Installation Access Control for Named Users

[jfreund87]

Allow Contract Managers and Primary and Secondary Admins in the Autodesk Account to control  User's access to installation media. This could involve removing the ability for users assigned to products to download the software, or limiting their access to specific versions. This could be added as a checklist, similar to the way benefits and services are assigned.

Particularly for companies developing proprietary add-ons, this would help ensure consistency and compatibility across an organization. From what I hear, CAD/BIM Managers are having difficulty controlling which versions users are installing under the new subscription model. Rather than trying to police and enforce these policies, it would be more helpful if Admins can control this at the source.

[andrewpuller3811]

This used to be available in classic user management (prior to named user switch) in a way - you could unassign the ability to download software.

[guido_overath]

The option to "release" software for users to download/install should available even for hotfixes and service packs.

In some cases a corporate uses PLM or EDM systems, having subsidiaries all over the world and need to prepare the environment, to test compatibility before allow the users to install/update.

[rkmcswain]

How are your users able to install software and updates?  If they have local admin rights, then this is not the most important thing to be worried about IMO.

[guido_overath]

@rkmcswain Mentor

Is this a serious answer!?

Do you know for what AD is used to be?

AD is to manage access permission in a Windows net and to avoid that users install any kind of software IT doesn't will have on the corporate PC.

No user except Admins having Administrator permission in a well working AD. And no one has permission to install anything.

An IT spec has to make sure that only licensed and legal software is installed on a corporate computer. This is not possible if users are Admins.

Also an idea like: "Then give the users just for the installation administrator authorization..." is not a solution.

Admin permission for users is no option

Br

Guido

[rkmcswain]

I don't really understand your 07-21-2021 02:21 AM reply @guido_overath 

My reply directly above that was simply saying that there is no need for Autodesk to add access control to products and updates, because in a secure enterprise environment, the end users won't have the ability to install products or updates anyway. And if they do, that is a much larger problem than the user installing products and updates from Autodesk.

[guido_overath]

@rkmcswain 

OK - Autodesk has issues since years running stable in environments where a user don't have locale admin permission. I fully agree with you that users do not should have admin permission!

I'm doing CAD-Administration since 1998. I have experience beginning with Windows NT3.51 and NT 3.51 Server, then change to Windows Server with AD, Windows 2000... until current environment Server 2012/2016 and Windows 10 (Build 2004) in combination with started with Inventor 6/Mechanical and Productstream professional in 2004 until now with Inventor 2021, Mechanical 2021 and SAP ECTR (PLM).

We having aprox 1000 Users world wide at 4 Subsidiaries and a AD-Admin who do AD 24/7 since years. We spent hours and hours to get CAD Running. The conclusion locale admin rights.

We found out that there is even a difference between manually assigning a permission on the local PC (adding a user to the local admin group) and assigning it via AD. That in itself is crazy. The same permission assigned in different ways has different effects.

We also tested using the "power user" permission. This is not enough to run CAD without problems.

My experience is, if user having no local admin permission the Software (executed with user permission) has no permission to save various settings in registry,  as a result of which the user gets problems.

Means, the software work the best when user having locale admin permission.
Because of the very expensive equipment we design, a delay is also very expensive. Means the Software need to run without any limitations. (locale Admin rights 🤔).

In addition, users are Engineers not IT-Specs. When they see a new update in Autodesk Desktop-App, they will install these updates because they think that we (IT-Admins) have released that. They think it is managed by us IT-Guys and install unmerciful...

You know when a 3D design once is loaded in a new Version of Inventor, there is no easy way back. OK, STEP, IGES but third party formats are always coming with data loss compared to original.

How so ever, I wish to get access to the Software list of the Desktop-app.

I need to make sure that corporate wide no one is able to install accidentally software .

AD in this case not applicable.

Just my opinion

Br

Guido

[rkmcswain]

When they see a new update in Autodesk Desktop-App, they will install these updates because they think that we (IT-Admins) have released that. 

1. Not if they don't have local admin rights.

2. Removing the Desktop App will help towards the end users not knowing or caring about updates.

[guido_overath]

@rkmcswain 

If your suggestion work for you, great. Easy job for you.

For us it don't work. I need access to the Desktop-App and the shown Software list.

If users don't have local admin rights, they get in trouble. We have checked this over and over again.

We do a company wide update every two years because of the amount of users, training of users and long project run times. 

It doesn't work smoothly if only main user or standard user rights are given. Fact.

Removing the desktop app. Great idea. How do YOU install a new version on a computer that is currently on the customer's site while an update is being installed at the company? We are working world wide!

Its a nice idea from Autodesk to provide all versions that are licensed and a user could use. But most corporates having other applications in combination like:

PLM System (remote access/interfaces)

BIM Management system (data format / automatic creation of BIM formats by Conversion engine)

FEM systems (Interfaces Ansys CFD, NLS to Inventor)
etc.

there are interfaces between CAD and Management systems that need to harmonize.

Sometimes a simple update makes trouble when loading released designs because Inventor shows a yellow flash (not up to date / need a design update ) because of the design was saved and released with SP2 and now SP3 is installed...

This unsettles designers... Yesterday every thin was ok, today a yellow flash.

It is not just installation of CAD. It's much much more.

We in Cologne have aprox 100 seats of Manufacturing Design Collection. This Collection contains more than 40 Apps. Additionally a bunch of ServicePacks for each app... All are shown in the Desktop-App.

I need to show just the needed respetively released (by IT) Apps and ServicePacks to my designers.

Thanks for your suggestions and tips.

Br

Guido