Installation Guide

System Requirements
A ShipConstructor implementation consists of the following software components:
ShipConstructor client software
ShipConstructor server tools – Tools for providing licensing and administering project databases on Microsoft SQL Server.
Microsoft SQL Server – One network accessible instance is required to host ShipConstructor project databases.
It is recommended that the server hosting the ShipConstructor project database be hosted on a separate machine from the
ShipConstructor client. Standalone installations are only recommended for a single-user environment.

Important
A software license is required to run ShipConstructor products. Without a license all products will run with limited functionality.

Client / Standalone Installations

ShipConstructor Client Software Requirements

Windows
ShipConstructor 2023 client and standalone installations require Microsoft Windows 10 Anniversary Update (64-bit only) (version 1607 or
higher)

.NET Framework
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.7 will be installed automatically by the ShipConstructor installer, if it is not already installed.

AutoCAD
ShipConstructor 2023 is compatible with:
ACAD Vanilla 2021, 2022 and 2023
ACAD Mechanical 2021, 2022 and 2023
ACAD Plant 3D 2021, 2022 and 2023
ShipConstructor server tools and NC-Pyros are not dependent on AutoCAD.

Compatibility
ShipConstructor 2023 can be installed side-by-side with any previous major ShipConstructor version; each installed version of
ShipConstructor requires its own dedicated instance of AutoCAD. ShipConstructor cannot be installed side-by-side with the
ShipConstructor Object Enabler: before installing ShipConstructor, the ShipConstructor Object Enabler must be uninstalled; before
installing the ShipConstructor Object Enabler, ShipConstructor must be uninstalled.

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Client/Standalone Recommended Hardware Specifications

ShipConstructor – Heavy Modeling

Outlined here is a recommended client workstation for a ShipConstructor user involved in heavy modeling and output generation:

Processor Intel® 64-bit Core i7 Processor (4 Cores) (8M Cache) @ 2.8 GHz or better

Memory 8-16 GB

Graphics Any AutoCAD supported and recommended graphics card with a supported and recommended driver.
Card
*For a list of AutoCAD supported and recommended graphics cards please see www.autodesk.com/autocad-
graphicscard

Disk Space Minimum of 6GB available

ShipConstructor – 2D Design
For users who are largely involved in minor 3D design, 2D schematic design, drawing annotation, BOM management and other operations
which are not as resource intensive on the client, a lesser machine similar to the following will suffice

Processor Intel® 64-bit Core i5 Processor (2 Cores) (4M Cache) @ 2.8 GHz or better

Memory 8-16 GB

Graphics Any AutoCAD supported and recommended graphics card with a supported and recommended driver.
Card
*For a list of AutoCAD supported and recommended graphics cards please see www.autodesk.com/autocad-
graphicscard

Disk Space Minimum of 6GB available

Server / Standalone Installations

Server Software Requirements

Windows
ShipConstructor 2023 server installations should be installed on a 64 bit version of one of the following Operating Systems:
Windows Server 2016
Windows Server 2019

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.NET Framework
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.7 will be installed automatically by the ShipConstructor installer, if it is not already installed.

Drive compression is not supported

Compressed drives and/or folders are incompatible with SQL server. The SQL server installation will fail if your "C:\Program Files" directory
is compressed. Also, any folders containing your SQL data, log, or tempdb files should not be compressed.

Microsoft SQL Server

All ShipConstructor 2023 implementations require at least one instance of Microsoft SQL Server installed.

ShipConstructor Version Minimum SQL Version

ShipConstructor 2018 SQL Server 2012

ShipConstructor 2020 R1.1 SQL Server 2014

ShipConstructor 2021 SQL Server 2016

ShipConstructor 2022 R1.1 SQL Server 2016 SP 2

ShipConstructor 2023 SQL Server 2017 CU 28

SQL Server 2019 CU 8

Attention
Any existing ShipConstructor projects hosted on no-longer-supported SQL instances will need to be transferred to a supported
SQL server. See the Transfer a Project to Another Server section of the Project Management manual for further instructions.

