Obtain and install a license file

Collect information about your network license server, generate a license file, and save it on your server.

Decide if you need a new license file

Generate a new license file for your network server only in the following cases:

• You get or renew a license subscription.
• You add seats for a network license product.
• You add products to your network license server.
• You add licenses to a new version of a network license product.
• You change your network license server.
• You reconfigure your network license server.

Collect license server information

To generate a license file, you need the following information:

• For a single server model, the server host name and physical address
• For a redundant server model, the server host names and physical addresses of the master server and the two backup servers
• For a distributed server model:
  • The number of servers
  • The host name and physical address of all servers
  • The number of seats on each server

For Windows servers, you can run the LMTOOLS utility that comes with NLM to find the host name. For macOS or Linux servers, use Terminal commands to find the host name.

Generate a license file in Autodesk Account

When you purchase new seats of Autodesk software, Autodesk may send you a serial number and product key, which you use to generate a license file. You can also find this information in your Autodesk Account.

To generate a network license from Autodesk Account, you must be an account administrator or a contract manager or software coordinator. You must also have a subscription with multi-user access for the product requiring the network license. If you have a mix of products and want to generate license file for all products, you can do so one product at a time. Follow these steps to generate a license file from your Autodesk account:

1. Sign in to your account at manage.autodesk.com.
2. Locate your software title on the Products & Services page.
3. Set the license type filter to Network to see only multi-user licenses.
4. Select Generate Network License File from the pop-up menu for the product.
5. On the Generate Network License File dialog, select the license server model (single, redundant, or distributed) for your network.
6. Enter the server name and MAC address or addresses of your servers.
7. Select the product licenses available to your servers.
8. If you're using a distributed server model, allocate the available number of seats for each product on each server.
9. Click Get License File to generate your license files.

Save the license file

When you have your license file, save it in the folder where you installed Network License Manager (NLM). You can choose any license filename, but use the extension .lic. Here are examples of license file locations for different operating systems:

Windows: C:\Autodesk\Network License Manager\Licenses

macOS: /Users/<user>/local/flexnetserver

Linux: /opt/flexnetserver

Confirm license file accuracy

After saving your license file, confirm that it contains the correct information. Your license file works only on a computer that has the MAC address you provided when you obtained the license.

1. Open the license file in a text editor. Don't use a word-processing program such as Microsoft Word. These programs can introduce formatting errors or modify the file.
2. Verify that the MAC address matches the address of your server. The first line of the license file, beginning with SERVER, shows your host name and MAC address. If they don't match, request a new license file with the correct information.