Do/Have you used Solidworks Admin Image?

[bnemec]

If so, does anything stand out in your mind? Pros/Cons etc.

Like most things it depends on the scenario and many factors.

I opted to use it and I'm not sure if I'm regretting it or not, never tried the other way. We have ~30 installations.

If you vote please leave comment of how you voted and why.

Thank you.

[Tom G]

I don't have that many installations. Keep it Simple Simon.

[matt]

If I had more than a couple of seats to administer, I'd definitely use it. There are a lot of cool options you can use. If you need everyone to have a specific set of settings, this is a great tool. It should be used more often, I think. I voted I'd use it depending on the situation. The main "depending" for me would be the number of seats I have to administer. I tested it a few times on my own network here at home.

[JSculley]

I've been using them exclusively for many years. The biggest pros are that I can ensure everyone is set up with just the stuff they need and once I have set that up, I can use the previous image settings for the next version. We have 18 standalone licenses, 2 network licenses for Simulation Pro, Flow Simulation and SW Electrical along with a 25 seat PDM license. The admin image installs a variety of different combinations on various machines.

The only con is that you can't modify an installation after the fact. You have to uninstall/reinstall if you forget something. The only hiccup I've had was that our mix of network license and standalone licenses would cause SW Electrical to always fail to install from the image if installed at the same time as non network license stuff. Once I figured out what the problem was, it was easy to set up a new group in the admin image that only installed SW Electrical. Once everything else is installed I simply move the machines that need SW Electrical into this group, do a second deploy and then move them back.

[AlexLachance]

I have 15 workstations and I launch them all one by one when I do the updating, because I also delete registry keys upon updating.

[jcapriotti]

I've used it since it was available, before that it was scripted from the msi files (which you can still do). I have to rollout to 150 users and the admin image has a lot of nice options for configuring the software.

That said, I still use custom scripting for some things like uninstalls. I find the built in uninstaller can seem to corrupt the installation or in some weird cases will "upgrade" instead of remove and do a clean install.

I have a ton of batch scripts that run first. These are not kicked off by the admin image but instead calls for the admin image when its ready. They are used for more than just SolidWorks and collects and logs data for troubleshooting.

We have multiple sites plus people who work from home. We have copies of the image at different sites. For those working from home, we have an option to download the image and run the installer and point it to the local copy of the image.

[JSculley]

I have 15 workstations and I launch them all one by one when I do the updating, because I also delete registry keys upon updating.

You can have the admin image do that for you with a batch file. You are wasting your time running around to 15 workstations.

If you use the deploy functionality, you don't even need to leave your desk to kick off the installs.

[AlexLachance]

You can have the admin image do that for you with a batch file. You are wasting your time running around to 15 workstations.

image.png

If you use the deploy functionality, you don't even need to leave your desk to kick off the installs.

I've never really looked into it because I was advised to not use it and to proceed this way. I might look into it if we eventually upgrade from 2019, but the direction SolidWorks is heading is telling me 2019 is the last year we'll be using, if need be there might be another transition to come.

[jcapriotti]

@JSculley My problem with deploy is users may or may not be in the office at the moment it decides to deploy. Installing over a poor VPN connection when the user isn't ready can be a problem. Does it prompt the user before actually installing?

[bnemec]

@JSculley My problem with deploy is users may or may not be in the office at the moment it decides to deploy. Installing over a poor VPN connection when the user isn't ready can be a problem. Does it prompt the user before actually installing?

me too.

What does scheduled mean? Next reboot?

[JSculley]

@JSculley My problem with deploy is users may or may not be in the office at the moment it decides to deploy. Installing over a poor VPN connection when the user isn't ready can be a problem. Does it prompt the user before actually installing?

You can deploy manually to a remote machine as well, which can still be done from your desk. You simply select the machine in question, and deploy. I'm not at work at the moment, but tomorrow I'll try to find the knowledge base article that covers what happens in the background. The user does receive a message, something like 'A SOLIDWORKS installation is scheduled to begin in 5 minutes'.

[JSculley]

me too.

