Set Up V-Ray Render Service

This page provides information on setting up a V-Ray render service.

Overview

By registering and running the V-Ray spawner and V-Ray GPU server as services, the machine is set at all times to join respective Distributed Rendering requests as a render server. Both services can be set up to run automatically when Windows boots.

Distributed Rendering can also be performed on demand without registering as a service. For more information, see the Set Up Distributed Rendering page.

Register V-Ray render servers as service

Register V-Ray DNS Server

You can register the V-Ray spawner service so that it runs automatically on Windows boot from the Windows Start > Programs > V-Ray for 3ds Max #### > Register as a service the V-Ray spawner for 3ds Max ####.

When registering the V-Ray DR spawner for 3ds Max as a service, it always asks for a Username and Password. This means that additional commands need to be added if you want to do that on multiple machines through an unattended install. There are two different approaches.

1. Add "-quiet" to the command line - this installs the service from the Local Service Account and does not ask for username/password. Then you need to set a real user for the VRaySpawner#### service to use it.

Example:

• For 3ds Max 2021 and earlier: "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max ####\vrayspawner####.exe" -service -quiet
• For 3ds Max 2022 and above, when installed for all users: "C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\VRay3dsMax####\bin\vrayspawner####.exe" -service -quiet
• For 3ds Max 2022 and above, when installed for the current user: "C:\Users\<user_name>\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\VRay3dsMax####\bin\vrayspawner####.exe" -service -quiet

#### is the version number of your 3ds Max.

V-Ray GPU DR Server

You can register the V-Ray GPU render server as a Windows service so that it runs automatically on Windows. Boot from the Windows Start > Programs > V-Ray for 3ds Max #### > Register as a service the V-Ray GPU render server for 3ds Max ####.

When registering the V-Ray GPU render server for 3ds Max as a service, it аlways asks for a Username and Password. This means that additional commands need to be added if you want to do that on multiple machines through an unattended install. There are two different approaches.

1. Add "-quiet" to the command line - this installs the service from the Local Service Account and does not ask for username/password. Then you need to set a real user for the VRayStdSpawner service to use it.

Example:

For 3ds Max 2021 and earlier: "C:\Program Files\Chaos Group\V-Ray\3ds Max ####\bin\vraystdspawner.exe" -service -quiet

For 3ds Max 2022 and above when installed for all users: "C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\VRay3dsMax####\bin\vraystdspawner.exe" -service -quiet

For 3ds Max 2022 and above when installed for the current user: "C:\Users\<user_name>\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\VRay3dsMax####\bin\vraystdspawner.exe" -service -quiet

#### is the version number of your 3ds Max.

2. Add params -username=... and -password=... to the command line - this tries to use the supplied username/pass to register the service.

Mapped Drives and UNC Paths for Texture Maps and Other Rendering Assets

If you are using mapped drives or UNC paths for your rendering assets, you should set up a Log On account for the V-Ray spawner service. Оtherwise, the textures or any other external assets are not accessible.

To set up the Log On account:

• Open the "Services" applet from the Control Panel (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services) and find "VRaySpawner ####" service;
• With the right mouse click expand the drop-down menu and choose Properties;
• Go to the Log On tab and instead of the default Log on as local system account choose This account and put there the account that has adequate privileges on the machine and access to the shared resources over the network.Alternatively, you can use the automatic asset transfer mechanism of V-Ray as described above to send the required assets from the client machine to the render servers.