SolidWorks
Installation and Service Packs Guide

Install the SolidWorks® software to an individual machine or to many clients.

• Service packs are applied from downloads within major releases.

• You can upgrade (for major releases) from either CDs or a download, but CDs are required to later apply service packs.

Serial numbers, registration codes, and products:

• Serial numbers (16 numeric digits found on the CD box) identify customers.

• Registration codes (8 alphanumeric characters) are generated from information about the product and the serial number.

• The product (SolidWorks, SolidWorks Office, SolidWorks Office Professional, or SolidWorks Office Premium) determines which add-ins and features are available.

Contents

Installation Methods

This table shows the different ways to deploy and maintain SolidWorks. Each method has an effect on how you install the initial version and on future service packs.

* Silent installations

A silent installation is administered without the display of a user interface or dialog boxes.

** Administrative images

An administrative image is a source image of the SolidWorks software on a network. It is similar to a source image on a CD-ROM. Users who have access to the administrative image can install the product from this source.

To serve the SolidWorks application files across a network, you create an administrative image of the SolidWorks application files on a server's hard drive. You can install the administrative image from any computer on the network, including the client computer.

The resulting administrative image is a structure of folders in an uncompressed format. Once the administrative image is created, additional installations on computers across the network can be started from this server location.

Client computers can access the administrative image to run the SolidWorks application on their local computers. An installation must be performed on each client computer before it can access and use the SolidWorks application on the server.

Items to note:

• The administrative image can take up to 2GB of disk space.

• Clients deployed from administrative images that were not created with the SolidWorks Administrative Director will not automatically upgrade when the administrative image is upgraded.

• Additional steps are required to install the following products if you install from an administrative image:

• COSMOSWorks® Designer

• eDrawings®

• PDMWorks® (Clients and Server)

• If you create an administrative image with the Administrative Director, then modify the image (for example, by applying a service pack), you cannot run the Administrative Director from the original CD to create a new initialization file (*.ini). You can, however, modify the .ini file manually.

You can install a newer version of the SolidWorks software in parallel to a previous version. For example, you can install SolidWorks 2006 as a separate installation from SolidWorks 2005.

Individual installation from CD

An individual installation is one in which the entire SolidWorks software resides and runs on a user's computer.

To install on a local computer from the CD:

Insert SolidWorks Disk 1 into your CD-ROM drive, and follow the on-screen instructions. You may need to reboot your computer when installation is complete.

You might need the original CDs later when you apply service packs.

Dialog box notes:

SolidWorks Administrative Director

The SolidWorks Administrative Director is a wizard that:

• Creates and customizes the SolidWorks installation data (an administrative image, an initialization file, and a registry file)

• Provides the option to create a log of each client machine's installation for analysis

• Allows you to specify additional commands to execute on client machines before and after the installation

• Requires clients to have administrative privileges on their computers

The wizard creates an administrative image, which must be in a shared folder so it can be deployed to clients. If the folder you specify is not already shared, the wizard makes it shared. You might see this message: "In order to perform client installations from an administrative image, the administrative image folder must be shared. Do you want to continue?" Click Yes for the wizard to make the folder shared.

To install the SolidWorks software using the SolidWorks Administrative Director:

1. Insert the SolidWorks software CD.

2. In the dialog box, click Administration Tools.

3. Follow the on-screen instructions. Context-sensitive help is available in the wizard.

The Administrative Director Process

Microsoft Active Directory

Microsoft Active Directory is a means to manage the clients and servers that make up network environments. It simplifies management, migration, and deployment.

To install the SolidWorks software using Microsoft Active Directory:

1. Create an administrative image using the procedure, To create an administrative image with a command prompt.

2. Create a transform file to customize the SolidWorks software:

1. Open the Command Prompt window.

2. In the folder that contains the administrative image, drag SWCreateMST.exe into the Command Prompt window. The command should be in the format:

<path_to_administrative_image>SWCreateMST.exe <path_to_MSI_file_of_an_administrative_image> <list_of_properties>

For example:

C:\admin\SWCreateMST.exe "c:\admin\english_i386_SolidWorks.msi" INSTALLDIR="C:\Program Files\<your_chosen_folder>" SOLIDWORKSSERIALNUMBER="xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx" REGCODE=xxxxxxxx ADDLOCAL=English,Manuals OFFICEOPTION=0

The transform file, English_i386_SolidWorks.mst, is created in the folder that contains the administrative image.

