install over a network

[devin]

I've got a 150 node render farm and needless to say I don't want to have to do an individual install on each one of these machines in order to upgrade to the new version of Vray. Is it possible for me to copy individual files into the Max folders of these machines that will complete the upgrade process?

[Dynedain]

You can run the installer from a command line with an XML config file, which means you can batch script the install process.

[crazy homeless guy]

i will have to look into the command line installer, i didn't know you could do that. up to this point i have been copying the vray files into the proper directories with a .bat file.

when i set up a render node, i copy a .bat file into the startup directory. the only thing this batch file does is call another batch file on the server.

the batch file on the server contains all of the necessary command lines to update the renderfarm. it doesn't matter if it is running the 3dsmax installer, or copying the vray files to the machine.

[gfa2]

i will have to look into the command line installer, i didn't know you could do that. up to this point i have been copying the vray files into the proper directories with a .bat file.

when i set up a render node, i copy a .bat file into the startup directory. the only thing this batch file does is call another batch file on the server.

the batch file on the server contains all of the necessary command lines to update the renderfarm. it doesn't matter if it is running the 3dsmax installer, or copying the vray files to the machine.

Have you tried this with 1.5?

[crazy homeless guy]

Have you tried this with 1.5?

unfortunately something is wrong either on our end, or with our account, and we haven't been able to access 1.5 final yet.

i did roll out 1.5rc3 with it with no problems. to get DR to work, I had to create a directory in the program files, and copy those files over as well.

is the final version of 1.5 a lot different than the release candidates?

[gfa2]

Have you tried this with 1.5?

is the final version of 1.5 a lot different than the release candidates?

I had DR working in RC3 just fine, but it looks like the installation for 1.5 is a little different and I can't just copy the installed files to all my renderfarm PC's like I used too. The only way I can get DR to work is by installing straight from the executable on each PC. I guess the file that I'm really looking for is the one that says the IP address of the dongle. I don't know where that information is stored.

[RErender]

Have you tried this with 1.5?

is the final version of 1.5 a lot different than the release candidates?

I had DR working in RC3 just fine, but it looks like the installation for 1.5 is a little different and I can't just copy the installed files to all my renderfarm PC's like I used too. The only way I can get DR to work is by installing straight from the executable on each PC. I guess the file that I'm really looking for is the one that says the IP address of the dongle. I don't know where that information is stored.

something like "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\ChaosGroup\vrlclient.xml"

[crazy homeless guy]

I had DR working in RC3 just fine, but it looks like the installation for 1.5 is a little different and I can't just copy the installed files to all my renderfarm PC's like I used too. The only way I can get DR to work is by installing straight from the executable on each PC. I guess the file that I'm really looking for is the one that says the IP address of the dongle. I don't know where that information is stored.

hmm... this means there is trouble in my future also. we are only half way through converting our setup from the software license server to the dongle setup. the renderfarm is probably still referencing the software license.

oh the headache. i guess when i do get 1.5 final, i need to make sure we have some time between projects to troubleshoot the install.

did you check the common files directory in program files for the ip information?

C:\Program Files\Common Files\ChaosGroup

[gfa2]

I found the file that Eric mentioned and it does have the IP address in it so the batch file install might still work. I'll let you know once I give it a test.

[crazy homeless guy]

I found the file that Eric mentioned and it does have the IP address in it so the batch file install might still work. I'll let you know once I give it a test.

i am guessing the file will need to have something to identify location. i think the localhost below will need to be either the ip address of the machine with the dongle, or maybe the machine's name itself will work.

<VRLClient>
<LicServer>
<Host>localhost</Host>
<Port>30304</Port>
<!Proxy></!Proxy>
<!ProxyPort>0</!ProxyPort>
<User></User>
<Pass></Pass>
</LicServer>
</VRLClient>

[gfa2]

I found the file that Eric mentioned and it does have the IP address in it so the batch file install might still work. I'll let you know once I give it a test.

i am guessing the file will need to have something to identify location. i think the localhost below will need to be either the ip address of the machine with the dongle, or maybe the machine's name itself will work.

<VRLClient>
<LicServer>
<Host>localhost</Host>
<Port>30304</Port>
<!Proxy></!Proxy>
<!ProxyPort>0</!ProxyPort>
<User></User>
<Pass></Pass>
</LicServer>
</VRLClient>

Yeah, that's the file I was missing. Once you get that one copied everything will work fine. I tried using the computer name where the dongle was and it didn't work for me so then I tried the IP of the PC that had the dongle and it works fine. So I'm going to stick with IP for now.

Batch on!!!

[RErender]

sweet, I was hoping that would work, I have 100+ boxes to update soon

[andrewjohn81]

is there somewhere with a bit of instruction on how to do the command line install? I only have 20 machines to go, but that still takes a while individually.

Usually I use our KVM switch (in which the mouse is pretty useless because it's never registered the same on all monitors) to run a bat file I created that ends any copies of max that are running as well as the server. Then copies the installer to a temp directory on C: then run that file.
Then I'd just go through the whole thing with the keyboard.

One thing that sucked about this release is I wasn't able to do that because on a few of the "pages" in the installer there was nothing active. I tried tab, alt, space, combinations of shift ctrl alt tab and space and I couldn't get anything to activate. So I had to turn off broadcast on the KVM and click through one by one.

If there is an example of an xml file with ALL available fields that would be awesome too. I want to be as efficient as possible while keeping up the renderfarm.