Problem

One of the frequently asked questions when setting up a Vault View is which user account is needed to log in during this process. After selecting your server, you may be prompted with a PDM login window. The account it is looking for is specified on the archive server machine in the Archive Server Configuration tool.

Solution

Within the Archive Server Configuration tool, there are security settings for Administrative Access and Attach Access. Settings are located under Tools > Default Settings. Administrative Access is for upgrading and managing the vaults, while Attach Access allows a user account to attach a vault to the PDM server.

1. Open the Windows Start menu and then navigate to the Archive Server Configuration icon under the SOLIDWORKS PDM folder.

2. If the Archive Server Configuration tool doesn't open, it may be minimized in the Windows system tray in the bottom right-hand corner of your display. 

3. Once the Archive Server Configuration tool is open, click Tools > Default Settings.

4. Select the Security tab within Default Settings. 

5. To create, remove, attach to, or upgrade a vault, login accounts need to be a part of a user group or user account in the "Administrative access" box.  Attaching an existing vault (create a vault view) requires your user account to be in the second box, called "Attach access". You can add Windows domain users and groups to these boxes. 

Windows Azure Active Directory Support 

SOLIDWORKS PDM does not currently support Windows Azure Active Directory accounts for user management. Using an Azure Active Directory account to connect a view setup to the archive server will result in authentication issues. There is a workaround for this in the SOLIDWORKS QA article QA00000106670.

The workaround is to create the PDM vault view setup on the machine using a .cvs file. The document PDM Vault View File has more details regarding using the .cvs file.