What does scheduled mean? Next reboot?

image.png

When I was troubleshooting my SOLIDWORKS Electrical deployment problem, I found some info on what each status meant. i'll try to find that tomorrow. Sometimes, if things get stuck, you have to tweak the status file for the particular machine so that it shows the correct info. I'll have a look for that as well.

[JSculley]

me too.

What does scheduled mean? Next reboot?

image.png

From the Knowledge Base:
=============================
S-064813
Question: What can cause the SolidWorks Installation Manager based administrative image "Deploy Automatically" to display "Scheduled" even after the install succeeded?

Answer: This can occur if read/write permissions are not granted to users installing from the administrative image. At minimum, grant read/write access to the following directories as necessary:

<admin image>\64bit\logs\
<admin image>\32bit\logs\

If the user doesn't have access to write to the \logs\status.xml, the install might end up in a loop since the "success" value cannot be written to the administrative image.
=============================

And

=============================
Solution Id: S-070280

Question: After pushing out an automatic deployment administrative image to a client computer, how do I view or edit the installation date?

Answer: To view the scheduled date of installation for an automatic deployment, follow these steps:
1. Go to ‘Control Panel’ > ‘Administrative Tools’ > ‘Task Scheduler’ > ‘Task Scheduler Library’.
2. In the list of tasks, > click on ‘Install SOLIDWORKS 20XX’.
3. Click on the ‘Triggers’ tab. You will see a ‘One time’ trigger for the date and time of the scheduled installation.

If the client computer is powered off or if the user is logged on at the scheduled installation time, the scheduler will attempt to install the software the next time the system starts up.
==============================

[bnemec]

From the Knowledge Base:
=============================
S-064813
Question: What can cause the SolidWorks Installation Manager based administrative image "Deploy Automatically" to display "Scheduled" even after the install succeeded?

Answer: This can occur if read/write permissions are not granted to users installing from the administrative image. At minimum, grant read/write access to the following directories as necessary:

<admin image>\64bit\logs\
<admin image>\32bit\logs\

If the user doesn't have access to write to the \logs\status.xml, the install might end up in a loop since the "success" value cannot be written to the administrative image.
=============================

And

=============================
Solution Id: S-070280

Question: After pushing out an automatic deployment administrative image to a client computer, how do I view or edit the installation date?

Answer: To view the scheduled date of installation for an automatic deployment, follow these steps:
1. Go to ‘Control Panel’ > ‘Administrative Tools’ > ‘Task Scheduler’ > ‘Task Scheduler Library’.
2. In the list of tasks, > click on ‘Install SOLIDWORKS 20XX’.
3. Click on the ‘Triggers’ tab. You will see a ‘One time’ trigger for the date and time of the scheduled installation.

If the client computer is powered off or if the user is logged on at the scheduled installation time, the scheduler will attempt to install the software the next time the system starts up.
==============================

S-064813: yep, I remember the \log\ dir permissions issue from initial installations.

In solution 07028 I'd say they missed a step of connecting to remote computer. Thank you though for pointing out it uses Task Scheduler to do the installs, bit of a duh moment for me there. So I was able to look at the task on the remote machine and found that there is a problem. Would be nice if the status in the Admin Image Editor would indicate that there was an error. Anyway here's a screen shot:

So I look up 2147942402 (thank goodness MS got universal ResultCodes right so we can search them) sounds like missing file.

Yep, there is no StartSWInstall.exe, just the .hta file.

Any guesses why there's no .exe file created? Wondering what I messed up...

That sounded familiar then I remembered that trying to uninstall SW from a client machine using the hta never works; complains about missing .exe.

[jcapriotti]

@bnemec Odd, maybe a virus scan deleted it or prevented it from copying over?

[bnemec]

@bnemec Odd, maybe a virus scan deleted it or prevented it from copying over?

Can I assume that the StartSWInstall.exe is universal, so long as it's from the same version and SP? If I find one I can use it? I'm assuming the Admin Image Opt Editor doesn't compile or edit that .exe file.

[jcapriotti]

It should be.....the options file is an xml created with the image editor.

