AutoCAD 2021 Deployment with Network Server

Hey All,

This year Autodesk decided to change the installer for AutoCAD, Maya and Mudbox. Here's how I got AutoCAD to install silently since the new silent installer option is broken. You will want a policy to copy the app from the dmg to a temp directory. I used /tmp

EDIT: You only want to change the license server address in the script below. Nothing else.

#!/bin/sh



year="2021"

pkgpath="/tmp/Install Autodesk AutoCAD ${year} for Mac.app"

pkgPath1="/tmp/Install Autodesk AutoCAD ${year} for Mac.app/Contents/Helper/ObjToInstall/lib.pkg"

pkgPath2="/tmp/Install Autodesk AutoCAD ${year} for Mac.app/Contents/Helper/Packages/AdSSO/AdSSO-v2.pkg"

pkgPath3="/tmp/Install Autodesk AutoCAD ${year} for Mac.app/Contents/Helper/Packages/Licensing/AdskLicensing-10.1.0.3194-mac-installer.pkg"

pkgPath4="/tmp/Install Autodesk AutoCAD ${year} for Mac.app/Contents/Helper/ObjToInstall/licreg.pkg"

pkgPath5="/tmp/Install Autodesk AutoCAD ${year} for Mac.app/Contents/Helper/ObjToInstall/autocad2021.pkg"

pKey="777M1"

networkServer="LICENSE SERVER ADDRESS"

licPath="/Library/Application Support/Autodesk/AdskLicensingService/${pKey}_${year}.0.0.F"

licFile="LICPATH.lic"

lgsFile="LGS.data"



#Declare functions



runInstaller ()

{

    /usr/sbin/installer -verboseR -pkg "${pkgPath1}" -target /

    /usr/sbin/installer -verboseR -pkg "${pkgPath2}" -target /

    /usr/sbin/installer -verboseR -pkg "${pkgPath3}" -target /

    /usr/sbin/installer -verboseR -pkg "${pkgPath4}" -target /

    /usr/sbin/installer -verboseR -pkg "${pkgPath5}" -target /



}



createLicenseFiles ()

{

    if [[ ! -e "${licPath}" ]];

    then

        /bin/mkdir "${licPath}"

    fi

    /usr/bin/touch "${licPath}/${lgsFile}"

    /bin/chmod 777 "${licPath}/${lgsFile}"

    /usr/bin/touch "${licPath}/${licFile}"

    /bin/chmod 777 "${licPath}/${licFile}"

    /bin/echo "SERVER ${networkServer} 000000000000" > "${licPath}/${licFile}"

    /bin/echo "USE_SERVER" >> "${licPath}/${licFile}"

    /bin/echo "_NETWORK" >> "${licPath}/${lgsFile}"

}

licenceHelper ()

{

    /Library/Application Support/Autodesk/AdskLicensing/Current/helper/AdskLicensingInstHelper change --pk "${pKey}" --pv "${year}.0.0.F" --lm NETWORK --ls "${networkServer}"

}

cleanUp ()

{

    /bin/rm -rf "${pkgPath}"

}



#Run script



runInstaller

createLicenseFiles

licenceHelper

cleanUp

Page 4 / 4

Hi IT admins/CAD managers,

This is Wei from Autodesk. We have received some feedbacks about the deployment issues for AutoCAD Mac. Somehow, we did not get enough info to understand the issues, so I come to post directly here.

First of all, we really don't suggest you to unpackage the AutoCAD installer app and run the pkg files inside. The recommended way is provided in this page: https://www.autodesk.com/support/download-install/admins/create-deployments/create-deployments-for-autocad-for-mac

If the solution above does not work for you, please kindly let me know the details including: what issue you see, and what scripts you run.

To be honest I am not familiar with jamf, but I'd like to understand what problem we have here and how we can help.