A free licensed version of Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Express Edition is packaged with ShipConstructor 2023. However, for larger projects
(5 or more users) a full version of MS SQL Server 2017 or 2019 is recommended to overcome the limitations of Microsoft SQL Server 2019
Express. A full version increases the amount of RAM and the number of CPUs that can be used, as well as the maximum relational
Database size. This is crucial for servers hosting many projects or projects of large size.

Attention
It is possible to restore a database created in an older version of SQL Server into a newer version of SQL Server. However it is
not possible to restore a database created in a newer version of SQL Server into an older version of SQL Server. For this reason,
the SQL Server version used by any partner offices or subcontractors should be considered when choosing the SQL Server
version to use.

SQL Server Minimum Patch Versions

For SQL Server 2017, Cumulative Update 28 is the minimum required version.
For SQL Server 2019, Cumulative Update 8 is the minimum required version.

32
SQL Server Configuration
The following SQL Server options will be configured automatically for you by the ServerSetup application, and/or when creating or
deploying ShipConstructor projects. These settings are required to host ShipConstructor projects:
xp_cmdshell will be enabled
Max Degree of Parallelism will be set to 1 by ShipConstructor installations 2021 R2.1 and older. Newer installations leave
this setting as 0 (default), which enables CPU parallelism.
Custom Errors: Custom error messages will be defined on your server, using the number range 75000-75050.
Blocked Process Threshold: will be set to 60 seconds if it has not previously been configured
msdb
Several tables will be created in the msdb database, with names following this pattern: dbo.SSI_msdb_*
Several stored procedures will be created in the msdb database, with names following this pattern: dbo.SSI_msdb_*

Database Configuration
The following Database options will be configured for you automatically by ShipConstructor when creating/deploying projects, and are
required by the application:
AUTO_CLOSE is set to OFF
ARITHABORT is set to ON
Recovery Model will be set to SIMPLE by default during new project creation, but can be changed to suit your needs.

Server Hosting Recommendations

There are three categories of items that must be served to support a ShipConstructor project:
Project Databases
Project Drawing Files
Software Licenses
In all but enterprise implementations it is recommended that all three components be hosted on the same server hardware to reduce
setup and administrative overhead. It is also recommended that all projects be kept on the same project server to make administration
tasks easier.

Server Recommended Hardware Specifications

These specifications are recommended for satisfactory performance. Specifications better than those outlined below can offer better
performance. A gigabit network connection is recommended between each element in the ShipConstructor system. This includes all
connections to the client workstations.

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1 - 5 Users
Minimum Recommended

Processor Intel® 64-bit Core i7 Processor Intel® 64-bit Core i7 Processor

4 cores (2 physical cores w\hyperthreading) 4 Cores (2 physical cores w\hyperthreading)
2.4 GHz or better 3.0 GHz or better

Memory 8 GB 12 GB

Disk Disk Array Data Purpose Minimum Storage Recommended Storage

Configuration Configuration Required Required

RAID 1 (2 Disks) Operating System 150 GB + (100 GB 300 GB + (200 GB per

or SQL Server binaries, per project) project)
RAID 5 (3 Disks) SQL Server Database
data files (MDF)
SQL Server database log
files (LDF)
ShipConstructor Project
Files
Navisworks
etc...

Disks should be high performance SATA or SAS disks (15k RPM)

34
5 - 10 Users
Minimum Recommended

Processor Intel® 64-bit Core i7 Processor Intel® 64-bit Core i7 Processor

8 Cores (4 physical cores w\hyperthreading)
8 Cores (4 physical cores w\hyperthreading)
3.0 GHz or better
2.4 GHz or better

Memory 12 GB 16 GB

Disk Disk Array Data Purpose Minimum Storage Recommended Storage

Configuration Configuration Required Required

RAID 1 (2 Disks) Operating System 50 GB 100 GB

or SQL Server binaries
RAID 5 (3 Disks)

RAID 5 (3 Disks) SQL Server Database 100 GB + (100 GB 300 GB + (300 GB per
or data files (MDF) per project) project)
RAID 10 (4 Disks) SQL Server database log
files (LDF)
SQL Server tempdb
ShipConstructor Project
Files
Navisworks
etc...

