It’s been 10 years since SOLIDWORKS Electrical joined the family of SOLIDWORKS products. The Electrical CAD Products have evolved over the generations as one of the fastest-growing products and the current 2022 offerings include the following 3 packages:
- SOLIDWORKS Electrical Schematic– Standard
- SOLIDWORKS Electrical Schematic– Professional
- SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D.
Types of Installations
The choice in the installation will vary depending on your business requirement and can be configured to the user as well. Below are some setup configurations and their installation type:
- Standalone Software installation: setup configurations 1-2-3 are ideal for single-user machines or if multi-user environment installations are not required.
- Server-Client installation: setup configurations 4-5 are ideal for a multi-user design environment. This allows for data to be shared and allows for real-time collaboration in the design process.
Infrastructure requirements
There are some choices to be made before application setup and deployment.
- Where do you want to host this application server? On-Premise or Cloud infrastructure?
- If on Premise – Physical or Virtual?
The product server component does well on cloud infrastructure and is recommended if you have global teams to coordinate under one CAD application. If you have questions or would like more information on this cloud option, please reach out to us.
In 2022, as of today we are still not recommending Windows 11, 64-bit, and Windows Server 2022 as a supported update. These Microsoft OS products are still being tested with the 2022 SOLIDWORKS Electrical release.
Microsoft SQL 2014 SP3 is being phased out and is no longer supported in SOLIDWORKS Electrical 2022.
Further details on updated 2022 system requirements are available here System Requirements | SOLIDWORKS.
The Sequence and operation process
Today’s focus is primarily a default SOLIDWORKS Electrical Server-Client setup.
To have successful default installation there are a few considerations:
- For example, is SOLIDWORKS or SOLIDWORKS PDM present in the engineering environment?
If yes, for the most tested and supported setups, PDM must be the highest version present along with License Manager.
- If SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D is a requirement, it must be the same version as SOLIDWORKS Electrical schematic Professional
Always install all SOLIDWORKS products as a system administrator.
Step1: Install License Manager on the server machine
Select the license manager installation option as shown below.
What changed?
If you own SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D you will need to enter a separate serial number or the same serial number if available within your network license.
Step 2: Install the Electrical Application Server on the server machine
By default, the 2019 SQL Express/free edition is installed on the server machine. You have the option to install a licensed SQL version. This will require a separate purchase and be configured separately before the server application component is installed.
- Create a shared folder and assign read/write/modify access to the user group that will work with SOLIDWORKS Electrical data. Point the default installation destination to this folder
- Setup port rules for TCP 26666-266672, 1433 for incoming and outgoing
- Setup port rules UDP 1434 for incoming and outgoing
- For the Electrical SQL instance of SQL Configuration, ensure all TCP/IP pipes are enabled and a static TCP port is assigned. Add this TCP port to port rules to allow traffic incoming and outgoing.
Step 3: Install the Electrical client on the user machine
You have the option to select Schematic client, Electrical 3D client, or both.
Map your client installation to the shared server data folder and the newly installed SQL instance as per the image in Step 2a.
Step 4: Accept the software agreement. Run the data load wizard on the first client install.
This allows for the system data to be populated and tables to be created in SQL for the first time. The data load step will be a lot faster on subsequent client installs.
Step 5: Repeat step 3 on the remainder of client machines
I hope this blog and webinar gave you a deeper insight into SOLIDWORKS Electrical 2022 installation. Please reach out to us if you have more questions on how to proceed with an installation configuration that might be more specific to your business.
Get a front-row seat in the webinar “Get to Know SOLIDWORKS Electrical” 2022 as we take you through the 2D project drafting tool that allows you to create and manage schematic designs while learning some of the feature enhancements for 2022!
