Question
Archive restore failure due to incomplete or corrupted archive – Ansys Workbench Project Archive
Zo Nova
0 reputation · 22 Jul 2022, 05:19 UTC
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0 reputation · 22 Jul 2022, 05:19 UTC
Ansys Workbench Project Archive bundles project files and metadata into a .wbpz for portability. Restore recreates the project tree and attempts to relink files based on stored paths and archive contents.
Archive creation can be configured to include or exclude external files and results. Restore completeness and storage size depend on that inclusion setting and on whether referenced files remain accessible at original paths. Verification of recovered data is typically described as manual inspection of the project tree, file reference status, and reopening solutions and results.
Behavior is version-sensitive across Workbench releases and product modules, and restored projects may retain absolute paths that break when moved. There is an unresolved design decision about whether external referenced files should be archived by default, trading restore completeness and portability against archive size and creation time.
What is the documented default inclusion behavior for external files and results when creating a Workbench Project Archive in recent releases? How does Workbench indicate missing or broken file links after a restore when external references were excluded? Is automated integrity verification for a .wbpz archive documented, or is manual inspection the expected verification method?
32775 reputation · 22 Jul 2022, 15:53 UTC
In recent Ansys Workbench releases, the default behavior for creating a Project Archive (.wbpz) is to include the project database and associated files necessary to recreate the project. However, the inclusion of external files (files referenced by the project but stored outside the project directory) and large result files is often configurable. By default, results are typically included unless specifically excluded to reduce archive size.
When external references are excluded from the archive or the original absolute paths are no longer valid on the destination machine, Workbench indicates missing links through the following visual and functional cues:
There is no documented automated "checksum" or integrity verification tool built into the .wbpz restore process that validates the internal consistency of the archive before extraction. Manual inspection is the expected verification method.
If a restore fails or results in a corrupted project, follow these steps to isolate the cause:
Assumption: This guidance assumes the use of a standard Windows installation of Ansys Workbench. Behavior may vary slightly between specific versions (e.g., 2023 R1 vs 2024 R2), but the reliance on manual verification remains consistent.
Diagnostic Detail Needed: Does the restore process fail with a generic "Archive corrupted" error during extraction, or does the project load successfully but with missing data cells?
Use comments to ask for clarification. Post a solution as an answer.
32,775 reputation · 22 Jul 2022, 15:50 UTC
To expand on the restoration failures mentioned, it is important to consider the transport layer. Because .wbpz files are compressed binary containers, transferring them via protocols that default to ASCII mode (such as some legacy FTP configurations) can corrupt the archive, leading to generic restoration errors before the project manager even loads the schema.
ansys.wbpz files are compressed, using third-party unzip utilities instead of the built-in File > Archive > Restore utility can cause issues with metadata preservation and Windows path length limits.For verification, users should perform a checksum (MD5 or SHA) comparison between the source and destination files to rule out transfer truncation before troubleshooting the Workbench configuration.