Silent Install

[rick_bernstein]

I see this topic from 2017 about Vray for Revit Silent Install.

https://forums.chaosgroup.com/forum/...o-workstations

I use PDQ deploy; I see instructions with proper variables for all other flavors of Vray, but not for Revit

Any help would be appreciated!

[rick_bernstein]

Like, here's rhino

How do I control which versions of Revit to look for?


A silent installation allows you to complete V-Ray installation without user input during the process using a predefined set of options. To set up a silent installation follow the instructions below.

Run the installation file from the command prompt with the -gui=0 argument

vray_adv_40001_rhino_6_win_x64.exe -gui=0

Follow the instructions of the install and set-up the installation the way you want to have it on all machines. This will create a file named config.xml in the folder of the installation file.


Run the installer with the following command:

vray_adv_40001_rhino_6_win_x64.exe -gui=0 -configFile="xml_file.xml" -quiet=1

The -quiet=1 argument will cause the installer to read the variable values from the .xml file and do the installation without user input. It will also accept the EULA. If you do not specify the -quiet=1 option, the installer will ask for a confirmation of each variable before proceeding.



Configuration File

---

The config.xml file holds configuration information about the settings of the installation. Below is an example of such a config file for V-Ray for Rhino 6:

<DefValues> <Value DataType="value" Name="TELEMETRY">1</Value> <Value DataType="value" Name="REVERT_INSTALL">1</Value> <Value DataType="value" Name="INSTALL_RHINO_6">1</Value> <Value DataType="value" Name="INSTALL_SWARM">0</Value> <Value DataType="value" Name="INSTALL_LICENSE_SERVER">0</Value> <Value DataType="value" Name="OPEN_CHANGELOG">0</Value> <Value DataType="value" Name="REMOTE_LICENSE">1</Value> <Value DataType="value" Name="SHOULDUNINSTALL2">1</Value> <Value DataType="value" Name="INSTALL_CLOUD">1</Value> <Value DataType="value" Name="CLOUD_SHORTCUTS">1</Value> <Value DataType="value" Name="CLOUD_AUTO_DETECT_PROXY">1</Value> <Value DataType="value" Name="SWARM_SHORTCUTS">1</Value> <Value DataType="value" Name="SWARM_ENABLED">1</Value> <Value DataType="value" Name="SWARM__AUTO_DISCOVERY">1</Value> <LicServer> <Host>123.0.1.23</Host> <Port>30304</Port> <Host1>localhost</Host1> <Port1>30304</Port1> <Host2></Host2> <Port2>30304</Port2> <User></User> </LicServer> </DefValues>

[Ana Lyubenova]

Hello Rick,

The above description applies to Revit. Below is a list of variables you might want to change:

[SHOULDUNINSTALL] = "1" uninstalls previous installations
[STDROOT] = "C:\Program Files\Chaos Group\V-Ray\V-Ray for Revit"
[MATERIALS_LIBRARY] = "C:\Users\<username>\Documents\V-Ray Material Library" specifies location for the V-Ray material library (the library itself should be downloaded from within the gui after a successful installation)
[REVERT_INSTALL] = "1" reverts installation in case of an error

These refer to installing V-Ray for a specific Revit version
[INSTALL_REVIT] = "1"
[INSTALL_REVIT18] = "1"
[INSTALL_REVIT19] = "1"
[INSTALL_REVIT20] = "1"
[INSTALL_REVIT21] = "1"
[INSTALL_REVIT22] = "1"

The V-Ray installer checks Revit's install location in the registry. Otherwise, the variables are these:
[REVITROOT] = "C:\ProgramData"
[REVIT_EXE_ROOT18] = "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Revit 2018"
[REVIT_EXE_ROOT19] = "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Revit 2019"
[REVIT_EXE_ROOT20] = "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Revit 2020"
[REVIT_EXE_ROOT21] = "E:\Program Files\Autodesk\Revit 2021"
[REVIT_EXE_ROOT22] = "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Revit 2022"

