I have been looking into how to deal with a too-small hard drive (C drive) on my new laptop. As I mentioned in a recent post, the BIM 360 local files take up a lot of space... but they technically cannot be moved.
This post covers a workaround not technically supported by Autodesk, although offered by them via an employee post on an Autodesk forum. Please vote for the Revit Idea linked at the end of this post.
There are challenges deploying something like this to the masses, as noted recently by Aaron Maller in this thread on Twitter.
Keep reading to learn more...
Here is a screenshot from step #8:
Here are the symbolic links on the C drive:
Here is the content now living on the D drive:
Not a perfect solution by a long shot, but a working 'workaround' none-the-less.
Recent related posts:
For BIM Chapters updates, follow @DanStine_MN on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn
I also write blog posts for Enscape - a new paradigm in rendering, animation and VR for AEC.
This post covers a workaround not technically supported by Autodesk, although offered by them via an employee post on an Autodesk forum. Please vote for the Revit Idea linked at the end of this post.
There are challenges deploying something like this to the masses, as noted recently by Aaron Maller in this thread on Twitter.
Keep reading to learn more...
Creating Symbolic Links
The following was posted by Autodesk employee, Lars-Ake Johansson, in this forum thread. I followed these steps, repeating some steps for each version of Revit installed, and it appears to be working very well.
1. Create a new 'root' folder on your 2nd drive where you want to store this data, for example D:\RevitUserAppdata
If you have more that one Windows login on this system, you will need to create a separate directory for each user: for example D:\RevitUserAppdata\[User Profile] and use this directory in the example below.
2. Make sure Revit is not running
3. Kill RevitAccelerator.exe with Task Manager
4. In Explorer, navigate to C:\Users\[User Profile]\AppData\Local\Autodesk\Revit
5. Move the two folders 'Autodesk Revit 2017" and "ParCache" to the new directory on the D-drive
6. Open a command prompt with Admin privileges (e.g Right click on it in the start menu and select "Run as administrator"
7. Change directory to the User profile directory above:
cd C:\Users\[User Profile]\AppData\Local\Autodesk\Revit
8. Run the following commands: (Note: don't miss the '/D', if you do, it will create a file link instead of a directory link)
mklink /D "Autodesk Revit 2017" "D:\RevitUserAppdata\Autodesk Revit 2017"
Should respond with : symbolic link created for Autodesk Revit 2017 <<===>> D:\RevitUserAppdata\Autodesk Revit 2017
mklink /D PacCache D:\RevitUserAppdata\PacCache
Should respond with : symbolic link created for PacCache <<===>> D:\RevitUserAppdata\PacCache
9. Start RevitAccelerator again
10. Start Revit. Revit should now access/save all the files from the new location on the d-drive.
More on Symbolic Links:
Here is a screenshot from step #8:
Here are the symbolic links on the C drive:
Not a perfect solution by a long shot, but a working 'workaround' none-the-less.
Please Vote for this Revit Idea
Here is a Revit Idea I created to be able to move the Desktop Connector cached local files, i.e. change the path from the C drive to something like D drive: https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/revit-desktop-connector-change-local-path-for-cached-files/idc-p/8798177
Recent related posts:
- BIM 360 Design - Working with External Consultants not using BIM 360 Design
- BIM 360 Design Local Files and More
For BIM Chapters updates, follow @DanStine_MN on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn
I also write blog posts for Enscape - a new paradigm in rendering, animation and VR for AEC.