Test the deployment and distribute products to workstations

Best practices for deployment testing

• Try to deploy your products for testing in an isolated, non-production environment.
• Make sure that the test environment mimics the production environment as closely as possible.
• Deploy to the same platforms employed by the end user in a production environment.
• Start with a test deployment to a small user group or device collection.
• Have an actual end-user (non-admin) of the product sign in to the test machines and verify product functionality.
• Scale deployments into the production environment after testing is completed in the staging environment.
• Consider deploying products during maintenance hours to minimize network usage during business hours.

Test the deployment

Before you distribute products to workstations, run the deployment on a test workstation to make sure that everything is working properly.

1. Using a typical user profile, sign in to a client machine with a profile that doesn't have admin permissions.
2. Run the product to verify that:
   • There are no licensing errors.
   • Major features critical to your work are functioning as expected.
   • All updates, customizations, and add-ons have been correctly applied.

Distribute products to workstations

Autodesk recommends using a deployment tool such as Microsoft® Endpoint Configuration Manager (formerly known as SCCM) to manage software distribution to selected target systems through a remote process. For detailed instructions, see Using Microsoft Configuration Manager to deploy and manage Autodesk products.