Academic Company Events NI Developer Zone Support Solutions Products & Services Contact NI MyNI
This Document is not yet Rated  Rate this Document

Does NI VLM Work With Triple Redundant License Files?

Primary Software: Other NI Software>>NI Volume License Manager
Primary Software Version: 1.0
Primary Software Fixed Version: N/A
Secondary Software: N/A

Problem:
I have a Volume License Agreement for my National Instruments software products and at my company we use triple redundant servers to host our licenses. Does the NI Volume License Manager include support for triple redundant license servers?

Solution:
NI Volume License Manager does not support triple redundant servers. However the license files that National Instruments uses are standard FLEXnet Publisher (formerly FLEXlm) license files which does support triple redundant servers. Therefore, if you have an existing FLEXnet Publisher triple redundant license server, we can provide you with a license file that will support triple redundant servers.

If you choose to use this custom license file, you will no longer be able to use NI VLM. This means that you will be unable to use any of the features provided by VLM such as "overdraft" or creating disconnected licenses. Also, since NI VLM creates the activity log, you will be responsible for submitting your own list of end user names with the activity log.

Note that triple redundant servers provide back up servers in case one server goes down. NI VLM will generate 14-day temporary licenses that are automatically used in the case that the server becomes inaccessible. The 14-day window is renewed each time a computer connects to the server. This functionality is not provided through a triple redundant server.

To request a triple redundant license file, please email agreements@ni.com. Include the three server names and host IDs or computer IDs of the servers that will host the triple redundant license file.

Once you have received your triple redundant license file, you will need to configure your NI software. To do this you will need to configure options in your NI License Manager.
  • If you are using client software that uses NI License Manager 3.0 or later, port configuration is built in to the software. You can configure this on the client computers by going to NI License Manager and selecting Options»Preferences. For the "Use Network License Servers" field, enter the server name followed by a colon and then the port number, seperated by a comma. For example, server1, server2, server3.
  • For NI License Manager versions prior to 3.0, you may use the range of ports provided by FLEXnet Publisher to host the volume license file and still be able to have the client software connect correctly. The available range of ports include ports 27000 through 27009. This does not require any changes to the client computers.

    If this default port range is not sufficient for your needs, you can add a file to your client computers to override where the client software expects to find the license on the server. This will allow you to specify any port to host the licenses. To do this, make the following changes:
    1. Create three new files named "AAA_PortRedirect.lic", "AAB_PortRedirect.lic" and "AAC_PortRedirect.lic" in the folder which contains the rest of your license files. This is usually C:\Program Files\National Instruments\Shared\License Manager\Licenses. 
    2. In this file, add the following lines of text:

      SERVER serverName ANY portNumber
      USE_SERVER

      where serverName is the server name which hosts your licenses and portNumber is the port number which hosts the licenses. The NI License Manager will begin looking at the first file, "AAA_PortRedirect.lic" and then will move through the files alphabetically, so the first server should be listed in "AAA_PortRedirect.lic", the second in "AAB_PortRedirect.lic" and the third in "AAC_PortRedirect.lic".
    3. Configure the NI License Manager to not use a Network License Server.

For more information on how to use an NI volume license file on a FLEXnet Publisher server, please see the Related Links below.

Related Links:
NI Product Activation and Licensing
KnowledgeBase 372D8K6E: Using a Volume License File on a FLEXnet Publisher (formerly FLEXlm) Server

Attachments:





Report Date: 06/14/2004
Last Updated: 03/06/2009
Document ID: 3ADBJQ6E

Your Feedback! poor Poor  |  Excellent excellent   Yes No
 Document Quality? 
 Answered Your Question? 
  1 2 3 4 5
Please Contact NI for all product and support inquiries.submit