The new MSP Interface shipped with v14 and higher CA PPM versions is XML based, which means an XML version of each of the downloaded projects will get written to a ‘tmp’ folder under \CA\Clarity\CA Clarity PPM MSPInterface\bin.
The ‘tmp’ folder gets created automatically under the Program Files directory the first time a project is opened in MSP. If the ‘tmp’ folder cannot be created due to user’s insufficient permission, the projects cannot be opened in MSP.
Some of most common symptoms caused by having restricted access to the install directory include:
1. Loading process remains stuck at ‘Writing XML files’ step
2. ‘Microsoft Project stopped working’ message
Depending on the user access on the workstation, manually creating a new ‘tmp’ folder under the bin folder works and XML files will get written here. If the access restriction cannot be worked around, the next option would be to choose a different directory that the user has full access to during the MSP Interface installation.
Here is an example of the steps to change the install directory to the C: drive:
- When downloading the mspsetup.exe, change the download folder from ‘C:\Program Files (x86)\CA Clarity PPM Setups’ to ‘C:\CA Clarity PPM Setups’ on the first set of window prompts.
- During the installation of ‘CA Clarity PPM Microsoft Project Interface’, change the “Install to” directory from ‘C:\Program Files (x86)\CA\Clarity\CA Clarity PPM MSPInterface\’ to ‘C:\CA\Clarity\CA Clarity PPM MSPInterface\’
- Similarly, during the installation of ‘CA Clarity PPM Schedule Connect’, change the “Install to” directory from ‘C:\Program Files (x86)\CA\Clarity\CA Clarity PPM Schedule Connect\’ to ‘C:\CA\Clarity\CA Clarity PPM Schedule Connect\’
This is currently working as designed, our teams are collecting feedbacks and use cases through this enhancement idea of adopting a different architecture that will avoid the situation described above. We encourage you to review and vote up!
New MSP interface should not use Program Files folder to save xmls