Which CustomTools installer components do I need to check during installation?

When installing CustomTools you will have many different scenarios.  There are the database and license servers, as well as the various clients.  You may be setting up a test environment on a test server, or on a CAD Workstation.  All use the same installer package, and are differentiated by the individual components selected.  To better understand which components are needed for your specific installation let’s look at all the components, and what they are. 

There are four (4) main groups of components:

• Client
• Server
• Tools
• Languages

Client components are those applications needed to either configure CustomTools databases and profiles, or use CustomTools in SOLIDWORKS.

• CustomTools SolidWorks Add-in is the primary client access point for CustomTools. This is where users will spend the majority of their time.  This should be installed on every machine with SOLIDWORKS installed.
• SolidWorks Document Templates are sample SOLIDWORKS model and drawing templates that work with the sample “Machine Design” profile. You will likely want to set up your own profile based on the properties you manage in your own templates and drawings, so these may not be of any immediate value for you, apart from examples.
• CustomTools Viewer is a standalone application that can view SOLIDWORKS models and drawings, and perform some limited CustomTools operations, like Printing, searching, and data exporting. It’s built on the eDrawings viewer technology, but provides a CustomTools integration.  These are a separate license than the Basic and Professional clients for SOLIDWORKS.
• CustomTools Administration is the application needed to create SQL databases for CustomTools, manage profiles (add, remove, copy, import, export & permissions), and manage users and groups.

Server components are the applications that connect the CustomTools users to the CustomTools SQL database, manage the licenses, or enable outside data sources (like Excel, Access,  and SQL databases) to connect with your CustomTools database.  These are required only on the machine hosting the SQL Database, and/or the license server.

• CustomTools Database triggers the installation of SQL Express from Microsoft. Only select this if you intend to install SQL Express for testing or evaluating CustomTools, or in small scale (<10) environments if you don’t have a SQL Server and client access licenses (CALS) already.  Those are purchased directly from Microsoft.  The CALS included with your Enterprise PDM clients do not cover other applications, like CustomTools.
• CustomTools Service is a connector server that allows the CustomTools Administration tool to set up and manage live connections to data sources outside the CustomTools database. This is only applicable if you have at least one CustomTools Professional client license, and intend to set up queries to external databases, like ERP.
• CustomTools License Manager is used with network versions of the CustomTools Basic, Professional, Viewer and Administration clients. It works very much like the SOLIDNetwork License Manager used by SOLIDWORKS. 

Tools are special applications used to either convert much older CustomTools profiles to the current format, or allow importing your SOLIDWORKS file metadata into the CustomTools database from a standalone application.  These applications will not have a Start Menu or Programs link.  They are executables found in the installation directory (ex. C:\Program Files\ATR Soft\CustomTools 2015).

• CustomTools Profile Converter is a standalone application that converts older CustomTools profile versions (3.x) and TeamWorks CPM data into current profiles.
• CustomTools CustomImport Stanadalone is a standalone application that uses the same import interface as that used inside the SOLIDWORKS add-in to import SOLIDWORKS file metadata (properties and references) into the CustomTools database.

Languages allow the selection of the default and additional languages your users may need to work with in CustomTools.  These include English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Czech, French & Hungarian.