Download and Installation
- Jean-François Emond
Vortex Studio can be installed either on Windows or Linux.
On Windows, the user only needs to download the VortexSetup.exe.
On Linux, the tar.gz file is required.
About coexistence
Co-existence of Vortex Toolkit versions is supported (e.g., 2023.5 and 2023.6 on the same workstation).
Installation on Windows
Vortex Studio Download
Installation files for the Vortex® Studio family of products are available from the CM Labs' Asset Store.
Head to the Web Asset Store - CM Labs.
Getting Vortex Setup
VortexSetup is Vortex Studio installation tool. It is required to install Vortex Studio package in CM-Labs' proprietary format (.vxpackage).
Vortex Setup will also install Legacy .msi packages. But CM-Labs packages will soon be in (.vxpackage) format.
The first step is to get the latest Vortex Setup by clicking the green button “Download for Windows”.
VortexSetup application will downloaded.
It is critical to always get the latest VortexSetup when installing Vortex Studio products.
The latest VortexSetup is backward compatible and contains the latest fixes and features needed to install CM-Labs product packages.
The version can be checked in the toolbar of VortexSetup or in the Info section (by clicking on the icon on the first page)
Create a VortexSetup workspace
After the download, your VortexSetup will always be in the Download folder. VortexSetup will download all Vortex Studio Packages in the same location as Vortex Studio. To keep track of what you have and ease the removal of the packages, VortexSetup should be copied into a working directory that we will call the workspace.
Installing Products
It is a recommended best practice to install Vortex Studio software under the same Windows user account that you will use when running the Vortex Studio application. Each user should install Vortex Studio on their own in a different folder.
Vortex Studio Setup (VortexSetup.exe) is an executable that simplifies the installation of Vortex Studio. It can download the necessary components and install them without interruption.
VortexSetup will download the selected products before actually installing them.
VortexSetup can install Vortex Studio either on a desktop computer or on a distributed simulator (computers in the same network participating in the same simulation).
Installation on a desktop computer
Launch the Vortex Studio Setup file (
VortexSetup.exe) from your workspace to start the setup application.In the next window, click Install on Desktop.
After reading the license terms and conditions, select the agreement box and click Next.
In the next window, you will see a list of components available to install. Select all the components you want to install and click Next. Vortex Studio is the basic component that needs to be installed.
On the following Summary window, double-check your selections, then click Confirm.
A status window appears, displaying global and partial progress.
At the end of the process, a summary is displayed.
VortexSetup scans its current folder for any package and installs them in the proper order; inter-dependencies are managed without the user's intervention.
Setuping an installation package is as simple as gathering the installers (.msi or vxpackage files ) into a single folder when VortexSetup is also present.
Installation on a multiple-computer simulator
VortexService must be running on all computers where distributed installed is needed. Initially, Vortex Studio must be installed once on each computer of a simulator, and subsequent installations and upgrades can be done remotely with Vortex Studio Setup.
Simulator installation is used to set up a complete distributed simulator. Vortex Studio Setup will make certain that all computers in a distributed simulator have the same Vortex Studio components installed. This is usually done on the master computer of a distributed simulation.
An Internet connection is required on the machine running Vortex Studio Setup but not on the other computers.
Launch the Vortex Studio Setup file (
VortexSetup.exe) from your workspace to start the setup application.In the next window, click Install on Simulator.
After reading the license terms and conditions, select the agreement box and click Next.
In the next window, you will see a list of components available to install. Select all the components you want to install and click Next. Vortex Studio is the basic component that needs to be installed.
Select the computers from the chosen network interface where you want to install Vortex Studio. On remote computers, a window indicates that the Vortex Studio Setup client is communicating with the Vortex Studio Setup server.
Click Select.
Confirm the choice of components
A status window appears, displaying global and partial progress.
After installation, a summary is displayed.
Modifying an installation
Launch the Vortex Studio Setup file (
VortexSetup.exe) from your workspace to start the setup application.In the next window, click Modify on Desktop or Modify on Simulator.
After reading the license terms and conditions, select the agreement box and click Next.
In the next window, you will see a list of components already installed. Click Next.
You will see a list of components that you can choose to add.
When Modifying on a simulator
Select the computers from the chosen network interface where you want to install Vortex Studio. On remote computers, a window indicates that the Vortex Studio Setup client is communicating with the Vortex Studio Setup server.
Note that all systems selected will be synchronized, which means that independently of what was selected, all computers will have the same Vortex Studio Packages installed.
Click Select.
Confirm the choice of components
A status window appears, displaying global and partial progress.
After installation, a summary is displayed.
Removing an installation
It is important to keep the Vortex package in the workspace to ease the uninstallation.
Launch the Vortex Studio Setup file (
VortexSetup.exe) from your workspace to start the setup application.In the next window, click Uninstall on Desktop or Uninstall on Simulator.
