Note: The creation of a client log file is optional for network deployments. You must enable the option in the Autodesk® Deployment Wizard.
Not all products create a client log file by default. In the event that no client log file was created, you can use Microsoft® Windows® Installer to create a log file.
To create a log file using Windows Installer
Click Start menu (Windows) > Run.
Enter REGEDIT and click OK.
In the Registry Editor, browse to the following folder:
In our case, we had to add local PC “Users” permissions for Full Control to this file: “C:ProgramDataAutodeskApplicationPluginsADSK-IFCExportUI2014.bundlePackageContents.xml”
I recommend that you review each PackageContents.xml in the ProgramData location to check for appropriate permissions.
Key lines from journal: ‘ 0:< Autodesk Revit 2014 ‘ 0:< 64-bit load point = C:Program FilesAutodeskRevit 2014 ‘ 0:< this journal = C:UsersljohnsonAppDataLocalAutodeskRevitAutodesk Revit 2014Journalsjournal.0008.txt ‘ 0:< ::0:: Delta VM: Avail -54 -> 8387401 MB, Used +8 -> 186 MB, Peak +39 -> 218 MB; RAM: Avail -15 -> 12989 MB, Used +13 -> 241 MB, Peak +14 -> 242 MB ‘ 0:< Exception occurred ‘C 24-Sep-2013 09:05:39.639; 0:< ExceptionCode=0xe0434352 ExceptionFlags=0x00000001 ExceptionAddress=000007FEFD17940D ‘ 0:< System (MB) [Available / Total ] [Revit Memory Usage (MB) ] ‘ 0:< RAM Statistics: 12989 / 16291 241=InUse 242=Peak ‘ 0:< VM Statistics: 8387402 / 8388607 186=InUse 218=Peak ‘ 0:< Unconverted MessageBox “An unrecoverable error has occurred. The program will now be terminated. All of your data has been recently saved, so there is no need to create recovery files.”
via Gordon Price. Check out his great Revit deployment course on Udemy here.
“with WU1 for 2014 out, and odd, I thought I would let you know I have tested it using the standard WU recipe, and it works fine. It requires access to the initial deployment to run silently, which is different from previous Revit web updates. And so far as I can tell there is no command line switch to tell it where to find the deployment. We shall see if this is the new (and bad!) way of doing things, or just a one time anomaly.”
You want to be able to network and directly reference material libraries and resources. You can do this using symbolic links in Windows 7 / 8, where the OS and applications think they are dealing with a local resource, when in fact it can be on the network.
Disclaimer: I’m sure that there will still be some quirks and issues with this method – I doubt that it is the perfect solution.
This is the essential command: To create a symbolic link type into the Command Prompt box mklink /D : This need to be exactly as per the location of the local machine path e.g. “c:Program FilesCommon FilesAutodesk SharedMaterialsTexturesbluescope Lysaght” *Don’t forget to use the double quotes, if it is not identical the library wont work. : This is the location of your network files e.g. “s:bluescope Lysaght *blueScope lysaght is the folder name
“As an alternative to controlling Revit tools and analysis features using the Options dialog > User Interface tab, you can define the DisciplineOption setting in the Revit.ini file.”
An announcement was made recently on the “Revit Deployment & Management for Medium Sized Offices” Udemy course (see here for more info):
We seem to have just discovered an interesting “bug” in Deployments as they relate to Revit Server. The Rollout Tool offers at least a partial solution, but I would like to collaborate with an office or two who are using Revit Server, and prioritize any additions to the script. If you are using Revit Server, and can spare a little time to discuss the issue and how it might impact your specific configuration, and what the Rollouts can do to help, please email me directly (email hidden). I’ll schedule a GotoMeeting for some time that works for you and we can proceed from there. Thanks!
Certain Revit guys are undeniably at the “top of their game”. Zach Kron for conceptual modelling. Jeremy Tammik for API / programming. Aaron Maller for a bunch of practical stuff, like Creating a Revit Template. Dave Light for a bunch of other stuff, like explaining new features. Steve Stafford for longest-running, regular Revit blog. The list goes on… but,
When it comes to Revit deployment, Gordon Price is “that guy”.
If you have a question about (or a problem with) deploying Revit, Gordon has probably already solved it. How can you benefit from his considerable experience in the area? By taking his course on Udemy.
The course allows you to get a huge head-start on your own deployment plan, as it provides access to the deployment scripts that Gordon has developed. These do two main tasks – admin scripts for things that need admin rights, and then user scripts for things that need to be done on a per user basis.
