Is there a way to make dynamo officewide?

Letting the IT team handle this is the best way to ensure things work consistently, and deploy well. If you don’t do all software deployment and network administration efforts for the company, you should loop them in on the conversation.

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Yeah definetly!

I’m on average discussing Dynamo and the implementation around the office like every two weeks with my IT team. I would not recommend doing this without the IT guys either setting up deployment for you or helping you with figuring out how to set it up.

If you have multiple computers in an office, theres a decent chance there are already existing logon scripts that update new revit versions (except for the revit 2021+ which doesnt allow automatic installments for some reason). They will easily be able to add something that just overwrites a folder on users during start up.

We are a small firm of about a dozen designers and I sit next to the main guy who handles the IT work and I’m discussing stuff with him regularly.

After talking with him about it this morning he suggested the following process first. Almost, if not all, of our files are through Google (which honestly kind of annoys me because I don’t have access to Excel) so he suggested that we have the download location be on our Google Server and then set the folder to be available offline. All users would have access to this folder on their computer since it would sync an actual copy of it on their desktop.

Thoughts on that? I know previously in the forum is suggests staying away from a central folder that everyone accesses.

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I like and agree with the idea of using something like google drive.

I would add that I would not want to map everyone to the folder though. Instead, I would have some sort of startup script that would sync from that Google folder to the AppData folder that is default with Dynamo.

This would then work between Revit upgrades and you never have to mess with the folder. Instead, you would just update the startup script that you are using.

(Script can be powershell, robocopy or even Dynamo)

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That thought workflow occurred to me as well. I did Google copying folders and and came across the ‘Copy-item’ command.

I’m assuming the the ‘Copy-item’ command is what I’m to use to connect the two folders?
Is there a sync command through Powershell?
When writing the script I’m guessing I just need to enter the pathway to each of the users computers by replacing the user name in the pathway?
Once I make the script in Powershell I would just have each person add that to the startup list on each persons computer?

Sorry for all the questions. I’ve never been the IT guy, but as I get deeper into Dynamo, then Python, and now Powershell I’m learning as I go. It’s been a lot fun, but also a lot to take in and learn.

We tried a network folder that routes people to the same folder, which was incredibly slow for some reason. Made even small scripts a pain.

I think the easiest way is just robocopying a folder from somewhere to a users C drive on startup.

If you’re new to this, even a batch file could do, where users just run the batch file whenever you send out an email that tells them to run the batch file. ’ Hey guys i updated some packages, please run Package.bat that’s on your desktop before launching Revit’ or something. @kslifter

From the Dynamo known issues:

This issue alone is enough reason for me to never recommend mapping to a network drive.

When sending out a batch file, how do you get the ‘user’ portion of the file path filled in correctly for each user? I’m assuming there is an easy way and not that you have a separate file saved for each user that you would send out.

I made a powershell script to copy over folder contents and I googled how to make it work as a batch file. I’m just not sure about the user portion of the file path that is default by Dynamo.

You can typically do this with environment path variables like %APPDATA% which are essentially shortcuts to specific directories. For example, you could dynamically path to the Dynamo Revit packages folder for 2.13 by using %APPDATA%\Dynamo\Dynamo Revit\2.13\packages.

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Thanks, I’ll give this a try.

Ask him if he is ok with running dlls (many packages are entirely this) on local systems which were synced via a cloud folder. I personally wouldn’t be, but maybe he is. Coping them to the local drives at sign in allows a greater degree of security as they can monitor and sign off, while preventing write out. Then again, I may be a bit too conservative at this point having been through one too many security trainings of late… :wink:

My plan right now is this:

-I have setup a scheduled task to mirror a Google folder with my package folder.
-Then as I add packages to the folder I will send out a batch file (using %app) to the others in the office to update their package folder by mirroring the Google folder.

I spent more time than I probably should have yesterday trying to figure mirroring with powershell and/or robocopy, then trying to figure out a workflow with my dynamo and the package locations, etc.

This seems pretty straightforward, I was just struggling with getting the info to the users app folder since each file path is different.

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I thought I would share something that I encountered today and had to figure out. I was having issues with installing packages, it was saying that I needed to unblock a file. I did some searching and found out there is some sort of block that is placed on folders/files when you share them. Below is the link to the thread about unblocking all the files in a folder.

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I wonder if making an MSI to install packages & DYNs would be more effective. Perhaps something like: https://www.masterpackager.com/

So, I was having an issue with a Python script that I wrote not working all of a sudden. My package library was linked to Google drive, but it didn’t have anything to do with the shared and synced folders that I had messed with through here. It was saying that a folder didn’t exist when it did. I thought I would try ‘unblocking’ the folder that contained the ‘missing’ folder and shazaam it worked.

I’m slowly becoming less and less a fan of having everything on Google Drive.

  1. Sheets just isn’t as handy as Excel
  2. Folders randomly don’t show up
  3. Folders are becoming blocked and I have to unblock them to use them.

@john_pierson It is quite the coincidence that I just listened to your interview where you mention DLL Hell with Revit and Dynamo and that seems to be part of the issue I’m dealing with currently.

The unblocking thing is a major PITA. But, using an installer or a Revit plugin that syncs packages locally works decently.

I am also afraid that the Dynamo team is making this even more difficult and problematic with these “security” fixes they are implementing with the trusted folder locations and whatever else.

Sorry guys, but this warning sucks. There is going to definitely be a whole flood of posts of people saying how dynamo told them a graph was untrusted. :roll_eyes:

Honestly, if I was still at an office as a BIM Manager, I would roll out Orkestra and be done with it. Orkestra manages packages, python, and all sorts of other stuff.

On one hand, the team is implementing things that try to help make deploying easier (dropdowns remembering selection, packages used being stored, etc), but on the other hand, deploying it is getting worse (not able to update Dynamo, dropdowns broke in old versions, python changes, team members advising to have a version of each graph for all revit versions, we don’t talk about bruno, etc).

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I can back this up that the setting there will be a nail in a coffin gradually closing on Dynamo at a 400pax company for me. My best thoughts to get around it is to automate updating of whatever file holds those settings to toggle it by default, but it always feels like a janky solution when I do this.

I’ve noticed a general trend in software/IT to roll out security at the expense of scalability and the ability to actually use software in general beyond a testing environment (no idea which firms genuinely maintain 2+ versions of scripts). It would be good for Autodesk to actually gauge with large firms once this really lands if they have managed to work around this.

A big part of giving scripts to architects is making them comfortable the tool will, and has worked. If the program throws up warnings, are you sures and errors this tends to really turn them off Dynamo in my experience.

Also got a genuine lol out of me with Bruno!

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Is it ok everyone finds scripts on a server drive folder? Or would it be beneficial for speed to have them on everyone’s computer? Seems like it takes awhile to start up big scripts either way.

Depends on how fast your server connection is. If your users use VPN I’d consider local copies.

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This is why I recommend local when possible lately. It can be difficult with project specific stuff, but general use stuff you’d have in a library can definitely be copied down like your packages.