[CPUhog]

We use Admin images to manage about 120 installations globally. Like others, I have a script to do some housekeeping things BEFORE calling the admin image. We use Microsoft's SCCM software deployment tool to schedule and manage the actual deployment.

I do not that SW 2021 now has the option of compressed admin images. I was using that trick on my own images a number of years ago, since SCCM was having trouble deploying a package over about 10GB. Nice to see that built-in now so I can remove that bit of code from my own installation process.

[berg_lauritz]

Just watched the 3DX presentation - we are going to use it the next time for SURE. Over here:

https://events.3dexperienceworld.com/wi ... 849001Pw35

[AlexB]

I've been using them for a while. We don't have a ton of users, but it saves me from having to go "desk to desk" and do the installation/setup for them. It's nice to configure it to keep the modules user's won't really need as part of their role from being on their machine using the groups. Although I did have to get into writing batch scripts to get add-ins installed and registry tweaks completed, it was really a relatively painless process. Of 50ish users, only 5-6 reached out to me for help. If you do it once, you learn a lot and know a bit more of what to do the next go-around.

[berg_lauritz]

I've been using them for a while. We don't have a ton of users, but it saves me from having to go "desk to desk" and do the installation/setup for them. It's nice to configure it to keep the modules user's won't really need as part of their role from being on their machine using the groups. Although I did have to get into writing batch scripts to get add-ins installed and registry tweaks completed, it was really a relatively painless process. Of 50ish users, only 5-6 reached out to me for help. If you do it once, you learn a lot and know a bit more of what to do the next go-around.

You don't have to write batch scripts in 2022 any more to install the modules, I think. I need to re-visit the talk from 3DX world again.

[the_h4mmer]

I actually would like to use Admin image, but getting the time/opportunity to sit down and comb thru the various options for setup, has turned into a wild fantasy. Plus, I'd like to actually test the various setups/installs, but would need to request a test system from IT (who is equally taxed for time as myself).

Although the CAD user space I work with is small, I like the idea of using an Admin image to lock down certain settings to ensure processes don't get skipped. The other side of it is that we have many more users of PDM, and it would be helpful to have an Admin image to manage those installs.

As with most things, Admin image installs goes into the bucket of something I'll get to "one day" (maybe).

[mp3-250]

I am replying to this relatively old thread asking for an opinion about the use of administrative image.

My company has over 60 seats and every time we have to upgrade SW or install it on a new machine, we have to spend a lot of time for the process. Some Dept. also complained (rightly) that their engineers are spending too much time upgrading the machines following the setup manual that guide them through the process.
We also have a third party add-in to upgrade/install and PDM and its vault view to configure as well.

The current process:
1 SW Install data (16GB) are uploaded on a shared folder on a file server
2 every SW user copy the folder on the desktop
3 backup SW preferences (optional)
4 uninstall the third party add in
5 launch SW installer and configure the setup
6 install the third party add in
7 recover SW preferences and some registry patch
8 some manual check on SW settings (due previous admin "reasons")
9 vault view setup (new install only)

I did a test with SW 2021 and I can automatize more or less everything in the list or at least reduce human interaction to a couple of clicks. (fixing once and for all the "reasons" for manual checks)
My boss and VAR main concern is the speed over the network is going to be overkill.
Apparently they did a trial year ago with the previous admin and it did not go well.

So I came up with a unorthodox way to use the admin image which I used in the past within a smaller team and it worked for our needs.

1 SW admin image (12GB, become 5.5GB compressed from SW2022) is uploaded on a shared folder on a file server
2 every SW user copy the folder on the c: drive root
3 backup SW preferences (optional)
4 recover SW preferences (optional)

Pros
1- installation is unattended and completes in around 10 minutes (with SW2021 uncompresed image)
2- network traffic shrinks to 35% the current level (which is over 1TB and occours almost in the same day)
the users can download the necessary data in background and work until the download is complete
3- settings are applied correctly and in the same way for all

Cons
1- According to our VAR the installation cannot be changed and adding feature requires a new install.
→ Normally we use only the latest SP
→ In the case of a SP I would make a new admin image to distribuite as above.
BTW compressed images are required a full install anyway even in case of a SP
→ If the admin image path is in the registry I could relink the local installation to the network data overwriting the setting

2- We have some installation pattern to take care of : CAD+PDM, CAD only, PDM only (contributor only)
→ PDM aside we already install everything needed inside the company and let the user switch on simulation add-in etc
so I think I could unify a lot of those needs in two admin images at max
→ I need to study how to disable the PDM features for non-PDM users and the related paths inside the vault.

