AutoCAD Deployment - User Profile Not loading

[EATREVITPOOPCAD]

I created a deplyment using AutoDesk website, provided the .ARG file and downloaded the deployment image. However, when I install AutoCAD it doesn't show up... I checked the Collection.xml and it seems to be referenced in there, it also exists in the image... What is even stranger... I get desktop icon shortcut to launch AutoCAD called "AutoCAD 2023 - English - Unnamed Profile"

Here is a snippet from Collection.xml

            <Applications>
                <Application>
                    <UPI2>{75287169-1455-3CEC-A313-AAC8FAA1C684}</UPI2>
                    <CustomProperties>
                        <Property name="SUPPORT_CONTENT_ROOT" value="[ROAMINGUSERFILESFOLDER]"/>
                        <Property name="SUPPORT_CONTENT_CUSTOM_PATH" value=""/>
                        <Property name="LOCKSECURITYSETTINGS" value="0"/>
                        <Property name="SECURELOAD" value="1"/>
                        <Property name="ACADProfile_TrustedPaths" value=""/>
                        <Property name="ACADProfile_TrustedDomains" value="*.autodesk.com;*.google-analytics.com;*.virtualearth.net"/>
                        <Property name="LEGACYCODESEARCH" value="0"/>
                        <Property name="ACADLspAsDoc" value="#0"/>
                        <Property name="ACOMP_EXPRESS_TOOLS" value="1"/>
                        <Property name="ACOMP_MIGRATE" value="0"/>
                        <Property name="ACAD_USE_ONLINE_CONTENT" value="#1"/>
                        <Property name="ACAD_SUBSCRIPTIONCENTER_ENABLE" value="#1"/>
                        <Property name="ACAD_ENABLE_SEND_PC_NAME" value="#0"/>
                        <Property name="ACAD_ENABLE_ROUNDTRIP" value="#1"/>
                        <Property name="ADSK_DESKTOPSHORTCUT_1" value="0"/>
                        <Property name="CUSTOM_PROFILE" value="CustomUserFiles\CUSTOM_PROFILE\SuperCustomProfileV7000.arg"/>
                        <Property name="ADLM_EULA_COUNTRY" value="US"/>
                        <Property name="NIWSELECTION" value="1"/>
                        <Property name="ACADSTANDALONENETWORKTYPE" value="2"/>
                    </CustomProperties>
                    <CustomUserFiles>
                        <File>
                            <SourcePath>SuperCustomProfileV7000.arg</SourcePath>
                            <ImagePath>CUSTOM_PROFILE</ImagePath>
                        </File>
                    </CustomUserFiles>
                </Application>
            </Applications>

Any ideas? Also if anyone has any hints on how to load this outside of Autodesk tools would be amazing.

I feel it would be so much simpler if this file just lived somewhere like User\AppData and etc... Or even hiding in the Registry's dungeons... But that's just me dreaming

[rkmcswain]

Are you doing this for one machine, or for multiple?

If the latter, we have always done all customization post-install, so that we never have to tweak or otherwise alter the deployments. We literally use autolisp to drive the settings we require into place at startup.

[EATREVITPOOPCAD]

Doing this for multiple machines. How would you do post install?  I am trying to have it so we don't have to go back on each machine and load the user profile. One way I can think of with AutoLisp is to place ACAD.lsp into one of AutoCAD's default search paths and have it call an AutoLISP routine which would load the user profile. This would work for 80% of our CAD users that use the default company user profile. However, with my method mentioned above, there is a problem for the other 20% of users that like to customize our company user profile even further into their own personal...  So maybe do ACAD.lsp which calls an AutoLisp routine that loads the company user profile and then modifies ACAD.lsp to not do it in the future? What are your thoughts on this?

[rkmcswain]

We have a local "Acad.lsp" (seed file) on each PC (in the top default search path).

This file does nothing else except load another "Acad.lsp" located in a centralized location that everyone has access to.

This second "Acad.lsp" is the main one and it sets the paths, loads the settings, etc.

There are no "profiles", no need to save these settings, because it happens all over again the next time AutoCAD is launched.  Of course there are more details to it, some of which can be found here

Anything that we don't force out per company standards, the user is free to set. If they want to save a profile, fine, we don't care, because the next launch will do the things we want to do. We do not stomp on user settings though. If a user wants a cyan background, we are not loading a profile that wipes that out. (for example).

You could even have department standards and user standards that all load from a single network location (so user can move from PC to PC, or if they get a new PC) - and all of their customization follows them around.

[EATREVITPOOPCAD]

Gotcha, this is very helpful. Thank you!

[EATREVITPOOPCAD]

I am going to do everything with AutoLisp... Not sure why but neither the profile nor the search paths specified in the Autodesk online deployment tool do not work for me...

[rkmcswain]

@EATREVITPOOPCAD wrote:

Not sure why but neither the profile nor the search paths specified in the Autodesk online deployment tool do not work for me...

What I've learned over the last quarter century in this business - is if you want something done, do it yourself. Or pay to have it done. Don't rely on vendors who have to mass produce generic solutions to fit everyone. The lack of predictable results with tools such as you mentioned are what led to and kept us on the path of coming up with our own solutions.

Good luck

[ryarmak]

It's because the new installer ignores the settings from Collection.xml and uses the Setup.xml settings from each individual product.

It's super annoying and I doubt anyone at Autodesk even care that their system is completely broken.

[EATREVITPOOPCAD]

Thanks for explaining that @ryarmak wish I knew that before trying to make it work LOL...

I ended up doing a bit sloppily but it gets the job done well. I have a deployment script that manages a bunch of different software, which executes the AutoCAD installer. After AutoCAD is installed, I execute a .BAT file which places acad.lsp into a default support path, and the acad.lsp executes an AutoLISP that loads a user profile and then calls another .BAT file to delete the newly placed acad.lsp so it doesn't happen again...