Being Civil

How to extract MSP file and apply it to the Admin Image

Knowing that many people do not read readme file with whom I can totally relate for the most part… But, trust me, I’m getting better. Nice thing about re-designed installation wizard that now you can include Service Pack (Update) from Autodesk.com (if available). That is in my opinion the easiest way to do it. But in case if you for any reason would like to test drive it before installation or if you would like to install it from a local copy of the Update you know you have to create MSP file. This procedure sounds harder than it really is and it's also applicable to older versions of Civil 3D, too. Creating (extracting) MSP file is pretty simple. To read about it click continue reading...  

Setting Up License Manager in 7 Easy Steps

I still remember the first time I was faced with a task of setting up License Manager. At first, I was little…worried, then I read some documentation and then I became little confused…finally I was little disappointed that it only took few minutes to do it and in my surprise it worked well from the first try. It was that easy!

Setting up a License Manager is fairly easy task and in many cases it’s one time deal. I trust that most of you CAD managers have done this many times and probably in slightly different way. For all of you that forgot how to do it and/or never were sure how to do it…this could be a quick refresher. Assuming that you have the License manager installed you can start with step 1. If not you may install Autodesk License Manager (ADLM) from your DVD (LMTOOLS).

Deployment Basics, Part 3 (Updating an Image)

Continuing on with the Deployment / Installation posts, the new few are going to be a little short, but may save you some headaches if you aren’t aware of them.

Today is something you should already know if you read the Update readme (hint, hint).  So what is the process of updating your existing install, as well as the Deployment Image?  It is really important to remember that your installation on your workstation will always be looking back to the original Deployment when you try to install an Update.  If the Image is no longer there, or it has been modified, you will run into problems.

This means you must update your individual installations before modifying the Deployment Image.  Simply modifying your Deployment Image with the latest Update will not update the existing installations.  If, by chance, you didn’t do it in this order, you will receive a Windows error message (most likely a 1612).  At that point, the only way to resolve it is a complete reinstall of the application on that workstation.

I typically would suggest that you create a copy of the Deployment Image and update this one.  This will be used for any new  installations, while keeping the original untouched.  Of course, make sure you name them something that makes sense a few months from now, such as C3D2010, C3D2010_SP1, etc.

Open the Deployment folder and go into the /Tool folder.  Here you will see an icon for “Create and Modify a Deployment”  Click on this.  Here you want to select on the option to “Create a new Deployment using an existing as a template.”  See image below:

This is going to keep all of your settings from your original Deployment, making things a bit easier for you.  Next, click on the Image to use as a template, and then follow through the Wizard, adding the Update to this new one.  When all is said and done, you are going to have multiple Images.  The new one will be for new installs, and the original will stay there for all existing installations.

Enjoy!

Deployment Basics, Part 2 (Moving an Image)

In my last post, we discussed how to create a Deployment from a workstation, but stored on your server.  There are also some times where you have already created the Deployment Image, but now you need to move it to a new location.  We typically don’t recommend doing this, because if it is done incorrectly, it can render the deployment and the client installations unusable. 

However, I am going to walk through this process.  It is very important to know that if you have already installed using this deployment, you can NOT move it, as it will cause problems if the users try to repair or uninstall.  But what you can do is copy the entire Image folder to the new location, leaving the original intact and in it’s original folder location.

Deployment Basics, Part 1

Over the next few weeks, I want to focus on a few issues related to installation and creating Deployments.  So let’s jump in with looking at the Deployment Image.  Images are typically created and stored on your server.  But what happens when you are having issues creating the Image from the server?  Oddly,I have seen more than one server machine without a DVD drive.  Or perhaps your server has an unsupported OS, or maybe anti-virus software that you cannot disable which is causing issues.

No problem!  You can create the Image from any workstation, but tell it to store it on the network.  This is a great way to simply side-step whatever problem you are having when creating from the Server.

Windows 7 Support

We have been getting quite a few questions about this, and even a few requests for support.  Please keep in mind that Windows 7 is not supported at this time. 

I like to be on the cutting edge of technology as much as the next guy, but Windows 7 is not officially released yet, and won’t be for a few months.  Civil 3D 2010, on the other hand, was released back this spring.  There is no way our Development Team can design and test on an OS that was still in Beta form at the time of it’s released.

So remember, if you do choose to install on Win 7, we won’t be able to provide support on issues related interoperability. 

That being said, how about that new Windows Taskbar?  :)

Raster Design on a 64-bit OS

As I have mentioned before, I am a fan of using Civil 3D on a 64-bit Operating System.  For those of you using Civil 3D in this environment, you will run into a small bump in the road when you go to install Raster Design.  You will get a message stating that “No supported desktops for AutoCAD Raster Design 2010 were found…”  This is because, Raster is looking for a 64-bit version target.  Not to hard to workaround though.

Deployment for 2010 version - where are my tool palettes?

If you are one of those “lucky ones” to have created your deployment directly from DVDs you may notice that tool palettes are displaying fine but some Civil sub-assemblies and assemblies are missing from the palettes. This appears to be the issue only with deployments created from DVDs but not if Civil 3D 2010 is installed as a stand-alone.