Esko FlexNet Licensing
● June 17th, 2014 08:15 AM – 09:15 AM
● Barry Phelps
● Support Engineer – ArtiosCAD
FlexNet licensing
AC-50
Licensing
Barry Phelps, Support Engineer CAD, Esko-Graphics
Confused by the FlexNet licensing system we use at Esko? This question-and-answer class will help
you understand how to request, download, and install a FlexNet license for ArtiosCAD and other Esko
software products.
2
FlexNet licensing
● First and foremost, http://help.esko.com website is always the
first place to go for the knowledge database, licensing, documentation,
downloads and release information anytime you need it
● Esko Support can be reached at 800.743.7131
● This presentation will cover basic and advanced FlexNet concepts
– “A little bit of know-how for everyone”
3
FlexNet licensing
●Basic concepts for FlexNet
4
Licensing concepts for previous versions and FlexNet
● Previous licensing methods:
– Parallel/USB keys using tuneopt license files
– ELAN Network licensing
– Sentinel software licensing (Local and Network)
● Which licensing system works with what version of ArtiosCAD?
– ArtiosCAD V740 and earlier uses the previous types
– ArtiosCAD V760 or higher can use FlexNet type licenses or previous
– ArtiosCAD V12.X and higher can only use FlexNet type licenses
● What does the license method screen look like?
5
Basic FlexNet licensing concepts
● What is FlexNet licensing?
● Description
– Software based licensing system (No physical hardware required)
– Two types, Local or Network based licensing
● Software based licensing is beneficial because…
– No more lost or broke keys, licenses are easily viewed, highly portable, easily add
more modules, multiple OS compatible and works with virtualized systems.
● Local and Network licensing
– A local license is not shared with any other system
– A network license can be shared with any system on the local area network but not
on a wide area network
6
Basic FlexNet licensing concepts
Continued…
● Time limited (Local or Network based)
– Time limited license are used for key exchanges (90 days with no extensions) or
consignment/evaluation of software or modules
– Quick note on license exchanges, when returning the physical key to Esko
licensing, please remember to insure each key shipped for $500.00 as loss
protection, Esko can not replace lost keys because of a shipper’s issue.
– Nothing to return afterwards and a reminder will appear (Maybe a Outlook
reminder?)
● Permanent license (Local or Network based)
– Do not have a time limit or expiration date and are non-transferrable without prior
authorization from Esko
● FlexNet licensing considerations
– Using RDP(Remote Desktop Protocol) to connect with a system across the network
using local FlexNet will disable the licensing
– Network licenses are visible only to the local network, network licenses are site
specific, not company wide
– Deactivating individual product keys and not the entire license/entitlement, will
cause upgrades to fail at a later date
7
Basic FlexNet licensing concepts
● What is the FlexNet license file?
– FlexNet license file (Also called an Entitlement) can be opened in any internet
browser (Firefox, IE, Chrome, …)
– Why?, because it is a HTML formatted file type
● Local versus Network licenses – Use a internet browser to open the file and
view the contents of the file
8
Basic FlexNet licensing
● Creating an Esko licensing activation account
– If you have to activate an FlexNet license, you will need a Esko licensing account
– 3 types of Esko accounts: License, Download and Portal
● After submitting the account information, a notification email will be sent to
the provided email address.
● If you have not received an email within a short amount of time, please
contact Esko Support to activate the account.
9
Basic FlexNet licensing
● How to Activate your FlexNet licensing (After receiving account notifcaton)
● Always try to use “On line”, “Have a file containing product keys”
● Remember your account name and password, if you have physical media,
place a note in with the media that contains account and password. If you
retain the installation media on the network, adding in a “READ-ME FIRST”
text file could be useful
● License manager tools, activate/deactivate/delete/repair
● Off line – What is this used for?
● Can I remove the license file after activation?
10
Basic FlexNet licensing
● How to Deactivate your FlexNet licensing
● Always try to use “On line”
● You do not need your account name and password
11
FlexNet licensing
● Discussing examples of some concerns with licensing
● If a incident number is given during activation
– Record the number, call support to determine the root cause
● Obsoleted licenses
– Cannot be activated, to verify, call Esko Support
● Currently 20 systems on FNO local, all activate but 2 upgrades fail – why?
– Incomplete entitlement, obsoleted license, wrong system
● Activated a upgrade license on new system but fails – why?
– Not activating upgrade license on old system first then moving licenses
● What to do if system crashes/dies/wiped clean – call Esko Support
● Activation fails on a newly created system
– License was activated already
– Characters used in the Computer’s HostName
Make sure your computer name only contains regular ASCII characters
Do not use accented letters like “ü” or any special characters “’,!@#$%^&*()+=<>:
● Upgrade license fails
– Parting out product keys from the original license/ entitlement
12
FlexNet licensing
●Advanced concepts for FlexNet
13
Advanced FlexNet licensing
Function Keys used in License Managers
Shows the version of the Esko License Manager you are using
•
F1 (Windows) or fn+F1 (Mac OS X),
Allows you to see if a license for a particular module is available (For example: a license for a trapping
module).
● F4 (Windows) or fn+F4 (Mac OS X)
F5 (Windows) or Cmd+R (Mac OS X),
Refreshes the licenses list, you will only need to do
this in specific cases as the licenses list normally auto-refreshes.
14
Advanced FlexNet licensing
● Just a quick view of the FlexNet network license manager
– Very similar, with just a few differences…
– And the dialog boxes will show a slightly different messages if an issue is
encountered…
15
FlexNet licensing
Diagram of network
licensing and local
licenses
16
FlexNet licensing
● The License Manager activation wizard/assistant creates a log file for every
session. The log file is saved in the following folders:
● Mac OS
– [user]/Library/Logs/Esko_Server_License_Manager_yyyymmdd_hhmmss.log
● Windows OS
– [user]\esko\Esko_Server_License_Manager_yyyymmdd_hhmmss.log
“Wed May 21 15:23:38 2014 StartUp
Esko Local License Manager 12.1.2 Build 34
Wed May 21 15:26:32 2014 Shutdown”
17
FlexNet licensing
● And as a reminder, help.esko.com is always the first place to go,
knowledge database, licensing, documentation, downloads and release
information
● This presentation will be posted along the PowerPoint presentations
● Thank you for your time…
18
This is
2014
19