For Bentley Substation CONNECT Edition, please see the Deployment Guide - Substation CONNECT Edition v10.00-10.02 article.
For versions of Promis.e prior to promis.e V8i SELECTseries 5, please see the Network Installation Guide ARCHIVE article.
This installation guide contains the information necessary to perform a basic "network" installation of Promis.e or Bentley Substation for the purpose of sharing data between users.
A basic network installation typically involves sharing the following on a network:
Some or all of the above items can be shared. This guide will outline the process for sharing all of the above items. Note that to share projects, not only the project folders but also the project database must be shared.
By nature, sharing data over the network can result in some performance degradation. Promis.e and Bentley Substation require a maintained 35 megabits per second transfer rate. What is actually achieved by the network is not the same as the equipment ratings of the network components. Failure to maintain a transfer rate 35 megabits per second will be noticeable by the users and performance will likely be considered unacceptable.
A basic outline of the network installation process would be:
This document is intended for users/companies that have limited IT resources or do not have Database Administrators (DBAs). As a result, advanced security settings and alternative database servers are not discussed.
The following definitions are used throughout this document:
Project database: The database that contains project related data as well as some system related data. This database is a SQL database and is attached to a SQL Server. A connection to a project database must exist to create or open projects. This connection is managed on the Setup dialog.
Installation file: The file that, when run, has options to view the Installation Guide, install the software, and install SQL Server software. See the following articles to download this file.
How to download the Promis.e software
How to download the Bentley Substation software
The software: In this article, the term "the software" will refer to Promis.e and Bentley Substation.
Server: The computer that is used to store shared data. Consult the SQL software documentation for system requirements. System requirements for SQL Server 2008 R2 Express can be found here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143506.aspx
SSMS: SQL Server Management Studio. This is an optional program that can be used to explore and manage SQL databases. With SQL Server 2008, this program will be installed during SQL Server installation if the "Management Tools" feature is selected (see also Installing SQL Server). With SQL Server 2005 Express, this program is called SQL Server Management Studio Express and is installed separately.
Install Promis.e/Bentley Substation on at least one workstation. See the Installation Guide (available on the installation menu) for details.
SQL Server can also be installed on the workstation from the installation file or CD.
Choose to install SQL Server on the workstation if that computer is not always connected to the company's network SQL Server. This will enable you to use a local SQL Server and database while working with the software while away from the network.
SQL Server does not need to be installed on the workstation if that computer will always be connected to the company's internal network SQL Server.
If using promis.e for AutoCAD, a compatible version of AutoCAD must also be installed on the workstation.
Promis.e/Bentley Substation is not typically installed on the server. The server(s) only hosts the shared data.
Since the software is designed to work with a SQL database, a compatible SQL Server must be available. For this purpose, Microsoft SQL Server Express is included in the installation file.
The installation media should be copied to or made available to the machine that will be the SQL Server. For a network install, this is typically a server machine and not a workstation. SQL Server installation is then run on the server machine. See Installing SQL Server for more details.
If your company is already running a compatible version of SQL Server, you may opt to use that as your database server. Alternatively, the software can be configured to function on a compatible Oracle database. See Compatibility Chart - Promis.e V8i and Compatibility Chart - Bentley Substation V8i.
Important: Specify and make note of the SA password during SQL Server installation.
This process is discussed in the Creating and Updating the Project Database article.
To move existing projects created with a local setup configuration to the network, see the Moving Projects article.
In versions earlier than promis.e V8i SELECTseries 5, an SQL login was automatically created when the database was created. This login had a username of ecaduser and a password of Ecad1pass. In many situations, it will be acceptable for all Promis.e users to use this default database login. If the user is creating this database on a server that hosted a promis.e 2007 version 2.0 database it is possible that the password may be ecadpassword.
For additional security, this account may be disabled and additional users may be manually assigned to the database. However, we recommend that this be done by qualified personnel familiar with SQL and Windows security to avoid problems.
Beginning with promis.e/Bentley Substation V8i SELECTseries 5, the script used to create the database does not create a SQL Server login. A SQL Server login can be created when the database is created using the Project Database Utility. A SQL Server login can also be created and associated with an existing database. See SQL Server Login for details.
A database administrator can also add the Windows accounts of users to the SQL Server in order to allow users to connect using Windows Authentication.
Besides sharing the project database, many users will wish to share other data across a network. The most commonly shared data are: the project drawing files, the parts and language databases, symbol catalogs, various configuration files, and the report templates.
For the purposes of this guide, it is assumed that the software has been installed on at least one workstation prior to the next step and that the user wishes to share all possible data.
Copy the "Promis-e Data folder" or "Substation Data folder from the workstation to the shared location on the server. Refer to the System Paths area of the Setup dialog to find the location of the Data folder on the workstation.
The resulting folder should have the following structure. Substitute "Substation Data" for "promis-e Data" if using Bentley Substation.
This is an optional step. Multiple setup configurations can be created to facilitate switching between different settings. Setup configurations store all of the settings on the Setup dialog. A local setup configuration can be created for use when working while disconnected from the company network, and a "Network" configuration can be used when working while connected.