Disks should be high performance SATA or SAS disks (15k RPM)

35
 10 - 20 Users
Minimum Recommended

Processor Intel® Xeon® Processor Intel® Xeon® Processor

8 Cores (4 physical cores w\hyperthreading) 16 Cores(8 physical cores w\hyperthreading)
3.0 GHz or better 3.0 GHz or better

Memory 16 GB 32 GB

Disk Disk Array Data Purpose Minimum Storage Recommended Storage

Configuration Configuration Required Required

RAID 1 (2 Disks) Operating System 50 GB 300 GB

SQL Server binaries

RAID 10 (4 Disks) SQL Server Database 50 GB + (50 GB per 100 GB + (100 GB per
data files (MDF) project) project)
SQL Server tempdb

RAID 5 (3 Disks) SQL Server database log 50 GB + (50 GB per 100 GB + (100 GB per
or files (LDF) project) project)
RAID 10 (4 Disks)

RAID 5 (3 Disks) ShipConstructor Project 100 GB per project 200 GB per project
or Files
RAID 10 (4 Disks) Navisworks
etc...

Disks should be high performance SATA or SAS disks (15k RPM)

> 20 Users
Please contact SSI for hardware recommendations

How To Install ShipConstructor

Installation Types
ShipConstructor offers users multiple ways in which users can configure their installation. Although a Standalone installation method is
offered, it is recommended to either do a Single Server or Multiple Server installation to achieve best performance.

Network Installation - Single Server Configuration

A Single Server network installation follows basic client-server architecture.
One machine houses the Microsoft SQL Server, the ShipConstructor Server files, the project database, project files and the License Server.
Workstations then communicate with the server.

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Installed on the Server:
ServerTools
ShipConstructor Administrator, for project maintenance
ShipConstructor Server Setup, for configuring Microsoft SQL Server
ShipConstructor License Server, for network licensing
License Utilities for License management
ShipConstructor Project Files

Installed on the Client(s):

ShipConstructor
Report
NC-Pyros

See for step-by-step instructions:

Install ShipConstructor Client
Install ShipConstructor Server
Install License Server

Network Installation - Multiple Servers Configuration

To optimize performance note that it may be desirable to separate the SQL Server, the File Server and the Licensing Server onto two or
three different computers.

Installed on the Licensing Server:

ShipConstructor License Server, for network licensing

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 License Utilities for License management

Installed on the SQL Server:

ServerTools
ShipConstructor Administrator, for project maintenance
ShipConstructor Server Setup, for configuring Microsoft SQL Server

Installed on the Client(s):

ShipConstructor
Report
NC-Pyros

Installed on the File Server

ShipConstructor Project Files

See for step-by-step instructions:

Install ShipConstructor Client
Instal ShipConstructor Server
Install License Server

Standalone Installation Configuration

Standalone installations are typically used in a single-user environment. In this configuration, a single machine acts as both server and
client. In order to achieve satisfactory performance with a standalone installation, a multi-core CPU and minimum of 8GB of RAM is
recommended (see the hardware requirements for more details).
Note, in a multi-user environment, a network installation should be used instead of a standalone installation since performance is improved
if server and client workload are distributed onto different computers. A network installation also allows more flexibility as changes to the
server such as location or network drive mappings will not affect the clients. Furthermore, a network installation allows the project server
to be replaced without any work needed on the client machines and can make it easier to work with multiple project servers.

38
See Install ShipConstructor Standalone for step-by-step instructions.

Installing ShipConstructor
The basic process of installing ShipConstructor for a Network Installation involves the following steps:
1. Install and/or Configure SQL Server
2. Install ShipConstructor Server Files
3. Install ShipConstructor Client Files
4. Update SSI Licenses

Installing and Configuring Microsoft SQL Server

Attention
The following steps are only required if installing SQL Server using installation media provided by Microsoft. If you plan to use
the pre-configured SQL Server 2019 Express Edition included with ShipConstructor skip to the Install ShipConstructor
Client, Standalone, or Server sections.
Avoid naming the SQL Server instance SHIPCON_SQL19 as it is reserved for the pre-configured SQL Server 2019 Express
Edition.

