Product(s):	MicroStation
Version(s):	CONNECT Edition

In these challenging times when COVID-19 is imposing significant disruptions to day-to-day activities and affecting normal business flow of our much-valued users and employees, we at Bentley are mindfully committed to ensuring smooth transition of work from office to remote location or home. Our innovative software and services are all geared for working from home or remote locations and do not impose the need to be in an office set-up.

To ensure smooth transition of work and effectiveness of your daily workflows with Bentley software, we have assembled information that you can refer to while working remotely or from home. We are working hard to deliver high levels of customer service, and welcome feedback, questions, and ideas on how we can serve you better in a remote work environment.

HOME INSTALLATION

You may decide to install the software on your home computer. If you do this, once signed in via the CONNECTION Client using your normal work email login, you will have the same licenses available as you do in the office.

Machine Requirements

What can we do to ensure our users’ workflows are uninterrupted?

There are several options to work remotely. You may decide to install the software on your home computer. Please click here to see these minimum machine requirements for MicroStation.

Processor	Intel® or AMD® processor 1.0 GHz or greater. MicroStation is not supported on a CPU that does not support SSE2.
Memory	4 GB minimum, 16 GB recommended. More memory almost always improves performance, particularly when working with larger models.
Hard Disk	10 GB minimum, 10-25 GB depending on additional installations such as Companion Features and Companion Products.
Video	See the graphics card manufacturer for latest information on DirectX drivers. 512 MB of video RAM or higher is recommended. If insufficient video RAM or no graphics card supported by DirectX can be found, MicroStation attempts to use software emulation. For optimal performance, graphics display color depth should be set to 24-bit or higher. When using a color depth setting of 16-bit, some inconsistencies will be noted. For more information on recommended workstation profiles for MicroStation, see MicroStation System Requirements and Hardware Recommendations.
Screen Resolution	1024 x 768 or higher

Internet Connectivity

Internet Access

Internet access is required for downloading, installing, and licensing the software (unless the machine concerned has a checked-out license). As the MicroStation installer is almost 8 GB, installation may take a significant time over low bandwidth connections. Ensure the connection used has sufficient data allowance if it is not an unlimited data package. Many CONNECT Edition products are installed from a small installer file that pulls the rest of the installation files from our servers. If you encounter problems with this installation route, please refer to the downloading software section below for links to full software downloads or guidance on the use of Deployment Images to take home.

Internet Proxy Settings

MicroStation will try to obtain your Internet Proxy Settings from Internet Explorer browser. If it is not feasible, you can fill the details manually as described in this page located here.

Connecting to Your Organization’s Network via VPN

Virtual Private Network enables organizations to provide secure connection to their network over the internet so their employees can connect remotely or from public places. Click here to follow these instructions to connect to Windows VPN. If your organization uses a different VPN software, contact your IT administrator to guide you with the steps.

MicroStation Features that require Internet Connectivity

The following features of MicroStation may not work properly in the absence of internet connectivity.

Bing Maps
CONNECT Project
CONNECT Licensing
CONNECT Advisor
Web Map Service
Component Center
Issue Resolution Service
Reality Context Share Service
User Feedback Service
Send as Email
Google Earth and Google Map integration
Social interaction (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.)
Online Help
Publish iModel and PDF to ProjectWise Share
CONNECT Notification Service
RSS Feeds

VIRTUALIZATION and VIRTUAL MACHINES

Virtualization enables organizations to create virtual machines from a single physical machine and administer them to their employees on demand. MicroStation is certified on Citrix XenApp. Follow the steps below to set it up. Bentley is exploring other virtualization providers like VMWare Horizon and Azure Virtual Desktop. If your organization uses any of these, please reach out to us with your questions, and we’ll try our best to assist.

