File-locking between Mac and PC on shared drives and cloud storage

SketchUp
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Hi,

I wonder if anyone can help. There are two things Im looking at but they are both related.

Issue 1 is centred around opening files from an Azure server and understanding file lock for our cross platform studio who use Sketchup on both Mac and PC.

Issue 2 is centred around moving our design filing from our Azure server to a different server solution (currently investigating LucidLink which is a cloud storage platform).

I’ll run through the issues one by one - but they relate because the problem appears to be present on both systems.

………………………….

Issue 1

We are in the process of moving all of our company design files to a new server solution. We are currently on an Azure server (and have been for years) but this doesn’t work well for the design team due to the type of files we work on (Sketchup, Adobe, AutoCAD). We have also had a new team member join and he uses a Mac - the rest of the team who use Sketchup are all on PC.

We need to work in a way that ensures that only one version of a file can be open at any one time. On our Azure server, if someone on a PC tries to open a file that someone else on a PC has open, they’ll get this error message about opening a read only file.

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If someone on a Mac opens a file and then someone on a PC tries to open the same file, the PC user gets the message above.

If someone on a PC opens a file and then a Mac user opens the same file, there is no error message - so both parties can have the same file open at the same time.

This has only come to light in the last month or two, because our new colleague is the only SketchUp user who is on Mac.

Our Azure server is set up to allow access both on UNC and mapped drive (for PC). For Mac users, they access the server on smb (Server Message Block) protocol.

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Is there a way to prevent two users from opening a file at the same time on this platform?

………………………………..

Issue 2

We are testing LucidLink (cloud storage) as a potential new platform to move all of our design files too. I’ve set up a test file structure on LucidLink and our early tests were great - really fast connection, super fast save, auto save and file opening. The team were really happy - but we ran into a problem in terms of file locking.

The LucidLink platform is set up to allow collaboration - for programmes that allow it, users can choose to work on the same file concurrently or (using global setting) the admin can set certain files to be locked if a second person tries to open them at the same time. Sadly, this file lock feature on LucidLink is only available for Windows users. We’ve done the same tests as above and again a Mac user can still open a file without any warning being given if a PC user already has the file open.

Is there a way to prevent two users from opening a file at the same time on this platform?

……………………………

I’ve chatted to LucidLink about this and they have said that in other design software (Adobe Suite, AutoCAD…) you can define in the preferences whether files can be opened if another user is in that file. This means that despite the file lock in LucidLink only working on PC, users of this software can still be safe in the knowledge that only one user can open each file at a time. Is there any setting like this on Sketchup - I’ve looked but can’t find anything?

Does anyone have any experience with this issue (file locking for cross platform teams working on centralised storage) and / or any solutions to over come it. I’m sure lots of people work on centralised storage and work in cross platform teams. I’m really keen to find a way to prevent overwrite or corruption issues when members of our time try to open files.

Any help greatly appreciated.

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I find it alarming that the mac allows an user to open a file that is already open on a PC. that’s a very good method to damage files.
There is no actual collaborative work in sketchup, ie. you can’t be 2 working on the same file at the same time.

Well, trimble connect is included in your subscription, and I see Adam typing right now so I’ll let him explain :slight_smile:

edit : welp, he didn’t. :innocent:

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my only experience is all of the corrupted files that occur.

Mac users with file syncing solutions/NAS storage seem prone to it, some perhaps this lack of locking is some kind of MacOS limit.

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Thanks guys. It may be a limitation, but this preference is present in other software (eg Adobe Suite) for Mac users (according to the LucidLink tech support team).

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It just seems crazy - I never even knew this was an issue until today when we tested it. But it explains a lot of problems that a previous (mac based) designer had. His files were constantly corrupted - now I know why. Its a massive oversight - cross platform teams are very common, as are cloud storage platforms for collaborative working.

I think file locking works on Trimble connect (but not sure) - but we can’t have all of our Sketchup files on one storage platform and ALL other files on Azure or a cloud service….

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normally It seems that on Windows, file locking is primarily handled by the operating system or through the network protocol in use.

Lucidlink doesn’t share files as such it shares a specific filesystem to transport the files and handle some of the things describe - I don’t want to go too deep into it, but there is some client and server side tech quite separate to normal file shares.

Based on Lucidlink’s documentation, they don’t appear to support the locking features broadly on Mac—except for Adobe InDesign on macOS

from their support page:

LockingExtensions (global-only)
This setting specifies which file types (by extension) allow file locking when opened by an end user. Currently, this functionality is only available on Windows. On macOS, Adobe InDesign is the sole application that supports file locking.

Additionally, it appears that LucidFS requires disabling certain kernel-level security features to function properly. This seems to be a core part of how the product works, and it suggests that Lucidlink isn’t particularly Mac-centric—or is limited by what macOS allows—unless individual application developers add support themselves.

Another point worth noting: Lucidlink’s macOS filesystem implementation is reportedly maintained by a single developer on GitHub and isn’t an official Lucidlink product. This raises questions about long-term support and stability - especially as Apple are dropping support for non-native apps in the next couple of years.

If you’re currently testing Lucidlink, it’s possible that the sales team isn’t being fully transparent about these limitations or future plans, which might explain why they’re deflecting concerns.

There is a little discussion from people more familiar with it here

To install LucidLink on macOS with Silico… - Apple Community

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I Fell down a rabbit hole of research there.

That’s actually useful for me to know, I’d not fallen down that rabbit hole before

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Thanks for this info @Elmtec-Adam - much appreciated.

