Aspen Plus V14 - Upgrading or Installing
Step-by-step installation guide for UT ChE students enrolled in a course utilizing Aspen
NOTE: UTGUEST AND EDUROAM WIFI WILL NOT WORK if connecting from campus; you must be connected to the UTEXAS WIFI. If you are off campus, you must first make a VPN connection (vpn.utexas.edu).
If you are installing Aspen for the very first time then you may skip down to Section 2
Section 1: Upgrading to v14 from previous version of Aspen
Before proceeding with the installation of Aspen Plus version 14, there are two important steps that must first be taken, otherwise you may run into problems that could result in hours of troubleshooting. These steps are:
Uninstall your current version of Aspen (v10, v11, or v12). This must be done using the built-in Aspen uninstaller.
COMPLETELY uninstall any existing version of SQL Server and all databases.
Step 1: Uninstall current version of Aspen:
Open File Explorer and navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)>Aspentech>Setup>Uninstall. Run AspenTech Uninstaller.exe. Click the box next to Product Name to select all Aspen products, then click Uninstall. When the process finishes restart your computer. After restarting, proceed to Step 2: Uninstall SQL Server.
Step 2: Uninstall SQL Server or SQL Express
First you will need to stop any running SQL services that are running. Do this by clicking the Start button, then type “services” and press Enter to open the Windows Services list. Scroll down the alphabetical list until you find the list of SQL services. Right-click on each one and select “stop.”
Right-click the Start button and select Settings. Click Apps > Installed Apps. Type “SQL” in the search field to filter the results to show all installed SQL Server component. One at a time, click the “3 dot” menu to the right and select “uninstall.” If any uninstall routine asks you which options to select, always choose “select all.” Restart your computer when all components have been uninstalled.
After your computer has been restarted, open File Explorer, navigate to C:\Program Files, and delete the “Microsoft SQL Server” folder.
You can now move on to installing Aspen V14!
Section 2: Installing Aspen v14
First mount the Aspen v14 installation folder:
Click the Start Menu and open File Explorer
Find "This PC" on the left-side menu, right-click on it and select "map network drive." Enter the following path in the "folder" field \\austin.utexas.edu\disk\che-share\aspenONE\V14 . The Drive letter doesn't matter. Make sure to uncheck "reconnect at login" and to check "connect using different credentials".
For the username, enter austin\your EID e.g.,
Note: Attempting this from on-campus will work best. If you are off-campus you must first follow these instructions to make a VPN connection, and then proceed with the instructions. Connecting to the UT VPN Service
Once you successfully connect you will see the following files and folders:
right click Setup > run as administrator > select Install AspenONE products.
Unselect Aspen OptiPlan, expand Server Products and Tools, and then unselect all of the options under Server Tools AND Aspen Knowledge In-Context Service. Aspen AI Model Builder Tools will remain greyed out, which is fine. Leave everything else selected. Your product selection screen should look like this:
Add che-labman.austin.utexas.edu as the license server > ...install now. The installation can take a while, depending on the speed of your computer. Eventually you should see the progress bar:
Click Finish and Reboot your computer when prompted.
From the program list on your computer, navigate to Aspen Plus > Aspen Plus V14.2