Want Easy Steps on How to Work from Home with SOLIDWORKS?, there are number of things to consider, such as;

1. SolidWorks Licensing
2. Access to SolidWorks project files
3. If using SOLIDWORKS PDM, then how to access the vault files

SOLIDWORKS LICENSING

For SOLIDWORKS to run, licence check is one of the first checks that takes place to see if the licence is available. There are two types of licensing options – Standalone and Network Licence.

Users with STANDALONE Licence

Users who are using Standalone licence on work PC, please remember to deactivate the licence from work so you can activate it on your home machine.

For SOLIDWORKS 2020, users can find the deactivate option under Help -> Licences -> Deactivate Licence

For SOLIDWORKS 2019 and 2018, users can find the option to deactivate licence under “Help” menu

Users with NETWORK Licence

Users who are using the network licence for their SOLIDWORKS have two options:

1. Borrow Licence
2. Set up VPN Connection

Borrow Licence

The maximum length of time to borrow a licence is 1-month period (30 Days). Licences automatically return to the pool after this period.

To borrow licence:

1. Launch SolidNetWork Licence Manager Client (launch the latest version in case you have more than one version of SOLIDWORKS installed).
2. Navigate to the 3^rd tab – Licence Borrowing
3. Select the product you want to borrow
4. Set the date until which you want to borrow
5. Click Borrow and “yes” for confirmation
6. Click Refresh and check that Expiry Date Column shows the date when Licences are due to return.

Setup VPN Connection

Alternatively, you can ask your IT to set up a VPN Connection to the Licence Server and make sure that client machine is communicating to the Licence Server machine.

If SolidNetWork Licence Manager is installed using default ports, then TCP Ports 25734 and 25735 need to be opened.

Access to SolidWorks project files

Make sure you have collected all the files you want to work on. There are couple of scenarios:

1. Working on files stored in network drive
2. Working on files in PDM Vault (See Accessing SOLIDWORKS PDM Vault from Home)

Working on Files Stored in Network Drive

For any files that are on the Network Drive, you can either:

1. Use “Pack & Go” functionality of SOLIDWORKS
2. Ask IT to set up VPN connection

Pack and Go function will collect all the referenced files that are needed and maintain internal references. With Pack & Go, you can save all the files into a zip file for easy transfer.

Alternatively, you can ask your IT to set up a VPN Connection so that you can access Network Drives from home

Accessing SOLIDWORKS PDM Vault from Home

When working with SOLIDWORKS PDM, PDM Client should communicate with the PDM Server products continuously. When PDM Client is actively communicating to the Server, the folders in the local vault view appear “Green”.

When you have to work from home and the PDM Server is not available there are two options to keep using files stored in PDM Vault:

1. Work Offline
2. VPN Setup

Working Offline

SOLIDWORKS PDM offers users a flexibility to take the vault view offline when not in range of PDM Server. To work in an offline mode,

1. Check in all the active working files
2. Checkout only the files that you plan to work on while away from server.
   NOTE: Do-not over check out the files as this may cause problems to the other user who need to check out these files.
   If you need additional files locally, just “Get Latest Version” to get a local copy for read only access
3. In your Local Vault View (within Windows Explorer), Click on Tools and click “Work Off-line”

This will take your vault off-line and the folders will appear “Blue”. For all the files that you have checked out, they will have “Write” access and for all the files that you have not checked out, you will have “Read-only” access. Once you are back at work or within the range of PDM Server, you can go online and check in all the files.

VPN Connection

The other way to keep using PDM in the active environment is to ask your IT to set up a VPN Connection so that the PDM Client on your machine can keep communicating to the PDM Server. As files are cached locally, there will be minimal live access to the vault, so it should still be a smooth experience.

For VPN Connection, following ports need to be opened:

1. SNL (SolidNetwork Licence Manager) Ports for PDM Licensing to work properly,
   1. TCP 25734 and 25735
2. Archive Server Ports
   1. TCP – 3030
   2. UDP – 3030
3. Database Server (SQL Server)
   1. TCP – 1433
   2. UDP – 1434

Hopefully with all these options, working from home should be seamless. If you need any advice regarding work from home, please contact CADspace technical team on 1300 799 223 so we can help you out.

Written by Arpit Saxena, Team Leader