--- title: "Installation from zip" canonical: "https://documentation.chaos.com/space/VRAYHOUDINI/113279274/Installation%20from%20zip" format: markdown --- This page describes how to set up your local system so that it loads the files for the correct version. > Macro (ui-button) ## **Overview** --- Installing V-Ray for Houdini from a .zip file provides several advantages over the regular installer: - The ZIP installation allows for setting a custom environment when starting each Houdini instance. In contrast, running the regular installation multiple times overwrites the V-Ray [environment variables](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VNS/pages/115605616). - The ZIP installation can be used to run V-Ray for Houdini and V-Ray Standalone from an arbitrary location or even a network drive. That way, multiple users can start Houdini along with V-Ray for Houdini using just a script that sets up the environment variables without the need to run local installations. - Upgrading a ZIP installation is a lot easier too, as you don't need to run the installer on every user's computer. - The ZIP installation allows for quickly switching between different V-Ray versions without reinstalling it. ## **Installing V-Ray from Zip** --- It's recommended that you make sure your computer meets the [System Requirements](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279265) for running Houdini with V-Ray before installing V-Ray. > ✅ Under the hood, the V-Ray installation relies on the Houdini 3-rd party plugins **package** system. Houdini's packages are .json files that specify the location of custom modules. For more information, please refer to the [documentation on the SideFX website](https://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini/ref/plugins.html). > ✅ > ✅ The **"vray_for_houdini.json"** package that is used to load V-Ray when Houdini is started is placed under "$HFS/packages" (e.g. "C:\Program Files\Side Effects Software\Houdini ##.#.###\packages" for Windows) when running the installer. You may set things up differently depending on your studio pipeline. > ✅ > ✅ By default, when using the installer, the **location of V-Ray** itself is "C:\Program Files\Chaos\V-Ray". Just as with the "vray_for_houdini.json", V-Ray itself can be placed anywhere on disk. As long as the "INSTALL_ROOT" variable in the json file points to a valid location, Houdini should be able to find the required modules to load V-Ray. **Example JSON file for loading V-Ray** ```java { "load_package_once" : true, "env": [ { "INSTALL_ROOT" : "REPLACE_WITH_PATH_TO_UNPACKED_ARCHIVE" }, { "VFH_HOME" : "${INSTALL_ROOT}/vfh_home" }, { "VRAY_APPSDK" : "${INSTALL_ROOT}/appsdk" }, { "VRAY_SDK" : "${VRAY_APPSDK}" }, { "VRAY_OSL_PATH" : "${VRAY_APPSDK}/bin" }, { "VRAY_UI_DS_PATH" : "${INSTALL_ROOT}/ui" }, { "VRAY_FOR_HOUDINI_APPSDK_BIN" : "${VRAY_APPSDK}/bin" }, { "PATH" : [ "${HFS}/bin", "${VRAY_FOR_HOUDINI_APPSDK_BIN}", "${VFH_HOME}/bin" ]}, { "VFH_DSO_PATH" : [ { "houdini_version == '20.5.278' and houdini_python == 'python3.10'": "${VFH_HOME}/dso_py310/20.5.278" }, { "houdini_version == '20.5.278' and houdini_python == 'python3.11'": "${VFH_HOME}/dso_py311/20.5.278" }, { "houdini_version == '20.5.332' and houdini_python == 'python3.10'": "${VFH_HOME}/dso_py310/20.5.332" }, { "houdini_version == '20.5.332' and houdini_python == 'python3.11'": "${VFH_HOME}/dso_py311/20.5.332" }, { "houdini_version == '20.5.370' and houdini_python == 'python3.10'": "${VFH_HOME}/dso_py310/20.5.370" }, { "houdini_version == '20.5.370' and houdini_python == 'python3.11'": "${VFH_HOME}/dso_py311/20.5.370" }, { "houdini_version == '20.5.410' and houdini_python == 'python3.10'": "${VFH_HOME}/dso_py310/20.5.410" }, { "houdini_version == '20.5.410' and houdini_python == 'python3.11'": "${VFH_HOME}/dso_py311/20.5.410" }, { "houdini_version == '20.5.445' and houdini_python == 'python3.10'": "${VFH_HOME}/dso_py310/20.5.445" }, { "houdini_version == '20.5.445' and houdini_python == 'python3.11'": "${VFH_HOME}/dso_py311/20.5.445" } ]}, { "PYTHONPATH" : [ { "method": "append", "value": "${VRAY_APPSDK}/python" }, { "method": "append", "value": "${VFH_DSO_PATH}/python" } ]}, { "HOUDINI_DSO_PATH" : "${VFH_DSO_PATH}" } ], "path" : [ "${VFH_HOME}" ] } ``` ## **Steps** --- ### **V-Ray 7.2 and Later** V-Ray versions 7.2 and later have their installation steps included in the .zip installation file. 1. Download the .zip file from the [Chaos Downloads portal](https://my.chaos.com/download/build?product=V-Ray&build-type=official&tags=windows-x64-zip&platform=Houdini&platform-version=20.5). 2. Unzip the file into a specific location. 3. In the unzipped folder, you can find a **docs** subfolder. Inside, there is a **README **file. That file contains the installation instructions. For example: ``` C:\Installation\vray7.20.10_houdini20.5\docs\README ``` --- ### **V-Ray Versions Prior to 7.2**
V-Ray Versions Prior to 7.2 ### Windows To deploy V-Ray using the ZIP archive instead of the installer, follow these steps: 1. Unzip the V-Ray for Houdini archive. 2. Move it to a location of your choice (e.g. "D:\V-Ray"). 3. Place the "vray_for_houdini.json" file under "$HFS/packages". 4. Edit the "vray_for_houdini.json" and set the "INSTALL_ROOT" variable to point to the location of the V-Ray files (e.g. "INSTALL_ROOT" : "D:/V-Ray"). 5. Start Houdini. > ℹ️ You can use the "{INSTALL_ROOT}\appsdk\bin\setvrlservice.exe" utility to set the address for licensing. --- ### Linux and macOS In Linux and macOS environments, the process is exactly the same. For **macOS**: Note that the "packages" folder resides in **Applications** > **Houdini** > **Houdini ##.#.###** > **Frameworks** > **Houdini.framework** > **Versions** > **##.#** > **Resources** > **packages** > ... For **Linux**: The "packages" folder resides in /opt/hfs/packages For detailed information on how to run V-Ray for Houdini, see the [QuickStart Guides Introduction ](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279713)tutorial.  > ✅ You can use the "${INSTALL_ROOT}/appsdk/bin/setvrlservice" utility to set the address for licensing for Linux and OSX.