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Deadline Licensing

1 Deadline Licensing

Overview

This guide will walk you through the Deadline License Server installation process. Please do not hesitate to contact Deadline Support if you run into any problems along the way.

Deadline uses the FLEXnet license server system to distribute floating licenses for the Deadline Slave applications. The Deadline License Server software is included with the Deadline Repository installation, and can be found in flexlmtools folder in the Repository root directory. Note though that it is not necessary to run the License Server on the same machine that the Repository is installed on. Check the License Server System Requirements for a list of operating systems that the License Server software supports.

Before you can setup the license server, you must receive a license file from the Deadline Sales team. Usually within one business day of sending in your request, someone will contact you regarding your license.

To receive a 30 day trial license, you can fill out the Trial License Request Form.
If you would like to purchase a permanent license, you can contact Deadline Sales.

Once you have your license, you can then proceed to set up your License Server. If you have difficulties getting your License Server to run, or getting your Slaves to connect to it, please check out our License Server Troubleshooting section in this guide. Note that the license file that is used is bound to your license server machine's MAC/Ethernet address, so you can only run the license server on the machine that the license was generated for. If your license file was not generated for the machine that you want to run the license server on, please contact Deadline Sales.

Supplementary documentation on FLEXnet licensing for end users is available on the Flexera website (Flexera is the supplier of FLEXnet licensing technology):

Starting the FLEXnet License Server

Using LMTools On Windows

The following instructions detail how to set-up your FLEXnet license manager using LMTools.

Create a FLEXnet directory on your license server machine. For the purposes of this example, let's assume this folder is C:\FLEXnet.
Copy the FLEXnet binaries from the appropriate folder in \\your\repository\flexlmtools to C:\FLEXnet. Note that only the 32 bit version of the Windows binaries are shipped, but these work fine on 32 and 64 bit machines.
Copy the license file provided by the Deadline Sales team to C:\FLEXnet.
Launch LMTools.exe from C:\FLEXnet.

Now that LMTools is running, you need to configure the license server to run as a service. Note that this requires Administrator privileges.

Select the Service/License File tab.
Click the Configuration using Services radio button.

Select the Config Services tab.
In the Service Name, type the name of the service that you want to define. It is recommended that you use the name Frantic License Manager.
In the Path to the lmgrd.exe file field, enter C:\FLEXnet\lmgrd.exe.
In the Path to the license file field, enter or browse to the license file provided by the Deadline Sales team.
In the Path to the debug log file, enter or browse to the debug log file that this license server writes. For most users, entering C:\FLEXnet\frantic.log should be sufficient.
To ensure that the license service is always running and automatically started upon system reboot it is necessary to check the Use Services and Start Server at Power Up check boxes at the bottom of the dialog.
To save the new Frantic License Manager service, click the Save Service button.

Now that the Frantic License Manager has been configured, you need to start the license server.

Select the Service/License File tab.
Click the Configuration using Services radio button.
Select the Frantic service name from the list presented in the selection box. If you followed the recommendations above, the service name should be Frantic License Manager.

Click the Start/Stop/Reread tab.
Start Frantic License Manager by clicking the Start Server button.

If LMTools indicated that the server started successfully, then Frantic License Manager should now be running and writing its debug log output to C:\FLEXnet\frantic.log. A quick way to confirm that the license server is running is to open the Task Manager and see if the lmgrd.exe and frantic.exe processes are running. If they are not, then it's likely that the license manager exited with an error shortly after starting. When this happens, we recommend using the LMGRD method on Windows described below. It's a lot easier to get meaningful error messages from the license manager in this mode. Once the problem has been determined and fixed, then you can go back to using the LMTools method to get the server installed as a service.

If LMTools indicated that the license server failed to start, again we recommend using the LMGRD method on Windows described below. As an alternative, you can refer to the License Server Troubleshooting section to determine what the problem is.

Using LMGRD On Windows

The following instructions detail how to set-up your FLEXnet license manager using lmgrd.

