Floating Licenses

From fmepedia

Q) What version of Flexlm do I need for an FME Floating License?

A) It depends on which version of FME is accessing the license.

• When all users have FME2008 (or earlier) your license server can use either v8.2 or v11.4 of Flexlm
• When one or more users have FME2009 (or later) your license server must use at least v11.4 of Flexlm

The change for FME2009 is so that we can properly support hardware-locked and floating licenses on Windows Vista. A separate version of FME may be made available for XP users to use FME2009 with the 8.2 version of Flexlm

For more information see our ftp site (ftp://ftp.safe.com/fme/) or contact support (mailto:support@safe.com).

Q) Can I specify what ports are used by FLEXlm?

A) Yes, both the SERVER (used by the client to contact the server) and the VENDOR (used by the SAFE vendor to communicate with lmgrd.exe) can be set in the safe.lic file. This can be useful when trouble-shooting firewall related issues.

SERVER servername 000c290de0df xxxx

VENDOR safe PORT=xxxx

where xxxx is the desired port number. The port number for the SERVER and the VENDOR should be different.

If the SERVER port is specified, the fme_license.dat file in the \program files\FME\licenses\ directory will also need to be edited to be:

SERVER servername xxxx

where xxxx is the port number used in the safe.lic file.

Q) The flexserver log shows a lot of FME licenses being checked in and out every time I run a translation. Why is this?

A) These are internal processes you don't really need to worry about. FME is simply checking what licenses are available and making sure unscrupulous users don't bypass the licensing system. You don't have to worry about it: no users are being deprived of licenses.

Q) When I reboot my Windows 2003 server the FME License server fails with unknown hostid?

A) This is starting to be an issue with the faster Windows 2003 Server machines. It appears that the FME License Server starts up before the USB port is initialized and the dongle has been read. The only workaround we have found for this, is to create a small batch process which stops the license server, pauses, then restarts the license server. Schedule this batch process to run on startup and your FME License server should be fine.

Here is a sample batch process

C:\Windows\sleep.exe 10
C:\Windows\System32\sc.exe \\flexserver machine name  stop "FME License Server"
C:\Windows\sleep.exe 5
C:\Windows\System32\sc.exe \\flexserver machine name  start "FME License Server"

Q) I installed a floating license but it fails to work. The lmtools log file reports "Server line says FLEXID=00b0c9efca56, hostid=00b0c9efca56 - Invalid hostid" - how can this be a problem?

A) Probably your version of flexserver isn't sufficient to use an FME license. It needs to be at least version 8.

Q) Is it possible to "borrow" an FME license from my floating license server?

A) The idea here is that the user wishes to take a floating license with them when - for example - they are on a business trip and want to use FME when disconnected from their corporate network.

The answer is currently no. There have been technical issues with making this work properly. It is currently still under development. If you are interested in this type of functionality, please let us know at support@safe.com. Reference PR #15490.

Q) When I reboot the license server the FME license is not restarted. How can I make the FME license restart automatically?

A) Make sure that the "Start Server at Power Up" option is set in LMTOOLS (see screenshot)...

NB: You can find lmtools in the flexserver folder.