by Dennis Collin
For Autodesk customers, the preferred way to access their software products and updates is via their Autodesk account. Although products can be accessed via the Autodesk Access App, I have found there are more installation options via the Autodesk Account page. This includes ensuring that the product is properly configured for the local region like content packs for Civil 3D and Revit.
The Account page generally has the latest version with its various add-ins, plus 3 previous versions. This is fine for most users, but for certain organisations with projects ongoing for many years there is a requirement to keep project data on legacy software versions. In many cases though these older versions are not available on the Autodesk Account page.
Fig 1. Autodesk Account doesn’t have such a long memory like AVA!
Using the Civil 3D Product as an example, we can see on the Autodesk Account page the oldest software that can be accessed is Civil 3D 2021. However, a project might require an older Civil 3D version like 2019!
An answer to this problem is to make use of Autodesk Virtual Agent (AVA). This environment is still available despite the announcement of its removal in May this year. The assistant can be accessed at https://ava.autodesk.com/ . At the time of writing in November 2023 this method still works, but bear in mind it may be removed at some point as Autodesk moves to primary method of accessing software via their Autodesk account.
For the moment however, the following options enabled me to access a legacy software version. The link above does open another page, but the Autodesk Virtual Agent (AVA) will be available to assist. Obviously, users will need a valid license entitlement still to use the software.
Fig 2. AVA is still here, alive, and well and helpful!
AVA is more helpful in terms of questions being asked if you are logged in to your Autodesk Account, after which AVA should provide similar options to access their desired package.
- Post Purchase Support
- Downloads
- Download Software
- Find a product download.
- Which Product are you looking for?
Choose the product and then the installer will download and can be installed. Doing some tests via this method provides access to all 2019 products. It is probable that the AVA will be removed at some point, but I would hope or expect that legacy versions of software would become be available on the Account page.
Fig 3. Submitting a request to download legacy software.
If not then it is worth contacting our Customer Service team, who should be able to help and provide you access to your desired software version. Bear in mind operating system compatibility with any product older than 2017 versions is not supported for the newer operating systems such as Windows 10 and 11. This method seems to provide options for many products including Civil 3D, Revit, Vanilla AutoCAD, and many other solutions.