After reading the license terms and conditions, select the agreement box and click Next.
In the next window, you will see a list of products and components already installed.
Select the products or components to remove. Click Next.
When removing products from a simulator
Select the computers from the chosen network interface where you want to install Vortex Studio. On remote computers, a window indicates that the Vortex Studio Setup client is communicating with the Vortex Studio Setup server.
Note that all systems selected will be synchronized, which means that independently of what was selected, all computers will have the same Vortex Studio Packages installed.
Confirm the choice of components
A status window appears, displaying global and partial progress.
After installation, a summary is displayed.
Installation for a remote computer
When you want to prepare the installation for another computer with limited or no internet access, it is preferable to use the Download and Offline mode of Vortex Studio
Downloading Vortex Products
Launch the Vortex Studio Setup file (
VortexSetup.exe) from your workspace to start the setup application.In the next window, click Download.
After reading the license terms and conditions, select the agreement box and click Next.
In the next window, you will see a list of components available to download. Select all the components you want to download and click Next. Vortex Studio is the basic component that needs to be downloaded.
On the following Summary window, double-check your selections, then click Confirm.
A status window appears, displaying global and partial progress.
At the end of the process, a summary is displayed. Copy the Vortex Setup workspace folder on a portable media
Installing Vortex Products without Internet access
Copy the Vortex Setup workspace folder from a portable media to a local folder. It is always preferable to keep a local copy of the Vortex Packages
Click the check box Offline Mode (Use Local Packages Only)
Perform the sequence stated above in Installing, Modifying, or Removing.
Manually downloading packages without using VortexSetup
In the case of issues with VortexSetup, e.g. firewall issues or connection unreliable, previous versions with individual packages are available.
You will need VortexSetup to install the packages.
Without VortexSetup, you need to know which packages to fetch as you might miss dependencies.
To download a specific package of a Vortex Studio version, click on the little eye on the card of the version you want.
A detailed page containing the different packages of that version will be made available for individual download.
Download the packages in the workspace directory.
Once the desired packages are downloaded in the same directory alongside VortexSetup, follow the steps for Installing Vortex Products without Internet access.
Activating my installation
About License servers
The Vortex Studio installation from the Vortex Setup contains the license manager for client users.
The Vortex Studio Licensing Tool package is only necessary if you need to configure a License Server.
See the Licensing chapter for information on how to activate your installation.
Installation of Windows runtime redistributables
Users who install Vortex Studio for the first time may need the Visual Studio Redistributables package for Visual Studio 2015.
The Vortex Setup application offers installation of the redistributables.
However, users without an internet connection might need to get the packages themselves from the internet.
This documentation will help users get those packages by themselves.
In some cases, if you already have the correct or higher version of the package installed, Vortex Studio will fail to install and prompt you to download a redistributable package.
Trying to install that linked version will also fail since it will register as an older version than what you have on your machine. In this case, you must repair the redistributable package from the "Apps & Features" tool (in Windows 10), or the "Uninstall or Change a Program" page found via the Control Panel.
How to get the Visual Studio Redistributables from VortexSetup
When starting Vortex Setup, if the Visual Studio redistributables required packages are not installed on the system, the user will be prompted to do the following:
The Vortex Setup is capable of installing the packages. It will ask if you want to download and install them; an internet connection and administrative privileges are required.
How to get the Visual Studio Redistributables Manually
You can also get them from the Microsoft website and install them on your own.
Getting the redistributables from the Microsoft website
Microsoft Visual C++ redistributable for Visual Studio 2015
This package is required by Vortex Studio. The software cannot run without it and Vortex Setup will not let you continue if this package is not installed.
Go to the latest supported Visual C++ downloads webpage
Scroll down to Visual Studio 2015, 2017 and 2019
Select the x64 package
Clicking on the vc_redist.x64.exe link will trigger a download
Execute the downloaded file and follow the steps.
Installing the Vortex Licensing Tools
The Vortex Studio Licensing tools are needed in the 2 following cases
Install a license server
Active a license for a remote computer when the computer does not need Vortex Studio. The Vortex Studio License Manager is installed when you install Vortex Studio. It is possible to install only the licensing tools, but installing Vortex Studio will also work for that case.
If you need to install a license server or If you need to generate license files for a different computer or a computer that does not have internet access, you can download the Vortex Studio Licensing Tools with the Vortex Studio Setup files from the CM-Labs website.
To install only the Vortex Studio Licensing Tools, do the following:
From the CM-Labs website, Click on the Go to Product Detail Page icon.
Find the Licensing tool in the list and click on the Download Package button.
In VortexSetup, select Offline Mode and press the Install on Desktop Button.
We suggest the following article on how to use VortexSetup.On the Install Stage page, press the Next button without selecting anything.
On the Component Stage page, select the licensing tool and proceed with the installation.
Installation on Linux
See Vortex Studio on Linux - Installation