2.2 Abaqus documentation installation details

The Abaqus online documentation is provided in two formats, HTML and PDF. Most installations share the HTML and PDF documentation from a single server. Both formats of the documentation can also be installed on as many computers as desired, for local access by individual users.

The commands and options used to install Abaqus documentation are listed in “Documentation installation,” Section 2.1.3.

Abaqus HTML documentation can be installed on platforms that are supported for Abaqus 2016 and should generally be installed on only one computer on your network. The server machine that you choose for the HTML and PDF documentation should be accessible by all computers where you plan to run Abaqus.

The Abaqus PDF documentation is not meant as a replacement for the HTML-format documentation. However, it has the following advantages:

Requires less disk space.
Convenient portable reference.
Ability to print a range of pages, such as a section or chapter.
Higher quality printed output than that available from the HTML documentation.
Searchable alternative to the HTML documentation, particularly for situations where the HTML documentation is not searchable because it was installed with no web server.

Installing only the PDF documentation has the following disadvantages:

The detailed, step-by-step instructions for using each of the Abaqus/CAE functions are available only in the HTML version of the Abaqus/CAE User's Guide and as context-sensitive help. They do not appear in the PDF version of the guide.
The hyperlinks in context-sensitive help will not function if you have not installed the Abaqus HTML documentation.
Some of the items under the Help menu in Abaqus/CAE and Abaqus/Viewer will connect only to the HTML help, not to the PDF documentation.

The Abaqus PDF collection contains all the books in the HTML collection. The PDF version of all guides except the Abaqus Scripting Reference Guide and the Abaqus GUI Toolkit Reference Guide includes a icon in the top left corner of each page that allows you to print a selected section without specifying a page range. More information about navigating and printing the Abaqus PDF documentation is available in Chapter 5, “Overview of the Abaqus PDF documentation,” of Using Abaqus Online Documentation.

2.2.1 Configuration of documentation installation

When the Abaqus documentation installer runs, it determines the configuration of any existing Abaqus documentation:

If you have the documentation from an older release installed (Abaqus 6.14, for example), the new Abaqus 2016 documentation is installed in the same location as the older versions.
The Abaqus installer creates a new subdirectory named v2016 to hold the Abaqus 2016 documentation. If you are using the Abaqus web server software, you are prompted to choose whether or not to serve all releases of the documentation simultaneously.
If documentation from a previous release of Abaqus is not installed, you are prompted for the installation directory. The default location is the current working directory on Linux platforms and C:\SIMULIA on Windows platforms. You should not install Abaqus documentation in a directory that indicates a specific Abaqus release number. The installation procedure creates a subdirectory named Documentation under the specified directory.

During an HTML (plus PDF) installation, you must select one of the following options:

Install and start the Abaqus web server software (recommended option, to allow search functionality).
Install the HTML (plus PDF) documentation and use an existing non-Abaqus web server. In this case you must configure your web server software manually to access the Abaqus HTML documentation (see “Configuring an existing non-Abaqus web server,” Section B.1.1).
Install the HTML (plus PDF) documentation with no web server. In this case no search functionality is available in the HTML documentation. Select this option if you want to view the HTML documentation from your local system without executing an active web server.

With the exception of “no web server,” the installation option that you select applies to both the Abaqus 2016 HTML documentation and, if it exists, any previous release of Abaqus documentation. If you select the “no web server” option for the Abaqus 2016 installation, the Abaqus 2016 HTML documentation has no web server and the documentation from previous releases is not affected.

Note: On Windows platforms the Abaqus web server software will start up automatically after a reboot. On Linux platforms the Abaqus web server is started by the installation procedure, but you should include the script to restart the web server (doc_install_dir/Documentation/installation_info/v2016/startServer) in the system startup file for the server host machine to have the Abaqus web server restart automatically after a system reboot. Contact your system administrator or platform vendor for information on the system startup file for your computer.

When the installation is complete, log files are written to the following directory:

doc_install_dir/Documentation/installation_info/v2016/

The log files are helpful for troubleshooting problems, and they should not be removed. For more information on accessing and using the Abaqus HTML documentation, see “Abaqus documentation,” Section 3.2.12 of the Abaqus Analysis User's Guide, and the online book Using Abaqus Online Documentation.

2.2.2 Repeating documentation installations on multiple computers

When you install documentation, a file called installer.properties is created in the doc_install_dir/Documentation/installation_info/v2016/ directory. This file, called the replay file, contains information that was used during the documentation installation, such as the installation directory and web server configuration. The -replay command option is available to repeat a previous installation on identical platforms without reentering the same information for each installation. You can use this option to perform a silent installation (no graphical user interface is displayed). It performs an installation identical to the previous installation (same installation directory, same configuration, etc.) using information stored in the replay file.

The information that was entered for the first installation must be valid for subsequent installations that use the -replay option. All installation error checking is skipped when this option is used. You should make sure that you have write permissions and sufficient disk space in the installation directory before performing the installation. To use the -replay option, do the following:

Install documentation on a computer using the graphical user interface (without the -replay option). You can install either option: HTML and PDF, or PDF-only.
Copy the file installer.properties (the replay file) to the other computers on which you want to install Abaqus documentation (must be the same platform) or to a mounted network drive.

Install the documentation on another computer using the -replay option as follows:

Linux platforms

extract_dir/AM_DOC_SIM_EstPrd.AllOS/1/
DOC_SIMULIA_Abaqus_fe-safe/1/Abaqus_2016/setup 
-replay full_path_to_replay_file

Windows platforms

extract_dir\AM_DOC_SIM_EstPrd.AllOS\1\
DOC_SIMULIA_Abaqus_fe-safe\1\Abaqus_2016\setup.exe 
-replay full_path_to_replay_file

The documentation is installed silently.

Review the installation log files for errors:
- html_InstallLog.log and info.log (for an installation of HTML and PDF)
- pdf_InstallLog.log (for a PDF-only installation)
These files are located in the following directory: doc_install_dir/Documentation/installation_info/v2016/
This step is optional but recommended.
Repeat the documentation installation using the -replay option on each of the remaining computers.