This page provides information about the batch installation process of Chaos Anima.
Using the installer from a command-line
It is possible to perform a silent installation of anima® from the command line using the official anima® installer and the standard silent install options that are available for most Windows applications.
For example, the following command would install anima® on the “John Doe” user environment using the path “C:\Program Files\AXYZ Design\anima” and all options that are selected by default when you use the standard installation application with the User Interface:
anima_installer_5.0.0.exe /S /USERNAME=john doe /D=C:\Program Files\AXYZ Design\anima
Where the params mean:
- /S -> Silent installation with no prompts
- (optional) /USERNAME -> the windows user session
- (optional) /D-> the install path
If no optional params are defined it will be installed using the current user session and the default install path (the same that is shown there).
The parameters are case sensitive. Also, the username and path must not include quote marks.
Installer Options
If you don’t want to use the default install options, you can also use the following custom parameters to specify almost any other install configuration you may need.
FFA: FORCE FULL APPLICATION
Forces the installer to select the Full version option:
FRN: FORCE RENDER NODE
Forces the installer to select the Render Node option:
You can also install the anima® Render Nodes using the command-line deploy tool as it is described in this other article.
F3P: FORCE THIRD PARTY LIBS
Forces the installer to select the 3 Third-Party Libraries options:
D3P: DENY THIRD PARTY LIBS
Forces the installer to unselect the 3 Third-Party Libraries.
By default, the installer tries to detect automatically if the installation of these libraries is necessary. You can use these options (F3P or D3P) to control that behavior manually.
CML: COMMAND-LINE LICENSE
Forces the installer to select the Command-line License option:
CMD: COMMAND-LINE DEPLOY TOOLS
Forces the installer to select the Command-line Deploy Tools option:
This option must be used in conjunction with the FRN option because it is only available when used with the Render Node installation.
Sample Installer Commands
The following commands are examples that showcase how to use the options described above:
anima_installer_5.0.0.exe -frn /S
This command will install anima® to the path “C:\Program Files\AXYZ Design\anima” in silent mode, in the current user environment, and will install the Render Node option.
anima_installer_5.0.0.exe -cmd -frn /S /D=C:\anima
This command will install anima® to the path “C:\anima” in silent mode, in the current user environment, and will install the Render Node and the Command-line Deploy tools.
anima_installer_5.0.0.exe -cml /S /D=C:\anima
This command will install anima® to the path “C:\anima” in silent mode, in the current user environment, and will install the FULL option (PRO/ALL) and the Command-line License tool.
anima_installer_5.0.0.exe -f3p /S
This command will install anima® to the path “C:\Program Files\AXYZ Design\anima” in silent mode, in the current user environment, and will install also the Third Party libraries.
anima_installer_5.0.0.exe -cmd -frn -cml /S
This command will install anima® to the path “C:\Program Files\AXYZ Design\anima” in silent mode, in the current user environment, and will install the Render Node option, the Command-line Deploy tools, and Command-line License tool.
Using the Command-Line Deploy tool to install specific node versions
The method described in the previous section can already be used to install the anima® Render Node version in most situations, where the installer automatically detects correctly the host applications paths and installs the plugins there.
However, in some cases, you might want to have more control over which version of the plugin is installed and in which location, and this is when the Command-line Deploy tool can be useful.
The following video explains how to use the Commandline Deploy tool to install specific node versions from a CLI and also how to license it using the legacy* tool called anima® Render Node License Manager.
This video was made for an older version of anima® when this was the only option available to license the nodes from a CLI, but now, if your nodes have internet access, we would recommend using the new License tool CLI instead, which is simpler to use and does not require any manual step.
Notice that, despite what is said in the video, you don’t need to ask the Support Team to use this tool anymore.
Now you can install the Command-Line Deploy tool using the standard installer. Just make sure to select the Render Node installation and the Command-line component in the list as shown in the image below.
After the installation, the tool can be located inside anima® installation folder, usually “C:\Program Files\AXYZ design\anima“. Running the program will generate a log file (log.txt) that explains the available parameters and summaries of what they do.
Parameters
- Running
Shows the path from which the deploy tool was executed. It isn’t used directly for the installation process but is provided for your information and for bug checking. - -path “C:\****”
Defines the path where the deploy tool should install anima®. - -3dsmax2020 “C:\****”, -3dsmax2019 “C:\****”, -3dsmax2018 “C:\****”
Defines the root directory of the 3ds Max® installations on the target machine. They will be used to install the plugins needed to open projects in 3ds Max® that contain anima® assets. As you can see the same formatting is used for all supported versions, simply append the 3ds Max® version after -3dsmax. - –c4dr21 “C:\****”, –c4dr20 “C:\****”, –c4dr18 “C:\****”
Defines the root directory of the Cinema4D® installations on the target machine. They will be used to install the plugins needed to open projects in Cinema4D® that contain anima® assets. As you can see the same formatting is used for all supported versions, simply append the Cinema4D® version after -c4d. - –maya2020 “C:\****”, –maya2019 “C:\****”, –maya2018 “C:\****”
Defines the root directory of the Maya® installations on the target machine. They will be used to install the plugins needed to open projects in Maya® that contain anima® assets. As you can see the same formatting is used for all supported versions, simply append the Maya® version after -maya. - -generatelic
Used to generate a Hardware ID file that is required for licensing purposes. These are needed for the Render Node License Manager to generate valid licenses based on the hardware profile of the PC. - -readlic
Used to read licenses generated by the Render Node License Manager and authorize the anima® installations.
For example, to run the command line on a render node that has programs saved on the C drive including 3ds Max® 2020, 2019, Maya® 2018 and Cinema4D® R21 in a folder called apps you would use the following parameters:
CommandlineDeploy.exe -path “c:\Apps\Anima2” -3dsmax2020 “c:\Apps\max2020” -3dsmax2019 “c:\Apps\max2019” -maya2018 “c:\Apps\maya2018” -c4dr21 “c:\Apps\c4dr21”
Using the Deploy tool on multiple computers (render farm)
As mentioned above, in some cases, you might want to have more control over which version of the plugin is installed and in which location, and this is when the Command-line Deploy tool still is a better option because it allows the definition of those options instead of the default ones (which are always used by the main installer).
If you plan to deploy anima® Render Node in multiple computers from your local network, as you would do for all the nodes in your render farm, then you could do it following these steps:
- Install anima® Render Node Deploy tools on one of the computers.
- Share temporally on your network the anima® root folder from the machine where you have just installed the render node & CommandlineDeploy tool on.
- Make a console script (Batch, Cmd, PowerShell, Python, Bash) that includes the command line described above, but using the “CommandlineDeploy.exe” from the shared folder from step 2
- Execute remotely that console script in all your nodes
And that’s it!