After installing any of the supported versions of SQL Server as per Microsoft's instructions you will need to go through the following
configuration steps to make SQL work with ShipConstructor. These steps will:
Enable TCP/IP and Named Pipes Protocols
Turn on the SQL Server Browser Service
Enable Remote Connections
Configuring Microsoft SQL Server
Instructions for how to configure SQL Server for use with ShipConstructor are available on the ShipConstructor online knowledge base.

How to Configure SQL Server 2019 for Use with ShipConstructor

https://ssicloud.sharepoint.com/sites/nexus/kb/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=398

How to Configure SQL Server 2017 for Use with ShipConstructor

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https://ssicloud.sharepoint.com/sites/nexus/kb/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=241

How to Configure SQL Server 2016 for Use with ShipConstructor

https://ssicloud.sharepoint.com/sites/nexus/kb/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=162
Configuring Windows Firewall
If a firewall is turned on but not correctly configured, attempts to connect to SQL Server might be blocked. If this is the case, consult
www.microsoft.com for instructions regarding manually configuring Windows Firewall. Also see this Microsoft reference regarding how to
configure the Windows Firewall to Allow SQL Server Access.

Install ShipConstructor Server

This step must be preceded by installation of an SQL Server instance, unless selecting the SSI SQL Server Express option. In
addition, the ShipConstuctor Server installation must be performed on the computer that is hosting Microsoft SQL Server,
whether as standalone or server configurations.

1. After unpacking the self-extracting archive containing the ShipConstructor installer, run Setup.exe on the computer you would
like to install ShipConstructor on. If you are performing a Server installation use the computer that will be hosting Microsoft SQL
Server. If a User Account Control prompt is displayed, click Yes.
2. The Installation menu will be displayed.

3. Select ShipConstructor 2023.

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4. To specify a custom installation directory, click Browse and select a folder.
5. To perform the ShipConstructor Server installation check ServerTools and optionally SQL Server Express 2019. If you followed
the steps in the Installing and Configuring Microsoft SQL Server section of this guide you do not need to install SQL
Server Express 2019. (Note: the SQL Server Express 2019 option will be disabled if SQL Server 2019 has already been installed).
6. Click Next, then check I Accept on the ShipConstructor End-User License Agreement and click Install. Installation will begin.
7. If SQL Server Express was selected, this will be installed first.
8. ShipConstructor ServerSetup will subsequently launch, prompting you to configure your SQL Server instance.

41
 9. Under the SQL Server Connection section, choose your Server Instance from the dropdown list. If you checked SQL
Server Express 2019 in Step 3 the SQL Server instance will be listed as SHIPCON_SQL19.

Note
If you do not see the desired instance in the drop-down list, ensure that the server is currently running and running

on the same machine. If it is not, start the service then click .

10. Ensure that the Use Windows Authentication Only box is checked if you are running ShipConstructor ServerSetup as a
machine administrator (typical). Otherwise, enter a SQL server username and password for any user that has a
sysadmin role.

42
 Note
Microsoft SQL Server creates an account called “sa” by default during setup. In the bundled SQL Server 2019 Express
Edition the password is “ShipCon1”. For full versions of SQL you will need to use the password you supplied for the
“sa” user during setup.
Also note that this is how the checkbox operates:

Use Windows Authentication Only SQL Server Authentication Mode

Checked Windows Authentication ONLY

Unchecked Windows Authentication AND SQL Server logins

11. Verify the details in the SQL Server Configuration Section. Match the Data, Log, Backup, and TempDB Paths to those used
by your SQL installation. If you checked SQL Server Express 2019 in step 3 the default paths will be correct.

Note
TempDB is a system database responsible for a high number of random IO operations, and will benefit from being on
a hard drive with low latency and improved throughput. It is highly recommended to move TempDB to a hard drive
which will handle the load, such as a Solid State Drive (SSD).

12. Changing the TempDB path requires that the SQL Server service be restarted for changes to take effect. In the event that the
TempDB path changes, ShipConstructor ServerSetup will prompt you to provide the ability to restart the SQL Server service
as part of the setup otherwise you can restart the service at a more convenient time.

