How to Install Windchill 13 with SQL Server 2022 - Part 1: Prerequisites

5/7/2024

For this new series of posts, I am going to show you how to install the latest Windchill version (13 as of this article's release). I will use Windows Server 2022, SQL Server 2022, and Amazon Corretto 17.

Overview

This is going to be a "bare-minimum"/"straight-to-the-point" install. I will use this system for future guides. To get started, this is what you need:

A computer or virtual machine to install everything on.
Access to the Windchill software (https://support.ptc.com).
The database software available to install (you can use the trial version of SQL Server).
Permission to grab a Windchill license from your PTC account.

Hardware Sizing

You can refer to this guide for sizing your hardware:
https://www.ptc.com/support/-/media/support/refdocs/Pro_INTRALINK_8,-d-,x/11,-d-,0/Windchill11HWSizingGuidelinesforWindowsSQLServer_171330.pdf?sc_lang=en

This guide is for Windchill 11 but that is the latest version available as of now and PTC has said to refer to it for 12 and 13. In the guide, you will find an equation to calculate the weighted number of active users. I think the examples and information listed there is clear so I will just give an example of how many active users will be supported based on my server. My virtual machine will have 8 cores with 32gb of ram. It will be a monolithic server meaning that the database and application will be installed on the same server. With those specs, it can support about 100 active users with the limitation being the amount of available memory.

Here are some hardware recommendations based on my experience.

Use SSD only. There are no excuses anymore. Windchill runs significantly faster on SSD.
Use a CPU that is no more than 3 generations old.
Don't get more cores if you aren't getting more speed. Having a 24 core 2GHz CPU will be worse than a 12 core 3 GHz CPU. Get a fast CPU.
If you are using virtualization, the official recommendation is to not share resources. You might have some setting which allows you to "lock/dedicate" resources to that VM. It is recommended to do so. I don't want to hear your arguments saying "that's the whole point of a VM, to share resources." I'm just telling you what the official word is so you can't say I didn't tell you.
It is impossible to give an accurate guess for how much space will be used per user over time. Every company and user is different. It is typically recommended to plan for 2GB/user/year for the file storage and database combined. Space is cheap so get more space than you think you will need. Yes, SSD for EVERYTHING including file storage.
To re-iterate, SSD for everything. I have not seen a single massive server which uses regular hard drives (even in a SAN) run Windchill faster than my local Hyper-V instance which is on an SSD. Do not underestimate the power of SSD.

Windchill Software Support

Here is the link the to the Release Advisor which you can use to see what versions of software are supported (both server and client). This includes OS, database, Java, web browser, etc.
https://release-advisor.ptc.com

Based on the Release Advisor information for Windchill 13.0.1.2 (the current latest), I will use the following:

Windows Server 2022
1. https://info.microsoft.com/ww-landing-windows-server-2022.html
Amazon Corretto 17.0.11.9.1 (current latest in version 17)
1. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/corretto/latest/corretto-17-ug/downloads-list.html
SQL Server 2022
1. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/download-sql-server-2022
SQL Server Management Studio
1. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/ssms/download-sql-server-management-studio-ssms?view=sql-server-ver16
The latest Chrome
1. https://www.google.com/chrome/browser-tools/
A V3 Compliant LDAP. PTC has stopped including their WindchillDS as of Windchill 12 and have put the responsibility on the customer to find/use another LDAP. I don't have any recommendations here but WindchillDS was based on or a repackage of OpenDJ. You can still use the last version of WindchillDS if you want or get OpenDJ from below.
1. https://github.com/OpenIdentityPlatform/OpenDJ/releases

Some other useful tools:

Notepad++ (for property/config file modifications)
1. https://notepad-plus-plus.org/downloads/
KeyStore Explorer (for self signed SSL generation and other SSL work). I recommend trying the version with no included JDK first and then get the one that comes with if it is acts weird. I have had plenty of GUI issues with the latest JDK before.
1. https://keystore-explorer.org/downloads.html

Downloading Windchill Software

If your account has the right permissions, you can access your Windchill software here:
https://support.ptc.com/appserver/auth/it/esd/index.jsp

For the purposes of this article, I am going to click on Windchill PDMLink. On the next screen, expand the latest version (Release 13.0). Now you just need to go through every sub item and expand -> Expand Most Recent Version -> Download by clicking "HTTPS" button. Make sure to give the file an accurate name as the default names lack any relevant information for you. If you are a customer, I recommend downloading everything you see, I am going to specifically choose what I want to install. Here are the discs I have downloaded:

Windchill 13.0.1.0 - Common Base.zip
Windchill 13.0.1.0 - PDMLink.zip
Windchill 13.0.1.0 - ProjectLink.zip
Windchill 13.0.1.2 - CPS 02.zip
Windchill 13.0.1.2 - InfoEngine.zip
Windchill 13.0.1.0 - Services.zip

I recommend downloading the latest CPS patch first and then opening it to see what discs are included. The discs that are included do not need to be downloaded separately. For instance, this CPS 02 includes the Service Pack disc so I do not need to go download the Service pack disc. The discs included can/will change for each CPS released so make sure to double check.

Now you need to go back a page and click on Creo View. Download the latest supported version making sure to check the Compatibility Matrix from this link:
https://www.ptc.com/en/support/article/CS74838

The latest for Windchill 13 is Creo View 10.1 so I will download this:

Creo View 10.1.0.0 - Clients for Windchill.zip

Go back a page again and click on Creo View Adapters. Repeat the process as above. Make sure to NOT get the UNIX one unless that is what you want?

Creo View 10.1.0.0 - Adapters.zip

Pre-Installation Check List

Below is a checklist of everything you need to get started.

Software downloads from above.
1. Total size of all downloads is 13.1 GB.
2. Total installed size of OpenDJ and PTC folder after install including SQL Server data files is 11.0 GB.
3. Total installed size of SQL Server and Amazon Corretto is about 3 GB.
Windchill License permission. To find out about this, click on your name in the top right corner of the support page -> Manage My Web Account -> eSupport Settings
1. Under the Account Privileges table on the right, do you have "Y" next to License Management Licensing? If so, you are good to go. If not, you need to contact your Online Supervisors (table on the same screen) for access or go through them for licensing.
Windows Installed, Updated, Administrator Account access
1. Fully qualified DNS given either officially through DNS server or faked through hosts file (as a temporary/test server solution).
  1. Very important! If you change ANY part of the fully qualified computer name (name or domain), you will break Windchill and will be required to do a rehost procedure. Make sure you have this figured out before you start the install.
2. Firewall settings:
  1. Open Port 80 or 443 (depends on whether you are using SSL or not).
  2. Open Port 5600 if you plan to use a CAD Worker.
  3. There might be some older admin interfaces that require ports 5000-5010. That is if you want to access them outside of the server. These java applets have gradually been replaced with a more modern non applet version so I wouldn't open these ports yet unless you find yourself really needing it. I can't think of anything left that might need it. I would classify any interface that has the old grey design to be old and likely needing the ports open.

Next Steps

That's it for Part 1. Get all of that ready and prepare to be learned!

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