable generation, the following components need to be installed on the worker system:

• the authoring application

• the applicable Creo View adapter – (for installation information, see the Creo View MCAD Adapters Installation and Configuration Guide)

• Windchill Workgroup Manager – (see the “Installing Windchill Workgroup Manager” chapter of the Administrator's and User's Guide for your authoring application for installation information)

Post-Install Configuration of the Worker on Windows

After the Windchill Workgroup Manager is installed, two system-level environment variables need to be defined:

1. Copy the PTC_WGM_HOME environment variable definition from the user-level environment settings to the system-level environment settings. The value for this setting is the directory where the Windchill Workgroup Manager is installed.

2. Remove the PTC_WGM_HOME environment variable definition from the user-level environment setting.

3. Create a new system-level environment variable called PTC_WF_ROOT. Set the variable value to a directory to which the system-level account has write access.

4. Restart the worker machine after defining these two environment variables to allow the new settings to take effect in the system environment.

Register the authoring application with the Windchill Workgroup Manager. Refer to the “Registering the Authoring Application” section of the Administrator's and User's Guide for your authoring application for information on how to register your authoring application. Do not register the Windchill server with the Windchill Workgroup Manager.

Configuring the PTC Worker Daemon Service Properties

Edit the PTC Worker Daemon service properties to provide system access, which is necessary for file synchronization to function properly:

1. In the PTC Worker Daemon Properties window, select the Log On tab.

2. Set Log On As to Local System Account and click OK.

3. On the Services panel, select Stop if the service is running.

4. Restart the service in order for the changes to take effect.

Configuring the Creo View Adapter for HTTPS

Because the worker runs in the background, message windows that arise during communication with the server should be avoided. In an HTTPS environment, for example, certificates should be loaded and pre-accepted in order for the worker system to avoid acceptance windows.

Accepting Certificates on Windows

For the Windows worker to publish data, the PTC Worker Daemon service must be configured with the specific logon information of a user who can log on to the local host and accept certificates from the Windchill server:

1. In Windows, select Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools. Once the Administrative Tools window opens, double-click the Services icon. The Services window opens.

2. View the properties of the PTC Worker Daemon.

3. Return to the PTC Worker Daemon Services window. Under the General tab, click Stop.

4. Under the Log On tab, select This account and enter the user logon and password information.

5. Return to the General tab and click Start to restart the service.

6. Open the Windchill Workgroup Manager and browse to the Windchill server.

7. Install (accept) the security certificate for the secure site.

8. Click Exit to exit the Windchill Workgroup Manager.

9. See Configuring the PTC Worker Daemon Service Properties for the steps to configure the worker on the server.

Using a Windchill Workgroup Manager Remote Worker System Installation

The basic requirement for publishing with file sync enabled on a remote worker machine is that there should not be any server registered with the Windchill Workgroup Manager. However, when the Windchill Workgroup Manager is installed from a server, this condition is satisfied due to automatic server registration. As a result, server-side publishing cannot proceed until you complete the following steps:

1. After installing the Windchill Workgroup Manager client on the worker machine from a Windchill server, edit the wgmclient.ini file located at <WGM_INSTALL_DIR> to comment-out the server entry:

#Default server URL.#default.server.url=<server_url>

2. Ensure that the “Start application” option is not selected to launch Windchill Workgroup Manager after completion of the installation.

Configuring Multiple File Sync Workers

This section provides instructions on setting up multiple Windchill Workgroup Manager for CATIA V5 CAD workers on a single machine. The following variables are used in this procedure:

<TS_INST>

Theorem installation folder

<PVIEW_WORKING_DIR>

Theorem CADverter setup folder

<WGM_HOME>

Windchill Workgroup Manager installation folder

CATIA V5 application installation folder

Windows application data folder

CATIA V5 release number being used

Configuring Multiple CATIA V5 Workers

1. Decide on a worker machine alias for each worker required on a single machine, such as: catiaworker_1, catiaworker_2, and catiaworker_3.

2. From the worker machine, use the catia5_pv_config utility to create several identical configurations, one for each required worker, with a relevant name, such as: catia5_setup1, catia5_setup2, and catia5_setup3.

Ensure that the Enable WWGM file synchronization support checkbox is selected.

3. Edit each catia5worker.bat script and add the relevant -DA <alias> as the first argument after the <TS_INST>\bin\catia5<release>_pv.cmd in the worker monitor command line. For example:

<TS_INST>\i486_nt\obj\workermonitor" -UH -s "<TS_INST> \bin\catiaV5r23_pv.cmd" -DA catiaworker_1 -vt -r...

