How to Connect to CalSTAR's Server for Maintenance, Solidworks Workgroup PDM or Converge CFD Licensing
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As of August 14, 2018, CalSTAR's Microsoft Azure Server has been taken offline indefinitely. The server's primary role was to serve as a PDM host, a task taken over by GrabCAD. Its secondary task of hosting Converge CFD license validation was deemed to not be valuable enough to justify continued payment for the server.
In order to use Solidworks Workgroup PDM or Converge CFD, you must be on the same network as our server. Since we cannot physically connect to the same wifi or ethernet connection, we will be setting up a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to link your computer and the server.
As a very generalized example, you can think of a network as a small town, with roads connecting houses and stores. Being in the same town (network) allows you to use the roads to go from your house to the store and back (exchanging files and information with the server).
Staying with this example, a separate network would be the equivalent of a town on the other side of a river. The two towns can not interact with each other. You cannot drive from one town to the other, a home in one town cannot visit a store in the other.
This is representative of your computer and the server right now. The server cannot interact with your computer, and your computer cannot interact with the server. To have any interaction between the two towns (your computer and the server), a physical connection must be made. In our example, this would be the equivalent of building a bridge across the river. You must plug your computer into the same internet (ethernet/wifi) as the server. This is not possible since Microsoft owns the server and it is probably miles away from you.
What we will be doing in this guide is setting up a Virtual Private Network (VPN). In our two-town example, the VPN is basically a quick and temporary bridge connecting the two towns. The VPN will make it seem as if the two towns are one, connected with the same roads. This lets the server communicate with your computer and vice versa. This is necessary in order to share files between the computers (essentially what the PDM and license check does).
In order to set up the VPN with our server, you must install a VPN Client. The following two programs have been known to work well:
SoftEther VPN Client [] []
OpenVPN [] []
Choose one and download the version for your operating system. Read the notes below for your chosen program.
Make sure you are downloading the SoftEther VPN Client under Select Component
When installing, make sure you are installing SoftEther VPN Client and NOT the Manager (Admin Tools Only)
Proceed with the rest of the installation.
Launch SoftEther VPN Client Manager
Select Virtual Adapter at the top of the window, then New Network Adapter
Click OK (Name should be prefilled as VPN)
Once finished, click Connect at the top of the window, then Import VPN Connection Setting...
Locate and import the 'pdm2.vpn' file you downloaded earlier (probably in your downloads folder).
Select the new connection PDM2 and login with the provided credentials.
When installing, leave the default options checked (select them if unchecked):
OpenVPN User-Space Components (grayed out)
OpenVPN Service
TAP Virtual Ethernet Adapter
OpenVPN GUI
Options in Advanced can be modified as you wish
Configuring After Installation
Launch OpenVPN GUI
Locate the OpenVPN GUI icon in your system tray, and right click it.
Select Import File...
Locate and import the 'pdm2.ovpn' file you downloaded earlier (probably in your downloads folder).
Click OK
Right click the OpenVPN GUI icon.
Select Connect and login with the provided credentials.
