Creo 2.0 unattended install issues

[ptc-1353950]

Hello all,

We're trying to install Creo 2.0 on our lab machines. Since we have hundreds of machines, we have to write unattented install scripts for everything, and Creo looked like it was going to make this easy for us. I performed a successful installation while recording a trail file with -uilog, then tried playing back the trail file with -uitrail... and the installer got stuck on the License Identification page.

After experimenting a bit, the problem seems to be with contacting the license server. When I enter a license server under the License Summary heading, the installer takes a few seconds to contact the server and confirm that I really do have a PTC license manager running on that server before it will let me click the Next button. Unfortunately, this delay seems to confuse the execution of the trail file, causing it not to work.

Does anyone know of a way to work around this?

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[colmacpro]

Up through Creo 1.0 I have always used xcopy to broadcast new versions and releases to the network. A shortcut to a startup script is copied to the desktops.

[DHLewis]

Here too on the copy. Or even zip to a Self extracting zip file and then uncompress.

And the license server designation is stored in the .PSF file in the bin directory of the install.

[AriesChen]

Manually increase many line in trail file, Wait license server check return

EX:

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

~ Input `pim` `LicenseTable$1$license_source`7788@Licanse`

~ Update `pim` `LicenseTable$1$license_source`7788@License`

~ Activate `pim` `SimpleLicenseCheck` 1

~ Activate `pim` `AdvancedLicenseCheck` 1

~ Activate `pim` `SimpleLicenseCheck` 1

~ Activate `pim` `AdvancedLicenseCheck` 1

.

.

.

.

.

~ Activate `pim` `SimpleLicenseCheck` 1

~ Activate `pim` `AdvancedLicenseCheck` 1

~ Activate `pim` `SimpleLicenseCheck` 1

~ Activate `pim` `AdvancedLicenseCheck` 1

~ Activate `pim` `wizardnext`

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

[MartinHanak]

Jack,

you can test the procedure mentioned in Installing Creo Parametric from Command Line section (M020_Creo_install.pdf, page 46). I didn't test it yet, so I don't know if it works.

Martin Hanak

[ptc-3841597]

Hi all,

I've got to this stage too, the instructions in the install guide I've found to be pretty useless. Does anybody have another tip for getting the unattended install process to pick up the license...???

I've tried the suggestion from AiresChen and it doesn't seem to help...

If you copy the files using xcopy, are you copying a previous installation to where it would be installed and importing the registry entries or are you copying the setuop files and running the setup from a local disc?

This is eating up a lot of my sanity! 🙂

Thanks for any help you can give...

Paul

[KrisR]

Can you log a support ticket for this? I think PTC support may be your best answer at this time as no one ele has been able to assist.

[MartinHanak]

https://www.ptc.com/appserver/cs/view/solution.jsp?n=CS61964 informs us that SPR 2126150 has been already opened.

Maritn Hanak

[BrianMartin]

So where does this leave us on techniques like the xcopy and/or sel-extracting zip file. We use those technqiues now to great effect. They work because there is NO editing of the registry at all for the installation. Are we now moving to an installation that requires a registry change? If so, this is a major problem because most of our users don't have access to change their registry or install programs that require registry access.

This would be a major stumbling block for us when we try to deply Creo to 200 workstations at once. Do you have any data on this Martin?

Thanks!

-Brian

[MartinHanak]

Brian,

I think you can use xcopy technique in Creo 2.0. BUT ... you have to decide, what to do with PTC "add-ons". These add-ons are placed in addon directory on installation DVD and in addon directory in Creo 2.0 loadpoint. Some of these add-ons are installed during setup.exe installation, some of them are installed when Creo 2.0 is launched for the first time.

Martin Hanak

[BrianMartin]

Hi Martin...

Yes, we're familiar with the add-ons. Typically we have a procedure to give the users temporary elevated privileges so they can install them. Typically you have Creo Thumbnail Viewer and Creo View Express installations to contend with. As long as the core product can still be installed via xcopy or self-extracting zip, that's all we're really concerned with. The add-ons haven't caused us too much trouble... they're a minor nuisance to install. Having to come up with a new deployment scheme for the base product would be a MAJOR problem.

Thanks!

-Brian

[BrianMartin]

Hi Paul...

The technique was to copy the entire installation into the correct location... NOT to copy the install files. For the self-extracting zip technique, you can literally zip with the full pathname and then deploy the very small zip file across the network to each workstation. Finally, each user double-clicks the install file and it self-extracts to the correct location.

With the self-extracting zip file you have the option to include a small script to run after the zip file is unpacked. We run a small utility to perform some cleanup and insure the user has an icon to launch the application on his desktop. It's quite nice... and very fast. We can deploy an install Creo in 8-15 minutes and have it all happen without errors and with extremely minimal user interaction.

Performing an XCopy on thousands of files across the network can be problematic. If even one or two files that Creo needs (like a .dll file) are corrupted, interrupted, or dropped, the entire copy may have to be done again. By zipping the files into a self-extracting archive, we eliminate this problem.

Of course... if Creo 2 can't still use this method, we're in a pickle!

[bmüller]

HI!

any updates to silent Install of Creo 2.0 (M040)?

we have only 15 Engineers, but I hate to click through the Install menu. The XML-Thing looks nice at the first look. But it seems to be complicated if you want to preselect license server, license config, package config...

any advices or how-to?

br Bernhard

[MartinHanak]

Bernhard,

just info for you ...

Our admin bought EMCO MSI Package Builder Enterprise 4 software and uses it to automate Creo installation.

Martin Hanak

[bmüller]

Thank you for the reply.

I just crawled through the xml files and now I think creobase.xml (default file paths) and pma.xml (Packages and License) are the two files I need.

I haven't found the license config at first.

In combination with AutoIt this should work.

br Bernhard

[MartinHanak]

Berhard,

see attached document...

Martin Hanak

[bmüller]

Hi Martin,

we are no direct PTC customers, have to ask our reseller for the file... or is it public available?

br Bernhard

[MartinHanak]

Bernhard,

if you are Maintenance paying customer then you can create PTC account at http://www.ptc.com/common/account/index.htm. Information necessary to create the account is included in your license file.

Having PTC account created you can access PTC Knowledgebase at http://www.ptc.com/support/ page. You can search for ... silent installation ... and you will receive a list of links to PTC KB.

Martin Hanak

[bmüller]

Hi Martin,

...license file... thank you!

PTC KB access will help me a lot.

br Bernhard