I’ll go back and query this with LucidLink - I don’t use Mac myself so am a bit blind to what Apple are doing these days. Dropping non-native apps was news to me - I just searched and (in amongst other things) got this info:

“In summary, Apple is not broadly eliminating all non-native apps, but rather enforcing policies and making technological transitions that require developers to maintain their apps to modern standards or transition to newer hardware architectures.“

But reading the info in the link you said definitely raises alarm bells for me in terms of security, stability and ongoing support (of Mac OS) - we can’t have the service drop off or not be available.

Interested to hear how others work on various centralised storage platforms (Azure, LucidLink, Shade…. etc) to see how others have managed to work around the non-file locking on Mac. I’ve read up on SharePoint, GoogleDrive, DropBox - but they didn’t seem like the best options.

What about working in cross platform teams on Trimble Connect. I’m not a massive fan of this but it might be my only option. I don’t really want our SketchUp files to have to live in a different location to all our other design files (AutoCAD, Photoshop, Illustrator, PDF, InDesign, image files etc). Its just fragmenting more than I’d like - but I understand it may be a technical limitation that I can’t overcome (but I live in hope…)

For us, downloading files and working on them locally and then re-uploading comes with the same issues (or very similar) to not being able to file lock; two people can still make updates to copies of the same file without knowing. We aren’t a big team but there is still a risk of being able to overwrite hours or days of work (or corrupt files) if someone doesn’t check / isn’t able to get hold of a colleague who “might” have worked on the same project.

I really hope there is a solution whereby our whole design team (who use broad software) can work on a single platform without the risk of overwriting each others work…

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Appreciate you going down the rabbit hole and reporting back @Elmtec-Adam :raising_hands:

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No worries - hopefully some others can chime in and correct any errors.

For Mac, this year and next year’s OS are the final updates relating to supporting both older machines and apps using some legacy infrastructure. I actually don’t know what that means in this case, it seems adjacent to it at least.

We use OneDrive/SharePoint at our organisation (not for collaboration), which I’ve explored; those both can use a web interface much like Trimble Connect does - which has a check-in /check-out function. This handles file versioning for these files as well.

It may be that you could use something like that for just the Mac user - they will need to retrieve the download and check the file out. When they re-upload it, it creates a new version.

I don’t know if there is a way to enforce the check-out/check-in, but it’s worth investigating.

Otherwise, maybe the Mac user is going to have to take one for the team and use Windows…

P.s. you can upload any file type to Trimble connect - it’s not just SketchUp thing, but a collaboration platform for AEC. It was made by Frank Gehry’s studio for their arch projects and then Trimble bought it and continued development.

There are syncing apps for windows and mac and extensions for SketchUp , debit and a few other bits

For SketchUp it serves as the backup for realtime collaboration inside SketchUp itself.

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This was actually my very first comment on discovering the issue.

In my opinion (having tried both platforms) Sketchup performs SO much better on Windows than on Mac.

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SketchUp itself works well well on either nowadays and arguably better on a cheap mac than a cheap windows machine - but as soon as you need to work with autocad or revit or various 3D rendering apps - they either aren’t available on Mac or are limited by Apple’s hardware.

There are a few features of SketchUp Studio that are windows only , such as the RVT importer or Scan essentials.

If it is purely for SketchUp, I don’t think there are is a compelling reason for using SketchUp on Mac over windows beyond the interface being what you are used to.

I use both in my function as a 3D specialist and it does catch me out if I need to move between the 2. But mainly my work is happening in SketchUp, a web browser or another DCC that is identical on both platforms - it makes little difference to my actual work (beyond my PC being something like 7x more powerful in rendering programs)

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Gotcha - totally get that its a personal / professional choice. I haven’t used the Mac version of Sketchup for years - or “worked” on a Mac (other than very basic stuff) for several years - so my opinion / experience is probably a bit out of date. I’m def not trying to do down the Mac OS, both platforms have their place and their fanbase…

Like you say its familiarity as much as anything…:grin:

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Can you tell me where you found this please @Elmtec-Adam.

I’m having a read around to find out a bit more about LucidLink. I found some info about security issues and needing to amend kernels on Mac OS but then realised the post is from back in 2020 and there have been several releases since then. I’ve queried this with LucidLink who have said that these issues have been resolved with their latest version (3.0).

Thanks

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This one is a year old and mentions it

LucidLink Kernel Extensions on macOS – LucidLink Classic Help Center

Installation refers to Benjaim fel

3 months old Installing macOS client – LucidLink Classic Help Center refers to Benjamin Fleischer, the developer of OSXFuse , which the LucidFS is a fork of.

also 3 months old

Installing LucidLink on Apple Silicon – LucidLink Classic Help Center

This refers to the hoops you need to jump through for kernel access and how Rosetta is required for the GUI to function (Rosetta is being removed for everything beyond apple sanctioned games in 2026/27)

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Thats great - thanks @Elmtec-Adam. I’ll share these with LucidLink and ask some more questions.

In one of your earlier posts you shared this ”Lucidlink’s macOS filesystem implementation is reportedly maintained by a single developer on GitHub and isn’t an official Lucidlink product” - I’ve searched for this but haven’t found anything. Can you point me to a source for this please?

Appreciate the swift response.

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That’s Benjamin Fleischer - Home - macFUSE

The parts that Lucid use are based off of his work - LucidFS is forked off of it.

This kind of situation is not massively unique - but it’s considered a more risky move to buy into a system where that situation is visible.

This meme is a good visual of the reality.

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Thanks!!! Ok, I understand now - the image really helps! :laughing:

I’ll go back to LL and ask about all of this. Some of the issues might have been cleared up with their latest version. The posts you’ve shared are for the “Classic” version of LL. Apparently the “New LL” (version 3.0) fixes these. I’ll check and report back so others have info.

Thanks again for your help on this…

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