Installation Images

[Phil Ferguson]

Just a little background...I am not a CAD Manager. There is no such designation at this company. I typically install the latest version of Land Desktop, test it (play with it) and run down any updates, patches or service packs that need to be installed. Once all of this has been accomplished, I build the network deployment and a process to follow for installation. With that being said, last year, we used Symantec Ghost to create an "Installation Image" that was to be used throughout the company (four offices). In this instance, the image did not perform as expected, though this method had worked in the past. What happened was the installation would work as long as the user was the administrator but would not for any other user (yes, users had 'Power User/Administrative' permissions). The way we ended up performing the installations was by the "prescribed" network client installation.

This year, when we upgrade to LDT 2005 (better late than never), IT wants to attempt to use 'Ghost' again. Since this goes against my better judgment, I will use the same process as I have in the past (network deployment/process).

I am asking for any words of wisdom...

We will be installing:

Land Desktop 2005
Civil Design 2005
Survey 2005
Raster Design 2005
and last but not least...Civil 3D 2005

OS...Windows XP Pro sp1

[mjfarrell]

For the fewest amount of mystery problems
DO NOT use the Ghost process.

DO use the proscribed network deployment process.

As to Standardization simply distribute the correct
ARG profile and the standard SDSK.DFM file and
everyone will be far happier.

Phil, have your IT department call me, if they have any questions.
Given the previous fiasco one would belief they would have learned
their lesson.

[jpaulsen]

I am in the process of installing the same software. I used the Network Installation Wizard from Autodesk to create admin images. I created an image for LDT, Civil, Survey and Raster.

See the Network Deployment instructions on the LDT CD (1 of 1).

When creating the LDT (and maybe the RD) image there are two dialogs with path options. The first is the Client Support Directories. You can change these if you want. I changed the temp folder to C:\Temp. The second is the Search Paths and File Locations. My reseller recommended not changing these because the settings do not always take in LDT.

On the Additional Client Settings dialog be sure to check Install Express Tools with this deployment. On the same dialog I typed in "Land Desktop" as the default profile.

Before making the deployments to the workstation you will need to copy the files from the Support\Express folder on the LDT CD (2 of 2) to the Support\Express folder under the LDT admin image that you just created. For some reason these files are not copied to the image automatically.

Be sure you are logged in as an administrator when deploying to the workstations.

After the software is deployed to the workstation Autodesk will do an install procedure for each user that logs on to the computer. The install process copies files from C:\Program Files\Land Desktop 2005\UserDataCache to the users Windows profile and tried to modify the path settings in the users LDT / Map profile.

I say "tries" because it does not change all of the path settings. If the user does not have administrative privileges (access to the Windows profile of the user that performed the deployment), when the user opens LDT / Map they will get several errors. The errors are typically due to not finding menus, dialog control files and the alternate font.

To fix this problem the user will need to go through the path settings in the LDT / Map options and change the paths that still have the admin's name in them. Replace the admin's username in the path to the user's username.

This is going to be a real pain. I use a VBA program that sets the paths as well as many other setup functions. Unfortunately, I can't post all the code here because it is proprietary. I posted a few lines that set some of the path and file settings.

I do not know VBA well enough to help you get this to run. I posted it just in case it would help.

Public acadPrefFile As AcadPreferencesFiles

lookatC = Dir("C:\Program Files\Land Desktop 2005\ACAD.EXE")
If LCase(lookatC) = "acad.exe" Then
Drive = "C"
lstMessage.AddItem "Land Desktop found at C:\Program Files\Land Desktop 2005\"
Else
lstMessage.AddItem "Land Desktop was not installed correctly." & vbCr & "Contact your Cad Administrator."
Response = MsgBox("Land Desktop was not installed correctly." & vbCr & "Contact your Cad Administrator.", vbExclamation)
End If

If Drive = "C" Then
Set acadPrefFile = ThisDrawing.Application.Preferences.Files
acadPrefFile.SupportPath = "Z:\Land Desktop 2005\JRSupport;Z:\Land Desktop 2005\JRLisp;Z:\Land Desktop 2005\JRMenu;Z:\Land Desktop 2005\JRFonts;U:\Land Desktop 2005;C:\Program Files\Land Desktop 2005\support;C:\Program Files\Land Desktop 2005\fonts;C:\Program Files\Land Desktop 2005\help;C:\Program Files\Land Desktop 2005\express;C:\Program Files\Land Desktop 2005\support\color;C:\Program Files\Land Desktop 2005\;C:\Program Files\Land Desktop 2005\land;U:\Land Desktop 2005"
acadPrefFile.CustomDictionary = "Z:\Land Desktop 2005\JRSupport\dictionary.cus"
acadPrefFile.AltFontFile = "simplex.shx"
acadPrefFile.PrinterConfigPath = "Z:\Land Desktop 2005\Plotters"
acadPrefFile.PrinterDescPath = "Z:\Land Desktop 2005\Plotters"
acadPrefFile.PrinterStyleSheetPath = "Z:\Land Desktop 2005\Plot Styles"
acadPrefFile.TemplateDwgPath = "Z:\Land Desktop 2005\JRTemplate"
acadPrefFile.QNewTemplateFile = "Z:\Land Desktop 2005\JRTemplate\_jr settings.dwt"
acadPrefFile.PageSetupOverridesTemplateFile = "Z:\Land Desktop 2005\JRTemplate\_jr settings.dwt"
acadPrefFile.ToolPalettePath = "Z:\Land Desktop 2005\JRToolPalette;U:\Land Desktop 2005\ToolPalette"
End If