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How is the floating license managed?

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 3:26 pm
by bjorn.syse
Hi

Are there any changes in the license system compared to v2?

How is the floating license managed? I vaguely remember reading something about using FlexLM, did I remember it right?

Regards

- Björn

Re: How is the floating license managed?

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 3:32 pm
by bjorn.syse
I'm just reading in the manual right now.

when you state that "You will need one full floating license for each user (who will need setup/editing). ", I guess you mean concurrent user? One floating license should be able to server any number of seat computers as long as it can only run at one of them at a time, no?

I'm sad to see that you went with RLM. The system you had was simple and easy to manage.

- Björn

Re: How is the floating license managed?

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 3:34 pm
by Miguel
Hi,

the new licensing system uses rlm to manage the licenses. You can have node-locked or floating licenses. Floating licenses are served from a license server. Node-locked licenses are actually text files stored in your computer.

If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Regards.
Miguel.

Re: How is the floating license managed?

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 3:36 pm
by bjorn.syse
Does the node locked version resemble the V2 license, or is it tied to the MAC address of the computer?

Or can I bring the license with me to install on to a second computer, or when I buy I new one?

Regards

- Björn

Re: How is the floating license managed?

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 5:25 pm
by Miguel
Hi,

the node-locked license, as its name implies, is tied to the MAC address of the machine. But you can activate the license once for the laptop and once for your workstation if you wish.
when you state that "You will need one full floating license for each user (who will need setup/editing). ", I guess you mean concurrent user? One floating license should be able to server any number of seat computers as long as it can only run at one of them at a time, no?
Exactly, one floating license can be used by only one computer at a time. Two licenses and ten computers, only two computers could run maxwell at the same time. But the licenses have a host sharing attribute, which means that in each computer you can run several instances of maxwell and only one license will be marked as used.

Regards.
M.

Re: How is the floating license managed?

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 5:36 pm
by bjorn.syse
Brilliant, then I get it. Thanks,

And also, thanks for integrating the RLM system, it's much more smooth than having to fiddle with FlexLM folders and such.

- BJörn

Re: How is the floating license managed?

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 6:21 pm
by umdrehung
But what about the Floating Licence?

The FAQ says:

"Floating licenses are not attached to any particular computer.."

but also

"Floating license keys can be activated 3 times..:"

What exactly does that mean? Is the Floating License the same as a Node Locked License but with 3 instead of 2 machines and additional 10 render nodes?

Kind regards
Umdrehung

Re: How is the floating license managed?

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 6:38 pm
by Miguel
Hi,
What exactly does that mean? Is the Floating License the same as a Node Locked License but with 3 instead of 2 machines and additional 10 render nodes?
The floating license is locked to the license server, i.e. it can only be served from a machine that the license was tied to (by its network card MAC address) using the Licenseactivator app.

You can activate that floating license up to three times. Why? Because if the machine you first activated the license to burns or is crushed by a metheorite, you can get a new machine (which will have a different MAC address) and install the license server and activate the license for that new machine. You can crush up to three machines before contacting support for new activation opportunities.

Hope this helps.
Regards.
Miguel.

Re: How is the floating license managed?

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 7:06 pm
by umdrehung
Ok. I see. Thank you very much.

Re: How is the floating license managed?

Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 10:51 am
by kami
- can you uninstall the license manager and use it on a different computer or does this alread count as one of the three possible changes?

- what happens when the machine with the license server freezes or needs to be restarted and there are renderings running on other machines?

Re: How is the floating license managed?

Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 11:38 am
by Miguel
Hi,
- can you uninstall the license manager and use it on a different computer or does this alread count as one of the three possible changes?
yes, this counts as one of the three possible changes. Every time the MAC address changes, it is counted as a "change".
- what happens when the machine with the license server freezes or needs to be restarted and there are renderings running on other machines?
There is no problem if the machine is restarted immediately.

Regards.
M.

Re: How is the floating license managed?

Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 3:04 pm
by kami
so you are always limited to your office space?
If you wanted to work from your home office you would need another license?

oh, and why would there be no option to 'deactivate' a license. I know for a fact that the 'server' machine in our company changed 5-6 times over the last 3 years ... If you could just deactivate it, then you couldn't cheat but have more flexibility in your setup

Re: How is the floating license managed?

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 1:24 am
by oz42
Miguel,

thanks for your help so far, one more question;

I have one desktop which I mostly use for Maxwell. It is a dual boot Mac Pro and whilst I normally use Softimage in Windows for rendering, I do occasionally use OSX. Because this is the same physical machine (with the same network card) I'm guessing a single node locked license on this computer would work on both operating systems?

Also, (well, two questions, I guess!) I occasionally take my laptop to client meetings. You mention that the node locked licenses can also be installed on this. How does this work, as it will have a different MAC address (does node locked actually allow for two installations)?

For my setup (desktop plus occasional laptop), I guess node locked is going to be the best setup as a license server won't work when the laptop is away from the office??

Re: How is the floating license managed?

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 2:46 am
by Fernando Tella
kami wrote:oh, and why would there be no option to 'deactivate' a license. I know for a fact that the 'server' machine in our company changed 5-6 times over the last 3 years ... If you could just deactivate it, then you couldn't cheat but have more flexibility in your setup
+1

Re: How is the floating license managed?

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 2:53 am
by Miguel
Hi oz42,
I have one desktop which I mostly use for Maxwell. It is a dual boot Mac Pro and whilst I normally use Softimage in Windows for rendering, I do occasionally use OSX. Because this is the same physical machine (with the same network card) I'm guessing a single node locked license on this computer would work on both operating systems?
Yes, since it is the same machine, the network card MAC address is the same for both OS'es, and the rlm api we use to retrieve that address should return identical results, so, with the same nodelocked license you should be able to run maxwell on both OSX and WIndows.
Also, (well, two questions, I guess!) I occasionally take my laptop to client meetings. You mention that the node locked licenses can also be installed on this. How does this work, as it will have a different MAC address (does node locked actually allow for two installations)?
The nodelocked license can be activated two times on two different machines, thus allowing to run maxwell on both machines. That was the main intent when allowing two activations. The procedure is simple: run Licenseactivator on your workstation to get the nodelocked license for it, and run again the Licenseactivator on the laptop to get the its license.

Regards.
M.