Thanks,
Wei

Some of the issues known or fixed:
1. Install does not work if client machine does no sign in - fixed in AutoCAD 2023, it is also said that the issue does not exist on macOS Monterey.
2. postinstall error, adsklicensingservice not running... This issue is top#1 install problem as we see. It may occur due to different reasons, but mostly are because the license files permission not correct. We have fixed some issues that may cause license problems, and still some remains. One case that may cause license file permission wrong is the "umask" value is customized. This can be worked around by correct the permission for license files/folders in folder below with chmod.

/Library/Application\\ Support/Autodesk/AdskLicensing/

/Library/Application\\ Support/Autodesk/AdskLicensingService/

Hi IT admins/CAD managers,

If the solution above does not work for you, please kindly let me know the details including: what issue you see, and what scripts you run.

To be honest I am not familiar with jamf, but I'd like to understand what problem we have here and how we can help.

Thanks,
Wei

Hi Wei,

Currently on vacation in Greece but thought I’d return a message as it’s not often Autodesk support goes out of their way like this. So firstly, thanks very much for coming here off your own back 🙏

This is a long thread as we’ve been updating experiences for a while now.

We typically either:

produce our own flat packaged containing the Autodesk applications installer that dumps the files onto client devices.

or do the same with the DMG itself.

With installers on the client device we can run selected scripts at a ‘client check in’ (every 10/15 minutes), at log in or startup.

The whole process of deploying the installer and running a post flight script is tied into what we’d call a ‘policy’ - it’s contents being its various ‘payloads’.

We can also make such policies available in a self service application on the client device as a single button click for the end user.

In the past we’ve developed our own scripts to procedurally run the installers loose PKGs (located inside) but this year it hasn’t worked (and you’ve advised this isn’t best practice)

What is working for us (but I presume didn’t in the past) is the /setup —silent command.

What’s not working with this streamlined method is an actual unattended installation.

i.e, the policy is running successfully at login, or via self service (as a user is logged in)

the policy isn’t running at ‘check in’ when no user is logged in but the JAMF unix binary has detected the client is supposed to run the policy and attempts to use the local JAMFmanagement SU account to run the policy.

AutoCAD 2023 fails unattended.

Maya 2023 doesn’t even post an exit code, I think it gets stuck/halts when viewing ‘top’ in terminal.

The lions share of people affected by this to my knowledge are in education where administrators are looking after large labs of computers and not being able to perform unattended installations really inhibits the workflow.

There's other reports of users above having problems licensing, unlicensing and possibly updating applications… I’ll let those affected discuss this further. This issue will still affect administrators in education as staff users are issued devices that aren’t typically erased annually like lab computers.

Hopefully the above provides some clarity 🙌

Hi IT admins/CAD managers,

If the solution above does not work for you, please kindly let me know the details including: what issue you see, and what scripts you run.

To be honest I am not familiar with jamf, but I'd like to understand what problem we have here and how we can help.

Thanks,
Wei

Does this same process work for all of the Autodesk Mac apps?

AutoCAD
Maya
Smoke
Flame
Arnold
Mudbox

Hi Wei,

This is a long thread as we’ve been updating experiences for a while now.

We typically either:

produce our own flat packaged containing the Autodesk applications installer that dumps the files onto client devices.

or do the same with the DMG itself.

With installers on the client device we can run selected scripts at a ‘client check in’ (every 10/15 minutes), at log in or startup.

The whole process of deploying the installer and running a post flight script is tied into what we’d call a ‘policy’ - it’s contents being its various ‘payloads’.

We can also make such policies available in a self service application on the client device as a single button click for the end user.

In the past we’ve developed our own scripts to procedurally run the installers loose PKGs (located inside) but this year it hasn’t worked (and you’ve advised this isn’t best practice)

What is working for us (but I presume didn’t in the past) is the /setup —silent command.

What’s not working with this streamlined method is an actual unattended installation.

i.e, the policy is running successfully at login, or via self service (as a user is logged in)

AutoCAD 2023 fails unattended.

