One of the quickest, easiest, and most efficient ways to deploying Auodesk Software (really this applies to almost any software) to a large number of computers is to use imaging software. For those who do not know, imaging software is software that will, essentially, create a snapshot of a computer’s hard disk and then push that snapshot out to any number of computers that you want. Typically, this is done via a local area network. There are different imaging programs out there such as Acronis and Norton Ghost. Because imaging saves tons of time and money, it’s no wonder IT professionals have widely adopted it as their first choice when it comes to delivering new software to their clients.

What I want to talk about in this post is the process of deploying an image with Autodesk software involved. I have had a lot of calls recently about licensing issues with the Autodesk software after the image has been deployed to a series of workstations. Users who experience this issue will typically boot up a program, such as AutoCAD, and they will be asked to “Repair” their license. They will choose to Repair it, but this typically does not solve the issue or it introduces new issues. This issue occurs if you are using standalone software that has already been activated on the main image. Network licensed software does not have this problem, only standalone. The proper workflow for deploying Autodesk software as an image with standalone is to install the product, but do NOT activate it on the main image. You can even boot the software up, just be sure to not activate it. Once it’s installed, you can push it out to the lab. In order to activate the software on your clients, you will need to go to each machine and boot up the program and activate it.

The reason this occurs is because of the way the Autodesk licensing works with your computer’s hardware. It’s tied into the boot sector of the hard drive as well as your MAC Address. Since these are unique to each machine, pushing out an activated image to other machines causes major problems.

If you have already pushed out an activated image and are running into these issues, then don’t worry, there is a workaround.

Here are the steps:

• First of all, you need to be logged onto your computer as a local admin.
• You will need to delete some files on each computer that is experiencing the problem. Go to C:\ProgramData\FlexNET.
• In this folder, delete the files with adskflex listed in their name. This will force the licensing to reset itself on the client.
• Now, if you boot up an Autodesk product, you will be asked to repair, but this time it should actually work when you repair the licensing.

Ultimately, the best way to avoid this pitfall is to NOT activate the software on the main image. Yes, it’s slightly time-consuming to have to go to each client and activate them, but the alternative is much more time consuming. And keep in mind, if you’re running a lot of clients, it’s usually best to utilize Network licensing rather than standalone.