Bentley Communities
Bentley Communities
  • Site
  • User
  • Site
  • Search
  • User
OpenBuildings | AECOsim | Speedikon
  • Product Communities
  • Building
  • OpenBuildings | AECOsim | Speedikon
  • Cancel
OpenBuildings | AECOsim | Speedikon
OpenBuildings | AECOsim | Speedikon Wiki Working from home with OpenBuildings products
    • Building Design - Wiki
    • +OpenBuildings Designer
    • +OpenBuildings Energy Simulator
    • +GenerativeComponents
    • OpenBuildings Station Designer
    • +OpenBuildings Speedikon + Bentley Speedikon V8i
    • +Bentley Facilities Space Planner CONNECT Edition
    • +AECOsim Building Designer
    • +iModel Plugin for Revit
    • +Social Distance Assessments
    • Working from home with OpenBuildings products
    • Working from home with Speedikon
    • +Special Interest Group (SIG) FAQs
    • +Structural Modeler_PS
    • +Configuration Explorer
    • +Legacy Products
    • +OpenBuildings Speedikon

     
     Questions about this article, topic, or product? Click here. 

    Working from home with OpenBuildings products

      Product(s): OpenBuildings Designer/Station Designer, AECOsim Building Designer
      Version(s): CONNECT Edition and V8i

    In these challenging times when COVID-19 is imposing significant disruptions to day to day activities and affecting normal business flow of our much-valued users and employees, we at Bentley are mindfully committed to ensuring smooth transition of work from office to remote location or home. Our innovative software and services are all geared for working from home or remote locations and do not impose the need to be in an office set-up.

    To ensure smooth transition of work and effectiveness of your daily workflows with Bentley software, we have assembled information that you can refer to while working remotely or from home. We are working hard to deliver high levels of customer service, and welcome feedback, questions, and ideas on how we can serve you better in a remote work environment.

    Note: The on-demand webcast "Working From Home with OpenBuildings" is now available here.  Or you can copy and paste this link: https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/2282778/5D1B44E5E3757E2FDBF15B44064BD2FD

    A number of other Working From Home product webinars can be found here.

    Home Installation

    You may decide to install the software on your home computer. If you do this, once signed in via the CONNECTION Client using your normal work email login, you will have the same licenses available as you do in the office. 

    Machine Requirements

    There are several options to work remotely. You may decide to install the software on your home computer. See these minimum machine requirements for OpenBuildings Designer and OpenBuildings Station Designer.

    Processor Intel® or AMD® processor 1.0 GHz or greater. OpenBuildings Designer/Station Designer is not supported on a CPU that does not support SSE2.
    Memory 16 GB minimum, 32 GB recommended. More memory almost always improves performance, particularly when
    working with larger models.
    Hard Disk 24 GB free disk space (which includes the 16 GB install footprint for a complete installation), 10-25 GB depending on additional installations such as Companion Features and Companion Products.
    Video See the graphics card manufacturer for latest information on DirectX drivers. 512 MB of video RAM or higher
    is recommended. If insufficient video RAM or no graphics card supported by DirectX can be found, MicroStation
    attempts to use software emulation. For optimal performance, graphics display color depth should be set to
    24-bit or higher. When using a color depth setting of 16-bit, some inconsistencies will be noted. For more information on recommended workstation profiles for OpenBuildings products, see MicroStation System Requirements and Hardware Recommendations.
    Screen Resolution 1024 x 768 or higher

    Internet Connectivity

    Internet Access

    Internet access is required for downloading and installing the software. The OpenBuildings Designer and Station Designer installers are almost 13 GB and therefore we recommend adequate data and bandwidth. After downloading the small installer setup file, if you are facing problems running it for downloading the full software, you can download the full software installer directly from the link shared below in DOWNLOADING SOFTWARE section.

    Internet Proxy Settings

    OpenBuildings Designer and Station Designer will try to obtain your Internet Proxy Settings from Internet Explorer browser. If it is not feasible, you can fill the details manually as described in this MicroStation blog page.

    Connecting to your Organization’s Network via VPN

    Virtual Private Network enables organizations to provide secure connection to their network over Internet so their employees can connect remotely or from public places. Follow these instructions to connect to Windows VPN. If your organization uses a different VPN software, contact your IT Administrator to guide you with the steps.

    OpenBuildings Product Features that require Internet Connectivity

    The following features of OpenBuildings Designer and Station Designer may not work properly in the absence of Internet connectivity.

    • Bing Maps
    • CONNECT Project
    • CONNECT Licensing
    • CONNECT Advisor
    • Web Map Service
    • Component Center
    • Issue Resolution Service
    • Reality Context Share Service
    • User Feedback Service
    • Send as Email
    • Google Earth integration
    • Social interaction (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube & etc.)
    • Online Help
    • Publish iModel and PDF to ProjectWise Share
    • CONNECT Notification Service
    • RSS Feeds

    Virtualization and Virtual Machines

    Important notice about use of Bentley applications in virtual environments - click here

    Virtualization enables organizations to create virtual machines from a single physical machine and administer them to their employees on demand.

    Bentley is exploring other virtualization providers like VMWare Horizon and Azure Virtual Desktop. If your organization uses any of these, please reach out to us with your questions and we’ll try our best to assist.

    Virtual Machines

    Virtual Machines are a great way to manage operating systems and work remotely with a running Remote Desktop Connection, login credentials and a valid IP Address. Installing virtualization software allows one or more virtual machines to share one physical computer. Your IT Administrator can create VMs with a readymade image of Windows operating system that includes OpenBuildings products and any other software needed. When such a VM is provisioned to you, you can directly launch OpenBuildings Designer or Station Designer and start working on your project.

