Q100264: How to point a machine to your license server

Isaac

Updated : July 31, 2024 07:30

Created : January 12, 2017 17:03

SUMMARY

A floating/server license enables any machine on the same network as a license server to run an application.  Floating licenses only need to be installed on the server machine.

To use a floating license on another machine on your network (a client machine in licensing terminology) you need to tell it where the license server is using the Foundry Licensing Utility (FLU), the licensing dialog in Foundry applications, or by setting an environment variable.

In most cases you will only need to point a client machine to a single server but you can repeat the steps below to point a machine to multiple servers if required.

NOTE: You can find the server details to point client machines to using the Foundry Licensing Utility  on the server machine.  Open the FLU on the server, click on License Server and look for the Connecting to this Server panel.

Using the Foundry Licensing Utility (FLU) 

You can download FLU from https://www.foundry.com/licensing/tools and install it on your machine by following the steps in Learn Licensing - Installing the FLU

Steps:

To point the machine toward a license server, do the following:

1. Open the FLU
2. Click License Server Connections > Add Connection
3. Enter the port (usually 4101) and hostname for your license server machine and click OK
   

The FLU will create a client license file as a reference for the server.  You can then launch a Foundry application on the machine and it will contact the server to request a license.

Using the Product Licensing dialog

The licensing dialog will automatically appear if the application cannot find a license but you can also find it under the Help > License/Licensing menu entry in most Foundry applications.

Using Modo 15/Nuke 13.2/Mari 7.0

Modo 15/Nuke 13.2/Mari 7.0 and above use the latest licensing UI:

Steps:

1. Launch the software
2. (Modo only)Click Launch Licensing App in the Licensing pop-up window
   
3. Click Local License > Server
   
   
4. Enter the hostname or IP address of the license server
   
5. Click Connect
   

The application will create a client license file for the server and then contact it to request a license.

NOTE:  Modo from 11 and 14 & Nuke builds older than 13.2 use a different license dialog.  Please follow the instructions above to install Modo RLM licenses with the FLU. The instructions below do not apply to Modo.

Steps:

1. Launch the software as an admin user
2. When the Licensing Dialog appears, click on Install License > Use Server
3. Enter the server details in the format 4101@serverName and click OK

Environment Variable

You can tell Foundry applications where to find an RLM license file or a license server by setting an environment variable called foundry_LICENSE.  

To point to a server called "licserver01" running on the default port (4101) you would set

foundry_LICENSE = 4101@licserver01

Once the variable is set you can launch an application and it will contact the server to request a license. 

FURTHER READING

For more information about licensing please see the Foundry Licensing Online Help

The Support Portal has articles on installing different license types:

• Q100026: How to install a nodelocked license
• Q100027: How to install a floating/server license

Information on how to set environment variables is available in:

• Q100015: How To Set Environment Variables

 If you encounter problems getting your floating licenses to work then please see the following articles:

• Q100235: How to resolve the "Communications error with license server" licensing error message
• Q100216: How to Use A License Server Through a Firewall
• Q100638: Initial troubleshooting steps for Floating License issues

If these don't resolve the problem then please follow the instructions in Q100105: How to generate a License Diagnostic Log via the FLU for troubleshooting license issues to generate License Diagnostic files and create a Support Ticket.