Share

Applies to 2026.0 Update and later

 
 

About installing Netfabb – Frequently asked questions

Topic Question Answer

Trial

"How do I start a trial?"

After launching Netfabb for the first time after installation, choose Enter a Serial Number. The next pages after that offer a Run button to start the trial.

Trial of Simulation

"When trialling the Simulation Utility, I am told the Local Solver cannot be found."

The local solver, or Autodesk® Netfabb® Local Simulation, is a separate product that is not included in the trial. Please contact Sales to learn about trialling Local Simulation.

Premium

""Where is Netfabb Premium?" "

The word "Premium" has been removed from the name of the product beginning with release 2025. Other than that, it is still the same product, continued, and is used with the same license.

Ultimate

""Where is Netfabb Ultimate?" "

Netfabb Ultimate has been retired with the Netfabb 2026 release in April 2025; Netfabb 2025.1, released in July 2024, is the last available version to have received the Ultimate variant. This also retired Selective Space Structures (3S), Optimization Utility, and Lattice Topology Utility. The other features previously exclusive to Ultimate have been living in Netfabb (formerly Netfabb Premium) since the release of Netfabb 2025 in April 2024.

Netfabb Basic

"How do I get Netfabb Basic?"

The free Autodesk® Netfabb® is included in the Netfabb installer for any subscription.

If you have Netfabb installed and activated, or installed and begun a trial,

  1. Launch Netfabb and switch Settings > Settings > General > Start without license to Yes.

If you have installed Netfabb but have not launched it yet after installation,

  1. Launch Netfabb.
  2. When the Let's Get Started dialog appears, close it and confirm Do you really want to cancel licensing? by clicking Yes.
  3. In the Startup Warning dialog, tick Always start non-licensed version.
  4. You can now launch Netfabb by clicking Start non-licensed version.

Installation path

"Netfabb does not install into requested directory, but creates a named subdirectory, Netfabb Standard/(formerly Premium/Ultimate <year version>."

This is mandated by Autodesk standard installers and cannot be changed.

System requirements

"What are the System Requirements for installing Netfabb?"

Here: System requirements

Offline help

"Is Netfabb Help available in a stand-alone, offline version for users who are not on the Internet?"

No, that is not available anymore.

Multiple installations

"I cannot install more than one instance of Netfabb on the same machine!"

You cannot install the same major version (example: 2025.0, 2025.1) and subscription variant (Standard/(formerly Premium)/Ultimate) on the same machine multiple times. This is mandated by Autodesk standard installers and cannot be changed. It is based on the limitations imposed by the Windows Installer technology.

However, if they are different major versions (2025.x, 2026.x), or of different subscription levels, or both, you can indeed have multiple installations of Netfabb present.

Quiet installation

"When using the quiet mode through the command-line options, no indication appears when the installation fails."

'Quiet' mode, unfortunately, really does mean 'quiet' and will even suppress any errors leading to failure to install.

Updating to newer version

"After installing a newer major version, launching Netfabb produces an error message."

"Contact your network license administrator."

When switching from 2025.x to 2026.x, for example, your network license administrator must update Autodesk Network License Manager and also must generate and install a new license file.

Installation log files

"What installation log files are there, and where are they?"

For versions 2022 and onwards:

Installation logfiles are textfiles of type LOG at %localappdata%\Autodesk\ODIS

For earlier versions:

Installation logs are created as text files at %TEMP%. For example, this may resolve to C:\Users\<your Windows username>\AppData\Local\Temp\.

  • Netfabb<subscription>Setup.log
  • Netfabb_<subscription>_<version>_INSTALL.log
  • ATU_<version>_INSTALL.log

… where <subscription> may be one of Standard, , and Ultimate, depending on the installer, and <version> be 2025_0, for example

  • AdskLicensing_install.log
  • Optionally, one or more dd_vcredist_<…>.log files

… where <…> may be amd64_20200623092533, for example, indicating system architecture and timestamp.

Was this information helpful?