    You can create a new VM and install its operating system by following these simple steps.

    You can export and import existing VMs in Windows Hyper-V Server by following these steps.

    This Virtual Machines and Remote Desktop YouTube video may also prove useful.  

    Remote Desktop Connection

    Remotely Accessing Office Computer

    If you work on a heavy-duty desktop machine that is difficult to carry or if your organization does not allow employees to move computers out of the office premises, Remote Desktop Connection offers a great way to log into that machine from your personal computer. You will require your computer name or IP address. Click here to follow the instructions in this page.

    Sharing Configurations and Project Data 

    When you’re working remotely, you are still part of a team and therefore sharing of project data is crucial. This is where the Configuration system shines. No matter where you are, you can be sure to be using the correct CAD standard with server-based Configurations. If your system has already been configured to use server-based resources virtualization and remote desktop access results in a similar experience to working in the office, there may be some graphic latency, but the system will be identical.

    Attempting to connect to a configuration on office-based shares via VPN may be possible, depending on your IT systems, but is likely to be subject to significant latency, especially with many more VPN users than usual. Working with a local copy of the network configuration may be more appropriate.

    Common Network Storage

    One of the simplest and effective ways of work sharing is by storing the project data in a common network storage location and pointing every user’s configuration to that location by setting the OpenBuildings Designer or Station Designer _USTN_CONFIGURATION configuration variable. In addition, we recommend mapping a drive letter to organization’s network server path.

    Storing your Project data on ProjectWise Share or OneDrive

    Store your Project data on ProjectWise Share or Microsoft OneDrive that allows high level of control. Easily manage and transfer without the need for additional software.  

    Collaborating on Projects with ProjectWise

    The beauty of working with ProjectWise is that work sharing is built-in and the concept of being tied to a location is foreign. In a Client-Server architecture the client can be anywhere. By storing standards and work files on a server you can ensure proper access for anyone. By establishing a digital environment for all project information, you can give access to people regardless of location and device type. However, ensuring the correct access is the key to success. So, setting up ProjectWise Explorer locally is key.

    The way to install ProjectWise Explorer can be found here.

    Downloading Software

    • The latest OpenBuildings products can be downloaded from the Software Downloads page. 
    • Portable Deployment Images
      We recommend that CAD/BIM administrators create Deployment Images to use as the source for multiple installations in normal circumstances. In this situation either an existing or a new Deployment Image can be copied to removable media and taken home to use as the installation source where internet availability/speed is limited (note: Internet access is still essential to sign-in to licensing services). The steps to create a Deployment Image for OpenBuildings Designer CONNECT Edition are explained in this Wiki, while AECOsim Building Designer V8i is covered in this wiki.
    • This How To Create A Deployment Image For Any Power Platform Desktop Application YouTube video may also be useful. 
    • Download link for full installers (aka. Deployment Image)
      If you are having difficulty downloading OpenBuildings software from Software Downloads site, full installers can be obtained by contacting support by filing a Service Request here: https://apps.bentley.com/srmanager/ProductSupport .
    • CONNECTION Client
    • LumenRT CONNECT Edition Update 13

    Accessing Product Documentation

    • Online Documents
    • OpenBuildings Designer Update 6
    • OpenBuildings Station Designer Update 6

    Resolving Licensing Issues

    • Licensing Wiki
    • Subscription Entitlement Service
    • Bentley User Registration
    • Offline Usage
    • How to ensure usage from only one user on a shared workstation
    • How remote usage is recorded with Subscription Entitlement Service (SES)
    • How to check out licenses from Entitlement Management (how to run offline)
    • How to bulk checkout licenses from Entitlement Management (extended offline scenarios)

    How to get help 

    • Service Request Manager
    • Bentley Communities
    • OpenBuildings Community
    • CONNECT Center
    • Bentley LEARNserver
    • License Manager
    • Entitlement Management
    • User Management
    • Roles and Permissions 

    Useful articles about working remotely  

    • Super Evil Megacorp
    • Suddenly Remote? Here’s How to Regain Your Productivity in Record Time
    • The Ultimate Guide to Remote Work

    Related Bentley LEARN content:

    1. Installation
    2. Basic Refresher
    3. QuickStart for Architects
    4. QuickStart for Structural Designers
    5. QuickStart for Mechanical Designers
    6. QuickStart for Electrical Designers

    Other available resources:

    • Communities Working from Home page
    • Accessing offline help
    • Working from home with MicroStation
    • Bentley.com COVID response page
    • Tips to Maximize Screen Real Estate
    • Share
    • History
    • More
    • Cancel
    • Steve Cocchi Created by Bentley Colleague Communities MVP Steve Cocchi
    • When: Thu, Mar 19 2020 4:29 PM
    • Marc Thomas Last revision by Bentley Colleague Marc Thomas
    • When: Fri, Sep 10 2021 6:48 AM
    • Revisions: 30
    • Comments: 0
    Recommended
    Related
    Communities
    • Home
    • Getting Started
    • Community Central
    • Products
    • Support
    • Secure File Upload
    • Feedback
    Support and Services
    • Home
    • Product Support
    • Downloads
    • Subscription Services Portal
    Training and Learning
    • Home
    • About Bentley Institute
    • My Learning History
    • Reference Books
    Social Media
    •    LinkedIn
    •    Facebook
    •    Twitter
    •    YouTube
    •    RSS Feed
    •    Email

    © 2023 Bentley Systems, Incorporated  |  Contact Us  |  Privacy |  Terms of Use  |  Cookies