UPV WebServices Overview
The UPV WebServices is a serverbased centralized platform containing multiple optional submodules:
BrowserBasedViewing
View UPV models in a lightweight browser. Rendering is done on a separate machine.
UPV Browser
Overview of available UPV models in a browser. Entry point for opening models.
Prerequisites
Hardware
Any “standard” webserver e.g. 4 cores, 16 GB RAM.
Ceck the current IIS, Apache, ngic etc. requirements!
Software
- Windowos Server with Microsoft SQL Server (Express)
- Linux (e.g. Debian 10) with Microsoft SQL Server (Express) on another machine.
- Database fallback (not recommended, used only if SQL Server is not available at all): SQLite.
Ports required
- TCP 443 (SSL)
Certificates
- TLS/SSL-Certificate from official authority (min. 256bit AES, exportable private key).
Database
All database operations are to be handled by the customer. It is recommended to do regular backups.
Direct data manipulation on the database is prone to error and should be avoided. CAXperts will extend the Web interface with common utilities necessary for ongoing operations on demand.
Supported database providers are: - Microsoft Windows SQL Server 2016 or later - Sqlite
It is recommended to use SQL Server as this ensure all software features are supported. Sqlite is supported only as a fallback - mainly used for lightweight installations - and will only include a limited set of features.
Architecture overview
The solution consists of a server component and multiple frontend clients interacting with the server through the WebAPI. It is possible to extend the list of clients with a custom solution.
The IdentityServer is used for handling user authentication/authorization and can be extended to integrate with different OpenID Connect authority providers.
A MSSQL database handles the persistence layer for the business entities and user management.
CAXperts provides the deployment files, the operational part and infrastructure need to be handled on the customer side.
General Features
Translations
The service includes an excel file containing all translations. The customer is free to modify/extend this file with f.e. new keys or languages. It is recommended to use the language tag (f.e. “En-US”) so the browser language of the user is used automatically.
When modifying the translation excel file a restart of the service is required for the changes to take effect.
User management
User management and authentication is done using the separate product Keycloak https://www.keycloak.org/. Keycloak issues a JWT Bearer Token to grant access.
There are two ways of managing logins:
1) A regular username/password system
2) Using configuration options in Keycloak, it is possible to combine existing user management systems with the UPV WebServices solution as an external provider. This makes it possible to relay the login request to the existing system and store this relation in the Keycloak database. This allows for a secure combination of multiple systems as there is no password or other secret stored on the Keycloak side.
Licensing
UPV WebServices uses a new licensing approach.
Licenses are managed in the cloud and require an internet connection
for activating and synchronizing. Administrator accounts can manage the
license at ./administration/licenses in the web
frontend.
The license key is activated and periodically synchronizes the conditions with the cloud license server. Each UPV WebServices Server instance occupies a seat.
The license contains information about activated submodules and restrictions:
- BrowserBasedViewing_ConcurrentConnections: Limit of parallel BrowserBasedViewing Sessions including preloaded models
- NamedUserCount: Limit of users which can be managed
- Please contact sales for individual details.
Api development
It is possible to directly interact with the UWS WebAPI for implementing custom solutions.
For example, a customer can implement their own frontend client or integrate with the UWS based on an already existing solution.
For an overview of the possible API commands visit the website:
./swagger/index.html
Serving models
The UWS can be used for hosting secured UPV models as well. This uses
the same user authentication system and allows for a fine-grained access
control depending on the permission of the user. Place the model in the
.../models directory on the IIS.
Example configuration in WFS:
There is a directory: .../models/demoPlantModel
In the plant/project administration use a relative link.
