Creating a modeling tools bundle (instructions for an Administrator)

To create a modeling tools bundle

  1. Install a modeling tool:
    1. Double click <modeling_tool_name>_<version_number>win.exe or <modeling_tool_name><version_number>win64.exe.
    2. In the opened dialog, select a language and click OK. The modeling tool installation wizard opens.
    3. In the first and second steps, click Next.
    4. Select the memory allocation mode and click Next.
    5. Choose the modeling tool installation folder and click Next.
    6. If needed, choose to create modeling tool icons and click Install.
    7. Do NOT check the box to launch the modeling tool, then click Done. The modeling tool is installed.
  2. Change the modeling tool's configuration files location so that the configuration files would be located in the modeling tool's installation folder:
    1. Open the <modeling_tool_name>.properties file in the <modeling tool installation>/bin folder (e.g., C:/Program Files/<modeling_tool_name>/bin).
    2. Once you open the properties file, locate the line that starts with JAVA_ARGS=
      1. Find –DLOCALCONFIG\= true and change the option value to false; i.e., –DLOCALCONFIG\=false

      2. Add the following parameter: -DWINCONFIG\=false (Do not change any of the parameters in the JAVA_ARGS line during this step).

        Example of the 2 parameters after the changes are complete:
        JAVA_ARGS=-Xmx12000M -DLOCALCONFIG\=false -DWINCONFIG\=false …

    3. Save the <modeling_tool_name>.properties file. The configuration files are saved in the modeling tool's installation folder.

  3. Start the modeling tool and apply a license.

    If the person building the bundle is using a seat license, they should NOT activate the license at this time so that the employees can activate the seat license key on their own computers. A floating license is a more convenient solution for large companies. For more information about licensing, see the Modeling tools and plugins licensing page.

  4. Install the required plugins. For more information, see the Installing plugins and Resource Manager pages. 

    Make sure not to close the modeling tool after this step, as additional configuration changes are needed.

  5. Specify all necessary environment options (Options > Environment Options). For the Environment Options dialog description, see the Customizing environment options page.
    The most important environment options are:
    1. Security certificates to enable secure communication between the modeling tool and Teamwork Cloud. Follow the steps at the bottom of the Enabling secure connection between client and server page.
    2. Floating License Server information.

      1. Connect to the Floating License server and check out a license.

        When the person building the bundle connects to the license server successfully, the server’s name and port are set in the corresponding properties of the Environment Options > Floating section.

      2. Select the check box Auto Login to the License Server (the user can reset this setting later and select the licenses manually if needed).
    3. Teamwork Cloud Server information.
      1. In the Environment Options, click Collaboration.

      2. Set the Server Name and check the appropriate security choices for your deployment environment.

        When the person building the bundle connects to Teamwork Cloud successfully, the server’s name and the user name used to connect will be set in the Environment Options. If the person building the bundle does not want their user name to be part of the bundle, they should not connect to Teamwork Cloud before finishing the bundle. Instead, just set the Environment Options as described above.

    4. Cameo Collaborator Server information.
      1. In the Environment Options, click on Cameo Collaborator. 
      2. Set the Cameo Collaborator URL.
  6. Close the modeling tool.
  7. Open the modeling tool (this step is mandatory if any plugins were installed during Step 4).
    1. Verify that all plugins are installed.
      1. In the Main Menu, click Help > Resource/Plugin Manager. Check if all needed plugins are marked as 'Installed'.
    2. Verify Environment Options.
      1. In the Main Menu, click Options > Environment Options and check if your settings are saved.
  8. Close the modeling tool.

  9. If you want the configuration directory to be back at the default location, which is under the Users directory in Windows, then the changes made in Step 2 will need to be changed back:

    For employees to get the bundle with the predefined configuration options, the configuration files should be located in the installation folder, which is generally located in the C:\Program Files directory. However, since the Program Files folder is often read-only on users' business computers and the users do not have the write permissions, moving the configuration directory is very common, and so the default location for storing various configuration files is C:\Users\<your username>\AppData\Local\.<modeling_tool_name>\<version_number>.
    For more information about the configuration files' location, see the Configuration files page. 

    1. In the <modeling tool installation>/bin folder, open the <modeling_tool_name>.properties file.
    2. Change the -DLOCALCONFIG option value to true: -DLOCALCONFIG\=true
    3. Remove -DWINCONFIG\=false

    4. Save the <modeling_tool_name>.properties file. Now, once an employee starts the modeling tool, all the configuration files will be located in the C:\Users\<your username>\AppData\Local\.<modeling_tool_name>\<version number> directory.

      Do not launch the bundle that is being built after this step. After step 9.d, if the person building the bundle launches the bundle, then the configuration directory will no longer be in the installation directory. This will cause the final bundle not to work correctly. Wait until after Step 11, create the zip file, copy the zip file to another directory, and then extract it.

  10. Change the Java path if needed.

    The modeling tool's installer.exe file installs bundled Java to the modeling tool's installation directory, which will be used by default. Copying the installation folder to another computer will copy the Java VM, too. Thus, the employee will not be required to install Java manually. For this reason, we recommend using the bundled Java.
    However, if the bundle is prepared using the no installer file (<modeling_tool_name>_<version number>_no_install.zip), which does not contain Java, the Java path in the properties file is empty, so Java needs to be installed on the employee's computer separately, and its path needs to be specified manually.

    To check which Java version is used by the modeling tool, go to the MagicDraw Help menu > About MagicDraw > Environment tab.
    To check the recommended Java version for your tool, see the Java version support page.

    To specify the Java path:

    1. Determine the path where Java will be installed on the end user’s computer.
    2. In the <modeling tool installation>\bin folder, open the <modeling_tool_name>.properties file.
    3. Locate the line JAVA_HOME= and change the path to JAVA_HOME=<Path to the directory where Java is installed on an employee's computer> 
    4. Save the <modeling_tool_name>.properties file.
  11. Compress the installation folder (you can use .zip, .rar, or any other format). You have now prepared the modeling tools bundle with already installed plugins and predefined options.