[ADDINS18] = "C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Revit\Addins\2018"
[ADDINS19] = "C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Revit\Addins\2019"
[ADDINS20] = "C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Revit\Addins\2020"
[ADDINS21] = "C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Revit\Addins\2021"
[ADDINS22] = "C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Revit\Addins\2022"

These specify whether to install V-Ray Swarm. And then its settings can be configured during installation.
[INSTALL_SWARM] = "1"
[SWARM_ENABLED] = "0"
[SWARM_GOAL] = "60"
[SWARM_DONOTUSELOCALMACHINE] = "0"
[AUTO_DISCOVERY] = "1"
[DISCOVERY_MASTER] = "127.0.0.1"
[SWARM_TAGS] = "Default"

Various other settings you might want to configure. I believe they are are self-explanatory.
[INSTALL_LICENSE_SERVER] = "1"
[FIREWALL_EXCEPTION] = "1" ()
[REMOTE_LICENSE] = "0"
[LIC_TYPE] = "adv" ()
[TELEMETRY] = "0" (1)
[OPEN_CHANGELOG] = "0"

Let us know if you need further assistance.

Best,
Ana

[rick_bernstein]

Great Ana, thank you!

So what are the equivalent commands to these?

And I have to do two steps, first to place the xml file and then to actually install?

Sorry if I'm so dense, I'm more of a user than an admin and I have 35 machines to install vray 5 for revit on; we use vray for Revit, Rhino, 3ds Max and sketchup. I'm always fussing with your installs and I'd love to automate it.

A silent installation allows you to complete V-Ray installation without user input during the process using a predefined set of options. To set up a silent installation follow the instructions below.

Run the installation file from the command prompt with the -gui=0 argument

vray_adv_40001_rhino_6_win_x64.exe -gui=0

Follow the instructions of the install and set-up the installation the way you want to have it on all machines. This will create a file named config.xml in the folder of the installation file.


Run the installer with the following command:

vray_adv_40001_rhino_6_win_x64.exe -gui=0 -configFile="xml_file.xml" -quiet=1

The -quiet=1 argument will cause the installer to read the variable values from the .xml file and do the installation without user input. It will also accept the EULA. If you do not specify the -quiet=1 option, the installer will ask for a confirmation of each variable before proceeding.

One last thing, what does "telemetry" mean? That's we send usage reports to you automatically?

[Ana Lyubenova]

Yeah, it should be executed exactly as described. Here are some details:

1. First, you need open a command prompt from within the location of your installer.exe
2. You then need to start the installer exe vray_adv_51006_revit_win_x64.exe followed by the -gui=0 argument (see attached image_1). This means that you're starting the installation but without its user interface.
3. For that reason, another window appears which will ask you to confirm options that correspond to what is normally seen in the UI (like the Revit versions you're installing for, whether you want V-Ray Swarm installed etc.). Simply follow the on screen instructions (see attached image_2)
4. Once the installation is complete, a config.xml file appears in the same folder where the installer.exe was saved (in my example, that's the Desktop). It basically contains the settings from point 3. above
5. You can modify that file upon your preference or further use it as described for Rhino. So, in the command prompt, you'll have vray_adv_51006_revit_win_x64.exe -gui=0 -configFile="config.xml" -quiet=1

Telemetry is anonymous and only tracks data related to the usage of V-Ray parameters. Thus, it helps us improve our products. You can read more about it in the following article.

[rick_bernstein]

Great Ana, thanks. This is really extremely responsive service, I appreciate the effort!


I watched the two videos that you put together over the weekend, this is a huge leap for us over our v3 installation. I'm going to roll it out to the users with a Revit 2022 update in the next few weeks.

Great work!

I do have a few more questions about the materials

Can I point all users to a common network location for the material library or do I need to install that (8 gb) directory on each machine? Or, alternatively,can I just copy my directory to the various users?

[Ana Lyubenova]

Hi Rick,

My team and I are very happy to hear that you enjoyed our latest version!

As for the materials - you can make the V-Ray Asset Editor point at any folder, and it could be a network one shared across everyone in your team. The attached image illustrates where to add a path from.

Best,
Ana