Bundling AutoCAD 2014 VBA Enabler into the AutoCAD 2014 deployment package.

[Anonymous]

I am creating a deployment package for AutoCAD 2014 and I would like to include the VBA Enabler setup program with the package.  Does anyone know how to accomplish this?

Here is what I've tried so far:

I am able to unpack the file "AutoCAD_2014_VBA_Enabler_r2_English_Win_64bit_dlm.sfx__0.exe" to the hard drive, and from there I can run Setup.exe /qb to silently install the VBA Enabler with a progress bar showing, this is done after I've installed AutoCAD already.

I noticed there is an area to include additional software in the installation.  The problem I see here though is that since the VBA Enabler is not just a single file but a whole directory full of files, what I would need to include is a whole directory stucture, not just a single installation file.  Does anyone know how I can accomplish this?

[ukdxb012]

Hi @Anonymous 

Welcome to the Community!

Try including the following... "C:\Autodesk\AutoCAD_2014_VBA_Enabler_English_Win_64bit_dlm\3rdParty\VBA\Vba71.msi" with the /qb /qn or /q switches

Thats all you should really need to install VBA with AutoCAD.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your reply Duncan.  That suggestion will not work.  The MSI that you suggested will install Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications 7.1 (x64), I'm looking to install the AutoCAD 2014 VBA Enabler.  Your suggestion might be part of what someone would need if they didn't already have Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications 7.1 (x64) installed.

Your suggestion gave me some ideas though, and I now have a solution.  I will post my solution later tonight or tomorrow, it's late and I need to go home now 

[ukdxb012]

That is exactly how we installed it for AutoCAD 2013 x64.

/i VBA\AutoCAD_2013_AcVbaInstaller_English_Win_64bit\3rdParty\VBA\VBA6.msi /qb

Give it a try, when you do, you will see the Autodesk AutoCAD 2014 VBA program appears in Add/Remove Programs.

For 2016 i have changed it slightly as we create our own custom *.exe from an *.ipf using a tool called SMS Installer which packages multiple items into one. This is how i managed to get it packaged in AutoCAD 2016.

AutoCAD_2016_AcVbaInstaller_Win_64bit_dlm\setup.exe /wait /qb /I AutoCAD_2016_AcVbaInstaller_Win_64bit_dlm\Setup.ini

Which will effectively just install "C:\Autodesk\AutoCAD_2016_AcVbaInstaller_Win_64bit_dlm\3rdParty\VBA\Vba71.msi" but from a networked location on DFS.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Here is the detailed solution that I found to work best for our environment...

I work for a global organization, and there is not a single network location that everyone has access to, nor can there be a single location as per corporate policy. I do not want to install the program over the network because there are many offices and installing over the WAN will be slower than copying the installation locally (it is much faster to copy a single large file than a lot of small files, especially to locations that may not have a top tier network connection).I want be able to send the installation to various people around the organization, the way I'm sending the installation can vary. Also note that I also do not have access to SMS or SCCM.

The conclusion is that I have taken the deployment that Autodesk gives us that looks like this...

...and packaged it up into a self-extracting RAR file.  This turns the installation into a single executable file.

This executable is set to ask for local administrative permission immediately so the entire context of the installation runs with local administrative permissions. Once the executable is unpacked to the local drive it executes this command:

"AutoCAD 2014 SP1 Stand-Alone License Setup - GSS USA.lnk"

This will kick off the installation. In the "Include additional software" section of the installer I have 4 files.

There are no command line parameters for any of these 4 files.  The setup will first perform the installation of VBA 7.1 (Vba71.msi) and then install the language pack for it (Vba71_1033.MSI).

Next you see the AutoCAD 2014 VBA Enabler setup file, this will bridge the gap between the Microsoft VBA installer and AutoCAD.  I took the same approach for the AutoCAD 2014 VBA Enabler as I did for the entire AutoCAD installation, I packaged the contents of the AutoCAD 2014 VBA Enabler into a self-extracting RAR file.  Originally the file structure looks like this...

...This turns the installation into a single executable file.

Once the executable is unpacked to the local drive it executes this command:

msiexec.exe /i "AcVbaInstaller.msi" /qb

Finally, the "Installation Complete.exe" is simply another self-extracting RAR file that runs a VB Script with the following contents:

MsgBox "The AutoCAD 2014 SP1 stand-alone license setup is complete!", 64, "Installation Complete"

This just gives the user a message once it's all done rather than just disappearing.

I hope this post can help someone in the future if they are looking to accomplish a similar task that I was.