Cloning my MC installation on other PC's

[Chipmakr]

I am trying to get all of our installations standardized. I've gone about this different ways over the years with mixed results.

 

With our CAMplete installs I make a complete backup with a single mouse click in the options area of the software. I send this file over to CAMplete support and the send me back a single .exe file for a x64 computer and a single .exe file for a x86 computer. When I go to another PC I just run the appropriate file for the computers operating system and I now have EXACT duplication on any PC I want.

 

Is there a way to get something close to this for MC installs?

 

I currently copy my mcamx7,shared mcamx7, & C:\Program Files\mcamx7 folders to a folder on the server, then do a fresh install on the new PC, run a check for updates.

 

Then I begin to systematically copy folders/contents to get machine defs, control def, posts, config files, etc, etc.... Then I have to install verisurf & X+, correct a few file paths, copy xss/css content for our standardized set up sheets. This ends up being a good bit of work.

 

Is there an easier way to get standardized seats company wide?

[Chris Rizzo]

I did a major project at a company setting up sharing everything on a network, but also having transportable configs, .kmps, mtb, and network stored individual user data folders. Basically anyone could sit down at any pc and pull up their config and see their own shared folder, yet all pull mmd's etc from network. This is the way they wanted it, but it was alot of work and diligence.

 

Turns out the registry trumps all settings you make in configs and other file pointers. Kinda frustrating. I had to do alot of reg editing, config editing in a text editor, and communication with qc, (incidentally are great folks )

 

To start with, now with X7 the shared mcam-7 folder can be installed on a network drive. The absolute best way to do it is upon initial virgin install of mastercam on each "client" pc, set as a network install. That way all registry keys for every user are written as shared. If you do local installs and decided to switch to network shared later, regediting is needed for each user shared path......

 

 

If you do want this type of environment, I've got a fair amount of notes and other info I can share if you'd like. PM me offline if you'd like.

 

I'm not sure what is going to happen to the house of cards when we update to the next version.

[Chipmakr]

Thanks for the info Chris. We already have several local installs, so I think the pain would be great in to transition to network installs as "clients". The thing I love about the CAMplete method is it grabs registry data & all. It's the slickest thing I've used for doing this type of thing. I've tried the common shared drives at one point, but decided I liked autonomous local installs better once I had them up and running. I just want them to have the same settings. Thanks again.

[MrFish]

I am trying to get all of our installations standardized. I've gone about this different ways over the years with mixed results.

 

With our CAMplete installs I make a complete backup with a single mouse click in the options area of the software. I send this file over to CAMplete support and the send me back a single .exe file for a x64 computer and a single .exe file for a x86 computer. When I go to another PC I just run the appropriate file for the computers operating system and I now have EXACT duplication on any PC I want.

 

Is there a way to get something close to this for MC installs?

 

I currently copy my mcamx7,shared mcamx7, & C:\Program Files\mcamx7 folders to a folder on the server, then do a fresh install on the new PC, run a check for updates.

 

Then I begin to systematically copy folders/contents to get machine defs, control def, posts, config files, etc, etc.... Then I have to install verisurf & X+, correct a few file paths, copy xss/css content for our standardized set up sheets. This ends up being a good bit of work.

 

Is there an easier way to get standardized seats company wide?

 

I like you look after a number of installs here at our work place and have the exact same frustrations every time I have to update to a new version, build a new PC etc, and then when I do ask a question about a problem with Mastercam I am always told by cncsoftware that our file structure is not correct and mastercam is not designed to have files saved and accessed from the network ! Hardly a real world setup to have all your machine def, post, tool library etc files stored locally on numerous computers through out the work place ! In my opinion this is an area of Mastercam that could do with some real work to smooth installation and updating to suit real world network environments.