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Push add-in to all users

Majjek
Advocate

Push add-in to all users

Majjek
Advocate
Advocate

Hi,

 

I've developed an add-in which is almost ready for distribution to all users in our company (~20 users).

What is the best way to do this?

Create an installer and then manually install it everywhere?

 

And after that, when I make changes, what is the best way to update everything?

 

Thanks in advance for your ideas.

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Accepted solutions (2)
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10 Replies
Replies (10)

AlexFielder
Advisor
Advisor

Back in the day, it was possible (using Visual Studio) to "publish" an executable to a shared network location. You'll still see this on certain Windows applications; Google Chrome can do this (depending on where the installer originates).

 

I've built most of my installers using Innosetup - which is free and relatively simple to get going with; although I've never found an "update" mechanism that works aside from emailing my fellow users on the head and saying "there's an updated installer for {addinNameHere} available at {path}"

 

I would love to hear other's suggestions though.

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bradeneuropeArthur
Mentor
Mentor

We have created a .bat file that starts with windows and copies the dll files each time windows starts!

Regards,

Arthur Knoors

Autodesk Affiliations:

Autodesk Software:Inventor Professional 2025 | Vault Professional 2024 | Autocad Mechanical 2024
Programming Skills:Vba | Vb.net (Add ins Vault / Inventor, Applications) | I-logic
Programming Examples:Drawing List!|Toggle Drawing Sheet!|Workplane Resize!|Drawing View Locker!|Multi Sheet to Mono Sheet!|Drawing Weld Symbols!|Drawing View Label Align!|Open From Balloon!|Model State Lock!
Posts and Ideas:Dimension Component!|Partlist Export!|Derive I-properties!|Vault Prompts Via API!|Vault Handbook/Manual!|Drawing Toggle Sheets!|Vault Defer Update!


! For administrative reasons, please mark a "Solution as solved" when the issue is solved !

bradeneuropeArthur
Mentor
Mentor
Accepted solution

like this:

 

@Anonymous off
xcopy "P:\xx\yy.dll" "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 20##\Bin\" /y
xcopy "P:\xx\zz.dll" "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 20##\Bin\" /y
xcopy "P:\xx\yy.addin" "C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Inventor 20##\Addins\" /y
xcopy "P:\xx\zz.addin" "C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Inventor 20##\Addins\" /y

Regards,

Arthur Knoors

Autodesk Affiliations:

Autodesk Software:Inventor Professional 2025 | Vault Professional 2024 | Autocad Mechanical 2024
Programming Skills:Vba | Vb.net (Add ins Vault / Inventor, Applications) | I-logic
Programming Examples:Drawing List!|Toggle Drawing Sheet!|Workplane Resize!|Drawing View Locker!|Multi Sheet to Mono Sheet!|Drawing Weld Symbols!|Drawing View Label Align!|Open From Balloon!|Model State Lock!
Posts and Ideas:Dimension Component!|Partlist Export!|Derive I-properties!|Vault Prompts Via API!|Vault Handbook/Manual!|Drawing Toggle Sheets!|Vault Defer Update!


! For administrative reasons, please mark a "Solution as solved" when the issue is solved !

Majjek
Advocate
Advocate

Thanks for the program.

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Majjek
Advocate
Advocate

This sounds like an easy solution, thanks!

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bradeneuropeArthur
Mentor
Mentor

Hi,

 

Your thanks are appreciated.

Sometimes we all forget to take a look at the easy way.... 

Regards,

Arthur Knoors

Autodesk Affiliations:

Autodesk Software:Inventor Professional 2025 | Vault Professional 2024 | Autocad Mechanical 2024
Programming Skills:Vba | Vb.net (Add ins Vault / Inventor, Applications) | I-logic
Programming Examples:Drawing List!|Toggle Drawing Sheet!|Workplane Resize!|Drawing View Locker!|Multi Sheet to Mono Sheet!|Drawing Weld Symbols!|Drawing View Label Align!|Open From Balloon!|Model State Lock!
Posts and Ideas:Dimension Component!|Partlist Export!|Derive I-properties!|Vault Prompts Via API!|Vault Handbook/Manual!|Drawing Toggle Sheets!|Vault Defer Update!


! For administrative reasons, please mark a "Solution as solved" when the issue is solved !

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frederic.vandenplas
Collaborator
Collaborator
Accepted solution

I Copy the Addin file local (you can use the script provided here) and let that file point to the dll which is on the server, so if i need to update the dll, i just can overwrite it, next time users start up, the new version is loaded.

If you think this answer fullfilled your needs, improved your knowledge or leads to a solution,
please feel free to "kudos"

Majjek
Advocate
Advocate

That sounds even better.

Where is 'here' regarding to the script.

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bradeneuropeArthur
Mentor
Mentor

P:\xx\yy

P:\xx\yy

P = the server

xx\yy is the path

Regards,

Arthur Knoors

Autodesk Affiliations:

Autodesk Software:Inventor Professional 2025 | Vault Professional 2024 | Autocad Mechanical 2024
Programming Skills:Vba | Vb.net (Add ins Vault / Inventor, Applications) | I-logic
Programming Examples:Drawing List!|Toggle Drawing Sheet!|Workplane Resize!|Drawing View Locker!|Multi Sheet to Mono Sheet!|Drawing Weld Symbols!|Drawing View Label Align!|Open From Balloon!|Model State Lock!
Posts and Ideas:Dimension Component!|Partlist Export!|Derive I-properties!|Vault Prompts Via API!|Vault Handbook/Manual!|Drawing Toggle Sheets!|Vault Defer Update!


! For administrative reasons, please mark a "Solution as solved" when the issue is solved !

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frederic.vandenplas
Collaborator
Collaborator

I was pointing to message 4 from @bradeneuropeArthur 

If you think this answer fullfilled your needs, improved your knowledge or leads to a solution,
please feel free to "kudos"
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