A guide to Autodesk Custom Installs
- What is a Custom Install? Direct installations from your account, using Install Now, Browser Download, or Download Now methods install your software with default settings. Custom Installs allow pre-configuration of software properties, like install location, folder paths, add-ins, and more. Then install your software locally or create a network deployment image for installation on multiple computers.
- What can I do with a Custom Install? With Custom Installs, you can specify the software installation folder as well as the product version and update. Product-specific features can also be added, such as Express Tools for AutoCAD. Creating a Custom Install also allows the creation of a multi-product installation package, such as the entire AutoCAD Toolset, or group applications like Inventor, AutoCAD, and Vault packaged together into one installer.
- What are the differences between Download Install and Custom Install? Use the Direct Install Now, Download, or Browser Download option from your account to install if only installing single products on a local computer with default settings. Use the Custom Install when you need to install multiple products with customizations, on several computers. Custom install also comes with script which can be modified to show or hide installation screen, whereas the Download Install doesn't come with the script.
- How do I configure a Custom Install? The first step is to navigate to www.autodesk.com and login to your account using the button in the top right-hand corner of their site. Once logged in, click on your initials in the top-right corner of the screen and select “Products and Services”. On that page, select the “Custom Install” tab in the top-center of the screen.
If you’re new to this page, the library list will be empty. If you are a company with multiple teams setup in the Autodesk account, you can also switch to the “Team Library” where custom installs specific to each team can be setup. The administrators of those teams will be able to see the custom installs for their team only. For this demonstration, we will stick to “My Library” only.
Click on either of the “Create Package” buttons to get started.
Click on either of the “Create Package” buttons to get started.
This will bring up the “New Package” page. You can make a package for any or all users, depending on their needs for their role. On this page, select the available products that you would like to have in the installation package and their license type. For todays example, I will choose AutoCAD, Inventor Professional, and Vault Professional Client. I will use the latest 2026 version of all.
When selecting a software on the left, a new box will appear on the right. This allows you to select the latest version, an older version, or even a specific older version (e.g. 2023.1.6) in case a certain release with a specific update is needed.
Here you can also customize and configure the users software before it’s installed on the computer. For example, in Inventor’s options, they give the ability to configure Content Center libraries and import custom settings. In AutoCAD’s options, security settings, Express Tools, and custom profiles can be setup.
Below Customizations notice that Extensions, Language Packs, and plug-ins can also be added to each software in the package.
Once all the products and their settings are configured, click Next.
Step 2, is where you'll name the installation package and package description. One of the most important steps of this process is choosing whether to use the Install or the Deployment method for the installation.
Install: Typically used for individual users or smaller groups. For this you would download the created installer and run on each individual computer. You can also copy Custom Installs onto a flash drive and copy these from computer to computer to install.
Deploy: Downloads and extracts an installation image to a network location. Creates an installation package that can be installed on multiple computers at once from a shared network location. This is particularly useful for network administrators who need to manage software installations across an entire organization.
Here you can also customize and configure the users software before it’s installed on the computer. For example, in Inventor’s options, they give the ability to configure Content Center libraries and import custom settings. In AutoCAD’s options, security settings, Express Tools, and custom profiles can be setup.
Below Customizations notice that Extensions, Language Packs, and plug-ins can also be added to each software in the package.
Once all the products and their settings are configured, click Next.
Step 2, is where you'll name the installation package and package description. One of the most important steps of this process is choosing whether to use the Install or the Deployment method for the installation.
Install: Typically used for individual users or smaller groups. For this you would download the created installer and run on each individual computer. You can also copy Custom Installs onto a flash drive and copy these from computer to computer to install.
Deploy: Downloads and extracts an installation image to a network location. Creates an installation package that can be installed on multiple computers at once from a shared network location. This is particularly useful for network administrators who need to manage software installations across an entire organization.
If you use the Install method, you will need to enter a package name and can also a package description. The installation path can also be set to a custom location, by default it is installed to C:\Program Files\Autodesk. By default, the Use Symbolic Links option is selected. This reduces the size of the installation package by linking files instead of duplicating them.
If you use the deploy method, you will need to enter a deployment image path. This is the location on the network share where the deployment is created and will be ran from. Use a UNC (Uniform Naming Convention) path name (recommended) or a drive letter and path, for example: \\servername\path or C:\Autodesk\Deployments. Use a valid Windows folder path.
Next enter a deployment log file path, if needed. Each installation from a deployment writes diagnostic information to this log. Please use a valid Windows folder path.
Then set the installation path for the software, this is the location the deployment installs the software on the user’s computer. Choose to whether install Autodesk Access or not. We always recommend Autodesk Access, it is a very useful tool for installing software and important updates for the software.
Next enter a deployment log file path, if needed. Each installation from a deployment writes diagnostic information to this log. Please use a valid Windows folder path.
Then set the installation path for the software, this is the location the deployment installs the software on the user’s computer. Choose to whether install Autodesk Access or not. We always recommend Autodesk Access, it is a very useful tool for installing software and important updates for the software.
Once all options are selected, click Save to save this custom installation package to your Autodesk account. Once saved, go back into that package and click Download.
Once downloaded, the custom install package can be found in the Downloads folder (or the browsers default download location). This will be a .exe file type, the deployment and custom install packages will look the same.
Once downloaded, the custom install package can be found in the Downloads folder (or the browsers default download location). This will be a .exe file type, the deployment and custom install packages will look the same.
Deployment: Once the downloaded executable file is launched, the deployment package will be extracted to the deployment image path location that was entered earlier. Once the extraction is completed, your users can navigate to the deployment location, find the .bat file, and run the deployment to launch the installation.
*Prior to having all users install from a deployment. We recommend running this on a test computer using a typical user profile. Once installed, run the products to verify there are no licensing errors, major features are functioning as expected, and all updates, customizations, and add-ons have been applied and work as expected.
*Prior to having all users install from a deployment. We recommend running this on a test computer using a typical user profile. Once installed, run the products to verify there are no licensing errors, major features are functioning as expected, and all updates, customizations, and add-ons have been applied and work as expected.
Custom Install: Once the downloaded executable file is launched, the custom installation package will be created and extracted to the C:\Autodesk folder. Once the extraction has completed, a prompt will appear to start the installation now or you can click cancel and navigate to the installer at C:\Autodesk\images and click the Installer file to run at a later time.
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Bonus Tip: If using the deploy method. You can edit the .bat file to run the installation silently. The .bat file can also be copied and used to make an uninstaller for the software.
Create a copy of your existing .bat file for the deployment. Then right-click and open the .bat file in notepad.
Create a copy of your existing .bat file for the deployment. Then right-click and open the .bat file in notepad.
In the example above, every line except for the installation line highlighted has a "rem" note in front of it. The rem note turns the line of code into a "comment" line so the compiler ignores that line.
If you want the deployment to run silently, simply add a rem note to the front of the top install line and remove the rem comment from the "Install the deployment silently" line. See below:
If you want the deployment to run silently, simply add a rem note to the front of the top install line and remove the rem comment from the "Install the deployment silently" line. See below:
If you would like to use this .bat file to uninstall the software, simply add a rem note to the beginning of both install lines to cancel them out. Below that a line stating "===Uninstall the individual product===". If you remove the rem note from any of the uninstall paths below that, these products will be uninstalled when this batch file is ran next.
As always, if you or a member of your team have any questions or issues while installing Autodesk software. The MESA Technical Support Team is always here to help!