You know you want these…
The course is presented in a very understandable and accessible way. Gordon provides background and orientation where necessary, but he also goes into detail on advanced topics as required.
The videos are very helpful, and demonstrate the entire process. A number of common problems with Revit installation and deployment have been foreseen and handled by Mr Price (such as the long filename issue).
As for 2014 deployments: I know for a fact the Gordon is deeply involved in setting up his own deployments for 2014 products, and when the time comes, he will update the Udemy course for 2014 products. In many cases, the principles remain similar across versions.
Other cool tips and ideas in the Udemy course include:
how to use Resource Monitor to really tell if your Revit install has crashed…
set deploy default Press and Drag to zero (off). (Want to get a T-shirt?)
handling multiple Templates with quick shortcuts from the Start Screen
disabling access to the global Wikihelp (if you want to)
much, much more
Here is the promo video:
(embedded JWPlayer)
In summary, Gordon is at the top of the Revit deployment game. I tend to think he knows more than the Factory about real-world deployment. He has developed a great system, and shared it with us all in a very comprehensive online course. Don’t reinvent the wheel. The time and cost required (from you or your company) to view this course will be easily won back through smooth and fast deployment.
You can find Gordon Price on LinkedIn here. His blog is the Pragmatic Reviteer. EDIT: New info on Revit 2014 deployment (applies to those subscribed to the course, use the link above)
All, Just wanted to let you know, testing for the 2014 version is well under way. The new code and videos will be available in the next week. Of course material is included in your current course membership, no upgrade fee! New for 2014
Automated Uninstalls
More granular control over UDC files
Improved logging
Simplified customization
Improved support for installing and maintaining multiple generations of ADSK software.
I am really excited about some of the new features. I hope you find the new version an improvement over the 1.0 effort.
And thanks again for joining the course!
Best regards, Gordon Price the Pragmatic Reviteer
PS – If you think that I (Luke Johnson) am good at things, feel free to connect with and endorse me on my LinkedIn page .
Many of us were quite disturbed by the 2013 Revit Materials Editor. Aside from its usability (or lack thereof), it seems to be much slower than the 2012 Materials dialog. Until Revit 2014 comes around, what can you do to speed up the Materials Editor?
A recent and highly informative post from Aaron Maller (focused particularly on Revit deployment), gives us a few clues: Switch all the mat lists to text style, no rendered preview, open the Mat Editor and place it next to the Mat selector, then close it. Read the whole post here
Have a look at the images below for some ‘hidden’ options:
Appears to be no way to adjust the rendered swatch?
After switching to Appearance aspect, a tiny arrow appears…
We can now adjust this to speed up the Materials Editor. The above settings seemed to be the fastest (Pool of liquid / Draft Quality)
We can also completely remove the rendered preview image by dragging the splitter just below it:
In my case (Building Design Suite 2013 / Revit OneBox), the currently in use MaterialUIconfig was at “C:UsersLukeAppDataRoamingAutodeskRevitAutodesk Revit 2013MaterialUIConfig.xml”
Upon opening the MaterialUIConfig.xml, you will notice a few settings like:
I would like to see some documentation from Autodesk to clarify what all of these actually do, but you can see the settings I am using. If you use Notepad++, you can also open MaterialUIConfig.xml, make some changes in Revit, and then when you switch back to Notepad++ it will prompt you to reload the xml – you can then easily see what each change you make in the Materials Browser / Editor actually does.
Interesting comment from the Autodesk deployment blog, Up and Ready:
We have been getting a lot of posts in our forums regarding corrupt installations and downloads. My suggestion is to use Firefox and the Browser Download instead of using the Download Manager.
There are some other great third party download managers available – which one do you use?
Jdownloader is quite unique and powerful – check it out if you haven’t before. From the website: It simplifies downloading files from One-Click-Hosters like Rapidshare.com or Megaupload.com – not only for users with a premium account but also for users who don’t pay. It offers downloading in multiple parallel streams, captcha recognition, automated file extraction, and much more. Of course, JDownloader is absolutely free of charge.
When running the deployment under a system account, the deployment appears to complete successfully. Revit appears to run normally, however, some of the user data is misdirected and supporting folders like the Journals folder are not created under <%LocalAppData%AutodeskRevitAutodesk Revit Architecture 2012>. Journal files are then written to C:temp instead.