4. Edit each worker script and add the following commands. For example, for catiaworker_1:

set PVIEW_WORKING_DIR=D:\Theorem\cadworkers\catia5_setup1
set PTC_WF_CACHE=%PVIEW_WORKING_DIR%\.wgm
set PTC_WF_ROOT=%PVIEW_WORKING_DIR%\.wgm\wf_root
set PTC_WGM_STARTUP_DIR=%PVIEW_WORKING_DIR%\.wgm\uwgm_logs
set PTC_WLD_ROOT=%PVIEW_WORKING_DIR%\.wgm\wld_root
set VC_LOG_DIR=%PVIEW_WORKING_DIR%\.wgm\uwgm_logs
set PTC_WGM_ROOT=%PVIEW_WORKING_DIR%\.wgm\wgm_root
set PTC_WGM_XML_TEMP=%PVIEW_WORKING_DIR%\.wgm\XML
set TEMP=%PVIEW_WORKING_DIR%

You will need to remove the existing line setting the PTC_WF_ROOT, PTC_WGM_STARTUP_DIR, and PTC_WLD_ROOT variables.

5. Configure the Windchill server so that each of the worker aliases is resolved to the relevant worker host name alias. Edit the %SystemRoot%\System32\drivers\etc\hosts file and adding an entry such as:

[worker-ip-addr] [hostname] [alias-name_1] [alias-name_2] [alias-name_3] [etc]

For example:

123.456.789.1 catiaworker catiaworker_1 catiaworker_2 catiaworker_3

6. Configure a worker definition for each worker using the Worker Agent Configuration Wizard, adding each aliased worker (using the alias name for the worker host name) as a separate worker, each with one instance.

Windchill Workgroup Manager Configuration for Multiple File Sync Enabled Workers

1. Install the Windchill Workgroup Manager client build in the chosen location. For example: C:\Program Files (x86)\PTC\wgm.

2. Create a batch file in each of the worker setup folders to run the different Windchill Workgroup Manager environments with the contents shown below:

a. For the first worker configuration, create batch file WWGM_Setup1.bat:

set PVIEW_WORKING_DIR=D:\Theorem\cadworkers\catia5_setup1
set PTC_WGM_APP_LOCK_NAME=catiaworker1
set PTC_WF_CACHE=%PVIEW_WORKING_DIR%\.wgm\wf_cache
set PTC_WF_ROOT=%PVIEW_WORKING_DIR%\.wgm\wf_root
set PTC_WGM_STARTUP_DIR=%PVIEW_WORKING_DIR%\.wgm\uwgm_logs
set PTC_WLD_ROOT=%PVIEW_WORKING_DIR%\.wgm\wld_root
set VC_LOG_DIR=%PVIEW_WORKING_DIR%\.wgm\uwgm_logs
set PTC_WGM_ROOT=%PVIEW_WORKING_DIR%\.wgm\wgm_root
set PTC_WGM_XML_TEMP=%PVIEW_WORKING_DIR%\.wgm\XML
“[WGM_HOME]\bin\uwgm_client.js”

b. For the second worker configuration, copy WWGM_Setup1.bat to the second worker setup folder and edit the first two lines for the new location accordingly. For example:

set PVIEW_WORKING_DIR=D:\Theorem\cadworkers\catia5_setup2
set PTC_WGM_APP_LOCK_NAME=catiaworker2

c. Repeat for each additional worker configuration.

3. Register CATIA V5 for each worker’s Windchill Workgroup Manager configuration. This creates unique PTC_WF_ROOT and PTC_WGM_ROOT content in each worker setup folder.

To register CATIA V5 for the first worker’s Windchill Workgroup Manager configuration:

a. Run the Windchill Workgroup Manager using the batch file WWGM_Setup1.bat

For Windows 7 and Windows Vista, run as an administrator.

b. Select the desired CATIA V5 version and click Register.

If registering manually, the default startup command must be used.

c. Click Close.

d. Register your server.

e. Close the Windchill Workgroup Manager client.

f. Update the startup user’s CATIA V5 environment file (the Windchill Workgroup Manager client application registration process for each new worker configuration resets this CATIA V5 environment file):

i. Edit the common Windchill Workgroup Manager for CATIA V5 environment file to use the PTC_WF_ROOT variable set in the catia5worker.bat

ii. Open the Windchill Workgroup Manager for CATIA V5 environment file (the default location is %APPDATA%\ \DassaultSystemes\CATEnv\WGM_10.0_CATIA_V5_R<Release>.txt).

iii. Replace all references to the PTC_WF_ROOT location (for example: D:\Theorem\cadworkers\catia5_setup1\.wgm\wf_root) with the environment variable %PTC_WF_ROOT%.

Repeat for each additional worker configuration.

Troubleshooting

• If the worker cannot obtain a CATIA V5 license for a job, all subsequent jobs fail because of the same license issue. To fix this problem, you must first fix the license problem first. Then, access the WVS job monitor in Windchill. Search for all jobs that have failed due to the license issue and resubmit them.

• To assure that log messages are properly localized and displayed in the WVS job monitor, be sure to set the "locale" of the Windchill server and the Theorem Worker client machine to the same value.