AutoCad

[bbelew]

Just curious - how are you guys managing the deployment of autocad? It's free for students to download and install, but to do that i'd have to give them admin. I would rather push out the package through Self Service. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[bpavlov]

I haven't used it but what do you mean you need to give them admin access? To install? Or does the application itself require admin access?

If you can get your hands on one of those installers that the students would typically get then just try and see if its a regular pkg and will work as is. If not, start testing and digging into the installer. Once you get it working then make it available via Self Service or deploy to computers via a policy.

If there is a licensing component where the students are asked for their credentials then leave that part blank so that students can enter it themselves. If there isn't then you don't have to worry about it obviously. You should also try and contact AutoCAD yourself and see if they will provide you with the installation media and/or free licensing to install it in a lab for students. It seems their intention is to get students trained and used to using it so it remains a standard. Get them young to hook em!

Sorry it's not technical, but hopefully it helps.

[robertojok]

AutoCAD is quite easy to package. However for student use on their personal computers I'd advise you not to use Casper at all. Students will have to create their own accounts in the Autodesk portal and download software that they would like.
Each user gets a unique license/serial when they subscribe to autodesk. When you use Casper that means you will need a flexlm server to distribute the license to the users and that will mean network access to the server or a checkout for licenses which is a hustle.
That is the way I see it.

[bbelew]

That is the way I originally planned to do it. I also originally intended to give them admin on their machines but later decided against that. All else i'll just add another admin account to the machines that need autocad and just let the teacher enter the admin password when they are installing.

[GabeShack]

Quick rant kindof on topic:
Really wish they would release Revit and Inventor as native apps already.

Gabe Shackney
Princeton Public Schools

[appleconvert]

We have found this service : http://www.cadonthecloud.com/ It can run Revit, Inventor or any windows app in a web browser without any plugins. Worth checking out.