Environment Variable on the Mac + maya.env + Options files on Windows

Some key concepts are covered in this post:

• Advanced Options File setup (LM_PROJECT) for all users in a group called AUS
• Maya Environment Variables (maya.env)
• Adding an Environment Variable on the Mac (10.9 - launch.conf | 10.10 - autodesk.environment.plist)

The Story...

We have this site that has setup a very sophisticated options file that uses LM_PROJECT.  A really good description of LM_PROJECT can be found here:

http://www.jtbworld.com/Autodesk-Network-License-Manager.htm

In this scenario, we want an Autodesk product that runs on the Mac to use the LM_PROJECT environment variable.  The LM_PROJECT environment variable is allotting a group of licenses for a group called: AUS.

If you are a Maya user, it is pretty easy to add an environment variable in Maya.  It is a matter adding it into a maya.env file and this workflow works in Windows, Mac or Linux.  What makes this story interesting is that we added a licensing environment variable (LM_PROJECT) to the maya.env.

Adding an Environment Variable for Maya on Mac [Screencast video]

http://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Where-do-I-set-the-Maya-environment-variables-for-Maya-on-the-Mac.html

The next trick is to add the LM_PROJECT to AutoCAD on the Mac.  The problem is that the maya.env only works with Maya so this means we need to add a system wide Environment Variable on the Mac.

Adding an Environment Variable for the Mac [Screencast video]

http://knowledge.autodesk.com/search-result/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/How-do-I-add-an-environment-variable-on-the-Mac.html?v=2015

Reference

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/311843

Epilogue

Thanks to Matt Haugen for contributing & confirming the workflow for  Mac OS 10.10 [Yosemite]. 

1. Create a plist file in /Library/LaunchAgents.i.e. autodesk.environment.plist. 
2. The contents of the plist should be similar to the following. The only variable that would change would be international to be whatever project you want to set.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>Label</key>
<string>my.startup</string>
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
<string>sh</string>
<string>-c</string>
<string>
launchctl setenv LM_PROJECT international
</string>
</array>
<key>RunAtLoad</key>
<true/>
</dict>
</plist>

Reference

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/25385934/setting-environment-variables-via-launchd-conf-no-longer-works-in-os-x-yosemite