Make a separate machine with Business Analyst Desktop recognize a Business Analyst dataset located on a shared drive

Summary

In a business scenario where Business Analyst Desktop has been installed and licensed on one machine, but an admin has installed the relevant data on a shared drive, even though the required .sdlic file for the data exists on the local machine, the application still doesn't recognize the dataset and may throw the following error:

"No Locally installed Business Analyst dataset is detected, thus some Business Analyst functionality will be disabled.  Install a local dataset or Sign into ArcGIS Online (File > Sign In...) to enable Business Analyst functionality."

Procedure

Note:
The following steps involve making changes to the Windows Registry on one or more network machines and may require admin access.

Warning:
The instructions below include making changes to essential parts of your operating system. It is recommended that you backup your operating system and files, including the registry, before proceeding. Consult with a qualified computer systems professional, if necessary.

Esri cannot guarantee results from incorrect modifications while following these instructions; therefore, use caution and proceed at your own risk.

1. Go through a default installation of Business Analyst Desktop on the local machine, making sure to install the data on a drive that can be shared to the network.
   
2. Confirm that you can map a network drive from a remote machine to the shared local drive that contains the Business Analyst data components.

   Note:
   The remote machine must also have ArcMap installed to test the data connection.

3. Once the above steps are completed and confirmed, on the local machine, open the Windows Registry Editor:
   1. Start > Run.
   2. Type regedit, and press Enter.
4. In the registry editor navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\ESRI\BusinessAnalyst\Datasets\USA_ESRI_2016

5. Right-click the USA_ESRI_2016 key and click Export.
6. Save the registration entry file to your desktop, and close the registry editor.
7. Copy this registration entry file from the local machine to the remote machine.
8. Once the registration entry file is located on the remote machine, right-click the file, and click Merge.
9. Click OK on the prompts to merge this registry key into the remote machine with the shared network folder.
10. There should now be a new USA_ESRI_2016 key in the registry on the remote machine.
11. Reboot the remote machine with the new registry key and open ArcMap on that same system to ensure that Business Analyst can detect the appropriate dataset.