Model Is Not Currently Available

When you try to synchronize with the central model (Sync with Central), a message informs you that the "The requested operation cannot be completed because the model is not currently available," or the system crashes.

Issues:

• The error may occur when two users are synching at the same time or a third party application/service interacting with the files prevents access.
• If there doesn't appear to be any interactions with the central models when the error is encountered, this error may occur when you are using file-based worksharing in a mixed Windows environment. It may be caused by a compatibility issue between Microsoft SMB (Server Message Block) Protocol version 2.1 (Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2), and SMB version 3 (Windows Server 2012).

  To verify that the issue is caused by the SMB version

  1. Temporarily disable SMBv3 and SMBv2 following these instructions from Microsoft.
  2. Try to Sync with Central again.

  If the error does not reoccur, it was caused by the SMB compatibility issue.

  If the error does reoccur, it may be caused by another issue:

  • When accessing a workshared file
  • When mirroring elements in a workshared file

Solutions:

• First, confirm that no other users are interacting with the central model. If two users try to synchronize at the same time (or close to it) the second one will encounter this message until the first one finishes.

  Next, ensure that everyone has the latest updates applied to Revit.

  If no one else is interacting with the Central model through Revit, check that there are no applications that would interact with the central model files on the file server. These could include anti-virus, backup software, shadow copy service, and so on.

• To resolve the SMB compatibility issue, try one or more of the following solutions:

  • Disable SMB Signing.
  • Change the Worksharing Update Frequency setting.

    For every system that accesses the file server, change Worksharing Update Frequency to Manual. See Control the Frequency of Worksharing Display Updates.

    By default, this setting is defined as 5 seconds. By changing it to Manual, you reduce network communication between the file server and the workstation.

    If users use the Worksharing Display Mode feature, the workset display updates only when users manually refresh it (such as when synchronizing). If changing Worksharing Update Frequency to Manual avoids the error, you can try increasing the update frequency to determine the point at which the issue reoccurs.

  • If only some of the systems make SMB v3 connections, identify these systems and disable SMB v3 on them.
  • Leave SMB v3 and SMB v2 disabled on the server.
  • Switch to a server that does not support SMB v3 (such as Windows Server 2008).
  • Switch to server-based worksharing using Revit Server.

    Revit Server does not use SMB for network communication; instead, it uses TCP.

  • Use a networking device to force SMB v2 or lower communication.