Creating an Installer for My AutoCAD Plugin (.NET 8) – Any Official or Updated Guidelines?

[fikretakbas1997]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently working on an AutoCAD plugin developed with .NET 8, and I’d like to distribute it as a proper setup/installer package for end users.

My goals are:

• To install the plugin’s DLLs and related files in the correct AutoCAD support folders

• To register the plugin properly, either via packageContents.xml or the Windows Registry

• To support clean installation and uninstallation

• Optionally: support installation for multiple AutoCAD versions or user scopes (current/all users)

I was wondering if Autodesk provides any official or up-to-date guidelines on packaging and deploying AutoCAD plugins, especially with .NET Frameworks / .NET 8?

Any community best practices, samples, or tool recommendations (e.g., using VS Installer Projects, WiX, Inno Setup, etc.) would also be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[Mehmet_Demiryurek]

Merhaba @fikretakbas1997 

Burası Türkçe forum. Mesajlarınızı Türkçe yazabilirsiniz.

Sorduğunuz soru, teknik açıdan biraz bilgi isteyen bir konu. Konu ile ilgili link vermek yerine size Autodesk'in Global Forum linkini paylaşayım.. Bu linkte isteğinize uygun VBA Forum, .NET Forum ve ObjectARX Forum bulunmakta.

Hangi dil ile ilgileniyorsanız sorunuzu bu bölümlerden sorarsanız bu işin ehil olan kişileri ile muhatap olursunuz..

Forum linki için TIKLAYIN... 

İyi çalışmalar

[nshupeFMPE3]

My current strategy is to use this extension. You can configure the application folder to be at the ApplicationPlugin folder using this

[ProgramFiles64Folder]\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\

and then you can create a .bundle for your plugin and an accompanying PackageContents.xml file inside your .bundle folder. Look for AutoCAD Autoload on Google.  

[mdolanVQYAA]

Not sure if you are upgrading from old versions but if you are there is an upgrade guide here.

Migration Guide: .Net Framework to AutoCAD 2025/.NET 8.0 - Autodesk Community

I personally use VS Installer Projects. Straight forward. 

If you are deploying them in a project.bundle application plugin you PackageContents.xml will need to have the new SeriesMin and SeriesMax values for 2025.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ApplicationPackage SchemaVersion="1.0" ProductType="Application" Name="" AppVersion="2019.1.1.1" Description="" Author="" ProductCode="{E0443791-950B-4492-A4F7-7AEE709B7E94}" UpgradeCode="{5D2D1FBE-83E8-4B72-95E4-A3A2BE0957FC}">
<CompanyDetails Name="" Phone="" Url="http://www.au.autodesk.com" Email="" />
<Components>
<RuntimeRequirements OS="Win64" SeriesMin="R25.0" SeriesMax="R25.1"></RuntimeRequirements>
<ComponentEntry AppName="ToolName" ModuleName="ToolName.dll" AppDescription="ToolName CAD 2025" LoadOnAutoCADStartup="True"></ComponentEntry>
</Components>
</ApplicationPackage>