AutoCAD on Linux

[Anonymous]

Dear AutoCAD forum,
we try to find a way to install AutoCAD under Linux in our enterprise. The best known possibility to install Windows porgramms in Linux seems to be Wine.
We have tried out different versions of Wine as well as from AutoCAD, however, we always had the problem that during the installation process the setup window has always shut right in the middle, although the installation was not finished yet, or that the setup has got stuck with about one third.
Did somebody already have the same problem and if so has somebody solved it?

Yours sincerely

Lukas Seim

[chriscowgill7373 · Accepted solution]

In my opinion AutoCAD is too windows dependent, with .net framework requirements to work properly in wine.  You would have to go to an ancient version of AutoCAD to get it to work, and even then it is just a hack.  There are other cad programs available that can run natively in linux. 

Have you tried seeing if there is a way to run the Mac version of AutoCAD in Linux?

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

I agree with Chris that AutoCAD for Windows is very dependent on windows components and you will not likely ever get it to run properly. Keep in mind too that if something breaks  with the installation there is no support or known articles to help you recover. This can be a serious impact to your workflow and stability as a company.

You might have better luck running the AutoCAD for Mac as it is base on Unix.  Even that might be a challenge.

Have you considered running a virtual machine such as VMware or VirtualBox?

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question.

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

I am checking back to see if my post or @chriscowgill7373's helped you with your problem. Please mark a post or posts as accepted solutions if they resolved the issue or give me a bit more detail on this issue so we can continue to work towards getting this solved.

Please hit the Accept as Solution button if a post or posts solves your issue or answers your question.

[Anonymous]

Porting code from Windows to Linux could be PITA. Lucky for us, there is a native MAC version!  Please consider a Linux native port, based on that Mac code base.   Thanks!  John

[john.vellek]

HI @Anonymous,

I see that you are visiting as a new member to the AutoCAD forum. Welcome to the Autodesk Community!

Thank you for the input. I am just a specialist so I don't have much (if any) impact on future product decisions.  As a customer you would have a lot more. i encourage you to  to contact the product team directly. If you have additional comments specific to the software or its functionality for future consideration, please use the Product Feedback page. 

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question.

[Anonymous]

.net is open source, I think you can make a version of autocad and all Autodesk products for Linux,  look at this: https://dotnet.microsoft.com/platform/open-source

[pendean]

@Anonymous I suspect they might be sorta already doing it I think maybe perhaps now over here so your wish is already a reality, well, maybe, kind-of https://web.autocad.com/ so very soon none of us need to every worry about buying a chunk of hardware and a "compatible" OS ever again 🙂

Wish granted. I think. Maybe. So... Enjoy.

You can also tell Autodesk all about your wishes here yourself if you'd still like to be shackled to a chunk of hardware strapped to a desk at your Boss' favorite Gulag https://www.autodesk.com/company/contact-us/product-feedback

HTH

[stetson.smith]

@pendean 
Turning CAD into a web based application is a horrible idea that will inevitably break decades of compatibility with LISP and Visual LISP.

However, getting it to run on Linux, given that the codebase shouldn't be as difficult to port now that .net has been opensourced.

In the end, all of this will basically depends on AutoDesk not wanting to stay in the Windows Ecosystem, and that is where the real problem is. They don't see a reason to change.

@chriscowgill7373 
Saying there isn't an answer isn't an answer. It's merely stating that you don't have one. It's as if someone asks you, "Do you know the way to the 7th dimension?" and you reply, "There is no way to the 7th dimension." This isn't an answer insofar as it solves the problem. It merely means that you are possibly unaware as to there being an answer. There are guides as to how you can get AutoCAD running using VMWare. In which case, you can run it.

@Anonymous 
1) I am very curious as to how well it would play with Proton.
2) There is a VMWare solution that may fit your needs.
3) I would be curious as to the configuration that you use with WINE.

[pendean]

@stetson.smith
>>>...They don't see a reason to change....<<<
2020 may change a lot of things now, and if it does, Linux is for sure dead forever as an alternate desktop.