Virtualization with Citrix

Citrix XenApp Supported
- 7.15 64-bit on Windows Server 2012 R2
Setup Instructions
- Install Configure
- Application Groups Manage
MicroStation Virtualization FAQ

Virtual Machines

Virtual machines are a great way to manage operating systems and work remotely with a running Remote Desktop Connection, login credentials and a valid IP address. Installing virtualization software allows one or more virtual machines to share one physical computer. Your IT administrator can create VMs with a readymade image of Windows operating system that includes MicroStation and any other software needed. When such a VM is provisioned to you, you can directly launch MicroStation and start working on your project.

You can create a new VM and install its operating system by following these simple steps located here.

You can export and import existing VMs in Windows Hyper-V Server by following these steps located here.

Remote Desktop Connection

Remotely Accessing Office Computer

If you work on a heavy-duty desktop machine that is difficult to carry or if your organization does not allow employees to move computers out of the office premises, Remote Desktop Connection offers a great way to log into that machine from your personal computer. You will require your computer name or IP address. Click here to follow the instructions on this page.

Sharing Configurations And Project Data

When you’re working remotely, you are still part of a team and therefore sharing of project data is crucial. This is where the Configuration system shines. No matter where you are, you can be sure to be using the correct CAD standard with server-based Configurations. If your system has already been configured to use server-based resources virtualization and remote desktop access results in a similar experience to working in the office, there may be some graphic latency, but the system will be identical.

Attempting to connect to a configuration on office-based shares via VPN may be possible, depending on your IT systems, but is likely to be subject to significant latency, especially with many more VPN users than usual. Working with a local copy of the network configuration may be more appropriate. Applications can be configured to automatically switch to a local configuration for home working. The linked solution is primarily aimed at short term scenarios. If longer term home working becomes a necessity, a remote access or document management solution may be the appropriate option to avoid problems with version control and duplication of documents.

If your system is not currently configured to share standards and data planning for home working may be an opportunity. CONNECT Edition is easier to reconfigure to the network than previous versions. In outline, one of the simplest and effective ways of work sharing is by storing your standards and project data in a common network locations and pointing every user’s configuration to those locations. Some guidance on achieving this can be found in:

CONNECT Edition - Custom Configuration Guides

The topic is discussed extensively in our wikis and forums.

Storing Your Project data on ProjectWise Share or OneDrive

Store your project data on ProjectWise Share or Microsoft OneDrive, which allows high levels of control. Easily manage and transfer without the need for additional software.

Collaborating on Projects with ProjectWise

The beauty of working with ProjectWise is that work sharing is built-in and the concept of being tied to a location is foreign. In a Client-Server architecture the client can be anywhere. By storing standards and work files on a server you can ensure proper access for anyone. By establishing a digital environment for all project information, you can give access to people regardless of location and device type. However, ensuring the correct access is the key to success. So, setting up ProjectWise Explorer locally is key.

The way to install ProjectWise Explorer can be found here.

DOWNLOADING SOFTWARE

Software Downloads
Portable Deployment Images
We recommend that CAD/BIM administrators create Deployment Images to use as the source for multiple installations in normal circumstances. In this situation either an existing or a new Deployment Image can be copied to removable media and taken home to use as the installation source where internet availability/speed is limited (note: Internet access is still essential to sign-in to licensing services). The step to create a Deployment Image for MicroStation CONNECT Edition are explained here, MicroStation CONNECT - How to create a Deployment Image. Creating a Deployment Image for other products is very similar.
Download link for full installers (aka. Deployment Image)
If you are having difficulty downloading software from Software Downloads site, full installers of the latest version are provided below.
CONNECTION Client
MicroStation CONNECT Edition Update 13
PowerDraft CONNECT Edition Update 13
Bentley View CONNECT Edition Update 13
LumenRT CONNECT Edition Update 13

ACCESSING PRODUCT DOCUMENTATION

RESOLVING LICENSING ISSUES

HOW TO GET HELP

USEFUL ARTICLES ABOUT WORKING REMOTELY

TIPS

Printing

At home set your default printer to PDF to avoid sending prints via a VPN to an unattended printer.

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