Autoloader

Autodesk Autoloader bulk uploads data to a vault.

Autoloader does not affect the original source files. The source files are copied to a temporary location on the local computer before being uploaded. If you are uploading Autodesk Inventor files, once any file resolution issues have been addressed and the copied files have been organized for use with a vault, they are then uploaded to the vault.

System Requirements

• Autodesk Vault
• Autodesk Data Management Server Console
• If you use the default Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Express to manage your vault, make sure the total amount of data in your vault after upload is less than 4 gigabytes or 50,000 versions. If your vault data will exceed these specifications, upgrade to full Microsoft SQL Server 2012 before installing Autoloader and uploading your data.

Supported Data Formats

• Autoloader supports Inventor R10 and newer data.
• Autoloader supports AutoCAD R14 (and AutoCAD R14 products) and newer data.
• Autoloader supports MicroStation DGN files.

Upload Recommendations

Follow these guidelines for autoloading data into the vault:

• Close as many applications as possible while autoloading data.
• Autoloader copies all files to be uploaded to a temporary folder on the system that is running Autoloader. Therefore, enough free space must be available to accommodate the duplication of the files. If you are publishing DWF or DWFX files, enough space must also be available to accommodate the visualization files as well.
• If you are autoloading Inventor files and not publishing DWF files, upload in batches no greater than 30,000 files.
• If you are autoloading Inventor files and publishing DWF files, upload in batches no greater than 20,000 files.
• If you are autoloading AutoCAD or DWG files without publishing DWF, upload in batches no greater than 50,000 files.
• If you are autoloading AutoCAD or DWG files and publishing DWF, upload in batches no greater than 30,000 files.

Replicated Environment Requirements

If you are using Autoloader in a replicated environment, you must meet the following requirements to be able to upload data to a vault using Autoloader.

• You must have administrator privileges for the vault.

Multiple Instances of Autoloader

Users can run more than one instance of Autoloader on separate workstations while logged into the vault at the same time. Once the administrator runs Autoloader on the server and customizes the Design and Library folder names, additional instances of Autoloader can run concurrently. Users are responsible for ensuring that the datasets uploaded do not overlap.

Before using Autoloader

• Autodesk strongly recommends that you fully back up all vaults before autoloading data.
• In order to use Autoloader, you must disable Enforce Unique File Names in the Vault.
• The Upload Report generated after files have been uploaded can only be viewed on the machine that created the report.
• To upload Inventor files, Autoloader requires that Inventor be installed (and be the last version of Inventor run). A Vault 2022 product must also be installed on the same system as Autoloader.
• DWF publishing is not supported when autoloading Inventor data with Inventor LT.
• AutoCAD files with model documentation drawing views of Inventor references are not supported with Autoloader.
• If Inventor needs to re-register with the operating system while Autoloader is running, Inventor's re-registration process may cause Autoloader to close. Be sure to save all Scan and Upload reports before starting Inventor with Autoloader running.
• In order to publish visualization files (DWF or DWFx) for Inventor iParts, Autoloader requires that Microsoft Office Excel 2007 or newer is installed.
• It is required that all Inventor files be uploaded into the same folder in the vault. The default name of this folder is Designs but you may rename it. However, you may not rename the Designs folder after you have already uploaded files into it.
• If Direct 3D 9 is installed on your machine, it is recommended that you change the Inventor hardware setting to any value other than Direct 3D before doing DWF or DWFX publishing in Autoloader.
• AutoCAD file types may be uploaded to any folder in the vault.
• AutoCAD Electrical files, AutoCAD Mechanical files, and Mechanical Desktop files will all be uploaded to the vault as vanilla AutoCAD files. This may result in the loss of file relationships.
• Sheet Set Data will be uploaded to the vault as vanilla AutoCAD files. This may result in the loss of sheet set relationships. It is recommended that you use Sheet Set Manager to check in sheet set data.

Launch Autoloader

1. Select Start > Autodesk > Autodesk Data Management > Tools > Autodesk Autoloader <version>.
2. When you are ready to begin, click Next Step to begin the Autoloader walkthrough.