After starting the software, click the Setup link on the Welcome dialog:
The Setup dialog can also be accessed via menu selections.
Setup configurations can be created and deleted in the top portion of the dialog.
By default, the software creates the "ANSI-IEEE Default" and "IEC Default" setup configurations during installation. In these setup configurations, the paths are based on the data folder path specified during installation. The default paths during installation point to folders on the local workstation.
The default configurations can be used as a basis for a new network configuration. Choose the appropriate configuration for the drawing standard used (ANSI-IEEE or IEC) as the basis for the new configuration.
To create a "network" configuration, click the New button, type in a configuration name of "Net" and click OK.
Notice that the settings from the local configuration were transferred to the new configuration. Any changes made will take place only in the active configuration.
Confirm that "Net" is displayed in the Setup Configuration box on the Setup dialog.
The software requires a Microsoft SQL or Oracle database to store various project related information. The Project Database area of the Setup dialog tells the software where to find this database and how to connect to it.
The format of the Server Name field is:
MACHINENAME\INSTANCE
with a backslash separating the machine name and instance name with no spaces.
For new installations of Promis.e and Bentley Substation V8i, the instance name would be "BENTLEYECAD". If SQL Server was installed via older versions of promis.e, the instance name may be "ECTECAD".
Note: when connecting to full versions of SQL Server (not Express) there may be no instance name, in which case the Server Name field should only contain the machine name of the server.
Change the Server Name field to match the server and instance to be used.
To use Windows authentication, the Windows login for each user must be added to the SQL Server by the database administrator. An easier method is usually to use SQL Server Authentication and have all users use the same SQL login.
If upgrading from an earlier version of promis.e V8i or promis.e 2007, a SQL login name of ecaduser with a password of either Ecad1pass or ecadpassword may exist.
If the SQL Server is new for promis.e V8i SELECTseries 5 or otherwise not previously used for promis.e, a SQL login may need to be created as discussed in the "Adding users and changing permissions of the project database" section.
The software uses various paths to store configuration files. There are two options available for managing System paths: Manage Data Folder Path and Manage Individual Paths. For this basic network setup exampl, the simpler method of Manage Data Folder Path is used.
It is recommended that all users map a drive to the network Data folder using the same drive letter. Each user should map the drive to the same exact path. For the remainder of this article, the
\\<server name>\<subfolder>\Promis-e Data
location will be referred to as drive "P".
Note: Mapped drives are preferred over UNC paths in the Setup dialog. In earlier versions of the software, use of UNC paths were known to cause problems.
After mapping the "P" drive to the network "Promis-e Data" folder, specify "P:\" for the Data Folder Path field on the System Paths tab of the Setup dialog.
The software can connect to a parts database in two main ways: it can use a connection string to connect to various databases or database servers, or it can use an MS Access database file (.mdb). This example uses an Access database file for the parts database.
Locate the Parts Database Path label on the System Paths tab of the Setup dialog.
The ansi-ieee_parts_database item is a mapping to the local parts database. A new path to the parts database file on the network must be created.
To add a new parts database path, click the New button next to the Parts Database Path field. The following dialog will appear.
In the Parts Database Name field enter: Network
In the Use File field, select the Browse button and navigate to:P:\Databases\ANSI-IEEE_database.mdb
The Table and SQL Query options should now be available. Select the Table option and then parts_database from the drop down box.
Click Next. The Field Mapping dialog should appear:
If the last three columns are blank, click Default Mapping.
Once this is completed, click Finish.
The main Setup dialog should reappear.Using the drop down box next to Parts Database Path, select the newly created "Network" path to make it the active path.
The final item(s) that must be configured is the symbol catalog(s). Select the Catalog Paths tab of the Setup dialog.
Remove unwanted local catalog paths by selecting one then clicking the X button to remove the path.
Click the + button to add a new catalog path. Click the [...] button to browse to the network catalog. For this example, it is P:\Catalogs\ANSI-IEEE. Then click OK.
The network catalog path should now appear in the bottom window.
Click OK to exit the Setup dialog.
The software should now be configured to work on a network.
To switch between the "Net" and a local setup configuration, simply choose the desired configuration from the Setup Configuration drop down box.
Note: Setting up "network" and "local" configurations does not synchronize the data between the two. To synchronize, modified files must be copied from one Data folder to the other. To transfer projects from one project database to another, use File > Backup in Project Manager to create a backup of the project while connected to the source database, then use File > Restore in Project Manager while connected to the destination database. See also the Moving Projects article.
Once a workstation is configured to use data on the network, the Setup dialog on the other workstations can be configured the same way. This can be done manually or the Setup.xml file can be copied to other workstations. This will transfer all the settings on the Setup dialog on the configured workstation to the destination workstation(s). See the Distributing the Setup configuration article for details and considerations about this procedure.
Distributing the Setup configuration
Compatibility Chart - Promis.e V8i
Compatibility Chart - Bentley Substation V8i
Installing SQL Server
Creating and Updating the Project Database
Moving Projects
Troubleshooting Project Database Connection Problems
Converting to an SQL Parts Database