How Do I Set Up my Admin Image?

After you have generated your Admin Image, you can now edit its options. You can either click 'Customize Image' in the Installation Manager to open the Administrative Image Option Editor or manually launch from the root image folder via the sldAdminOptionEditor.exe:

From the 'Setup' you can customize options for Global Settings to be applied to all machines with no explicitly defined overrides. To modify the settings, click the 'Change' button in the top right:

Serial numbers

In the next step, add all desired serial numbers for the various products to be included in the global settings. With Network serial numbers, you have the option to specify the SNL Server port address:

NOTE: Standalone serial numbers are not recommended for Global Settings

Client Installation Options

Inside the Client Installation Options, you can control the ability to upgrade existing installs or install a newer, separate major version. If needed, the client installation folder path can be modified.

SOLIDWORKS Settings can be locked via the Settings Administrator. The locked settings can only be defined if the SolidWorks application is already installed on the machine by using the Option Editor.

Activation Options are only required when using standalone serial numbers.

Administrative Options

In the Administrative Options, it is suggested to use the 'Create a diagnostic log during each installation' if there are problematic installations. The user will need to have read/write permissions to [Administrative Image directory]\x64\logs, where the the logs will be saved for Admin review.

For users with restricted permissions that will need to deploy the admin image via the Manual method, 'Run the installation as a different user' will be a necessary option. During the installation, an administrator account with full permissions can be added.

Software to Install

When it comes to 'Software to Install', only the products that were selected during the creation of the Admin Image will be available in the list. If there are desired products missing, the image will need to be recreated to include the product.

Toolbox/Hole Wizard

If you plan on using a shared Toolbox folder, the desired location path can be used. However, it is important that a shared Toolbox is upgraded to match the major versions used by the clients.

SOLIDWORKS PDM Client

For clients that will be accessing PDM, settings compatible with the vault will need to be defined. Also, ensure that the appropriate Product and Client type is selected.

Machine and Group Customizations

Lastly, there can be additional customization applied to individual and grouped machines. Machines can be defined via Machine Name, IP Address or a range of IP Addresses. In these cases, with the exception of any overrides, all Global Settings will be applied.

Now that your Admin Image has been set up, you can follow the steps in our next article to Deploy It.