3. In the Active Directory, edit the Published Apps policy for the group or groups to deploy the SolidWorks software.

4. In the Group Policy dialog box, expand Computer Configuration and Software Settings.

5. Right-click Software installation and select New, Package.

6. Browse to the administrative image and click Open.

7. In the Deploy Software dialog box, select Advanced published or assigned, then click OK.

8. In the SolidWorks Properties dialog box, on the Modifications tab:

1. Click Add.

2. Browse to the .mst file.

3. Click Open.

9. Click OK.

Additional installation methods

To create an administrative image:

1. Insert SolidWorks Disk 1 into your CD-ROM drive.

2. Open the Command Prompt window.

3. In the Command Prompt window, enter:

msiexec /a <Msi_ path>

In the command prompt above, the variable, Msi_path, represents the path and filename of the .msi file for your operating system and language. The SolidWorks .msi file name is constructed as follows:

<language>_i386_SolidWorks.msi

For example, a machine with the English version of Windows XP installed has the file name: English_i386_SolidWorks.msi

A sample command prompt is:

msiexec /a F:\swwi\data\English_i386_SolidWorks.msi

The SolidWorks 2006 Installation Wizard appears.

4. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Advertising SolidWorks from an administrative image

Advertising SolidWorks creates a shortcut to the SolidWorks application on the Start menu on the user's computer and creates a file association with the administrative image on the server. Initially, the executable files are not installed. When the user clicks the shortcut or double-clicks a SolidWorks document, the installation begins and the SolidWorks application executes.

To advertise the SolidWorks application on a user's machine using a command prompt:

1. Perform an administrative image installation, passing all the serial numbers in the command prompt.

You must pass both the serial number and the registration code.

2. Advertise the product on each machine where the SolidWorks application is to be installed.

Advertising the SolidWorks software with a command prompt

The following is a sample command prompt for advertising a SolidWorks application that is not yet installed:

msiexec /jm <path_to_MSI_file_of_an_administrative_image>

This command prompt advertises both the SolidWorks application and SolidWorks Explorer.

Deploying administrative images

After you create an administrative image, you deploy it:

• Manually using installation dialog boxes

- or -

• Automatically using a command prompt (silent installation)

Manually deploying an administrative image using installation dialog boxes

1. Browse to the location of your administrative image and double-click SwSetup.exe.

2. Follow the on-screen instructions, or install a client-only ("thin client") installation as detailed below.

Automatically deploying an administrative image using a command prompt/batch file (silent installation)

To pass properties to a silent installation:

1. Open the Command Prompt window.

2. In the Command Prompt window, use the /i and /qb options of the msiexec.exe command, and set the global properties for those installation options that you want to be different from the default values.

Use the following examples as templates for a silent installation. A detailed description of all properties is in the Properties section of this document.

The following table shows the features available for the ADDLOCAL and ADDSOURCE properties. When you install the SolidWorks application as a client, use ADDSOURCE instead of ADDLOCAL. Command prompt feature names are case sensitive, cannot contain spaces or dashes, and must be separated by commas.

The English command prompt syntax must be used regardless of the language you install.

Global properties and multi-seat silent installations

If you are installing multiple seats of the SolidWorks application, you may find it convenient to use a remote installation application to install the seats over the network, without displaying the installation dialog boxes. See the next section, Properties, for a list of the global properties to pass to the remote installation program.

Properties

Serial numbers can be passed to both an administrative installation and an individual installation using global properties.

The following is a list of all the defined global properties and their meanings. Each property is defined for administrative or individual installations, unless otherwise noted.

Removing an administrative image

To remove an administrative image from the server:

1. Make sure there are no active SolidWorks sessions.

2. Make sure that the SolidWorks application is uninstalled from all the machines on which it was installed or advertised.

3. Delete the administrative image from the server's hard drive.

Installation Tools

Modifying, repairing, or removing an installation

To modify, repair, or delete the installation:

1. Make sure there are no active SolidWorks sessions.

2. In Windows, open the Control Panel.

3. Double-click Add/Remove Programs.  

4. In the dialog box, select SolidWorks 2006.

5. Based on your operating system, click the appropriate button to modify or delete the installation. If you are modifying an installation, go to the next step; otherwise, confirm the deletion to delete the installation.