Note
Once the SQL Server service has been restarted, the tempdb.mdf and templog.ldf files in the old location can be safely
deleted. To confirm which files are not in use, compare with the filename column in the result set of the following SQL
statement on every SQL Server instance for that machine:
USE tempdb GO sp_helpfile GO

13. If you intend to use ShipConstructor’s WorkShare functionality, or plan to Package and Deploy projects, check the
Configure WorkShare share folder box.

Note
The WorkShare shared folder is created on the server, on a per SQL Server instance basis. The instance name is
included in the folder name for named instances, appended to the end while separated by an underscore. The SQL
Server Express Edition included with the ShipConstructor installer is installed as a named instance. Named SQL Server
instances is a recommended practice; using "default" SQL Server instances is not a recommended practice.
The folder is writable by everyone, by default. If security is a concern you may limit the folder’s security, however it
must be shared with and writable by the following users:
a. The account your SQL Server is running as (typically the Local System account or an NT Service account)
b. Any domain user who will perform WorkShare operations or will be creating or Deploying project Packages

14. Leave the Disable SQL Authentication box unchecked.

Note
If SQL Authentication is disabled, your server is set to Windows Authentication Only mode and will be inaccessible via
SQL Authentication.

15. Under the ShipConstructor User section, enter and confirm the user password for the ShipConstructor user that will be
created in the database. Note this password down as it will be required to connect to any ShipConstructor project you create.

43
 Note
If you do not specify a password when creating the ShipConstructor user the default password of “ShipCon” will be
used instead.

16. Click Setup to have ShipConstructor ServerSetup perform the following tasks.
a. Set the server’s Authentication Mode. By default it will verify that the selected instance of Microsoft SQL Server supports
SQL Authentication. If your Microsoft SQL Server is set to Windows Authentication Only, it will change the setting to
Mixed Mode which supports both Windows Authentication and SQL Authentication modes.
b. Connect to the server using the specified account.
c. Add the user ShipConstructor with the password ShipCon1 as a sysadmin account.
d. Enable the xp_cmdshell stored procedure.
e. Set the server’s default log, data, and backup folders.
f. Create the WorkShare shared folder (if checked). This folder is shared with and writable by ALL users by default.
17. Click OK to close the window and complete the ShipConstructor Server installation. You may have to restart your server before
you can run ShipConstructor. Click Done to complete the installation.

Note
If ShipConstructor installation failed, you might want to check the installation log files located at the temp folder (e.g.
use the following command %temp% in the RUN dialog box or start menu search box, or you can access the temp
folder directly by typing C:\users\username\AppData\Local\Temp, where username is your login user name). The log
files are the text documents starting with the word "SSI". If this does not help you to figure out what the problem is,
please contact Technical Support for more assistance.

Install ShipConstructor Client

To perform a ShipConstructor Client installation, such as when installing on workstations that will be deployed throughout an
enterprise, follow the steps below and check ShipConstructor, NC-Pyros, and ShipExplorer.
This procedure assumes that the Microsoft SQL Server and License Server are installed separately on servers within the
enterprise, separately from the workstations.

44
1. After unpacking the self-extracting archive containing the ShipConstructor installer, run Setup.exe on the computer you would
like to install ShipConstructor on. If a User Account Control prompt is displayed, click Yes.
2. The Installation menu will be displayed.

3. Select ShipConstructor 2023.

4. To specify a custom installation directory, click Browse and select a folder.

5. Select one of the following configurations to be installed
a. To perform a ShipConstructor Client installation check ShipConstructor, NC-Pyros, ShipExplorer.
b. To perform an EnterprisePlatform Client installation check either PublisherLT, Publisher, or ProjectViewer.
i. PublisherLT requires ShipConstructor to also be installed.
ii. For Publisher and ProjectViewer, you may optionally provide the license server name and the
EnterprisePlatform InformationHub name.
6. Click Next, then check I Accept on the ShipConstructor End-User License Agreement and click Install. Installation will begin.
7. Click Done to complete the installation.

45
 Note
If ShipConstructor installation failed, you might want to check the installation log files located at the temp folder (e.g.
use the following command %temp% in the RUN dialog box or start menu search box, or you can access the temp
folder directly by typing C:\users\username\AppData\Local\Temp, where username is your login user name). The log
files are the text documents starting with the word "SSI". If this does not help you to figure out what the problem is,
please contact Technical Support for more assistance.

