Common Installation Issues with AutoPLANT

Installation Checklist

When setting out to install AutoPLANT, there a few checks and potential issues that can be avoided with a little due diligence. The following list includes a few stones an Administrator can turn over to simplify the installation process and minimize the risk of issues with compatibility etc.

Prerequisites

Commonly overlooked issues that must be performed on every machine to ensure a successful installation.

• It is always pertinent when installing software to ensure that your system is configured to properly support it. The readme document is an excellent resource to reference and make sure your system and the necessary supporting software is in place and in the proper version that AutoPLANT supports. You can review the readme document for AutoPLANT V8i at:ftp://ftp.bentley.com/pub/help/bentleyautoplantplantdesign/80110536en/readme.htm
• Certain system rights are necessary to properly install AutoPLANT software. It is ALWAYS necessary that a user installing AutoPLANT have full Administrator rights on the machine performing the installation. You can check your User rights from your Windows Control Panel in the User Accounts control interface. It can be a helpful test to verify access to the machines C:\Documents and Settings\All Users directory, as AutoPLANT will need this access to successfully install.

**Future versions of AutoPLANT on the Windows Vista platform will support an installation with standard user rights

**Windows Vista Users should refer to the following article for information on an additional security feature which can interfere with the proper installation of AutoPLANT:http://communities.bentley.com/Other/Old_Site_Member_Blogs/Bentley_Employees/b/jessewolfes_blog/archive/2009/03/16/a-note-on-using-autoplant-with-windows-vista.aspx

• During the installation process, AutoPLANT will need to build the default AutoPLANT profiles. In order to do this, AutoPLANT makes use of the 'Unnamed Profile' that AutoCAD creates by default the first time it is launched. As a result, it is important that AutoCAD is launched at least once prior to running the AutoPLANT installation.

Occasional Issues

Although it is not necessary to adjust these settings on every machine, occasionally they can cause problems preventing a successful AutoPLANT installation.

• Certain operations performed by AutoPLANT in Windows can be affected if Windows is using the wrong delimiter. This control is executed from the machine's Control Panel in the Regional and Language Options. AutoPLANT is configured to operate with Regional Options set to English (United States). Although other settings with the correct delimiters could work, it is recommended to set the options to English if at all possible.

• On rare occasions, the AutoPLANT installer will be interrupted before it can complete. In most cases, this can be traced back to invalid versions of AutoCAD which retain a record in the machines registry. These can be found under the keys located in the following directory: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD

**It is strongly recommended that only users with expertise in performing registry edits attempt to do so. ALWAYS make a valid backup of registry entries by exporting them before editing or deleting any entries **

Uninstall/Reinstall Procedures

On occasions when files related to the operation of AutoPLANT become somehow corrupted, the best solution to the resulting issues is to reinstall the product.

• In cases when a reinstallation becomes necessary, AutoPLANT will attempt to locate the installation package which, by default, is dropped into the C:\Bentley Downloads folder. Many of our users, however, delete these to conserve Hard Drive space. While some elect to store the installation files centrally In these cases, AutoPLANT will be unable to perform the Repair/Modify functions available in the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs interface without either using an AutoPLANT installation disk or re-downloading the installation package
• On extremely rare occasions, corruption can lead to the uninstaller not functioning properly. In such cases, it becomes necessary to perform a manual uninstall of AutoPLANT software. We have developed a document detailing the steps required to perform this. You may review it here:

                        http://communities.bentley.com/Products/Plant/Design___Engineering/w/Plant_Design_and_Engineering__Wiki/unable-to-uninstall-autoplant.aspx

• If errors are encounterd during the install, it is possible to generate a log file from the MSI installer package.  Steps to complete this are detailed at the following location:

                         http://communities.bentley.com/Products/Plant/Design___Engineering/w/Plant_Design_and_Engineering__Wiki/creating-a-log-file-during-installation.aspx

Please feel free to comment with suggested additions or edits to this page. For further questions please make use of our AutoPLANT forums located athttp://communities.bentley.com/Communities/Other_Communities/Bentley_AutoPLANT/f/172.aspx