I am currently evaluating CrossOver Mac for my employer, using the free 30-day demo version (8.0.3). Am testing on an intel iMac running OS 10.6.2.
Our Macs are multi-user, meaning that we can log in with our network credentials at any Mac and proceed to work.
If we were to implement CrossOver on our Macs, we would need to save the bottles into a common area that each user could access (with minimal setup needed). [This is what we do with our disk images for Parallels and VirtualBox, which works fine.]
On my testing system I created a WinXP bottle under the local admin account and installed Outlook and IE. I then moved the folder /Users/admin/Library/Application Support/CrossOver/ to /User/Shared/, so that the bottle is now contained within /Users/Shared/CrossOver/, and then I opened the permissions on this folder and all contained items to give read/write access to all users.
I then followed the instructions in the following support document:
http://www.codeweavers.com/support/wiki/cxofficemacbottlelocation
. . .to change the location of the bottle directory. However, this did not work. When I launch CrossOver from any account, including the admin account, and select Configure > Manage Bottles, the list is empty. It does not see the installed bottle.
Please advise what (else) would need to be done to use this product in a multi-user environment, without having to copy the bottles into each user's home folder, which would not be a workable solution.
Thank you.
Edit to add:
This is the exact syntax in the CrossOver.conf file:
[BottleDefaults]
[EnvironmentVariables]
"CX_BOTTLE_PATH"="/Users/Shared/CrossOver"
I used the application TextWrangler to edit this file.
I noticed that there is also a CrossOver.conf file located in the CrossOver folder and edited that one too -- no change.
UPDATE:
I found that if the bottle path syntax is updated to read:
"CX_BOTTLE_PATH"="/Users/Shared/CrossOver/Bottles"
. . .then all accounts can see the bottles. However, accounts other than the local admin account where the bottles were created, even other local accounts, do not see the installed applications -- CrossOver reports to them, in the Manage Bottles > Applications tab, that there are no installed applications. How to fix this?
Additional Note:
As a testing/troubleshooting step I have attempted to run CrossOver from the root account to check if it might recognize the installed applications, but CrossOver will not even launch from the root account. The following error is reported: "CrossOver is unable to initialize a critical component. Without this, CrossOver is unable to run, and will now exit."
The only reference to this error I've found in Codeweavers' online support library refers to installation of an incompatible version of "TCL," which is not applicable in this case.
http://www.codeweavers.com/support/wiki/CXOfficeMacTCL
Need help to be able to launch the installed applications in a multi-user environment. Thank you.
This issue has been forwarded to the Official CodeWeavers Ticket System. If you have observed this issue and would like to report it as well, please open a support ticket or send an email to info@codeweavers.com with a description of what you are seeing and a link to this post.
Thank you!
The CodeWeavers Team
Ken Thomases