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Keeping DSP current: the Companion and the plugin update separately

Two programs, two update paths, and nothing that ever stands between you and signing in.

Why there are two

The Companion and the plugin are released on their own schedules because they live in different places. The Companion is an ordinary Windows application and can replace itself. The plugin lives inside Plant 3D, which loads it at startup and holds it until Plant 3D closes — so a plugin update always waits for a Plant 3D restart, and it never happens behind your back while you are drafting.

The Companion updates itself, quietly

Whenever you sign in or open its update page, the Companion asks whether a newer version exists for your firm. If one does, the sign-in still completes — you are never refused for being behind — and the new version is downloaded in the background, verified against Nutechna's signature, and staged. It is installed the next time the Companion starts. There is nothing to click; if you want to see what changed, the update page lists the release notes for each version.

Firms that install the Companion centrally through their IT department get a different notice: the Companion detects that it cannot replace its own files and, instead of offering a button that could not succeed, tells you how your firm delivers updates — through Software Center, or by contacting your IT desk. Nothing is lost either way; you keep working on the version you have.

The plugin updates when you say so

The UPDATE PLUGIN page shows the plugin build your Plant 3D is running and the build available for it. Download fetches and verifies the new build; Install places it, and needs Plant 3D closed — the plugin's files are locked while it runs, so a drawing you are in the middle of is never touched by an update. Start Plant 3D again and the new build loads.

Installing records NUTECHNA, INC. as a trusted publisher for your Windows account, so Plant 3D loads the new build without its "Signed File Not in Trusted Folder" prompt. The page tells you in advance whether the next start will be silent.

A plugin build is only ever offered for a Plant 3D it can run on. DSP needs Plant 3D 2026.2 or newer; on an older host the page says so and offers nothing rather than installing a plugin that would never load.

What a release contains

Every release is signed, and every file is checked against that signature before it is used — on download and again when it is applied. Release notes are written for each version in plain words: what was added, what was fixed, and what you might notice. Notes about security fixes say that a fix shipped, never how the weakness worked.

Reading DSP_SELFCHECK

Inside Plant 3D, the DSP_SELFCHECK command prints what the plugin knows about itself. The lines that matter when something looks wrong:

plugin and loaded from — the build Plant 3D actually loaded and the folder it came from. If the version is older than the one the Companion applied, Plant 3D has not been restarted since.
license and org — whether this machine holds a seat, and the firm it belongs to.
expires — the date your firm's license period ends, in UTC. It is not the hour a ticket stays good for, and the Companion's renewals do not move it.

If a line ends with a short support code, that code is the fastest way to help you: send it to support@nutechna.com and it tells us exactly which check did not pass. Every line the command prints is explained on Reading DSP_SELFCHECK.

Questions we hear

The Companion updated but Plant 3D still shows the old plugin version.: The two are separate. Close Plant 3D, open UPDATE PLUGIN, then Download and Install the plugin build, then start Plant 3D. The Companion updating does not change the plugin.
Can I stay on a version I trust for the rest of a project?: For the plugin, yes — nothing is installed until you click Install, and you can keep drafting on the loaded version for as long as you like. The Companion keeps itself current so that signing in and licensing always work; its updates never change how a drawing is produced.
Our IT department pushed a new Companion. Do I need to do anything?: No. Sign in as usual. If a newer plugin is available for your Plant 3D, the UPDATE PLUGIN page shows it; install it with Plant 3D closed.
An update failed to download.: The Companion keeps the version you have and tries again later. Most often this is a network rule; the IT deployment guide lists the two addresses the Companion needs to reach. A download that arrives damaged is refused by its signature check rather than installed.