VMWare Horizon View VDI and network installation

[Anonymous]

We are running this environment and now planning to go to R17. The current virtual environment mimics the old physical environment whereby certain common files like custom LISP routines and plotter files are on network shares and the user .arg profile has pathing that point to those locations.

As we move forward and with less experienced CAD manager(s), I've been considering having all custom and previously networked shared files being on the local virtual machine. When some change occurs I will have a few scripts to run that will copy the changed file like acad.lsp to the proper location on all the VMs.

Anyone doing VM network managed have any advice on what you find works best? Still a hybrid approach? My CAD manager sometimes wants to make changes to files that don't like to be on the network like certain tool palettes, or so I'm told, so a script will be needed to handle that.

[Darin.Green]

Hi @Anonymous, I recommend leaving all custom content onto a network share--specifically for backup and single source of truth. This data also need to be clean, meaning your custom cui files shouldn't include anything from the original ACAD.cuix file that's part of the defaults. Otherwise you will end up with duplicates, broken icons, and tools that no longer work.

For a successful implementation, keep cuix files, tool palettes, custom lisp routines, blocks, and templates in one central location on the server. Import your CUI files as an enterprise cui and make your tool palette directory read only to everyone except the CAD Manager.

The acad.lsp should also be in the same share resource location on the server. The trick is to make that directory higher up in the list within Options > Files > Support File Search Path That way the acad.lsp within you server share will be used instead of the local one on the workstation.

Finally, VM's are great for your multiple instances of CAD application from one install, but I don't recommend keeping the drawings in this environment as well. A physical machine or server that has backups (tapes or cloud) is best.

Since this issue is not Installation or a licensing issue, I will also ping some of the guys from the AutoCAD forum @Alfred.NESWADBA & @pendean to see if they have anything to add.

Hope that helps.

[Anonymous]

One issue that has given my CAD manager difficulty is the very one you mention, the .cuix file(s). He struggled with the problems you mentioned while not mastering the enterprise file and I wasn't much help to him. Can you lead me to the procedure for creating the enterprise file while not having issues with the local or other .cuix files? I think our problem was the enterprise file was created from the acad.cuix file.

We do keep the other files on the server currently, protected from the users from overwriting. We use a high performance SAN and have both offsite disk-based DR and I use tape as an added measure of safety. We all VMs and now adding GPU upgrades as well and why I am preparing for this project.

Thanks for the quick response!

[Darin.Green]

Enterprise CUI only means the cui file is readonly to all users. It's a regular cui file that is imported into user session through Options >File > Support File Search Paths. However, once set as an Enterprise file, the user cannot make any changes.

Second, They the CAD Manager to use the CUI Editor, and on the Transfer tab, set the current custom cui file on the left and start a new cui on the right. Drag and drop only custom tools from the current into the new cui file. Once complete, save the cui on the server and began rolling it out to your user base. 

* Note: Within the custom CUI, it can reference existing tools by way of macros (command line syntax). However, they shouldn't be identical to the AutoCAD tools.

For more information on CUI customization, use the following link Making the CUI Work for You from a previous Autodesk University class. <-- Good Material.