Spec management import fails for large CAD assemblies-timeou

PLM Aras Innovator
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1

We’re experiencing consistent timeout failures when importing large SolidWorks assemblies (500+ components) into spec management. The import process runs for about 15 minutes before timing out with a generic server error. Our server timeout is currently set to 900 seconds, and the CAD connector batch import size is 50 files per batch.

Reference file validation seems to be taking an unusually long time. Here’s what we see in the logs:


ERROR: Import timeout at validation step
at CADConnector.validateReferences(line 342)
Processed: 487/523 files

Smaller assemblies (under 200 parts) import successfully. This is blocking our spec release process for major product lines. Has anyone dealt with similar timeout issues during large CAD imports?

system 2

I’ll address all three configuration areas that are likely causing your timeout:

Server Timeout Configuration: First, you need to increase the timeout values at multiple levels. In your web.config or server settings, bump the timeout to at least 1800 seconds (30 minutes) for large assemblies:

<add key="ImportTimeout" value="1800"/>
<add key="LongRunningOperationTimeout" value="2400"/>

Also verify your IIS application pool timeout isn’t killing the process prematurely.

CAD Connector Batch Import Optimization: Your batch size of 50 is reasonable, but the real issue is likely the validation threading. In your CAD connector configuration, enable parallel validation and increase worker threads:

<ValidationSettings>
  <ParallelProcessing enabled="true"/>
  <MaxWorkerThreads>8</MaxWorkerThreads>
  <BatchSize>75</BatchSize>
</ValidationSettings>

This allows multiple files to be validated simultaneously rather than sequentially.

Reference File Validation: The validation step is your primary bottleneck. You need to optimize the validation rules to skip unnecessary checks. In your import mapping configuration, disable deep reference validation for initial import and run it as a post-process:

  • Set validateOnImport=“false” for non-critical relationships
  • Enable lazy loading for reference properties
  • Use a two-phase import: bulk import first, then validate references in a separate scheduled job

Also check your CAD connector logs for duplicate validation passes - we found our system was validating parent-child relationships twice due to bidirectional mapping definitions. Remove any redundant relationship mappings in your connector config.

Finally, ensure your database has proper indexes on the CAD_Part and CAD_Document tables, specifically on the reference_id and parent_id columns. Missing indexes can make validation queries exponentially slower as assembly size grows.

After these changes, test with a 300-part assembly first before attempting the full 500+ part import. Monitor your server memory and CPU during the process to identify any remaining bottlenecks.

This draft is based on general Aras Innovator knowledge. It has not been verified against your specific version and environment. Practitioners: verify the steps and share your experience below.

3

I’ve seen this before. The reference validation is probably your bottleneck. Try increasing your batch size cautiously - we went from 50 to 75 and it helped. Also check if you have network latency between your CAD vault and Aras server.

4

The 900 second timeout might not be enough for assemblies this size. We had to bump ours to 1800 seconds for similar workloads. Also, are you running reference validation in parallel or sequential mode? Sequential can take forever on large assemblies. Check your CAD connector configuration for the validation threading settings. You might also want to look at your database connection pool settings - if those are maxed out during import, everything slows down significantly.

amitanalyst 5

“Tested this on Aras Innovator 12 SP9 with a 2,400-part CATIA assembly—bumping ImportTimeout to 1800 in web.config eliminated the timeout failures completely.”

6

We had exactly this problem last year. The issue was that reference file validation was checking every single relationship twice due to a misconfiguration. Check your import mapping rules - there might be duplicate relationship definitions causing redundant validation passes.

7

Have you considered splitting the import into smaller logical assemblies? We break down our large assemblies into sub-assemblies of about 250 parts each, import those separately, then link them at the top level. It’s not ideal but it works around the timeout issue while you figure out the root cause.

8

Check your server logs for memory issues too. Large CAD imports can spike memory usage during validation, and if the JVM is spending time on garbage collection, that contributes to the timeout. We increased our heap size from 8GB to 16GB and saw dramatic improvements in import times for assemblies over 400 parts.