Using Administrative Images

An administrative image allows configurable installations of SOLIDWORKS products from a single network location.

You can install the administrative image from any computer on the network, including a client computer.
  • The administrative image must be in a shared folder.
  • If you include all products, the administrative image disk space requirements can be 7GB or more.
  • If you update the share name when you upgrade the administrative image, the client upgrades automatically the next time the application is started. For details, see Upgrading Clients from Administrative Images.
  • When deploying an administrative image, the path to the image must be less than 58 characters long.
  • Clients must have administrative privileges on their computers. If a client has insufficient privileges, a client can run an installation as a different user. This option is useful when an individual user does not have local administrative permissions on the machine, which is required to install SOLIDWORKS products.

    See Deploying Installations from the Option Editor. It also describes an alternate method for installing images, when a client has insufficient privileges.

  • If Windows logging is enabled or if you use the status functionality in the Administrative Image Option Editor, you must have read/write permissions to this folder: {Administrative image directory}\x64\Logs.

Once you have created an administrative image, the Administrative Image Option Editor can manage installation option settings for users and groups installing from that image. For details, see Administrative Image Option Editor.