DPF 25R2: update the getting started section

2025R2/dpf-framework-25-r2/getting-started/configuration.md

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+# Configuration
+
+This page covers the main configuration requirements for your DPF installation:
+- Managing plugins: Configure your installation and control the list of plugins loaded by default.
+- Setting plugin environments: Define the loading environment for each plugin individually.
+
+Both configurations are handled through XML files included in the DPF installation.
+
+Each XML file contains the configuration content for both operating systems.
+
+They are located alongside the **.dll** file on Windows or **.so** file on Linux of their associated plugin.
+
+> **CAUTION**:
+> To ensure that DPF operates correctly, modify these XML files carefully.
+> All paths specified in these XML files must adhere to the path
+> conventions of the respective operating system:
+> - for Linux paths, use forward slashes (/).
+> - for Windows paths, use double backward slashes (\\).
+
+
+## Configure your DPF installation
+
+The **DataProcessingCore.xml** file contains the configuration related to the plugins loaded by default, plugin search, and environment setup.
+
+In this XML file, some of the elements are optional, and many of the
+elements have Linux-specific versus Windows-specific child elements.
+
+It follows the structure shown below:
+
+```html
+<?xml version="1.0"?>
+<Dpf version="1.0"> 
+    <Environment>
+        <Linux>
+            <!--ANSYS_DPF_ACCEPT_LA>Y</ANSYS_DPF_ACCEPT_LA!-->
+        </Linux>
+        <Windows>
+            <!--ANSYS_DPF_ACCEPT_LA>Y</ANSYS_DPF_ACCEPT_LA!-->
+        </Windows>
+    </Environment>
+    <SearchPath>
+        <Linux>
+            <Path>$(ANSYS_ROOT_FOLDER)/dpf/bin/linx64:$(ANSYS_ROOT_FOLDER)/dpf/plugins</Path>
+        </Linux>
+        <Windows>
+            <Debug>
+                <Path>$(ANSYS_ROOT_FOLDER)\dpf\bin\winx64;$(ANSYS_ROOT_FOLDER)\dpf\plugins</Path>
+            </Debug>
+            <Release>
+                <Path>$(ANSYS_ROOT_FOLDER)\dpf\bin\winx64;$(ANSYS_ROOT_FOLDER)\dpf\plugins</Path>
+            </Release>
+        </Windows>
+    </SearchPath>
+    <DefaultPlugins>
+        <Linux>
+            <native>
+                <Path>$(ANSYS_ROOT_FOLDER)/dpf/bin/linx64/libAns.Dpf.Native.so</Path>
+                <Loader>LoadOperators</Loader>
+                <UsePluginXml>false</UsePluginXml>
+            </native>
+            ...
+        </Linux>
+        <Windows>
+            <Debug>
+                <native>
+                    <Path>$(ANSYS_ROOT_FOLDER)\dpf\bin\winx64\Ans.Dpf.NativeD.dll</Path>
+                    <Loader>LoadOperators</Loader>
+                    <UsePluginXml>false</UsePluginXml>
+                </native>
+            </Debug>
+            <Release>
+                <native>
+                    <Path>$(ANSYS_ROOT_FOLDER)\dpf\bin\winx64\Ans.Dpf.Native.dll</Path>
+                    <Loader>LoadOperators</Loader>
+                    <UsePluginXml>false</UsePluginXml>
+                </native>
+                ...
+            </Release>
+        </Windows>
+    </DefaultPlugins>
+</Dpf>
+```
+
+The **<Windows>** and **<Linux>** elements are mandatory and specify the operating system each configuration option applies to.
+
+The **<Release>** and **<Debug>** elements are optional and allow to differentiate configurations for debug and release versions of DPF.
+
+
+### Environment configuration
+
+The **<Environment>** element lets you set the **ANSYS_DPF_ACCEPT_LA** environment variable to **Y** to mark active acceptance of the DPF [license agreement](licensing.md#license-terms) and prevents from having to set it on your machine or at the beginning of every session.
