Can I Host Multiple Vendor Licenses Through FlexNet on the Same Computer?

Updated Apr 4, 2023

Reported In

Operating System

  • Windows

Other

  • FlexNet Publisher
  • FLEXlm

Issue Details

I have several applications from multiple vendors that each use FlexNet Publisher (formerly FLEXlm) license files. Is it possible to host license files from all these applications on the same computer?

Solution

Yes, this is possible, but a few conditions apply:
 
  • It is required that you have a license server running in order for the software to work.
  • If you are using local licenses that do not require a local license server to run in order for the software to run, this does not apply to you.
  • If you are using software on the local machine that gets a license from a server, this does not apply to the local machine although it could apply to the license server.
Thus this information is only relevant to a computer that requires a license server to be running to use software locally or on a client machine.

The following are potential solutions to allow two license servers to run on the same computer. These should not be considered exhaustive solutions and customers should refer to the FLEXnet Licensing End User Guide for more information.
 
  • Method 1: Multiple license server nodes, each running one lmgrd (lmgrd is the generic FLEXnet Publisher license server used by all license servers that use FlexNet Publisher) and one license file. This is the easiest solution that is guaranteed to work. You can not have multiple lmgrd versions running on the same computer without multiple license server nodes or without the use of a Virtual Machine for each (unless all vendor software are compatible with every version). You can also use multiple server computers, in which each server hosts the licenses from a particular vendor. Configure the client computers to look to all servers that host licenses. 
 
  • Method 2: One license server node running one lmgrd and multiple license files. This is the method that is described in the KB Can I Run Both NI Volume License Manager and Another License Server On the Same Machine? about running the NI License Manager with other FlexNet Publisher-licensed software on the same computer. Each vendor application must use the same copy of lmgrd. Use the latest version of lmgrd for all license files. Use lmver, which is part of the FlexNet Publisher Tools (see Related Links below), to find out which version is the most recent. Also, each license file must use a different port number. The port number is the last number on the SERVER line in the license file. The default port for most license files, including license files used by NI Volume License Manager, is 27000.
 
  • Method 3: One license server node running one lmgrd and a single combined license file. For this process to work, the license files must share some common characteristics. The SERVER lines must be the same in all the license files. This is the first line in the license file, and this includes the HOSTID, usually a MAC Address. In order for the license files to be combined, they must have been originally created for the same HOSTID. Also license files that are redundant can only be combined with other license files that are redundant. License files that are not redundant cannot be combined with redundant license files. If all of these conditions are met, then you can create a single file by copying the content of all the files to a single file. Keep the format of all SERVER lines, then all VENDOR lines, then all PACKAGE lines, and then all INCREMENT lines. Delete any redundant SERVER lines. Make sure you don't edit the content or it will invalidate the license signature.