Autodesk Software Deployments 101

IMAGINiT Tricks Tutorial: This article demystifies a time-saving method for rolling out software, and also explains how easy it is to reconfigure a software deployment after it has been built.

The second shortcut to be updated is located in the Tools folder. This shortcut is used to make changes to your deployment image (e.g., change configuration settings, add service packs, etc.). To modify the second shortcut, follow the same process you used to modify the first shortcut.



Modify the INI Files. The two files to update are located in the AdminImage folder.



The names of these files may be different depending on which software the software deployment is for, but in any case, there will be two INI files to update. These files can be opened in Notepad or any other text editor for editing.

Open the AdminImagex64.ini file and look for the line entry that contains the path to the AdminImage folder. (The location in the file may vary, but there will only be one line labeled ADMIN_IMAGE_LOCATION in each file.) Update the ADMIN_IMAGE_LOCATION path to the new path.



Repeat this process for the PDSU_2013_64bit.ini file. (The second INI file will be named the same as the name of your deployment.)

Other Options

Once the software deployment has been created, the paths can be updated to a drive letter rather than a UNC path. However, anyone using this software deployment will need to use the same drive letter. Also, an IP address can be used in place of the server name for instances where the server can't be pinged by the server name.

Utilizing this technique, I have put deployments on a flash or portable drive to be installed on a workstation that cannot access the deployment server. Once the flash or portable drive is plugged into the new workstation, I will change the drive letter of the flash or portable drive to match the drive letter called out in the deployment. This technique makes software deployments very portable and flexible.

Summary

As the Autodesk products have evolved into multiproduct suites, it has become very efficient to create software deployments to roll out to users. This ensures a common configuration of the software as well as speeding up the process of installation; administrators can simply kick off the install, then walk away to the next computer.

Understanding how to create and modify these software deployments will aid CAD admins and users in successfully deploying their CAD and PDM software. There is no need to re-create broken packages, as they can easily be modified to get them working again.

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