Autocad 2020 Updates

[Ilse Marseau]

ToChris and denis point you can use the built in auto desk package maker then push it with pdq deploy which is free. I have pushed cad packages I made with pdq deploy, sccm, and MDT. This just gave me an idea on to create a How To onSpiceworks lol

I noticed that the 2020 and the 2021 versions, by default, install something called an AutoDesk App Manager. The user can use this to download and install security updates but I am going to assume that installing those updates will prompt for admin creds. Not sure.

While App Manager/Desktop App are fine enough, this could be a massive bottleneck if a huge update needs to be downloaded from the cloud and dozens of workstations are attacking it at once. Some of those service packs can be as much as half a gig to get at once! And as always, if possible, add the patches to deployments depending on the rollout time and the release of the patch.

indeed. I personally remove the Autodesk app manager and push updates that get released after the cad app is installed for total control. But yes to your point when building the deployment package it is best add latest updates in the deployment package.

I wish Autodesk would be more consistent with the information contained in the readme files. Specifically I would really appreciate it if these documents always contained the the reported version found in the "About" dialog box. It would also be nice if these document always specifically addressed whether or not the update contains all of the previous updates and hotfixes. I've seen readme files that state this update does include previous updates, I've seen readme files that say this update does not include previous updates, and I've seen readme files that don't say one way or the other. If Autodesk could be more consistent with the information contained in every readme file I would be greatly appreciated by those who's responsibility it is to keeps Autodesk products updated.

For AutoCAD 2018 prior to applying update 2018.0.2 the "About" dialog box showed "Version: O.49.0.0 AutoCAD 2018". After applying the update it showed "Version: O.72.0.0 AutoCAD 2018.0.2" After seeing this it's pretty obvious that update 2018.0.2 has been applied. As Autodesk has quite often changed how it handles "updates" and version numbers one can't really make reasonable assumptions as to what what is reported means. If the reported version was always included in the readme file it would be very easy to know if an update has been applied or not.

What is the difference between an update, a service pack, and a hotfix? what makes something a service pack instead of an update, or a hotfix? I've seen some hotfixes that use an .exe file and others that require a manual replace file "x" with the new version. The former are nigh to impossible to tell if the hotfix has been applied to a machine as those readme files typically do not include any information as to what changes are being made. I wish they at the very least said something to the effect: look in folder "x" to find a .log file that says hotfix "A" has been successfully applied to computer "Y". Especially when dealing with security patches it is nice to be able to prove the appropriate fix has been applied to each machine.

I can answer this question for AutoCAD team, but in general this should apply company-wide. I suspect that your concern about inconsistency may apply to other teams though. AutoCAD team always provides a cumulative update. I know Revit has provided linked updates in the past though. Since the AutoCAD team started the "update" naming convention, we have simplified things in the read me by having the previous updates with expandable sections to tell you what was in the previous update that is now included.

There are only Updates starting with July 31st 2016. Hotfixes and Service Packs no longer occur. There is always an exception to the rule and we occasionally give an early preview fix if it is specifically requested, but typically we are quicker about getting an update out than the time it takes to make a hotfix.

2018.#.0 - The primary number means that it contains new functional behavior. These also contain bugfixes, but the primary number will change when it adds new features. No bugfixes beyond the functional update will end in a secondary number of 0.

So, if you installed 2018.0.2, it contains bugfixes. And specifically bugfixes from 2018.01 and 2018.0.2. If it were to change to 2018.0.3, more bugfixes (this does not exist currently). Then if it were to change to 2018.1.0 it would contain the bugfixes of 2018.0.2 (or what was most recent) plus any additional fixes reported and made since then, and new features. Basically, we have shifted to say, we are not in the business of holding on to code for specific times of the year. When we have fixes, we will update the secondary number and push it out. When we we have new features, we will update the primary number and send it out. We encourage people to always stay up to date and have put a few things in place to help with that (manage.autodesk.com and Autodesk desktop app).

The naming is the same across the company. So, if you needed the license update recently, I believe it was named 5.0.1 - bugfixes to the original 5.0.0 licensing. If you did not know about the recent licensing fix, well, that is the harder part. It is in the website manage.autodesk.com, but it is not as straightforward to check which version of license you have as using the about box in AutoCAD. But, the naming of the update directly relates to the version shown in the product.

If you are wondering how the O.072 relates, well, that is just the build week. So, O049 was built over 49 weeks, there was a 50 for trueview or something. Skip to the next whole 10 in case we need to rebuild - Update 2018.0.1 was in the 60s, skip to the next whole 10 for rebuild, Update 2018.0.2 was 72. When we change a primary number we skip to the next 100. But, this is really not that exciting, just a good way to identify it. The 2018.0.2 identifies what is contained in the update (2 sets of bugfixes).

Anyway, the main thing for the AutoCAD team - we are going to provide the About Dialog product info in the read me going forward and our read me should have an expansion list of the updates included in an update, but our updates are always cumulative.

@dan908, Thank you for the explanation, this helps a lot. You may want to consider posting a similar explanation on the main downloads page. Now you just have to get the other teams to follow your lead. : )

Because of the size of the company and because I'm also the network admin, I could just write a script that would push the .DLL onto everyone's computer at the end of the night/week. But, I also wouldn't mind learning how actual updates are supposed to work in a production environment.

I'm in almost the same type of environment. The easiest way I've found is to load LISP files and .dll plugins via the acaddoc.lsp file. This allows a lot of flexibility and user updates on the fly whenever a .dll is updated. Example LISP command in this file to load a plugin:

Whenever I update the .dll, I increment the version number/letter in the name and match that in the command above. Next time the user restarts AutoCAD, they get the new version. This works well when everyone is on the same network but has limitations if you have remote workers.

@eaugustoK8BRZ If you are the IT guy, you could do something as simple as using a bat file to xcopy files to user's pc's. Store the cad support files on a network folder and then just xcopy to each user's pc. With only 20 users, you could do an xcopy for each machine. A bit more typing at first, but a simple double-click to run the updates when you publish a new file.

I've developed a more complex system, but it's easy for me to use. I wrote an update program that takes care of copying the files and setting up templates, plotters and plot styles. It uses arguments passed to it to configure which files are copied and to where. I support multiple toolsets and they all have different places to store templates, etc. The config settings are stored in an sql database. I have a startup dll that autoruns. It checks the database for updates. The user can login from multiple pc's and the db tracks it. If an update is required, it prompts the user to close acad and then runs the setup utility with the appropriate arguments. This system also requires a server running sql. or you could use sqlexpress as a file db.

@Ed.Jobe I have been pondering a solution just like the one you are thinking about. I have an on prem server that I have already setup with Microsoft SQL server and I was contemplating using that to track logins and updates. Along with the automated system to push updates like you're alluding to. It'll take some work to get going.

I highly recommend you do the master and copy local, as its so forgiving. The disadvantage is updates to a lisp are not instant, users only get them after running the synch batch. The huge disadvantage of direct server usage is you cannot update various things like .net dlls that are loaded by users. Also, remote users get killed by server paths in their support paths. Things run slow and its just a no-no these days, again IMO.

When you say /mir, it skips files that are already there, deletes ones that are not in the master, and copies ones missing or newer. Its perfect for our needs and typically takes seconds to run on a few hundred mb if minor updates.

4) Set up an acaddoc.lsp to load whatever you want as company standard, and to set settings as desired. Put it in the same folder as tools, or maintain one common folder for tools, and another for each acad version as the acaddoc.lsp should vary per version if you do as much as I do in it. That is why I have multiple robocopy lines in my script, it looks like this for me:

3a8082e126