SysAdmin Corner: Autodesk DWG TrueView 2013 error when Deploying via Group Policy

Autodesk DWG TrueView 2013 error when Deploying via Group Policy

Autodesk recently released its 2013 suite of products, and I dutifully downloaded the latest DWG TrueView and Design Review in order to upgrade the stations on our network.  However, when testing the deployments, I noticed that Autodesk has changed the MSI-based deployment for DWG TrueView so that it fails.  Specifically:
Event ID: 10005
Source: MsiInstaller
Description: Product: DWG TrueView 2013 -- Run Setup.exe to install DWG TrueView 2013.

I went to my first line of defense: I created an Administrative deployment, and installed from that.
msiexec /a dwgviewr.msi
Disturbingly, this resulted in the same error. Disturbing, because there IS no Setup.exe in an administrative deployment...

After a few gyrations, I finally opened the MSI in ORCA (a free tool from Microsoft, available at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa370557%28v=vs.85%29.aspx)

Once ORCA has been installed, right-click the dwgviewr.msi and choose "Edit with Orca."

I found the following line in the Section "LaunchCondition"
Condition:  ADSK_SETUP_EXE="1" OR ACAD_SECONDARY_INSTALL="1" OR PATCH
Description:  Run Setup.exe to install [ProductName].

So, I tried creating a Transform (MST) file to remove this check.

While dwgviewr.msi is open in ORCA, select:
Transform
New Transform
Right-click on the row with the Condition listed above
Select Drop Row
OK (the row should now have a green strikethrough)
Transform
Generate Transform

I called mine DontRunSetup.mst
A copy is available for download at http://www.barbarianhamster.com/Services/DontRunSetup.zip

I re-created the Group Policy Object for deployment, including the Transform file under "Modifications."  Then I re-launced my testing virtual machine, and VOILA!  It smoothly replaced DWG TrueView 2012.  I subsequently tested as a clean install, and that worked as well.

I use virtual machines of Windows XP Professional (x86 and x64) for deployment testing, and the same transform works for both the x86 and x64 versions of the software.