Maya 2023 doesn’t even post an exit code, I think it gets stuck/halts when viewing ‘top’ in terminal.

Hopefully the above provides some clarity 🙌

Thank you very much @Qwheel for the detailed explanation and replied on your vacation. It helps a lot for me to understand where we are.

I will try to research this:
"the policy isn’t running at ‘check in’ when no user is logged in but the JAMF unix binary has detected the client is supposed to run the policy and attempts to use the local JAMFmanagement SU account to run the policy."

Do you see any error message when it fails in unattended way? Actually we fixed a bug in AutoCAD 2023, that using ssh to install AutoCAD on a remote machine when no user logged in has an error. I was hoping the problem is fixed when install AutoCAD 2023 in JAMF as well, but seems not.

I will also take some time to learn JAMF and see if i can reproduce this issue.

Thanks again and enjoy your vacation!

Thanks,

Wei

Does this same process work for all of the Autodesk Mac apps?

AutoCAD
Maya
Smoke
Flame
Arnold
Mudbox

Hi @kacey3 ,

The license registration/activation script should work for all products.

The silent Install scripts should work on most of these products, if not all..

The update script is AutoCAD only. Other products may have their own scripts.

Thank you very much @Qwheel for the detailed explanation and replied on your vacation. It helps a lot for me to understand where we are.

I will also take some time to learn JAMF and see if i can reproduce this issue.

Thanks again and enjoy your vacation!

Thanks,

Wei

As much as I wish I could set up a teams meet to share my experience and help get some more information for you, when I return from leave I’m going to be a little snowed under with works that have seen great delays already.

I might be able to test it again and grab some logs for you but it won’t be prioritised unfortunately. Maybe someone else here can help in the mean time to move things along?

Perhaps you could discuss this directly with:

Support Email: support@jamf.com
Support Line: (844) 411-5263

I would expect their engineers will have some sort of closed test environment that could be explored?

That way it’ll be B2B instead of working directly with customers. The more I think about it, this does strike me as a vendor to vendor issue. JAMFsupport are really responsive.

Feel to reference this thread in your support request.

As JAMF aren’t the only vendor out there, I wouldn’t be surprised if we are the only ones affected.

Hi guys just to add here in case there are technicians in education who are trying to install Autodesk Apps... last year, I too had problems with AutoCAD 2022 as it required a user to be logged in before it could install. However, this year I used the script from @jonw and it has been a life saver, thanks to him. The steps in the script will even install AutoCAD 2023 on Start up trigger so I will just repost it here for you thanks again to @jonw

Just remember that my configuration uses two servers (DISTRIBUTED)

---------------------------------------------------------------

#!/bin/zsh

### Install AutoDesk Combo 2023 (AutoCAD, Maya & MudBox)

### silently @ login window with network licenses (aka multi-user lab/classroom deploy)

### 2022.07.27 by JonW

### Simply update variables/products below the function section as desired

### Read the additional details at the end of the script for more clarity on licensing.

### Ensure:

### 1) installer app(s) re-packed from .dmg by Composer & deployed to /private/tmp (root:wheel 755)

### 2) the network license server is functional

### 3) optionally, that previous Autodesk installations have been removed.

### and if so, you've also unloaded com.autodesk.AdskLicensingService.plist

#################################################

installFunction ()

{

### Before install, clear quarantine that may step on Setup.app when run at the login window.

### Also as of 2023, Mudbox still uses a different setup app path with --noui flag NOT --silent

### Finally, remove the installer app when complete

/usr/bin/xattr -rc /private/tmp/"${installerApp}"

if echo "$installerApp" | grep -iq "Mudbox"; then

/private/tmp/"${installerApp}"/Contents/MacOS/setup --noui

else

/private/tmp/"${installerApp}"/Contents/Helper/Setup.app/Contents/MacOS/Setup --silent

