Network License Server

A network license server is an area on a network where you can store and manage STK licenses for one or more users. You can configure any computer on your network to act as the network license server if:

  • The directory path to licenses on the server is shared.
  • All of the clients that access licenses from the server can see it.

AGI recommends that you create a single network license server and configure each instance of STK to request all licenses from that server. You may not be able to access some licenses if one client is attempting to get licenses from two or more network license servers.

A network file server is a good choice for a network license server installation, although any computer that is usually available on the network is acceptable.

Installing the Ansys License Manager

Beginning with STK 12.3, STK only supports network licenses. Administrators need to set up license server machines, and clients need to point to a License Server on either a network or their own machines.

For details on licensing installation, see the License Management Guide included in your installation media at <STK Installation Media>\SupportFiles\Help\ansys_license_management_guide.pdf or in your installation folder at <STK Install folder>\Shared Files\Licensing\ansys_license_management_guide.pdf

License Manager installation prerequisites

See Section 2.2.1, License Manager Installation Prerequisites, of the License Management Guide.

Installing the Ansys License Manager on Windows

As an administrator, you can install Ansys License Manager software on Windows in one of two ways. One way is to use the STK installation media, as described below.

  1. Right-click the <STK Installation Media>\AnsysLicenseManager\winx64\setup.exe file and select Run as administrator.

    2. If you are installing the License Manager on the same machine where STK will be installed, you can choose to install the Ansys License Manager during the STK install by selecting the check box outlined below.

  2. See Section 2.2.2, License Manager Installation Instructions - Windows, of the License Management Guide for more detailed instructions on completing the Ansys License Manager install. Select Install Ansys License Manager to complete the installation.

Another way to install the Ansys License Manager is to use a direct download of its executable. Go to the AGI Software Downloads website, select the Ansys tab, and select to download the Ansys License Manager ZIP file. Open the installer executable and then follow step 2 above.

Installing the Ansys License Manager on Linux

The following steps enable you, as an administrator, to install Ansys License Manager software on Linux.

  1. Extract the Ansys License Manager from the archive file by issuing the following command:
    2. tar -xvf AnsysLicenseManager.tgz
  2. Issue the following command to install the Ansys License Manager:
    3. sudo AnsysLicenseManager/linx64/INSTALL -LM
  3. See Section 2.2.3, License Manager Installation Instructions - Linux, of the License Management Guide for more detailed instructions on completing the Ansys License Manager install.

    4. If Ansys License Management Center does not open after the install, enter localhost:1084 into any browser to open it.

  4. See Section 3.1, Start the Ansys License Manager at System Boot Time, of the License Management Guide for instructions on how to start the license manager automatically.
  5. See Section 3.2, Start the Ansys Tomcat Server at System Boot Time, of the License Management Guide for instructions on how to start the tomcat server automatically.

    6. See the Troubleshooting section for common install errors and their solutions.

Installing the Ansys License Manager silently

You can deploy an Ansys License Manager installation in silent mode on both Windows and Linux systems.

To silently install the Ansys License Manager on Windows systems that will act as license servers, you must run the setup.exe with the -silent and -LM options:

<STK Installation Media>\AnsysLicenseManager\winx64\setup.exe -silent -LM -install_dir path -licfilepath path

To install the Ansys License Manager on Linux systems that will act as license servers, you must run the INSTALL with the -silent and -LM options:

INSTALL -silent -LM -install_dir path -licfilepath path

See Section 2.2.4, Silent License Manager Installation Instructions, of the License Management Guide for more details on a silent installation.

If you need to run FlexLM directly without the Ansys License Management Center, contact support@agi.com.

Adding licenses

  1. In Windows, locate the Ansys License Management Center from the Start menu under ANSYS, Inc. License Manager. On Linux, run the start_lmcenter script located in 'ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/'

    2. If Ansys License Management Center does not open or is already running, enter localhost:1084 into any browser to open it.

  2. Select "Add a License File" in the License File Options field.
  3. Browse to the location of the license file.

    4. If you do not have a license file, see Purchased Licenses to obtain one.

  4. Select the View Status/Start/Stop License Manager from the Home field.
  5. Click Start to start the service.
  6. Once this is set up, you can configure clients to access the server.

Check available licenses

You can check to see which licenses are available and who is using them. Select the View Current License Usage in the Reporting field. This is the same as the 'lmstat' output. The report displays the license and who (if anyone) is using it.

Uninstalling the Ansys License Manager

Before proceeding with the following steps to remove the Ansys licensing components from your system, make certain that there are no Ansys, Inc. products on this machine or any other machines on the network that rely on these Ansys licensing components.

Uninstalling Windows license servers

  1. Stop the Ansys License Manager via the Ansys License Management Center.
  2. Verify that the following processes are no longer running. If they are running, stop them before continuing the uninstall process.
    • ansysli_server.exe
    • ansysli_monitor.exe
    • ansyslmd.exe
    • lmgrd.exe
  3. Uninstall the Ansys License Manager service. You must use the following command to do so:
    4. "C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\Shared Files\Licensing\winx64\ansysli_server" -k uninstall
  4. Uninstall the Ansys Licensing Tomcat service. You must use the following commands to do so:
    5. sc stop "ANSYSLicensingTomcat"
    sc delete "ANSYSLicensingTomcat"
  5. Delete the Shared Files subdirectory (the default is C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\Shared Files).

    6. Do not delete this directory if Ansys products are also installed in the installation directory.

  6. Remove the Ansys License Manager folder from the Start menu.
  7. Remove the ANSYSLIC_DIR and the ANSYSLIC_SYSDIR environment variables, if set.

Uninstalling Linux license servers

  1. Stop the Ansys License Manager via the Ansys License Management Center.
  2. Stop any Ansys Tomcat server processes by running the stop_lmcenter script; the default location of the script is ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/.
  3. Delete the shared_files subdirectory (the default is /ansys_inc/shared_files/).

    4. Do not delete this directory if Ansys products are also installed in the installation directory.

  4. Remove the Ansys License Manager automatic startup information by issuing commands in Section 3.1.1, Boot Time Startup Instructions, of the License Management Guide using systemd.
  5. Remove the Tomcat automatic startup information by issuing commands in Table 3.2 in Section 3.2, Starting the Ansys Licensing Tomcat Server at System Boot Time, of the License Management Guide.