+
+
+### Plugin search path configuration
+
+The **<SearchPath>** element lets you modify where DPF looks for plugins to load at the start of a session.
+
+To load plugins located outside of the standard DPF installation, prepend the path to the plugin folder to value of the **Path** element. 
+
+
+### Default plugins configuration
+
+The **<DefaultPlugins>** element defines the list of plugins to load automatically when the server starts.
+
+It contains a child element for each plugin, such as  **<native>**.
+
+The element name for a plugin is used as the **key** when loading it.
+
+Each plugin must have a unique element name/key.
+
+Each plugin must have the following child elements:
+
+- **<Path>** stores the location of the plugin to load.
+  The normal mechanism that the operating system uses to find a **.dll** or **.so** file is used.
+  The **.dll** file could be in the Windows path, or the **.so** file could be in the Linux **LD_LIBRARY_PATH** system environment variable.
+- **<Loader>** defines the entrypoint procedure name to call upon loading the plugin. 
+  In practice this procedure is used to record operators, thus **LoadOperators** is the recommended name.
+- **<UsePluginXml>** defines whether to use the **<PLUGIN>.xml** file located next to it to configure the plugin.
+  This element is optional. The default value is **true**.
+
+To provide an absolute path to a plugin, you can use these predefined variables:
+
+- **ANSYS_ROOT_FOLDER** is the root folder of the Ansys or DPF installation.
+- **THIS_XML_FOLDER** is the folder location of the current XML file (here the location of the **DataProcessingCore.xml** file).
+
+You can also use any other environment variable. For example, if you always have your
+plugins in a folder defined by a **MY_PLUGINS** environment variable, you can use
+it in the XML file.
+
+You specify environment variables in the same way as the **ANSYS_ROOT_FOLDER**
+or **THIS_XML_FOLDER** variable. They are defined as **$(…)**.
+
+In the Ansys installation, the default **DataProcessingCore.xml** file is located
+next to the **DataProcessingCore** **.dll** or **.so** file.
+If you want to use a different one, you can initialize DPF using a specific **DataProcessingCore.xml** file.
+
+
+## Configure a plugin
+
+Each plugin can define a **<Plugin>.xml** file to configure environment variables used when loading the plugin.
+
+The structure of the file is as follows:
+
+```html
+<?xml version="1.0"?>
+<Environment>
+    <Linux>
+        <LD_LIBRARY_PATH>$(ANSYS_ROOT_FOLDER)/aisol/dll/linx64:$(ANSYS_ROOT_FOLDER)/aisol/lib/linx64:$(ANSYS_ROOT_FOLDER)/tp/IntelMKL/2020.0.166/linx64/lib/intel64:$(LD_LIBRARY_PATH)</LD_LIBRARY_PATH>
+    </Linux>
+    <Windows>
+        <PATH>$(ANSYS_ROOT_FOLDER)\aisol\bin\winx64;$(ANSYS_ROOT_FOLDER)\tp\IntelMKL\2020.0.166\winx64;$(ANSYS_ROOT_FOLDER)\tp\IntelCompiler\2019.5.281\winx64;$(PATH)</PATH>
+    </Windows>
+</Environment>
+```
+
+It only contains an **<Environment>** element which is defined as [described previously](configuration.md#environment-configuration).
+
+The value of an environment variable is updated each time it is redefined, which means you can modify it in one go or in several elements:
+
+```html
+<?xml version="1.0"?>
+<Environment>
+    <Linux>
+        <LD_LIBRARY_PATH>$(ANSYS_ROOT_FOLDER)/tp/IntelMKL/2020.0.166/linx64/lib/intel64:$(LD_LIBRARY_PATH)</LD_LIBRARY_PATH>
+        <LD_LIBRARY_PATH>$(ANSYS_ROOT_FOLDER)/aisol/lib/linx64:$(LD_LIBRARY_PATH)</LD_LIBRARY_PATH>
+        <LD_LIBRARY_PATH>$(ANSYS_ROOT_FOLDER)/aisol/dll/linx64:$(LD_LIBRARY_PATH)</LD_LIBRARY_PATH>
+    </Linux>
+    <Windows>
+        <PATH>$(ANSYS_ROOT_FOLDER)\tp\IntelCompiler\2019.5.281\winx64;$(PATH)</PATH>
+        <PATH>$(ANSYS_ROOT_FOLDER)\tp\IntelMKL\2020.0.166\winx64;$(PATH)</PATH>
+        <PATH>$(ANSYS_ROOT_FOLDER)\aisol\bin\winx64;$(PATH)</PATH>
+    </Windows>
+</Environment>
+```

2025R2/dpf-framework-25-r2/getting-started/installation.md

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+# Installation
+
+DPF is available with the **Ansys installer** in Ansys 2021 R1 and later, or as a pre-release **DPF Server** standalone package for DPF 2023 R2 and later.