Install ShipConstructor Standalone

To perform a ShipConstructor Standalone installation, follow the steps below and check ShipConstructor, NC-Pyros,
ShipExplorer, ServerTools, SSI License Server, and SQL Server Express 2019 within the installation dialog.
Note: If you wish to install a full version of Microsoft SQL Server rather than SQL Server Express 2019, you must do so before
following the installation steps described below. If so, do not select the SQL Server Express 2019 checkbox in the following
steps.

1. After unpacking the self-extracting archive containing the ShipConstructor installer, run Setup.exe on the computer you would
like to install ShipConstructor on. If a User Account Control prompt is displayed, click Yes.
2. The Installation menu will be displayed.

46
3. Select ShipConstructor 2023.

4. To specify a custom installation directory, click Browse and select a folder.

5. Select the following configurations to be installed
a. To perform a ShipConstructor Standalone installation check ShipConstructor, NC-Pyros, ShipExplorer, ServerTools,
SSI License Server, and SQL Server Express 2019.
b. To optionally include an EnterprisePlatform Client installation, check PublisherLT.
i. PublisherLT requires ShipConstructor to also be installed with appropriate EnterprisePlatform licensing
6. Click Next, then check I Accept on the ShipConstructor End-User License Agreement and click Install. Installation will begin.
7. If ServerTools was selected for installation ShipConstructor ServerSetup will launch, prompting you to configure your SQL
Server instance.

47
8. Under the SQL Server Connection section, choose your Server Instance from the dropdown list. If you checked SQL
Server Express 2019 in Step 3 the SQL Server instance will be listed as SHIPCON_SQL19.

Note
If you do not see the desired instance in the drop-down list, ensure that the server is currently running and running

on the same machine. If it is not, start the service then click .

9. Ensure that the Use Windows Authentication Only box is checked if you are running ShipConstructor ServerSetup as a
machine administrator (typical). Otherwise, enter a SQL server username and password for any user that has a
sysadmin role.

48
 Note
Microsoft SQL Server creates an account called “sa” by default during setup. In the bundled SQL Server 2019 Express
Edition the password is “ShipCon1”. For full versions of SQL you will need to use the password you supplied for the
“sa” user during setup.
Also note that this is how the checkbox operates:

Use Windows Authentication Only SQL Server Authentication Mode

Checked Windows Authentication ONLY

Unchecked Windows Authentication AND SQL Server logins

10. Verify the details in the SQL Server Configuration Section. Match the Data, Log, Backup, and TempDB Paths to those used
by your SQL installation. If you checked SQL Server Express 2019 in step 3 the default paths will be correct.

Note
TempDB is a system database responsible for a high number of random IO operations, and will benefit from being on
a hard drive with low latency and improved throughput. It is highly recommended to move TempDB to a hard drive
which will handle the load, such as a Solid State Drive (SSD).

11. Changing the TempDB path requires that the SQL Server service be restarted for changes to take effect. In the event that the
TempDB path changes, ShipConstructor ServerSetup will prompt you to provide the ability to restart the SQL Server service
as part of the setup otherwise you can restart the service at a more convenient time.

Note
Once the SQL Server service has been restarted, the tempdb.mdf and templog.ldf files in the old location can be safely
deleted. To confirm which files are not in use, compare with the filename column in the result set of the following SQL
statement on every SQL Server instance for that machine:
USE tempdb GO sp_helpfile GO

12. If you intend to use ShipConstructor’s WorkShare functionality, or plan to Package and Deploy projects, check the
Configure WorkShare share folder box.

Note
The WorkShare shared folder is created on the server, on a per SQL Server instance basis. The instance name is
included in the folder name for named instances, appended to the end while separated by an underscore. The SQL
Server Express Edition included with the ShipConstructor installer is installed as a named instance. Named SQL Server
instances is a recommended practice; using "default" SQL Server instances is not a recommended practice.
The folder is writable by everyone, by default. If security is a concern you may limit the folder’s security, however it
must be shared with and writable by the following users:
a. The account your SQL Server is running as (typically the Local System account or an NT Service account)
b. Any domain user who will perform WorkShare operations or will be creating or Deploying project Packages

13. Leave the Disable SQL Authentication box unchecked.

Note
If SQL Authentication is disabled, your server is set to Windows Authentication Only mode and will be inaccessible via
SQL Authentication.

