Every Network License product you own needs it’s own license file and we recently showed you how you can create this file. However, if you have more than one Network License Autodesk product, you’ll need to combine the license files for each of your products into one single license file. Today, we’ll give you some of the Do’s and Don’ts for consolidating license files, as well as provide some tips for different scenarios.
Understanding the Process
Combining licenses involves editing your existing license file and copying into it the lines from your new license file. Do not configure a separate service for the new Autodesk product. There are some restrictions on which licenses can and cannot be combined in a single file.
Licenses That Can Be Combined in a License File
- Licenses for different releases of the same product, such as AutoCAD 2015 and AutoCAD 2016.
- Licenses for different Autodesk products, such as AutoCAD 2016 and Autodesk Revit 2016.
- Perpetual licenses and subscription licenses with multi-user access, even if the perpetual license is not on a maintenance plan.
Licenses That Shouldn’t Be Combined in a License File
- Multiple licenses for the same product and version, for example if you have 5 licenses of AutoCAD 2016 and then decide to purchase 4 additional copies. You can’t then take the 4 new licenses and add them to the existing license file of your original 5 licenses. The reason is that the 4 newer licenses will supercede the 5 older licenses, and you’ll end up with only 4 licenses of AutoCAD 2016 instead of 9 licenses total.
- If you want to add additional licenses for the same product and version you need to generate a whole new network license file or request a new license file from Autodesk that contains the new total number of licenses for the product.
- New package license files and non-package license files for versions contained in the package. A package license enables usage of the current version plus previous versions of a product so you shouldn’t combine a new AutoCAD 2016 package license file with existing, non-package, license increments for Autodesk 2015, 2014, or 2013. Combining these license types in the same file will automatically disable the older license increments for the product and only the package license count will be available.
- License files for two suites that have products in common and different issue dates. In this case, the older product licenses for previous versions of products are superseded by the newer ones. For example, combining license files for 2016 package versions of Building Design Suite and Product Design Suite would result in canceling the licenses in one suite for 2013–2016 versions of products common to both suites, such as 3ds Max, AutoCAD, and Navisworks Manage.
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Mixed License File Scenarios
You can combine subscription licenses with multi-user access and perpetual network licenses whether or not the perpetual licenses are on an active maintenance plan. The following examples show the result of combining these different license types:
Perpetual on a maintenance plan + subscription with multi-user access
- Customer owns 20 perpetual license seats of AutoCAD 2016 on a maintenance plan
- Customer adds 30 additional AutoCAD 2016 multi-user seats on subscription
- Autodesk releases AutoCAD 2017
- Customer renews all seats before expiration and re-generates license file
Perpetual + subscription with multi-user access
- Customer owns 20 perpetual license seats of AutoCAD 2016
- Customer adds 30 additional AutoCAD 2016 multi-user seats on subscription
- Autodesk releases AutoCAD 2017
- Customer renews subscription seats before expiration and re-generates license file
Perpetual + expired subscription with multi-user access
- Customer owns 20 perpetual license seats of AutoCAD 2016
- Customer adds 30 additional AutoCAD 2016 multi-user seats on subscription
- Customer does not renew the subscription, so the total pool of licenses is reduced by the number of subscriptions that have expired
Tips for Editing Your License File
- Make a backup copy of your existing license file before you begin editing…just in case.
- If you are adding to an existing environment, edit your existing license file and add lines to it from the newly issued license file. This way you are starting from a working license (and an existing service) and it will be easier to troubleshoot issues if they arise after editing.
- ONLY edit license files using an ASCII editor such as Notepad. Word processors, such as Word, can add unwanted formatting, potentially corrupting the license file.
- Copy all of the lines from the new license file starting after the VENDOR line. You do not need to copy the SERVER, USE_SERVER or VENDOR lines from the new license as these only need to appear once in a license file. Do not alter the contents of the license information; only copy and paste from one file to another.
- Be sure to include any INCREMENT PLIST statements that may be in the file for pre–2010 products (the INCREMENT PLIST section defines the search order and priority for network licensed products sold as a series or bundle). FLEXnet will automatically determine which PLIST is the most current and use that increment accordingly. Failing to include PLIST increments (if they exist) may cause certain Autodesk products to not acquire a network license.
- Once your editing is finished, test the edited license file using the License File Parser at www.licenseparser.com. The License File Parser will display the contents in a more readable format and you should be able to quickly verify that your license file has everything you expect.
Once the new license information has been added to the existing license file, use LMTOOLS to stop and restart the Network License Manager, and perform a status inquiry to ensure the revised license file is being properly read.
To Stop and Restart a Windows License Server, Linux License Server, and Mac OS X License Server
Example of Combining License Files
The following is an example of how to add Autodesk Revit 2016 licenses to an existing AutoCAD 2016 license file:
Note:
- Newer Autodesk product licenses require a newer version of the Network License Manager. If you are adding new product release licenses to an existing license file, you should also determine if there is an updated Autodesk Network License Manager and upgrade your license server accordingly.
- If the server has more than one network adapter installed, all of the Autodesk products must be bound to the same adapter.