3- batch files are loaded from an absolute path
→ I saw a "use environment variable" checkbox, when selecting the batch file but is not documented...

Other Cons or idea on the matter? Or any other alternative to automatize SW installation...

[Frederick_Law]

"1- installation is unattended and completes in around 10 minutes (with SW2021 uncompresed image)"
Unless other CON can be done in less time, I don't see any reason not to use admin image.

"2- We have some installation pattern to take care of : CAD+PDM, CAD only, PDM only (contributor only)"
Create image for each.

"My boss and VAR main concern is the speed over the network is going to be overkill.
Apparently they did a trial year ago with the previous admin and it did not go well."
This can be schedule when network is not busy. Also prevent everyone download at same time.
You can copy image to user on schedule and install later.
Put the image on a less busy server or one just for that purpose. If possible.

[mp3-250]

This can be schedule when network is not busy. Also prevent everyone download at same time.
You can copy image to user on schedule and install later.
Put the image on a less busy server or one just for that purpose. If possible.

This is why I am thinking about copying the admin image to local pc, instead of installing from the network drive.
We have 1 vault and once PDM is updated all client must update at once: designer and engineers cannot work with their old SW installation otherwise. We are under 100 seats so on day one we have 80%+ seats updating.

So, my main question is: what happens if the admin image is copied locally on the C: drive root and run from that location and later even delete that folder.
The only big con I found out that SW, once installed that way, could be only uninstalled, and it is not possible to add or remove components.
It is a fair limitation imho and it is not going to cause us by distress, but I am concerned about other collateral effects I am not seeing at the moment.

[Frederick_Law]

Copy to user "Download" folder.
Root need admin permission, I think.
Is it possible to copy and run install from IT side?
Not sure if admin image could do silent install.

[mp3-250]

Copy to user "Download" folder.
Root need admin permission, I think.
Is it possible to copy and run install from IT side?
Not sure if admin image could do silent install.

Just to be sure we are discussing about the same concept, what do you mean with download folder?
At the moment I use the SW download data to create a compressed admin image.
That image is about 1/3 the original size of the downloaded data. Up until now we used to have all users copying those 16Gb on their desktops, which is a waste of time and bandwidth.

I already tested the following:
1. I download the SW install files (16Gb)
2. I create the admin image with only the necessary packages (5.5 Gb) in my C:\Solidworks Admin\ folder
3. Add the batch files for pre post install to the admin image
4. Copy C:\Solidworks Admin folder on another PC
5. Run the install.hta
6. Wait for the install to complete

The data copy over the network is quicker with compressed image (fewer big files instead of lot of small ones)

After the local installation C:\Solidworks Admin\ folder can be deleted without affecting SW as It can be only unistalled anyway. Also the compressed images cannot be updated with SP patches, but need a full install to upgrade. This is fine for us as we upgrade once a year with SP5.x

We already have our users with local admin permission, so copy on the root drive is ok (I am a normal domain user as well and I can perform this kind of task)
IT involvement has some drawbacks I am not going to discuss here.
A local install fully automated is what I am aiming at, no need for a silent install for the moment.

[Frederick_Law]

Ok C:\Solidworks Admin\ is good.
You said C drive root so I thought you copy zip file to C:\.
Windows has extra security on C:\. So you might run into problem.

You can keep C:\Solidworks Admin\ folder. Just delete install package.
I'll just keep the file there. Overwrite when new install is available. If space is not a problem.
Just incase one need to reinstall.

Copy single huge file is always faster than lots of small files.