6. In the SolidWorks 2006 Setup dialog box, click Next.

7. In the Program Maintenance dialog box, select one of the following options:

• Modify. To add or remove SolidWorks features. The Modify option is useful when you need to add or remove an application add-in. Follow the on-screen instructions to modify the application.

If you installed SolidWorks and purchased an add-in at a later time, you can modify the installation to include the new add-in. You must install the add-in on each individual machine.

• Repair. To reinstall SolidWorks using the current installation parameters. The Repair option is useful if the SolidWorks installation is corrupt. Follow the on-screen instructions to repair the installation.

• Remove. To completely remove the SolidWorks application and SolidWorks Explorer. Follow the on-screen instructions to remove the applications.

Disk clean-up utility

When you remove the SolidWorks software from a computer, some installation files remain in a cached folder.

To remove installation files from a cached folder:

1. Open the Command Prompt window.

2. Drag swpurgewi.exe into the Command Prompt window from one of the following locations:

• SolidWorks Disk 1 CD: \swwi\swpurgewi.exe.

• Administrative image: <path_to_administrative_image>swpurgewi.exe.

Information in the Command Prompt window will appear in English, regardless of the local language operating system.

Migrating SolidWorks Feature Palette window documents

After you install the SolidWorks software, you may receive a message that says:

"Unable to migrate existing SolidWorks Palette documents into the SolidWorks Design Library. See the SolidWorks Installation and Administration Guide for instructions on how to migrate the Palette documents manually."

In SolidWorks versions prior to 2005, the Feature Palette window included palette features, parts, assemblies, and forming tools.

To migrate SolidWorks Feature Palette window documents manually:

1. Open the Command Prompt window.

2. In the Command Prompt window, enter:

<install_dir>\setup\i386\MigrateDesignLib.exe <path_to_ pre-SolidWorks_2006_installation_dir> <path_to_current_SolidWorks_install_dir>

Applying Service Packs

A service pack is the means by which product updates are distributed. Service packs may contain updates for system reliability, program compatibility, security, and more. Service packs are applied as patches to an existing software version. For example, SolidWorks 2006 SP1 is a service pack for SolidWorks 2006 SP0.

The SolidWorks Early Visibility Program provides an opportunity to review and test Service Packs before general release.  See http://www.solidworks.com/pages/services/subscription/EarlyVis.html (you must sign in as a subscription customer).

Downloading a service pack from the web

1. On www.solidworks.com, click Customers.

2. On the Information for SolidWorks Customers page, click SolidWorks Subscription Service website.

3. Type your SolidWorks serial number, then click Login.

4. Click Downloads.

5. Under Download Software, click the link for the service pack you want to apply.

6. Select items from Upgrading from Service Pack, Operating System, Language, and SolidWorks Product for the service pack, then click Accept & Continue.

7. For each product you plan to download, write down the Size. You need this information later in the installation.

8. Click each product to download.

9. In the dialog box, click Save and save the file on your computer.

10. After the download is complete, right-click the executable on your computer and select Properties.

11. Confirm that the size is the same as the size you noted previously. If the file sizes do not match, you must download the service pack again.

Applying service packs to individual installations from CD

Minimum requirements

• You need the original CD set to upgrade to a service pack.

• If you installed SolidWorks 2006 (SP0) with a web download, you need to update the installation with the CD (SP0) before you can apply a service pack.

To apply a service pack to individual installations from CD:

1. Double-click the service pack executable you downloaded from Downloading a service pack from the web. An example file name is sw2006-1.0-2.0-i.exe.

2. An unzipping utility appears.

3. Unzip the executable.

4. In the SolidWorks Service Pack Manager Wizard, select  Upgrade an individual installation of SolidWorks.

If you apply an early visibility service pack, you can select Do not remove the existing installation of SolidWorks. When selected, the early visibility version is installed as a separate installation from your current SolidWorks software. You will have two SolidWorks software installations; the original version is not overwritten. Early visibility versions are indicated by an "ev" in the service pack. (For example, sw2005-3.0-4.0ev-i.msp.)

5. Click Next.

6. Insert the appropriate CDs when prompted.

7. Click Finish when the upgrade is complete.

Applying service packs to administrative images created with SolidWorks Administrative Director

CAUTION: If you plan to roll back an administrative image to a previous version, you must create a backup copy of your current administrative image. To create a backup copy of your current administrative image, open the Command Prompt window and enter:

xcopy <path_to_current_administrative_image> <path_to_backup_administrative_image> /s/i/v

To upgrade an administrative image created with SolidWorks Administrative Director:

1. Double-click the service pack executable you downloaded from Downloading a service pack from the web. An example file name is sw2006-1.0-2.0-i.exe.

