User-mode Installation

Overview

The regular install program requires administrator privilege to run. This is inconvenient for some users who have only user privilege and must therefore request assistance from IT colleagues to install applications. This article describes a method to install SIMetrix/SIMPLIS on systems for which only user-mode privilege is available. This is subject to some restrictions but these restrictions do not apply to all users.

You should be aware that installing any application in user mode presents a security risk. You should only install SIMetrix to a user location if you are confident that you have strong security measures in place. You should also consult with relevant authorities within your organisation that user-mode installation is permitted.

Why Administrator Mode is Required

Administrator privilege is required for three reasons:

1. To install the USB security key (dongle) driver
2. To install the Microsoft Visual Studio run-time library (Version 8.3 and 8.4 only)
3. To install SIMetrix "per-machine" available to all users of the system

The dongle driver is only required for portable licenses and only needs to be installed once for any system. The Visual Studio run-time library is likely to be already installed as it is used by many software applications. Finally, per-machine installation is only required on systems that are used by multiple users. This is not usually the case for individual workstations.

Procedure

The standard single file executable installer can only operate in administrator mode. To install in user-mode, the .MSI installer must be used

Follow this procedure:

1. Download the .MSI installer for your version from here. (Click on a link in the MSI column).
The same username and password required for the regular .EXE installer may be used to access this file
2. Open a command prompt window
3. CD to the location of the downloaded file
4. Run this command
   
   msiexec /i SIMetrix-SIMPLIS-x64-RTM.msi MSIINSTALLPERUSER=1
   
   Note . The default installation location is C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Programs\SIMetrix920. You should not change this to a location under C:\Program Files (or non-English equivalent) as this will likely lead to installation failure

Updates

The above procedure will install the base version (i.e. 9.20). To update to the latest version run menu Help | Check for Updates. If the program was initially installed in User-mode, the updates will also run in User-mode

Visual Studio Run-time Library

If the Visual Studio Run-time library has not already been installed, either:

• An error will be displayed when SIMetrix/SIMPLIS is started for the first time
• OR SIMetrix/SIMPLIS will start and show the startup progress bar, but will abort with no message after reaching 8%

In both situations you will need to install the Visual Studio Run-time Library for which administrator privilege is required. Download and run both of these files vc_redist.x64.exe and vc_redist.x86.exe

Unattended Installation

The command above will run the installer in GUI mode requiring some user interaction. To run without needing any user interaction follow this procedure

1. Read the End User License Agreement here. By installing the software you are agreeing to accept the terms of the EULA
2. To install to the default location, run this command:
   
   msiexec /passive /i SIMetrix-SIMPLIS-x64-RTM.msi MSIINSTALLPERUSER=1 AcceptEula=yes
3. OR to install to a specific location, run this command:
   
   msiexec /passive /i SIMetrix-SIMPLIS-x64-RTM.msi MSIINSTALLPERUSER=1 AcceptEula=yes INSTALLFOLDER="install-path"
   
   where install-path is the full path to the install location