Revit 2019 + Dynamo 2.0 Deployment Issues

All,

I am curious if anyone else is running into this issue. I have moved my company to Dynamo 2.0 and have uninstalled previous Dynamo versions from their computers. The primary reason for uninstalling is the stupid behavior Revit has when using the Dynamo Player and always defaulting to the older(est) version of dynamo which causes all graphs to fail.

When installing Revit 2019, users are having Dynamo 1.3.x reinstalled on their systems causing the same issues that I worked hard to prevent. I looked through the deployment for Revit and found no options to prevent Dynamo from being installed with the deployment.

So I guess I have two main questions:

  1. Is there any way to update the Dynamo installation files within the Revit deployment so that all users get Dynamo 2.x?
  2. If not, is there any way to prevent Dynamo from being installed with the Revit deployment?

Thanks in advance!

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No one? :frowning:

Have a look at this post i posted a while back as it will probably help you.

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@Brendan_Cassidy This sounds like it will work but where exactly do I find the 2.0.x msi files you are referring to?

I believe that Dynamo Player always launches the Dynamo version which was last run in Revit. That is if you’ve opened 1.3.3 Dynamo, closed Dynamo, and then launched Revit you’d get Dynamo Player in 1.3.3. If you launch Dynamo 2.0.1 from inside Revit you’d get Dynamo Player 2.0.1. My guess is that by reinstalling (assuming you removed it) 1.3.x Revit is marking that as the ‘last version run’ in the settings file.

I’ve already begun to find out if there is a setting is to force Dynamo Player to run in version X. I’ll report back what I hear when I get a reply, even if it’s ‘we don’t have a means to do that at the moment.’

@Aaron_Maller - if you can forward me a link or info on who/when/where you made the request for the installer change I’ll try to follow up on it before AU.

I would suggest you speak to your IT department to get them to unbundle the dynamo installer you download from dynamo website as it has the required msi files within.

Or if you go to install the dynamo exe and watch your temp folder you can see they appear there and copy them to the locations indicated above.

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@jacob.small In my experience Dynamo Player always utilizes the earliest version of Dynamo unless you run Dynamo and select a newer version prior to running Dynamo Player. Every single time I test player and forget to open Dynamo first and select 2.0.x it ends up crashing or freezing (and always scares me haha).

Were you ever able to find a way to control which version Dynamo Player uses?

@Brendan_Cassidy Thanks, I watched the temp folder and was able to extract the files needed. I finally have time to attempt this so we will see what happens.

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My Dynamo player appears to ‘default’ differently - choosing 2.1 in most cases where 2.x and 1.x are applicable, except 2018 when it goes 1.3…

I’ll look into it shortly.

@jacob.small I have been mainly testing Revit 2018 which is probably why I am seeing it revert to 1.3. I have not really tested it too much in 2019.

Im just seeing this response that im tagged in, for the first time. Sorry for the delay.

Umm, in no uncertain terms, this isnt one of those random requests that was made once and then forgotten, or lost in a wishlist, or dropped off a forum, or anything of the sort. MANY of us have told the Dynamo AND the Revit Dev team MANY times, the way they are force bundling the installers and updaters completely sucks for everyone, including the users. We’ve told them in public channels, private channels, face to face, at ITF sessions, at breakfasts, and dinners, over drinks, and on MANY forums.

It isnt that they arent GETTING the feedback. Its that they arent getting the feedback they WANT, so they are just ignoring it.

I mean, its okay with me. We make it work, on our end. And we teach our clients how to undo what Autodesk does, and manage Dynamo on their own, instead of being forced to use what the Revit updates decide to install. Its just a bunch of unnecessary steps, because “father knows best,” or something.

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I think Autodesk just don’t care. They’ve got your subs for another year, the shareholders are happy. Users? Who are they? Who else they gonna buy software from, anyway?

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Not a great solution, but I have intentionally created separate network locations for 1.3.3 and 2.0 graphs, packages, and Dynamo Player paths. Although frustrating to have to pick one first before the player will work, but I think it’s better than potentially crashing models and losing work. It’s not foolproof, but it’s pretty effective since 1.3.3 and 2.0 don’t play well together.

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