How to install additional workbenches

Description
Power users have extended FreeCAD with various custom external workbenches, that are not integrated into the FreeCAD source code (yet!), but are easy to install on an existing FreeCAD installation. Here we will cover the installation methods for the different operating systems.

Installing on Windows
Recommended installation method

Use the addons-installer from Github.

During Google Summer of Code 2016 student Mandeep Singh started work on an improved

version (available here) but that version needs further work before it can be fully integrated in FreeCAD.

Alternative installation method “manual install”


 * download the workbench from github by clicking on the button “clone or download” on the github page (upper right corner) and choosing "Download ZIP"
 * unpack the downloaded archive on your local hard disk
 * within FreeCAD, locate the macro path by choosing “Edit > Preferences > General > Macro” and look for the ”Macro path”
 * supposed your Windows-Login is “User-Name” the default macro path is “C:\User-Name\Appdata\Roaming\FreeCAD”
 * within the macro-directory create (if not already present) a folder called “Mod”
 * within the folder mod create a folder with the name of the workbench, for example “Assembly2”
 * now move the unpacked files and sub-folders of the workbench to the just created workbench-folder
 * after restart of FreeCAD you should now have an entry in the workbench-pulldown-menu

Installing on Linux (Ubuntu/Mint)
Recommended installation method

Adding the community-ppa within the ppa-manager.

Installing the workbenches via synaptic packet manager.

Alternative installation method “Installing via Git”

FreeCAD you will now have a new workbench-entry called "Assembly 2". Once installed, use git to upgrade to the latest version through BASH as follows

Alternative installation method “manual install”


 * download the workbench from github by clicking on the button “clone or download” on the github page (upper right corner) and choosing "Download ZIP"
 * unpack the downloaded archive on your local hard disk
 * within FreeCAD, locate the macro path by choosing “Edit > Preferences > General > Macro” and look for the ”Macro path”
 * by default, the macro directory is the (hidden) "/.FreeCAD"-directory in your home-directory
 * within the macro-directory create (if not already present) a folder called “Mod”
 * within the folder "mod" create a folder with the name of the workbench, for example “Assembly2”
 * now move the unpacked files and sub-folders of the workbench to the just created workbench-folder
 * after restart of FreeCAD you should now have an entry in the workbench-pulldown-menu

Installing on Mac
Recommended installation method

Alternative installation method

Copy or unzip the drawing dimensioning folder to the directory FreeCAD.app/Contents/Mod where FreeCAD.app is the folder where FreeCAD is installed.

General troubleshooting

 * Don’t use special characters (for example german umlauts) in your windows user name, otherwise FreeCAD will not recognize files and folders in the macro path
 * If you have already set up a user name with special characters either create a new user name or point the macro path to a directory not using special characters
 * Workbench still not showing up ? In FreeCAD, choose “Tools > Customize > Workbenches” and make sure it is not set to invisible
 * Notes for users with 32-bit system. After attempts to install, the additional Workbenches may not be available. In this case
 * hold the Report panel open while starting FreeCAD, and read the error
 * see this forum thread: http://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?t=12839#p102933