License the software

Subscription customers can choose between permanent node-locked or network licenses. Otherwise only node-locked is available.

Node-locked

Node-locked licenses are locked to one computer. You receive a temporary node-locked license when you purchase your software or when you get a subscription update. A four day temporary license is available via the emergency license generator at http://melicensing.autodesk.com/templicensing/.

  1. When an unlicensed application is started, the License Wizard starts. Click through it to request a license code. Log in to support portal: https://edge.autodesk.com/LicenseAssignment and follow the links.
  2. Relaunch the License Wizard and use it to insall the Node-Locked License. Copy and paste the license from the email.

Network licensing

A single license server can be run on a Creative Finishing Linux workstation, or on a remote Linux machine. The license server can run on any machine with the same specification as a current certified Creative Finishing Linux workstation.

  1. The network server is installed with the script INSTALL_LICSERV which is found at the root of the Creative Finishing installation package.
  2. The license key is machine-dependent. Get the host ID of the license server: in a terminal run /usr/local/bin/dlhostid.
  3. Request license codes at https://edge.autodesk.com/LicenseAssignment. Follow the links to set up the license server assets and select the software to be accessed with a network license. Your license codes are emailed to you.
  4. Create the license server file on a license server: as root, edit (create if necessary) /usr/discreet/licserv/licenses/DL_license.dat, following the example in the email from Autodesk.
  5. Start or restart the license server with /etc/init.d/license_server start or /etc/init.d/license_server restart. Stop it with /etc/init.d/license_server stop. Check the boot.log file for the server status.
  6. Create license files for the application on its workstation. Edit (create if necessary) as root /usr/local/flexlm/licenses/DL_licenseNetwork.dat. Add the SERVER, VENDOR and USE_SERVER strings provided. The License Wizard can also be used, which launches when an unlicensed application is started.

To avoid conflicts with other applications or license servers on site, change the port setting used by a license server:

  1. Log in as root to the license server and open /usr/discreet/licserv/licenses/DL_license.dat for editing.
  2. Find the SERVER keyword, which by default has no port number specified. Enter another port at the end of the line in the range of 27000-27009.
  3. Restart the server: /etc/init.d/license_server restart.
  4. Repeat for each workstation, using the same port as the one used for the license server.

Distributed vs redundant servers

The distributed server configuration is strongly recommended for most applications.

Setup distributed license servers

In a distributed server setup, available licenses are distributed across more than one license server. Each server functions independently. If one fails, the licenses on that server become unavailable. Characteristics:

  • Two or more servers are supported. As long as one server is working, at least some of the licenses will be available. But if one server goes down, the licenses on that server will be unavailable. If all the servers are down, the application will not launch. There is no fallback to the local /usr/local/flexlm/licenses/DL_License.dat.
  • You can have the same license strings on multiple servers
  • Servers may be distributed across a wide area network (WAN), although this may lead to problems with latency and reliability.
  • It can be configured to provide network fault tolerance.
  • Workstation or server operating systems may be used as license managers.

On the server side, the setup process is as for the single server. The difference is that the setup process must be repeated on all License Servers, and tell the Software/Feature must be told to look at multiple servers. Setup procedure:

  1. Install the license server from the autodesk_licserv_xxxx_LINUX64_RHEL6 package on all servers. Usually three are used.
  2. As root, on the license servers, generate the licenses you need with getlic. The script prompts for the software/feature name you need. The script returns Hostname, Hostid and Vendor. The license has a FEATURE name (or a PACKAGE) with an expiration date and the number of floating licenses available.
  3. Restart the servers with: /etc/init.d/license_server restart
  4. Configure the application to look at multiple servers. For each server, create a file name.lic. It can have any name, but must have the lic extension. Each of the files must be in the same directory.
  5. Start the application and it should take the license on the first server (in alphabetical order by name of the .lic file) if available. Otherwise, it will fall back to the other server(s). To ensure the license is taken on the right server, use the following command (on each server) while the application is running: /usr/discreet/licserv/lmutil lmstat -a -c licenses/DL_License.dat which will output data about the licensing.

Set up redundant license servers

With the redundant server model, you use exactly three servers to authenticate a single license file. One server acts as the master while the other two provide backup if the master fails.

Characteristics:

  • All servers must be on same local subnet. It cannot be used to provide network fault tolerances. For example, if the network link between the server pool and a remote office is broken, no licenses will be available.
  • The system continues to monitor and issue licenses as long as at least two of the three servers are functional. But if more than one server fail, no licenses will be available.
  • It requires server-edition operating systems. Mixing server operating systems or using Windows is not supported.
  • It is complex to administer. The complete pool must be rebuilt in the event of a member server replacement. Unless you are actively monitoring the status of the servers, you may not know if one server has failed.

Prerequisites:

  • You need three license servers (one master and two slaves) on the same network. The same license (with the same dlhostid) is present on all three servers. If one server, even the master, is unavailable, the fallback is done to avoid any service interruption.
  • Install the FlexLM license server from the autodesk_licserv_xxxx_LINUX64_RHEL6 package on all three of the license servers. The same server version must be running on all servers.
  • Acquire the redundant licenses from support. Provide the dlhostid of the servers since the licenses need to merge them. The first five lines represent the 3 License servers with their respective Hostname, Hostid and Port (defaut is 27005). The first listed server is the master, and the other two are the slaves. The license has a FEATURE name with an expiration date and the amount of floating licenses available.

Procedure:

  1. Paste the license information on all three servers in /usr/discreet/licserv/licenses/DL_License.dat.
  2. Stop all three servers with: /etc/init.d/license_server stop.
  3. Start the servers quickly and in the order they are listed in the license file: start the master with: /etc/init.d/license_server start, then start the slave servers, in the order they appear in the file, with the same command.
  4. On the master server test with: cd /usr/discreet/licserv ./lmutil lmstat ­a -c licenses/DL_License.dat. It should show three servers (one with the Master label) up and running. If they are not, check /usr/discreet/licserv/log/.
  5. On you workstation(s), input the servers' data in your local /usr/local/flexlm/licenses/DL_License.dat file.
  6. Run the application and check that it runs licensed. Run the lmutil command on all three servers while application is running. They should all output that the license (for the application you are running) is in use.

License borrowing

It is possible to borrow a Flare or Flame Assist license from the license server, disconnect from the network and use the license with no connection to the server. For Linux it is available for single GPU only. The license server must be running the latest server software available with 2016 release.

To borrow a license for the current machine and user:

  1. From the Help menu, choose Borrow License.
  2. In the Borrow a License dialog, set the number of days after which the license will be automatically returned, and click Borrow. A license can be checked out for 14 days or until the expiration date of the server license, whichever comes first.

One day will have expired at midnight on the day the license is borrowed. A borrowed license can be returned before the end of the borrowing period:

  1. If you have not done so since borrowing the license, quit and restart the application.
  2. From the Help menu, choose Return License, and click Confirm. This option is only available if your workstation is using a borrowed license.

Fix local hostname changes

The license server hostname is listed in the license files /usr/local/flexnetserver/ads_server.lic and /var/flexlm/autodesk.lic. If that hostname changes, the license files must be changed to match. The second item on the SERVER line must match the current workstation hostname: 

SERVER <current_hostname> 00101804d4e8 27100

Do not use localhost as a hostname.

Then restart the local license server with /Applications/Autodesk/Smoke Common Utilities/Service Monitor.

To prevent problems with hostname changes on a local license server, replace the hostname with 127.0.0.1 which makes the license insensitive to hostname changes.