/bin/rm -rf /private/tmp/"${installerApp}"

}

licenseFunction ()

{

### based off Onkstons's terrific work (I think they we're the first?) but simplified for 2023.

### see also, addl details at the end of script for alternative 'legit' licensing method.

licensePath="/Library/Application Support/Autodesk/AdskLicensingService/${productKey}_${year}.0.0.F"

/bin/mkdir -p "${licensePath}"

/usr/bin/touch "${licensePath}/licpath.lic"

/bin/echo "SERVER ${networkServer} 000000000000" > "${licensePath}/licpath.lic"

/bin/echo "USE_SERVER" >> "${licensePath}/licpath.lic"

/Library/Application\\ Support/Autodesk/AdskLicensing/Current/helper/AdskLicensingInstHelper change --pk "${productKey}" --pv "${year}.0.0.F" --lm NETWORK --ls "${networkServer}" --lt DISTRIBUTED

}

#################################################

#Enter networkserver/s

networkServer="2080@MY-SERVER-1.MYCOMPANY.COM0@MY-SERVER-2.MYCOMPANY.COM"

### AutoCAD

productKey="777O1"

year="2023"

installerApp="Install Autodesk AutoCAD 2023 for Mac.app"

installFunction

licenseFunction

### Maya

productKey="657O1"

year="2023"

installerApp="Install Maya 2023.app"

installFunction

licenseFunction

### Mudbox

productKey="498O1"

year="2023"

installerApp="Install Mudbox 2023.app"

installFunction

licenseFunction

#################################################

### Verify license details - not required, but kind of nice to see.

/Library/Application\\ Support/Autodesk/AdskLicensing/Current/helper/AdskLicensingInstHelper list

echo "Autodesk network licensing complete"

##################################################

### Additional network license details:

### For those who are curious, or if the above ever ceases to function:

### The 'legit' method for initial silent license registration (using autoCAD as an example) uses the 'register' command instead of 'change'.

### It also requires use of the --cf flag to denote a path to the app's config (.pit) file.

### e.g.

### configFile="/Library/Application Support/Autodesk/ADLM/.config/ProductInformation.pit"

### /Library/Application\\ Support/Autodesk/AdskLicensing/Current/helper/AdskLicensingInstHelper register --pk "${productKey}" --pv "${year}.0.0.F" --cf "${configFile}" --lm NETWORK --ls "${networkServer}"

### The end result is the same as the 'change' method used above (at least after the initial app launch).

### Essentially the 'change' method works backwards to manually create the licpath.lic directory & file,

### then uses the 'change' command to register it.

### Anecdotally, the 'change' method appears to produce a slightly faster initial app launch,

### but it's hard to say which is better.

### Either way, it's good to know both & having handle on the AdskLicensingInstHelper utility helps a lot!

### Check these out >>>

### /Library/Application\\ Support/Autodesk/AdskLicensing/Current/helper/AdskLicensingInstHelper register --help

### /Library/Application\\ Support/Autodesk/AdskLicensing/Current/helper/AdskLicensingInstHelper change --help

### Also, either method seems to deploy fine while at the login window, so no worries there.

### Some good tips & reference:

### https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Use-Installer-Helper.html

### https://knowledge.autodesk.com/search-result/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/ENU/Autodesk-Installation-Basic-ODIS/files/ODIS-silent-install-htm.html

### Hope this helps some folks out!

@pitcherj

Using your variation on the script (and modifying ones above) and keep running into the issue that the app appears to install fine, the network license is seen and is working, but once the applications is running and starting a template crashes the app. Is anyone else seeing this?

Manually installing does not have this result.

Yes, I'm getting the exact same thing! " AutoCAD can't open. Please reinstall. One or more critical files are missing. This can happen when AutoCAD is moved to other disk" What the heck does this mean? Can't find anything on the Autodesk site - what's new!!

