Altair Software and Hardware 2020.1 Release Notes

New Applications

Altair Inspire Studio
Altair Inspire Studio is a software solution that enables designers, architects, and digital artists to create, evaluate and visualize design ideas faster than ever before.
Altair Inspire Render
Altair Inspire Render is the new 3D rendering and animation powerhouse that enables users to quickly generate photo-realistic renderings and animations of their products.
Altair Manufacturing Solver
Altair Manufacturing Solver is a state-of-the-art solver suite for manufacturing applications built on a parallel, modular and extensible framework that is suitable for simulations of manufacturing processes. The current version of Manufacturing Solver includes a casting solver that is used under Altair Inspire Cast and an injection molding solver that has an interface in Altair SimLab.
Altair Manufacturing Solver is included in the HW Solvers package.
Altair Seam
Altair Seam provides high frequency vibro-acoustic solutions to the automotive, aerospace, naval and heavy equipment industries.
The GUI for Seam is included in the HW Desktop package, and the Seam solver is included in the HW Solvers package.

Hardware and Platform Changes

Operating system additions
Support for the following platforms has been added:
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP3 (64-bit)
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux / CentOS 7.4 (64-bit)
Discontinued hardware platform support systems
Support for the following platforms has been dropped:
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2 (64-bit)
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux / CentOS 7.2 (64-bit)
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux / CentOS 6.6 (64-bit)

Installation

HyperWorks 2020 suite contains independent product packages
Independent product packages give you the flexibility to download desired packages as needed. Any HyperWorks 2020 standalone SA update package can be installed either on top of an existing 2020 installation, or can be installed independently without the prerequisite of a 2020 base.
Installer capabilities and features
HyperWorks 2020 brings with it the robust capabilities and features of HyperWorks 2019 installers, as well as additional support for HotFix installers. These HotFix installers are quick patch type installers that are used to install on top of a prerequisite base installation, unlike the other full installers. These are marked with the word “hotfix” in the installer name and bring with them the quick fixes and features to better suit your needs.

Installation and Packaging Features

  • Added master installer support for the unified Inspire Extrude package on Windows.
  • Added master installer support for Altair Activate on Linux.
  • Added master installer support for Inspire Studio on Windows.
  • Added master installer support for Inspire Render on Windows.
  • Added Seam product to HW Desktop (GUI) and HW Solvers (solver).
  • Added Manufacturing Solver product to HW Solvers.
  • Added master installer support for Flux hotfixes.
  • HW Desktop’s directory structure was changed to be consistent with the rest of the products.
  • Desktop Help and Solvers Help can now be installed independently.
  • Each product installer’s content can be uninstalled from a suite installation.
  • HyperView Player is now registered when it is installed.
  • Install Sets have been added to the master installer, which allow you to browse the catalog by discipline.
  • Programs and Features entries are removed properly when using the master uninstaller.
  • When the installers check for running processes, they now only check the path selected for installation or uninstallation.
  • Improved disk space estimates when installing a hotfix using the master installer.

Invoking

  • Added Linux Menu support for Altair Activate and Virtual Wind Tunnel for ultraFluidX.
  • Improved the structure of the Linux Menu on Gnome.
  • Updated Linux Compatibility Tool.

Resolved Issues

  • The master installer will no longer report an incorrect amount of available disk space on Linux.
  • Resolved an issue where the most recent package was not selected in the master installer Choose Install Set panel in some cases.
  • Resolved an issue where Engineering and Manufacturing Solutions Start Menu shortcuts were not being created for "Complete" silent installations.
  • The master uninstaller no longer leaves behind an empty folder after uninstallation is complete.
  • When using the master installer in console mode on Linux, packages that are deselected will be handled properly.
  • Linux console mode now works properly when you have a DISPLAY variable set.
  • Resolved an issue where SimLab was not being properly added to Linux Menus.

Known Issues

  • Using the Back/Previous option with an installer may not reset the installer variables correctly if changes are made and the install session is continued.
  • On Linux, installing a directory with spaces is not supported.
  • In some cases, the Linux installers will report an incorrect amount of available disk space.
  • Special characters in the path to the temp location can cause the Java in the installer to not function correctly.
  • On Linux, during a console mode install, when using the response file output command -r in the Help Configuration response file may not write out correctly.
  • If there is not enough TMP/TEMP space on the main drive (for example, C: under Windows), then the installer will prompt user to input a new location. Some Java TMP/TEMP space will still try to go to the main drive even when selecting this new location.
  • Clicking the Cancel button to stop an installation via the Master Installer does not clean up the already installed files, but does clean up the files in the TMP/TEMP folder. You will need to uninstall/delete the installed files from the chosen install folder manually if Cancel was clicked.
  • Clicking Cancel to stop an installation causes the Add/Remove uninstaller icon to possibly not function correctly, and then manual removal of the installed files would be necessary.
  • The HyperWorks installers do not support the use of the default InstallAnywhere installer.properties files. We request that a unique name is used when using a response file; for example, installer_hw2020.properties, and to use it with the -f <path_to_file>/<filename> command line option.
  • For NETSETUP client installs from a server installation of HyperWorks, a UNC path must be used to get to the server installation path through Windows Explorer or Windows Network.
    Note: Using mapped drive letters or variables is not currently supported in the client installer.
  • On Linux, there is an issue with using the Master Installer with the IATEMPDIR variable to specify a custom temporary directory location. All sub-installers will try to use /tmp from the machine running the installers for temporary installer files.
  • With some versions of Gnome, there is a bug where the Linux icons are not placed in a hierarchy. Instead, they are placed in “Other” with a flat layout, meaning that all the icons appear at the same folder level in “Other.”
  • The installer does not run the Linux Menu installation by default, the user must run the installation script.
  • When the Master Uninstaller is used, desktop shortcuts, if any, will not be removed during uninstallation.