Create a FLEXnet directory on your license server machine. For the purposes of this example, let's assume this folder is C:\FLEXnet.
Copy the FLEXnet binaries from the appropriate folder in \\your\repository\flexlmtools to C:\FLEXnet. Note that only the 32 bit version of the Windows binaries are shipped, but these work fine on 32 and 64 bit machines.
Copy the license file provided by the Deadline Sales team to C:\FLEXnet.
Open up a DOS prompt and navigate to C:\FLEXnet using the following command:
```
cd c:\FLEXnet
```
Run the following command to start the license server (make sure to replace [LICENSE_FILE] with the actual license file name):
```
lmgrd.exe -z -c "C:\FLEXnet\[LICENSE_FILE]"
```
Note that this starts up the license server in the same DOS prompt window. If you want to start it in a new window, then run this command:
```
lmgrd.exe -c "C:\FLEXnet\[LICENSE_FILE]"
```

Using the LMGRD method on Windows is good for debugging problems because LMTools doesn't provide much error reporting. LMGRD will print out any errors to the DOS prompt, which you can use to help figure out the problem, or you can copy and paste them into an email and send it to the Deadline Support team. Refer to the Licensing Error Message section for known error messages and possible solutions. As an alternative, you can refer to the License Server Troubleshooting section to determine what the problem is.

Using LMGRD On Linux and OS X

The following instructions detail how to set-up your FLEXnet license manager using lmgrd.

Create a FLEXnet directory on your license server machine. For the purposes of this example, let's assume this folder is /etc/FLEXnet.
Copy the FLEXnet binaries from the appropriate folder in /your/repository/flexlmtools to /etc/FLEXnet.
Open up a terminal and navigate to /etc/FLEXnet using the following command:
```
cd /etc/FLEXnet
```
Run the following command to start the license server (make sure to replace [LICENSE_FILE] with the actual license file name):
```
./lmgrd -z -c "/etc/FLEXnet/[LICENSE_FILE]"
```
Note that this starts up the license server in the same terminal window. If you want to run it in the background, then run this command:
```
./lmgrd -c "/etc/FLEXnet/[LICENSE_FILE]"
```

LMGRD will print out any errors to the terminal, which you can use to help figure out the problem, or you can copy and paste them into an email and send it to the Deadline Support team. Refer to the Licensing Error Message section for known error messages and possible solutions. As an alternative, you can refer to the License Server Troubleshooting section to determine what the problem is.

Updating the FLEXnet License Server to Use a New License File

Using LMTools On Windows

Find your old license file and make a backup copy of it. This should be the license file that the license server is currently using. Copy the new license file over the old one, and then do the following:

Run LMTools (if it is not already open), and select the Service/License File tab.
Click the Configuration using Services radio button.
Select the Frantic service name from the list presented in the selection box. If you followed the recommendations above the service name should be Frantic License Manager.

Click the Start/Stop/Reread tab.
Click the ReRead License File button.

Using LMGRD On Windows

Find your old license file and make a backup copy of it. This should be the license file that the license server is currently using. Copy the new license file over the old one, then stop the lmgrd license server application and launch it again as described above.

Using LMGRD On On Linux and OS X

FLEXlm License Server Troubleshooting

The following is a step by step guide you can follow to ensure your license server is up and running, and to get your slaves connecting to it. If at the end of this guide you are still having problems, feel free to contact Deadline Support for help.

Check The Path That The License Server Is Being Run From

The license server may have trouble running if the directory that the license and vendor files are in is called 'frantic', for example:

C:\FLEXnet\frantic\

If this is the case, renaming the folder that the license and vendor files are in may help.

Check The License File

Open the license file that you received from Deadline Sales and confirm a few things. First, look at the SERVER line and you should see the following:

SERVER [IP ADDRESS OR HOST NAME] [MAC ADDRESS]

Confirm that the IP Address or Host Name matches that of your license server machine.
Confirm that the MAC address is the correct MAC address of your license server machine.

If the IP Address or Host Name is incorrect, simply change it to the correct value and save the license file. The license file is only bound to the to the MAC address, which is why you can change this manually. If the MAC address is incorrect, send the correct MAC address and Host Name/IP Address to Deadline Sales and we will generate a new license for you.

Another thing to check is the end-of-line (EOL) characters used in the license file. On Windows, there should be line feed (LF) and carriage return (CR) characters at the end of each line. On Linux and Mac OSX, there should just be LF characters.

