Itoo Software Forum

RailClone => RailClone Pro (*) => Topic started by: JG_archviz on September 25, 2017, 11:39:20 AM

Title: Railclone 3 Library - Updatemanager
Post by: JG_archviz on September 25, 2017, 11:39:20 AM
Is there a tutorial about the new update-manager and library available...

I dont get it, why the library are default within "C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Itoo Software" and why i can choose "temporary folders" in updatemanger, but not the real library destination.

My setup would be that all the library would be on a network server location and not user-specific.

Changing it for every workstations seems like a unwanted feature, if everything is by default local-user space.

For now it seems useless yet.
Title: Re: Railclone 3 Library - Updatemanager
Post by: iToo on September 25, 2017, 01:35:53 PM
Please, see this FAQ entry (https://forum.itoosoft.com/faq-18/installing-railclone-3-assets-in-a-shared-network-path/) we just added.
It describes a procedure to install assets in an network path, using an unique workstation to download them.

Besides it, you can find useful the Update Manager guide, which is available here (https://docs.itoosoft.com/railclone/installation-files/update-manager).
Title: Re: Railclone 3 Library - Updatemanager
Post by: JTP Vis on September 27, 2017, 03:33:00 PM
Hi Carlos,

I was very interested to read that it is now possible to install assets to a shared network path, but I confess that the tutorial you pointed to above is a little incomplete I feel:

Quote
We must define a main workstation, which will be used to download the assets. In this computer:

1) Edit the attached railclone_assets.reg with a text editor, and change "Z:\\RC3_assets" for the folder you want to use as central storage. It must be a network path accessible by all workstations.

In the file you will see four registry keys, for the library, macros, materials, and maps respectively.
Be sure all paths are in the same level ("lib" together "matlib"). This is specially important for the library, because it uses relative paths to the materials.
Also double check that backslashes are written as "\\", which is a requirement for the registry files.

2) Install RailClone 3 and run the "Update Manager" normally, which will download the assets in the specified path.

Following the first step quoted above, I get a little stuck after part 1, as I have no idea what to do with the file once I have edited it? I have used a text editor and changed the paths, but what do I do with it then? Surely editing a file on my desktop and saving it doesn't change anything?

Quote
In the other workstations:

1) Install RailClone 3. When Update Manager is shown, open Settings->Preferences->General and uncheck "Automatically check for updates...".
3) Close Update Manager and complete the installation.

In case RailClone already was installed, just configure Update Manager as described above. It's not necessary to reinstall everything.
If you want to disable update checking with a registry key, instead manually, just set the following value to "false"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Itoo Software\Update Manager\Preferences]
"Check For Updates"="false"

This procedure can be used both for workstations or render nodes. For any question or doubt, please ask us in the RailClone Pro forum.

Is part 2 of this missing? After part 3 (?) it says to use the instructions above, but they are not clear enough, so I still am not sure what to do.

If this is based around editing the registry, then I think it's probably a good idea to highlight this at the start, if not, what are we supposed to do?

I hope you understand my confusion, and hope it can be fixed soon as I thought it would be a good idea to install and test, but having got through the installation, I am not sure how to sort out the network location.

Cheers,

Bill
Title: Re: Railclone 3 Library - Updatemanager
Post by: iToo on September 27, 2017, 04:13:47 PM
Hi Bill,

Sorry ! You are right, i missed the steps to import railclone_assets.reg. I just fixed it.

The procedure basically modifies the default  assets paths changing some registry keys.
I hope it's more clear now, if not please tell me.

Title: Re: Railclone 3 Library - Updatemanager
Post by: JTP Vis on September 28, 2017, 12:01:58 PM
Hi Again Carlos,

Firstly:
I have finally managed to get this to work, but by trying to use UNC file paths I have given myself a problem. I tried writing the key value as \\[server]\\[share]\\[location] but it didn't recognise the first \\ as a double \ for a standard UNC path, so I had to edit the registry entry directly to add the \\ at the start of the path. Is it possible to use a UNC path for this? if so, how should it be written?

Secondly:
I have sorted this out on a second machine where there are multiple users who need access to railclone. One is a render node user, from which I installed railclone, and followed the instructions about the network path. I then logged on as a different user to test the installation, but the paths are not there? How do I fix that? Do I have to sort out each user log on individually?

I hope you can help,

Cheers,

Bill
Title: Re: Railclone 3 Library - Updatemanager
Post by: iToo on September 28, 2017, 12:56:10 PM
Hi Bill,

- For UNC paths you must write four backlashes. In this way: "\\\\nas\\libraries\RC3_assets".

- The registry file works only for the current user, but it can be done for all users using a different .reg file. I've updated the post (https://forum.itoosoft.com/faq-18/installing-railclone-3-assets-in-a-shared-network-path/msg18841/#msg18841) with instructions and a new .reg.

Regards,
Title: Re: Railclone 3 Library - Updatemanager
Post by: JTP Vis on September 28, 2017, 01:59:15 PM
Hi Carlos,

This is becoming quite interesting!

I have one last thing to ask, as I'm making a custom .reg file for my installations which will sort out all the registry keys for the new update: How do I add the key for the update manager preferences to all users? Can I simply add the following to the .reg file:


Thanks so much for your support, it's been great :-)

Bill
Title: Re: Railclone 3 Library - Updatemanager
Post by: JTP Vis on September 28, 2017, 02:29:56 PM
Another question also: If I've added the keys to HKEY_Current_User already, do they need to be deleted if I add the new keys to HKEY_Local_Machine, or will they co-exist? Will one set override the other?

Bill
Title: Re: Railclone 3 Library - Updatemanager
Post by: iToo on September 28, 2017, 05:11:43 PM
Hi Bill,

- I just tested it and yes, you can add the "Check For Updates" key in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, and it will work for all users.

- No. It's not necessary to remove the keys from HKEY_CURRENT_USER. If both keys co-exists, the value from HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE is used.