To improve performance, run the executable from the computer where the existing administrative image is installed.

2. An unzipping utility appears.

3. Unzip the executable.

4. In the SolidWorks Service Pack Manager Wizard, select Upgrade an administrative image of SolidWorks.

5. Click Open, then browse to the existing administrative image, and select the .msi file.

6. Click Next.

7. Insert the appropriate CDs when prompted.

8. Click Finish when the upgrade is complete.

After you upgrade an administrative image, client computers that have been installed with the .html file from the SolidWorks Administrative Director upgrade automatically the next time they run the SolidWorks software. If client computers were not installed with the .html file from the SolidWorks Administrative Director, follow the steps in Applying service packs to client installations.

Applying service packs to clients deployed with Microsoft Active Directory

To apply service packs to clients deployed with Microsoft Active Directory:

1. Copy the administrative image to a new folder using the following command line:

xcopy <path_to_current_administrative_image> <path_to_backup_administrative_image> /s/i/v

2. Apply the service pack to the copy of the administrative image with the steps from To upgrade an administrative image created with SolidWorks Administrative Director.

3. Create a new transform file to specify an upgrade installation for the SolidWorks software:

1. Open the Command Prompt window.

2. In the folder that contains the administrative image, drag SWCreateMST.exe into the Command Prompt window. The command should be in the format:

<path_to_administrative_image>SWCreateMST.exe <path_to_MSI_file_of_an_administrative_image> <list_of_properties>

For example:

C:\admin\SWCreateMST.exe "c:\admin\english_i386_SolidWorks.msi" REGCODE=xxxxxxxx OFFICEOPTION=0 UPGRADESWINSTALL=1 SWMIGRATE="SolidWorks 2005 SP0"

You must include the UPGRADESWINSTALL and SWMIGRATE properties. See the Properties section for a list of the global properties to pass specific to upgrades.

The transform file, English_i386_SolidWorks.mst, is created in the folder that contains the administrative image.

4. In the Active Directory, edit the Published Apps policy for the group or groups to deploy the SolidWorks software.

5. In the Group Policy dialog box, expand Computer Configuration and Software Settings.

6. Right-click Software installation and select New, Package.

7. Browse to the administrative image and click Open.

8. In the Deploy Software dialog box, select Advanced published or assigned, then click OK.

9. In the SolidWorks Properties dialog box, on the Modifications tab:

1. Click Add.

2. Browse to the .mst file.

3. Click Open.

10. Click OK.

Applying service packs to client installations

The following procedure applies to client installations whose administrative image was not deployed using SolidWorks Administrative Director or Microsoft Active Directory.

To upgrade a client installation, you must first upgrade your administrative image with the steps in To upgrade an administrative image created with SolidWorks Administrative Director.

1. Double-click the service pack executable you downloaded from Downloading a service pack from the web. An example file name is sw2006-1.0-2.0-i.exe.

2. An unzipping utility appears.

3. Unzip the executable.

4. In the SolidWorks Service Pack Manager Wizard, select Upgrade an individual installation of SolidWorks.

5. Click Next and follow the instructions.

After you complete the service pack update, delete the file you downloaded for step 1.

Applying service packs to administrative images using the command prompt (silent installation)

The administrative image you used must be accessible and in the same location where you originally installed it.

1. Double-click the service pack executable you downloaded from Downloading a service pack from the web. An example file name is sw2006-1.0-2.0-i.exe.

2. In the SolidWorks Service Pack Manager Wizard, click Cancel.

The SolidWorks Service Pack Manager Wizard creates a new sub-folder that contains swspmanager.exe and an .msp file.

3. Open the Command Prompt window. If you are uncertain how to open the Command Prompt window, consult the Microsoft Windows help.

4. In the window, enter:

cd /d <path_of_sub_folder_created_in_step_2>

Example: cd /d C:\Temp\sw2006-0.0-3.0-i

5. Enter the command:

swspmanager /a <path_to_.msi_file_of_an_administrative_image> /p <filename_of_.msp_in_step_2> /l <path_to_a_log_file>

Example: swspmanager /a C:\Temp\admin-2006-0-I\English_i386_SolidWorks.msi /p sw2006-0.0-3.0-i.msp /l C:\Temp\admin-2006-0-I\sw2006-0.0-3.0-i.log

6. Follow the steps in Applying service packs to individual and client installations using the command prompt (silent installation).