A text editor that can show the EOL characters is SciTE. After opening the license file in SciTE, select View -> End Of Line. To change the EOL characters, select Options -> End Line Characters, then convert them by selecting Options -> Convert Line End Characters.

Make Sure The License Server Is Not Already Running

This mainly applies to users who are already using one of our products (like Krakatoa or Awake). All of our products use the same license server vendor daemon (frantic) to distribute floating licenses, and only one instance of this daemon can be running at a time on the same machine. If you already have a license server that is distributing floating Krakatoa licenses (for example), you will have to append your Deadline license to the Krakatoa license so that the license server can distribute both.

Let's assume you already have a floating Krakatoa license that looks like this:

SERVER machine_name 000000000000
VENDOR frantic
FEATURE krakatoa-max frantic 1.10 permanent 1 BORROW SIGN=0
FEATURE krakatoa-max-render frantic 1.10 permanent 2 SIGN=0

Now let's assume your Deadline license looks like this:

SERVER machine_name 000000000000
VENDOR frantic
FEATURE deadline frantic 3.00 permanent 45 SIGN=0

Because the SERVER and VENDOR lines are the same, you only need to append the Deadline FEATURE line(s) to the Krakatoa license. The result would be:

SERVER machine_name 000000000000
VENDOR frantic
FEATURE krakatoa-max frantic 1.10 permanent 1 BORROW SIGN=0
FEATURE krakatoa-max-render frantic 1.10 permanent 2 SIGN=0
FEATURE deadline frantic 3.00 permanent 45 SIGN=0

Of course, if your Deadline license was generated for a different machine, you will need us to generate a new license using the same server information that was used for the Krakatoa license. If you mention it, we should be able to combine the licenses before sending it back.

Start The License Server

If everything looks correct, the next step is to start the license server.

On Windows

Some users have experienced problems running the 64 bit FLEXlm binaries on a 64 bit Windows machine. If this is the case for you, try using the 32 bit binaries instead. There aren't any known issues with running the 32 bit binaries on a 64 bit machine. In Deadline 4.0, only the 32 bit binaries will be available anyways.

Start up LMTools.exe on your license server machine, and then select the Configuration Using Services option and select the Frantic License Manager from the list below. Then select the Config Services tab and confirm that the path to the lmgrd.exe file and the path to the license file are correct. Double check that the path to the license file is indeed pointing to the correct license file that you received from us.

If everything looks correct here, click the Save Service button, then select the Start/Stop/Reread tab. Hit the Stop Server button, then hit the Start Server button. Then select the Server Status tab, specify 'frantic' as the Individual Daemon (don't use the quotes), then hit the Perform Status Enquiry button. If everything is running properly, you should see something similar to this (of course it will be specific to your license server machine):

   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   License server status: 27001@buttercup
   License file(s) on buttercup: C:\FLEXnet\deadline.lic:
   
   buttercup: license server UP (MASTER) v11.3
   
   Vendor daemon status (on buttercup):
   
   frantic: UP v11.4
   Feature usage info:
   
   Users of deadline: (Total of 10 licenses issued; Total of 0 licenses in use)
   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you don't see this (ie: you see an error message instead), please copy the contents of the status enquiry and send it to us. Note that sometimes LMTools will say that the license server was started successfully, but then the license server will crash immediately without any notification. The easiest way to check if your license server is running is to check the Task Manager to see if lmgrd.exe and frantic.exe are running. If they're not, then your license server isn't running.

In this situation, we recommend using the LMRGD method for Windows. Because you're running the license server from a DOS prompt, any error messages will be printed out to the console. This can help you diagnose the problem, or if you're unsure of what the error means, you could send it to us to look at. Refer to the Licensing Error Message section for known error messages and possible solutions. Once you've figured out what the problem is, you can then go back to using LMTools so that you can start your license server as a service.

On Linux and Mac OSX

Check out the LMGRD section for Linux and Mac OSX. If lmgrd prints out an error message, please copy the contents of the error message and send it to us. Refer to the Licensing Error Message section for known error messages and possible solutions.

