Configuring and Installing Autodesk Products and Suites

Autodesk has created a series of videos to help you with installing your Autodesk products. Even though the videos pertain to the Autodesk 2012 Design Suites, the procedures that are discussed can be applied to all 2012-2014 products.  Below, we have an explanation of the steps in the videos to help you further. 

Installing Tools & Utilities

At any time during the installation process, you can access the help links at the bottom of the installer window to get installation help, view system requirements or review the readme files for products that your installer supports.

The “Install Tools and Utilities” section of the installer gives you the option to install additional applications that may be used in conjunction with one or more of the Autodesk products you’re installing.

The available options in this list will vary depending on the Autodesk product you are installing. For example, in the Autodesk Design Suite Ultimate installer there is a long list of tools and utilities to choose from because of the number of products that this installer supports. On the other hand, if you’re just running the AutoCAD  installer, you would only see options to install the Autodesk Network License Manager, Autodesk CAD Manager Tools, and the Autodesk Content Service.

Please note that the SAMreport-lite utility is no longer included in the Autodesk installers. If you wish to install SAMreport-lite, you can download the application and obtain a license at autodesk.com. Just do a search for SAMreport and you’ll find the page with all the information.

Choose the tools you want to install and select the Install button. This installation process is separate from the installation of the main Autodesk products and will require restarting the installer after it is complete. There is a small down arrow under each product’s name on the left that expands the installation options. Note, for ACA and ACA-MEP you will want to include Express Tools and desktop icons to run as plain AutoCAD.

Depending on the number and type of tools and utilities being installed, this installation process can take awhile and may include separate installers running and requiring your input and interaction. Plan accordingly.

When this installation is complete you’ll get a confirmation screen and you can select Finish to close the installer. You will then need to restart the installer to continue installing the main Autodesk 2012 products.

Choosing a License Type

The next step is to review and accept the Autodesk End User license for your country or region. You must accept this agreement before you can proceed with the installation. It’s a good idea to review this to be aware of what you can and can’t do with your Autodesk product license.

Choose your country or region from the list, review the agreement, and then click “I Accept” and click next. If you do not want to accept the agreement, click the Cancel button and the installation will terminate.

Next, you need to select the type of license you are installing; either a standalone license or a network license. The standalone option is also correct if you are installing a multi-seat stand-alone license.

If you are installing a network license version, choose the Network option and then provide the hostname for the server or servers depending on the license server model running on your network:

• For a single license server, provide the host name of the one server running the Network License Manager.
• For a distributed license server, enter the host name of the master server and then provide the host name of the other servers in the distributed server pool.
• For a redundant license server, enter the hostname for each of the servers in the redundant server pool.

For the demonstration (in the videos), a standalone license will be installed.

Installing a Trial Version

If you want to install the product in trial mode, select “I want to try this product for 30 days.” This option will install all selected products running as a 30-day trial.

When installing in trial mode, the trial period applies to all Autodesk products in the suite or bundle. When running in trial mode, each time you start an Autodesk product it will display a dialog indicating how much time is left on that product and providing you an option to activate the product.

When the first product in a suite is started, the trial period countdown begins for all products installed. So even though you may only use AutoCAD for the first 15 days of the trial, that still means you only have only 15 days left in the trial period for all of the other products as well.

If you do not activate one of the products before the trial period ends, access to all of the products will be denied. After the trial period ends, you can restore access to all of the products by entering an activation code.

Configuration

Serial Number and Product Key

If you already have your serial number and product key, enter that information in the appropriate fields. You’ll see a green checkmark as confirmation that the information you entered is correct.

Select the product(s)

Next, it’s time to select and configure the Autodesk products you want to install. Unlike the Autodesk installers in previous releases, all selection and configuration is done on this one screen. There are no longer multiple screens and tabs for configuring individual products.

For example, if you want to install AutoCAD 2012, make sure the checkbox is checked next to the name of the product and then click on the disclosure triangle to reveal the configuration options. From here you will have all the configuration options you are used to from previous releases. You can choose what subcomponents you want to install – if you want to do a custom configuration you can select that option and choose the features to install or not install – and any available service packs would show up in this lower section where you could choose to include them or not.

When you finish configuring a product, you need to select the disclosure triangle again to collapse that section and return to the product list. Notice that the “Install” button is disabled when a configuration section is open so all product configuration sections must be collapsed before you can proceed to final installation.

This process is identical for each of the products you want to install. For each product, ensure that the check box is checked next to the product name and then select the disclosure triangle to configure the individual products.

Since most products are checked by default, you’ll need to manually uncheck any products that you do not want to install. If there are product dependencies, you will see a message bubble explaining how checking or unchecking a product may impact other products.

So review the list of products to be installed and do any configuration required.

Install a language pack

If you’re installing in a different or additional language, this is also where you would add a language pack. In the product language drop-down list, select “Add Language Pack”.

This will display a list of all of the products that support the use of a language pack. From here you would select the “Browse” button for the specific product needing a language pack and then browse to the directory where you extracted your language pack files, choose the appropriate MSI file, and select OK.

Product Install Path

The last thing to be aware of is the installation path. The default value for the installation path is “C:Program FilesAutodesk.” This location is a root directory for all the Autodesk 2012 products being installed and each product will create its own subdirectory within that folder. In other words, within this folder will be an AutoCAD 2012 directory, a Showcase 2012 directory, a Mudbox 2012 directory, etc.

It is no longer possible to customize the folder name or location for individual products, only the root location where those products will be installed.

Begin Installing

Now that configuration is complete, you are ready to begin installing your Autodesk products by picking the Install button.

It will begin by installing prerequisite files and then will continue installing each of the products you selected and configured.

Installation Complete

At this point, the installer has been running for a while installing the selected products. When the installation is complete, you’ll be presented with a confirmation screen and will have an opportunity to review any alert messages for the respective products. Hovering your cursor over the info icon will expand a message balloon with more details about the product alerts.

After you’ve reviewed the confirmation screen, and any product alerts, click the Finish button to close the installer.

Now you have successfully installed the selected products in the Autodesk Design Suite Ultimate 2012 package, and are ready to register and activate the products.