What Is a "tmp" (Temp) License File in NI License Manager?

Updated Aug 25, 2023

Reported In

Software

  • NI License Manager

Issue Details

What are "tmp" (Temp) Licenses, and why do I have them?

Solution

Temporary license files are created when a licensed application software program launches. For NI software, there are two kinds of temporary, or temp, licenses: temp network and temp ethernet. 
  • Temporary Network Licenses are created on client machines when a licensed software program launches. Temporary network licenses ensure software access in the event that the volume license server is unreachable from the client machine, because the network was down, the volume license server was stopped, or because the client machine was disconnected from the network. The NI software must have previously been checked out successfully for the temporary license to be generated. The temporary network license is valid for 14 days from the first time the license is used. During this time, your software runs but displays a warning message each time you launch the product. 

    Note: Temporary network licenses are not created when the volume license server is running on the same computer as the NI software, when you check out a concurrent license from a volume license server, or when products are in evaluation mode. 
 
  • Temporary Ethernet Licenses ensure software access in the event that the ethernet card MAC address used for the license activation changes. Activation codes for NI products are based on the computer ID of the machine and the serial number of the product. The computer ID is based upon either the ethernet card MAC address or the hard drive disk volume serial number. If the computer ID is created based on the ethernet card MAC address and the ethernet card is subsequently changed, removed, or otherwise inaccessible, the computer ID will change. Any previous activations or disconnected license files will be invalid. The temp ethernet license allows for changes in the ethernet card and gives the user 7 days to either change the ethernet card back, reactivate, or get a new disconnected license file for the computer in question. During these 7 days, your software will run but you will see a warning message each time you launch the product. 

    Note: Temp ethernet licenses are not created when the computer ID is based upon the hard drive disk volume serial number.

When you launch a software application and it uses a temporary license, a dialog box is displayed noting why a temporary license was used and the remaining time available. Use this information to resolve the situation in the given time period.

Note: In License Manager 4.0Temporary Network Licenses and Temporary Ethernet Licenses have been replaced by Backup Licenses which serve the same functionality but is no longer exposed to the user.