Get the Slaves Connecting to the License Server

If you've gotten this far, then that's half the battle. Now try starting your Slaves and see if the slave pops up a license error message or if it starts in Free Mode (both cases mean that the Slave cannot find a license). If it does, try the following:

Configure Clients to Point to License Server

Use the Deadline Launcher application to change the license server by selecting the Change License Server menu item. Then select the Specify License Server option and specify the Host Name or IP Address of the license server machine. If one doesn't work, try the other.

Check Firewall or Other Security Software

If your slaves can't seem to connect to the license server, difficulties with FLEXnet floating licenses can occur when a firewall or other security software is present on the license server machine. You may have to make exceptions for the lmgrd and frantic applications before they will function properly.

As an example, system administrators should follow these steps to enable floating licenses with Microsoft Firewall:

Stop the license server if it is currently running:
- In the directory where FLEXnet is installed on the license server, start the program LMTools.exe.
- Select the Configuration Using Services option and select the Frantic License Manager from the list below.
- Select the Start/Stop/Reread tab, click Stop Server.
From the Windows Control Panel, start the Windows Firewall applet.
Select the General tab and make sure On (recommended) is selected and the check box Don't allow exceptions is off.
Select the Exceptions tab and choose Add Program.
Choose Browse and navigate to the directory where FLEXnet is installed.
Select lmgrd.exe, choose Open, and then choose OK to add lmgrd.exe to the list of Programs and Services.
With the Exceptions tab of the Microsoft Firewall applet still active, again choose Add Program.
Choose Browse and navigate to the directory where FLEXnet is installed.
Select frantic.exe, choose Open, and then choose OK to add frantic.exe to the list of Programs and Services.
Choose OK to close the Microsoft Firewall applet.
Start the license server:
- In the directory where FLEXnet is installed on the license server, start the program LMTools.exe.
- Select the Configuration Using Services option and select the Frantic License Manager from the list below.
- Select the Start/Stop/Reread tab, click Start Server.

Try Swapping the Host Name/IP Address In The License File

First, make a backup copy of your current license file, because you'll be modifying it. Then open the license file in a text editor and try changing the server Host Name to its IP Address (or vice versa), then save it and reread the license file as explained above. Try starting your slaves again, and test both the server Host Name and IP Address in the Change License Server dialog. This has been known to work in some cases.

Try Using Specific Ports In The License File

First, make a backup copy of your current license file, because you'll be modifying it. By default, the license server will use the first available port it finds, but you can configure the license file to use specific ports. Again, because the license file is only specific to the license server's MAC address, you can change port number manually. For example, if your SERVER and VENDOR lines look like this:

SERVER MyServer 0123456789AB
VENDOR frantic

Change them to this:

SERVER MyServer 0123456789AB 27009
VENDOR frantic 2709

After saving the file, reread the license file as explained here. This time in the Change License Server dialog, specify the server Host Name or IP Address, and the port number you specified on the SERVER line (which is 27009 in this case). If this still isn't working, you might have to configure your firewall on the server machine to allow communication over ports 27009 and 2709. This has also been known to work in some cases.

Error Messages

These are some known FLEXnet error messages, along with any known causes and/or solutions.

Cannot connect to license server system.

This error can occur for a few of reasons:

The license server isn't running on the specified host. Either point the Slave to the correct host, or follow the troubleshooting steps above to ensure that the license server is running on the given host.
The license server is running, but it is using a different port number than the one specified. Remember that if your license file is configured to use a specific port, you must included that port when pointing the Slave to the license server.
The license server is running, but the Slave can't connect to it. This could be due to a firewall or security system. Follow the troubleshooting steps above to allow the Slave to connect to the license server host.

The desired vendor daemon is down.

This error usually means that the Slave can connect to the license server machine, but the license server isn't running. Follow the troubleshooting steps above to ensure that the license server is running on the given host.

License server system does not support this feature.

This error means that the Slave is connecting to the license server, but the license file that it is using doesn't support the given feature (in this case 'deadline'). Please contact the Deadline Sales team about upgrading your license file.

License server system does not support this version of this feature.

This error means that the Slave is connecting to the license server, but the license file that it is using doesn't support the version of the given feature (in this case 'deadline'). Please contact the Deadline Sales team about upgrading your license file.