Maybe someone knows how:

I have someone who had standalone Maya 2022 installed. They've run our standalone Maya 2023 /Setup --silent installation policy. Its installed happily according to reporting but their device is hanging on the first launch 'Activate' step.

The policy was tested on a fresh student lab device and was working just fine. It's not really an option to wipe staff devices annually.

There must be something I'm missing here. Any idea's?
Thanks!

Thank you very much @Qwheel for the detailed explanation and replied on your vacation. It helps a lot for me to understand where we are.

I will also take some time to learn JAMF and see if i can reproduce this issue.

Thanks again and enjoy your vacation!

Thanks,

Wei

@wei503 Wei, Im going to be honest with you. Your software is not made to be installed easily by a Mac Administrator. If you want to create a normal Apple recommended .pkg installer, the entire JAMF community would rejoice. We should not have to put any special command scripts together, or call a "silent" installer. We should be able to control the install by dumping a regular .pkg file into whatever MDM we use and then apply a script after the install to program any license info that is required.

Your app is its own island vs anything made by any other company for the Mac. Your installer works in a different and confusing/complex method and the amount of trial and error associated with it makes its almost useless. Hence the reason we have about 5 discussions on here about how to process the installer without issue.

If AutoDesk really wants to cater to schools and businesses that are wanting to install their software (I have about 3000 devices where they want the ability to install) they should start over and build an installer that actually uses the Apple Installer program and not this custom installer that works like no other. Please do better.

Here is my facetious answer: You're just missing a working installer from AutoDesk. Perhaps one day they will create one.

Here's my constructive one: My only guess is there is still an older version of the licensing program "AdskLicensingService" running and would possibly need to be removed before reinstalling. Otherwise try a restart which seemed to fix a few issues in the past. I tend to run the uninstallers for the older versions before trying the new versions, however even their uninstaller doesn't quite work to get rid of everything it puts in. Perhaps one day.....

Just wanted to give an update for the 2026 version of AutoCad and an updated script:

#!/bin/sh

# Remove 2021 version

/Applications/Autodesk/AutoCAD\\ 2021/Remove\\ AutoCAD\\ 2021.app/Contents/MacOS/Remove\\ AutoCAD\\ 2021 -silent

# Remove 2022 version

/Applications/Autodesk/AutoCAD\\ 2022/Remove\\ AutoCAD\\ 2022.app/Contents/MacOS/Remove\\ AutoCAD\\ 2022 -silent

# Remove 2023 version

/Applications/Autodesk/AutoCAD\\ 2023/Remove\\ AutoCAD\\ 2023.app/Contents/MacOS/Remove\\ AutoCAD\\ 2023 -silent

# Remove 2026 version

/Applications/Autodesk/AutoCAD\\ 2026/Remove\\ AutoCAD\\ 2026.app/Contents/MacOS/Remove\\ AutoCAD\\ 2026 -silent



# Install Silently

/Users/Shared/Install\\ Autodesk\\ AutoCAD\\ 2026\\ for\\ Mac.app/Contents/Helper/Setup.app/Contents/MacOS/Setup --silent

# License 2026 Version  add your serial and version here

/Library/Application\\ Support/Autodesk/AdskLicensing/15.1.0.12339/helper/AdskLicensingInstHelper register --pk "777R1" --pv "2026.0.0.F" --lm STANDALONE --sn "xxx-xxxxxxxx" --cf /Library/Application\\ Support/Autodesk/Adlm/.config/ProductInformation.Pit -el US

# Remove 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2026 installer files

rm -rf "/Users/Shared/Install Autodesk AutoCAD 2021 for Mac.app"

rm -rf "/Users/Shared/Install Autodesk AutoCAD 2022 for Mac.app"

rm -rf "/Users/Shared/Install Autodesk AutoCAD 2023 for Mac.app"

rm -rf "/Users/Shared/Install Autodesk AutoCAD 2026 for Mac.app"

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