Installing the Design Master Electrical RT AutoCAD Add-in for Multiple Users

This page describes how to install the Design Master Electrical RT Add-in for AutoCAD for multiple users. It applies to both multiple single-user licenses and to floating licenses.

NOTE: Design Master Electrical RT does not support BricsCAD. If you use BricsCAD, download and install our Electrical for AutoCAD software instead. The commands used by the RT AutoCAD add-in are also used in our Electrical for AutoCAD software.

Download and run the installer from this link:

Design Master Electrical RT AutoCAD Add-in Installer

The installer must be run from a workstation, not on the server itself. If you are unable to install to the server folder from the workstation, download and run the Limited Privileges Installer below.

The software should be installed on a network folder that all users in the company have access to.

Each computer that is going to run the software needs to have the components installed on it once.

If an update ever requires that this be reinstalled, we will make that clear. Otherwise, you can assume that you do not need to reinstall it when you install an update to our software.

It does not need to be reinstalled if you install a new version of AutoCAD.

Download the component installer here.

Each computer that is to run the software needs to have AutoCAD configured. If you have multiple versions of AutoCAD on your computer, this needs to be done for each version of AutoCAD.

To configure AutoCAD:

1. Open the install.dwg file in the Admin folder where the Design Master Electrical RT AutoCAD Add-in is installed. If you are given a warning that the file is in use or read-only, press the Yes button to open the drawing in read-only.
2. Type appload at the command line.
3. Browse to the Admin folder.
4. Select the elecrt-loadInAutoCAD.vlx file and press the Load button.
5. Press the Close button.
6. Press the Network or Network Laptop button.
   • Network: Use this when the computer is a desktop connected to the network. The customization files will always be located on the server.
   • Network Laptop: Use this when the computer is a laptop that is disconnected from the network at times. The customization will load from the server when connected to the network and from the local computer when not connected.
7. The folders should all be set correctly. Press the Ok button to finish the configuration.

If you are transitioning from a local install to a network install, you will want to save the changes you made to the customization. To do this, copy all the files from the customization folders from the local drive to the network.

To install an update to the software, download the installer from above. Run the installer and install it to the same location on the network.

It is necessary to have AutoCAD closed on the computer you run the installer on. You do not need to close AutoCAD on the other computers with our software installed.

The next time a user opens a drawing in AutoCAD, Design Master will be updated automatically. They will be prompted to restart AutoCAD if necessary.

None of your existing customization will be overwritten during the update process.

Some Windows configurations that limit install privileges do not work well with our installer. We provide this limited privileges installer to help with those cases.

First, download and run the regular installer from above.

After you have run that installer, download and run the limited privileges installer:

Design Master Electrical RT AutoCAD Add-in Limited Privileges Installer