Vault 2027 Extension Install location

[esimers]

Is the ONLY valid automatic loading installation folder "C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Vault 2026\Extensions"

I need to do the installers WITHOUT local Admin elevations.  

I see hints around the internet that you can do it in %userprofile%/appdata

But I can't seem to get that to work for myself.

[mslosarKES]

Not saying there isn't an undocumented location for Vault, but Vault looks to have one location. Inventor, OTOH, does have paths under the user profile. That may be what you've seen.

The way we've gotten around it here is to get IT to allows excess to the Extensions folder for everyone.

[esimers]

They do that with a group policy I suppose yes?

[josebaqueror · Accepted solution]

That ProgramData path is the folder the Vault client scans for auto-loading extensions, and writing there is what triggers the admin prompt. A couple of things:

1. I'm not aware of a supported per-user (%userprofile%/AppData) auto-load location for the Vault client the way AutoCAD has roaming support paths. The hints you're finding may be carrying over from AutoCAD, which does support that. Happy to be corrected if someone has it working, but I wouldn't build a deployment on it.

2. The realistic no-admin route is permissions, not a different folder. Have IT grant your account write on a subfolder under ...\Vault 2026\Extensions once, or pre-create your extension's folder there with write rights. Creating the folder needs elevation; copying files into a folder you already have write on does not. After that your installer is just a file copy and runs unelevated.

3. For many machines, push that once as a GPO or ACL, then per-user installs never need admin again.

Are you deploying to a fleet or just your own workstation? That decides whether it's a one-time IT ACL or worth scripting.

[g.georgiades]

Maybe its only true for my company, but we as regular users have write access to the C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Vault xxx\ Folders - at least we are able to create new files and folders at the user level. We cannout remove any pre-installed vault extensions though. The only risk we have run into is only the user that created the folder/files can remove/update them, but the user can run some icacls commands to rework the permissions so other users can make changes.

[esimers]

Whole company. Around 125 or so user machines.  

Thank you. For your responses.   I would be interested in what type of script you are referring to if you can elaborate?  I am testing now pretty much what you are describing.  I asked the SysAdmin to get that folder in our cadusers policy as read/write.  From there I will try to install there W/O admin elevation.  Currently I use innoSetup to create installers for each extension, plugin, add-on.  Currently we only have one Vault extension, so it's not super bad.

[josebaqueror · Accepted solution]

For 125 machines, push the folder permission once, centrally, so the SysAdmin doesn't touch each box. A GPO (or Intune/SCCM) that runs once as SYSTEM and grants your cadusers group Modify on the extension subfolder does it. One line: icacls "C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Vault 2027\Extensions\YourExt" /grant "cadusers:(OI)(CI)M" /T. Run it as a startup script or Group Policy Preference. Then your InnoSetup installer runs unelevated: set PrivilegesRequired=lowest and install into that Extensions subfolder. The copy succeeds because the group already has Modify. Keep everything under that folder and HKCU; anything written to Program Files or HKLM will still trigger the prompt. So the one admin action is the GPO push; every per-user install after that is a plain file copy.

[esimers]

I knew there had to be a way!  That's the kind of answer and details I was looking for!  Thank you very much for that.  Now I can sound intelligent enough to the System Admin that I know exactly what I need to make this happen.  Thanks again, have a super awesome day!!

-es