+
+
+## Install with the **Ansys installer**
+
+To install DPF using the Ansys installer, download the standard Ansys installation using your preferred
+distribution channel, and install any physics-based Ansys software following the installer instructions.
+
+Starting with Ansys 2021 R1, DPF is automatically installed along with **Ansys Workbench**.
+
+**Ansys Workbench** is included with all physics-based Ansys software bundles.
+
+Check the list of applications included with each product on the Ansys Help website to know which ones include **Ansys Workbench**:
+
+- [on Windows](https://ansyshelp.ansys.com/public/account/secured?returnurl=/Views/Secured/corp/v252/en/installation/win_product_table.html)
+- [in Linux](https://ansyshelp.ansys.com/public/account/secured?returnurl=/Views/Secured/corp/v252/en/installation/lin_product_table.html)
+
+For information on getting a licensed copy of Ansys, visit the [Ansys website](https://www.ansys.com/).
+
+
+## Install a standalone **DPF Server**
+
+### Get a **DPF Server**
+
+The **DPF Server** package provides pre-releases of DPF in the form of a Python package and is independent from the Ansys installer.
+
+It is available on the [DPF Pre-Release page](https://download.ansys.com/Others/DPF%20Pre-Release) of the Ansys Customer Portal.
+
+The first standalone version of **DPF Server** available is a pre-release of DPF for Ansys 2023 R2 (_DPF v2023.2.pre0_).
+
+> Starting with **DPF Server v2023.2.pre1**, the **composites** plugin is also available for Linux.
+>
+> Starting with **DPF Server v2024.1.pre0**, the **composites** plugin is also available for Linux and Windows.
+>
+> Starting with **DPF Server v2024.2.pre0**, the **sound** plugin is also available for Windows.
+
+### Installation steps
+
+To install a standalone **DPF Server**:
+
+1. Download the **ansys_dpf_server_win_v20XX.Y.preZ.zip** or **ansys_dpf_server_lin_v20XX.Y.preZ.zip** file as appropriate.
+2. Unzip the package.
+3. Optional: download any other plugin ZIP file as appropriate and unzip the package. For example, to access the **composites** plugin for Linux, download **ansys_dpf_composites_lin_v20XX.Y.preZ.zip** and unzip the package in the same location as **ansys_dpf_server_lin_v20XX.Y.preZ.zip**.
+4. Open a terminal and move to the root folder (**ansys_dpf_server_win_v20XX.Y.preZ**) of the unzipped package.
+5. Activate your Python environment and run this command:
+
+```py
+pip install -e .
+```
+
+### License agreement
+
+As detailed in [Licensing](licensing.md#license-terms), a standalone DPF Server is protected using the license terms specified in the
+**DPFPreviewLicenseAgreement** file, which is available on the [DPF Pre-Release page](https://download.ansys.com/Others/DPF%20Pre-Release)
+of the Ansys Customer Portal.
+
+To accept these terms, you must set this environment variable:
+
+```sh
+ANSYS_DPF_ACCEPT_LA=Y
+```
+
+## Licensing
+
+To use [licensed DPF capabilities](licensing.md#licensing-strategy) you must set the
+**ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE** environment variable to point to a valid local or remote license
+following indications in [Configure licensing](licensing.md#configure-licensing).