Applying service packs to individual and client installations using the command prompt (silent installation)

To upgrade a client installation, you must first upgrade your administrative image.

1. Follow the steps in Applying service packs to administrative images using the command prompt.

2. Enter the command:

swspmanager /p <filename_of_.msp_in_previous_procedure> /l <path_to_a_log_file>

Example: swspmanager /p sw2006-0.0-3.0-i.msp /l sw2006-0.0-3.0-i.log

Updating the help files

When you download a service pack from the web, you can also download the updated help files.

1. From the same location that you downloaded the SolidWorks service pack, download the SolidWorks Help File.

2. Double-click the .zip file (swHelpEnglish.zip).

3. In the .zip file, notice the Path column. This column indicates the path in the SolidWorks software installation directory where you need to copy each help file. For example, to update the help file for SolidWorks Task Scheduler, copy swtaskscheduler.chm to <install_dir>\swscheduler\lang\English. Help files for DWGeditor should be placed in <install_dir>\dwgeditor\lang\English\help.

DWGeditor is a standalone product. Its help files are installed automatically with the product in <DWGeditor_install_dir>\lang\English\help.

4. Copy and paste each help file to the locations indicated in the .zip file to overwrite the old help files.

Rolling Back Installations to Previous Service Packs

Minimum requirements

If you installed the SolidWorks software with CDs, you need the original CD set to roll back to a service pack.

You can only roll back to a service pack that is within the same major SolidWorks software release. For example, if your current installation is SolidWorks 2006, you cannot roll back to an installation from SolidWorks 2005.

Rolling back individual installations

1. Download any service pack as described in Downloading a service pack from the web.

2. If you installed the SolidWorks software with the SolidWorks CD, insert the CD into your CD-ROM drive.

3. Double-click the service pack executable. An example file name is sw2006-1.0-2.0-i.exe.

An unzipping utility appears.

4. Unzip the executable.

5. In the SolidWorks Service Pack Manager Wizard, select Roll back to a previous version of SolidWorks.

6. Select a service pack from Please select the Service Pack to which you want to roll back.

You can only roll back to a service pack which you have previously installed.

7. Click Next.

8. Insert the appropriate CDs when prompted.

9. Click Finish when the roll back is complete.

Rolling back administrative images

Administrative images that have been upgraded cannot be rolled back to a previous service pack. If the administrative image was created with any method other than the SolidWorks Administrative Director, the administrative image cannot be rolled back to a previous version.

To roll back an administrative image:

1. Delete the folder that contains the current administrative image. To do this, open the Command Prompt window and enter:

rmdir /s/q <path_to_current_administrative_image>

2. Move the backup copy of the administrative image to the location where you deleted the current administrative image. To do this, open the Command Prompt window and enter:

move <path_to_backup_administrative_image> <path_to_current_administrative_image>

After you roll back an administrative image, client computers roll back automatically the next time they run the SolidWorks software.

Upgrading Installations to New Versions of the SolidWorks Software

An upgrade is a new version (for example, SolidWorks 2006 versus SolidWorks 2005) installed from either a web download version or from a new set of CDs.

To upgrade SolidWorks clients:

1. Make sure all clients are at the same service pack of the previous version.

No installation occurs on clients that do not already have SolidWorks installed.

2. Create a new administrative image for the new version (do not upgrade or overwrite the old image.)

• SolidWorks Administrative Director

Running the SolidWorks Administrative Director from a client (to capture options) is recommended.

For upgrades, do not change the serial number in the <SolidWorks_version>_client_options.ini file.

• Microsoft Active Directory

3. Upgrade all clients to the new version.

• Silent installation

• Transform file with Microsoft Active Directory

4. If you will not be using the previous version again, you can delete its administrative image.

Upgrading with silent installations

To upgrade an existing version of SolidWorks with a silent installation, use the /i and /qb options of the msiexec.exe command. See the Properties section for a list of the global properties that can be passed with the command prompt.

For example, to upgrade an existing version of SolidWorks, enter the command:

msiexec /i "<Msi_path>" INSTALLDIR="C:\Program Files\<your_chosen_folder>" REGCODE=xxxxxxxx UPGRADESWINSTALL=1 SWMIGRATE="SolidWorks 2005 SP0" /qb