14. Under the ShipConstructor User section, enter and confirm the user password for the ShipConstructor user that will be
created in the database. Note this password down as it will be required to connect to any ShipConstructor project you create.

49
 Note
If you do not specify a password when creating the ShipConstructor user the default password of “ShipCon” will be
used instead.

15. Click Setup to have ShipConstructor ServerSetup perform the following tasks.
a. Set the server’s Authentication Mode. By default it will verify that the selected instance of Microsoft SQL Server supports
SQL Authentication. If your Microsoft SQL Server is set to Windows Authentication Only, it will change the setting to
Mixed Mode which supports both Windows Authentication and SQL Authentication modes.
b. Connect to the server using the specified account.
c. Add the user ShipConstructor with the password ShipCon1 as a sysadmin account.
d. Enable the xp_cmdshell stored procedure.
e. Set the server’s default log, data, and backup folders.
f. Create the WorkShare shared folder (if checked). This folder is shared with and writable by ALL users by default.
16. Click OK to close the window and complete the ShipConstructor Server installation. You may have to restart your server before
you can run ShipConstructor. Click Done to complete the installation.

Note
If ShipConstructor installation failed, you might want to check the installation log files located at the temp folder (e.g.
use the following command %temp% in the RUN dialog box or start menu search box, or you can access the temp
folder directly by typing C:\users\username\AppData\Local\Temp, where username is your login user name). The log
files are the text documents starting with the word "SSI". If this does not help you to figure out what the problem is,
please contact Technical Support for more assistance.

Install SSI License Server

1. After unpacking the self-extracting archive containing the ShipConstructor installer, run Setup.exe on the computer you would
like to install the ShipConstructor License Server on. If a User Account Control prompt is displayed, click Yes.
2. The Installation menu will be displayed.

50
3. Select ShipConstructor 2023.

4. To specify a custom installation directory, click Browse and select a folder.

5. To perform a ShipConstructor License Server installation check SSI License Server.
6. Click Next, then check I Accept on the ShipConstructor End-User License Agreement and click Install. Installation will begin.
7. Click Done to complete the installation.

51
 Note
If ShipConstructor installation failed, you might want to check the installation log files located at the temp folder (e.g.
use the following command %temp% in the RUN dialog box or start menu search box, or you can access the temp
folder directly by typing C:\users\username\AppData\Local\Temp, where username is your login user name). The log
files are the text documents starting with the word "SSI". If this does not help you to figure out what the problem is,
please contact Technical Support for more assistance.

Deploying the ShipConstructor Client via an Unattended Installation

With each SSI release, the full installer includes msi files that may be used to facilitate unattended installations to workstations.
After unpacking the installer there will be 'msi' and 'redist' folders containing the various necessary files.
Please see the Nexus Knowledge Base for example instructions and sample scripts.
For example, search the Nexus Knowledge Base with search terms "unattended installation 2022"
ShipConstructor file names may vary for different releases.

Note: Please understand that due to the wide variety of network arrangements, policies etc., it is difficult/impossible for us to
determine and account for the various 3rd party installation programs and their requirements. Some customization may be
required.

Connecting to your first project

ShipConstructor requires a project to be stood up to use ShipConstructor. You may need to create a new project in ShipConstructor.
1. Go to the Start menu and choose All Programs > SSI ShipConstructor 2023 and click on ShipConstructor 2023 to
launch the program. If you have multiple supported versions of AutoCAD installed you will see the AutoCAD Selection dialog.
Select the desired AutoCAD instance, check Remember my selection if you do not want to be prompted in future, and click
Start ShipConstructor. To later change your selected AutoCAD instance, go to your Start menu and choose All Programs
> SSI ShipConstructor 2023 and click on Configure ShipConstructor 2023. ShipConstructor
2023 supports AutoCAD 2021, 2022 and 2023.

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