Purpose

Workflows to use externally supplied licenses for applications / ProjectWise access, when an account hosting a ProjectWise data source has also agreed to supply the licensing required to access that data source.

Background

The Bentley Identity Management Service (or Bentley IMS for short) is the web service that  verifies the user's credentials when they sign in to Bentley through CONNECTION Client.

Bentley IMS authentication in ProjectWise lets users log in to a data source using the credentials of their Bentley IMS account.

Users  must be associated to the account hosting the data source under User Management. This is done by creating a user account for the external user under User Management, however doing so also grants the user access to any licensing associated to the account.

CONNECTION Client login is also used to determine what entitlements a user has access to.

External users have typically have their own Bentley account w/ their own Bentley licenses as well.

Hybrid workflows

Use Externally Supplied (ProjectWise Explorer SES / Application) Licenses

External supplier must supply licensing in the form of a checked out (reserved) license. For SES licensing, this takes the form of a belic license file, generated via external supplier's Entitlement Management portal.

• License must be generated by an Administrator or Co-Administrator
• License supplied is locked to a specific machine name
• License must be checked out to a user listed under the external suppliers account, this does not impact license functionality

User must import license into the Bentley License Tool and confirm that the license is listed as reserved, otherwise usage will be reflected against user's  organization.

• In the Bentley License Tool, the imported license should appear under the "Checkout License" tab at the bottom of the screen (if not visible, you may have to click "Refresh Available Products" before you see it).
• In the Bentley License Tool, the imported license should also appear under the "Entitlements" tab, with "Reserved" column" showing "Yes" (if entitlement was already listed, "Reserved" should toggle from "No" to "Yes").
• There is no trigger to indicate when a reserved license has expired. When a reserved license has expired, usage generated will be reported against the account of the user signed into CONNECTION Client.

 

Use Owned ProjectWise Explorer SES License to Access External Datasouce using Bentley IMS Authentication

For instances when the data source owned has denied use of his licensing.

User must -

• Check out a ProjectWise Explorer license while under their own account's login to CONNECTION Client
• Verify that the Bentley License Tool shows the ProjectWise Explorer license as "Reserved".
• Log their account's email address out of CONNECTION Client
• Log back into CONNECTION Client with credentials supplied by External account

The following two workflows are not suggested, ProjectWise 2023 release will allow access configuration by data source.

Allow External Users Bentley IMS access to ProjectWise Datasource / Supply Licensing

Datasource owner must -

• Create / Add user to account under user management
• Deny access to undesired entitlements via Entitlement Management
• Note: While external user is logged into CONNECTION Client with datas ource owner provided credentials, user will not be able to access their own license pool, but will be able to access data source owner's licenses
• Obtain machine names of external users / Generate checked out licensing for licenses to be supplied to external users

Allow External Users Bentley IMS access to ProjectWise Datasource / Deny Licensing

Datasource owner must -

• Create / Add user to account under User Management
• Deny access to undesired entitlements via Entitlement Management
• Note: While external user is logged into CONNECTION Client with data source owner  provided credentials, user will not be able to access their own license pool. If external user is to use any of their owned Bentley licenses, they will be required to check out those licenses prior to logging into CONNECTION Client with data source owner provided credentials.

How to Check Out / Check In licenses from Entitlement Management
https://bentleysystems.service-now.com/community?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0018789

How to bulk checkout licenses from Entitlement Management
https://bentleysystems.service-now.com/community?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0018797 

Importing a License via the Bentley License Tool
https://bentleysystems.service-now.com/community?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0019053