To maximize the number of available licenses, learn which options are available and what they do.
Options include combining licenses for multiple products, borrowing licenses, using package license files, modifying license assignments, and creating option files. There are also tools, such as LMTOOLS and the License File Parser, that help you perform these tasks.
Although Autodesk Account allows you to generate a license file that consolidates network licenses for all your products, you can also manually combine network licenses. Be sure to follow the instructions for combining license files.
You can borrow network licenses for some Autodesk products. Borrowing means temporarily removing a license from the network to use it on an offline computer. You can specify when the borrowing period begins and ends, but it is limited to six months or the term of your subscription, whichever is shorter. Although an options file is not required, you can gain more control over borrowing through options file entries.
If you have multiple versions of an Autodesk product and have purchased a multi-user subscription or maintenance plan, you can obtain a package file. Package files contain a set of licenses for four versions of the same product, such as AutoCAD 2014-2017. Running an instance of any one of the releases uses one license in the package.
To change a network license assignment, update the administrative image on the server used for your deployment.
Although an options file is not required for basic network license management, it can be useful for the following:
NLM includes the LMTOOLS utility to monitor license status, reset licenses lost during a system failure, troubleshoot license servers, and update existing license files. Full information about these tools is included in a License Administration Guide installed with NLM.
The Autodesk License File Parser is an online tool that reads the contents of your product license and displays details in a table. This tool is helpful when you create an options file, because you can quickly identify the parameter values required in the options file. See the instructions for accessing and using the License File Parser.