>>>...Turning CAD into a web based application is a horrible idea...<<<
Seems to be going that way with recent unlocking of commands/features at AutoCADWEB.

>>>... will inevitably break decades of compatibility with LISP and Visual LISP....<<<
Not if they do what they are currently testing with custom fonts and XREFs work fully.

Thanks for the lunch break read 🙂

[chriscowgill7373]

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@stetson.smith wrote:

@chriscowgill7373 
Saying there isn't an answer isn't an answer. It's merely stating that you don't have one.

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I'm not sure why I'm responding to a post that is well over 2 years old, but looking back to this post and what the OP originally asked, I did not say there was not an answer, (and I have no clue who thought my answer was the solution, perhaps the OP, perhaps someone at Autodesk).  I provided a response to their question about other users experience with trying to run AutoCAD on Wine.  I spent a lot more time than I should have trying to get it to work in the past, unsuccessfully, so I provided that insight.  I provided an alternative suggestion, which I was not willing to try myself, due to having moved on and not wanting to spend more time on something that I felt was not of benefit to myself.  Running AutoCAD on VMWARE is not running it on Linux, it is running it on a Virtual machine that still has a Windows OS, which is not what the OP was asking.

If that was not what the OP was asking, they never came back to offer any further information or clarification, in fact their user profile shows that they only ever made a single post.

[stetson.smith]

@pendean 

"2020 may change a lot of things now, and if it does, Linux is for sure dead forever as an alternate desktop."
Oddly, I've seen more Linux talk in weird places on Autodesk related content lately. Linux is going anywhere, and Microsoft is starting to increase a move towards a closed ecosystem with their windows 10x.

"Not if they do what they are currently testing with custom fonts and XREFs work fully."
It seems to be a pandora's box that they definitely regret ever opening. It get worse for old hat things they try to kill the more they try to fix old problems.

[pendean]

@stetson.smith I see a lot of talk about a lot of things too, it's just not coming from Autodesk or any of its partners or vendors or resellers: when that happens, and only when you see it there, then you can get excited about possibilities.

This may help you in the interim https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHue-HaXXzg

[nadovich]

The fact that neither Fusion 360 nor any other Autodesk CAD tool runs on Linux seems to indicate that Autodesk, its partners, and its vendors, (and even their competitors) have exactly _zero_  interest in supporting Linux with their CAD products.  For better or worse, they've made their decision. Good luck! 

[fronald]

When we talk about Linux, we are talking about workstation. There are many professional software that have their version for Linux (including Autodesk Maya). Since Autodesk does not create working software for a major workstation, I made the decision to purchase BricsCAD for my company.

[emanoelufpe]

is brics cad an decent alternative ?

[BillCorbitt777]

After today's MS issue 7/19/24 can Autodesk pretty please look at Linux distribution for ACAD and Revit?  PLEEEEEEASE.

[pendean]

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@BillCorbitt777 wrote:

After today's MS issue 7/19/24 can Autodesk pretty please look at Linux distribution for ACAD and Revit?  PLEEEEEEASE.

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1) Unless you are IT that has adopted a very specific software for back-of-house tools (a fix of which was already released), there is little to nothing affecting the majority of WindowsOS using AutoCAD users now; don't believe everything you see on the news from uninformed presenters.

2) If you want to talk to Autodesk, posting around is is like sticking your head out of a fast moving vehicle and shouting: aka pointless. Find a different method, start here https://www.autodesk.com/company/contact-us

or here https://www.facebook.com/autodesk/ or here https://twitter.com/autodesk?lang=en 

3) consider switching to MacOS.

HTH

[TerryDotson]

The problem originated in an anti-virus app "CrowdStrike", not MS.

As for Linux, come back when they have achieved more than 5% of the PC market.

[RobRocks]

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@BillCorbitt777 wrote:

After today's MS issue 7/19/24 can Autodesk pretty please look at Linux distribution for ACAD and Revit?  PLEEEEEEASE.

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Autodesk products were not affected.