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There are many ways to license FreeFlyer for varying types of operational concepts, including operations environments, personal environments, and team environments. This guide will walk you through all of the different options available to a user when configuring FreeFlyer, as well as some of the terminology used to clarify the system that is in place.
The complete FlexNet license administration guide applicable for the most recent FreeFlyer release, a help file document maintained by Flexera, can be found either on the a. i. solutions website in the FreeFlyer login area within an extra download named "Network Licensing" or can be requested from fflicense@ai-solutions.com.
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License Schemes
FreeFlyer is licensed through FlexNet, a third party library that FreeFlyer talks to in order to ensure proper usage. Through FlexNet licensing, FreeFlyer supports three different licensing schemes that users can take advantage of depending on the circumstances where they expect that they will be using a FreeFlyer license.
•Node-Locked Licensing
oNode-locked licensing locks a FreeFlyer installation to a single computer.
oThis licensing scheme is available for both Windows and Linux platforms.
•Dongle Licensing
oDongle licensing locks a FreeFlyer installation to a specific USB dongle.
oThis licensing scheme is only available for Windows platforms.
•Network Licensing
oNetwork licensing allows a group of users to share a pool of FreeFlyer licenses. The number of licenses which can be used concurrently depends only on the number of seats purchased. You must set up an on-site license server in order to use this licensing method through which licenses can be checked out or borrowed for off-site use.
oThis licensing scheme is available for both Windows and Linux platforms. |
All FreeFlyer licenses are subject to an instance limit that only allows so many copies of the FreeFlyer software to be open concurrently on a single machine. There are varying instance limits for different licensed groups, though the standard operating license for nearly all customers is 6. That said, all university students requesting a FreeFlyer license for use exclusively for their non-funded schoolwork will receive a license with an instance limit of 2. Additionally, through Dynamic License Allocation (DLA), multiple licenses of FreeFlyer can be checked out from a network licensing server to a single client machine in order to exceed the nominal instance limit for surge applications. DLA must be enabled on a per-license basis, and can be requested by contacting the FreeFlyer technical support licensing group at fflicense@ai-solutions.com. If you require more than 6 instances of FreeFlyer per seat in your operational concept, your account manager at sales@ai-solutions.com will be happy to work with you to develop a solution.
Note: Users may request to transfer a FreeFlyer license from one computer to another by filling in the Software License Transfer Agreement (SLTA) on the a.i. solutions website in the FreeFlyer login area.
Supported Host ID Types
FreeFlyer licenses are tied to what is called a host identifier, or host ID, which serves to identify a machine via some secure mechanism so that the license can be enabled on it.
•Composite
oThe composite is the standard host ID used for licensing due to its security and is provided when reporting a machine's information through FreeFlyer.
oThis option is not suitable for machines that do not have network cards (such as those in classified environments).
•Disk Serial Number (DSN)
oA machine's DSN is its hard disk volume identifier and is usually an 8-character string of numbers and letters.
oThe DSN is a secondary host ID used for licensing, and is only used in cases where the composite is not suitable. It is also provided when reporting a machine's information through FreeFlyer.
oThis option is not suitable for virtual machines or anything with a network card enabled where a composite would be preferred.
•VDH_UUID
oA virtual machine's VDH_UUID (Vendor Defined HostID) is its universally unique identifier, and is particularly useful because sometimes the composites and DSNs cycle for virtual environments whereas the VDH_UUID stays constant.
▪The VDH_UUID is represented by the machine's VM_UUID
oThe VDH_UUID is a secondary host ID for virtual environments in a configuration where rebooting can change the machine's other host identifiers, and is often only used when issues arise with other host IDs.
oTo use a license keyed off of a machine's VDH_UUID, the VM Licensing Service must be installed. |
Retrieve License Information Independent of FreeFlyer
To retrieve your machine information without running FreeFlyer, follow the instructions below for your Operating System to access your machine's information:
•Windows
oDownload the License_Information_Utility.zip from "Section 3 - Miscellaneous" under the Downloads tab on the corporate website
oUnzip the License_Information_Utility folder
oIn the terminal, navigate to the directory where you have saved the utility
▪cd path_to_utility_directory
oExecute the program by running:
▪ freeflyer_license_information.exe
oThe computer information that is needed to create your license will be displayed in the terminal. Copy the entirety of this information into an email to fflicense@ai-solutions.com.
•Linux
oDownload the License_Information_Utility.zip from "Section 3 - Miscellaneous" under the Downloads tab on the corporate website
oIn the terminal, navigate to the directory where you have saved the utility
▪cd path_to_utility_directory
oEnable the file for execution by running the following command:
▪chmod +x ./freeflyer_license_information
oExecute the program by running:
▪./freeflyer_license_information |
VM Licensing Service
The VM Licensing Service is only necessary for virtual machines whose FreeFlyer license file will be associated with the VDH_UUID host ID. Without the Licensing Service installed, the license information displayed in FreeFlyer's "Register a New License" window or the license information utility will say "Licensing Service Not Installed" in the VM_UUID and VDH_UUID fields, and a license based off one of these identifiers will not be valid. To use a license keyed off the machine's VDH_UUID on a virtual machine, follow the instructions below for your Operating System to install the VM Licensing Service:
•Windows
oDownload the VM_Licensing_Service.zip from "Section 3 - Miscellaneous" under the Downloads tab on the corporate website
oUnzip the VM_Licensing_Service folder and navigate to the "Windows" folder
oRun "install_licensing_service.bat"
▪If desired, you can check that the installation was successful by opening the Task Manager and confirming that a new background process called "Activation Licensing Service" is running, or by checking that the FreeFlyer license information is displaying values in the VM_UUID and/or VDH_UUID fields
•Linux
oIf it is not already installed, you will need to install the LSB package:
▪sudo yum -y install lsb
oDownload the VM_Licensing_Service.zip from "Section 3 - Miscellaneous" under the Downloads tab on the corporate website
oUnzip the VM_Licensing_Service folder
oIn the terminal, navigate to the directory where you have saved the installer ("VM_Licensing_Service/Linux")
▪cd path_to_installer_directory
oEnable the file for execution by running the following command:
▪chmod +x ./install_fnp.sh
oInstall the program by running:
▪sudo ./install_fnp.sh |
See Also
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