Enterprise Licensing Guide

ANSYS, Inc. Release 2020 R1

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1
1.1. About the Licensing Interconnect .................................................................................................... 2
1.2. FlexNet and Licensing Interconnect Administration Options .............................................................. 3
1.2.1. Managing FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect Together ..................................................... 3
1.2.2. Managing FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect Separately ................................................... 3
1.2.3. Using a Stand-Alone Licensing Interconnect ............................................................................ 4
1.2.4. Running FlexNet Without the Licensing Interconnect ................................................................ 4
2. Installing the Enterprise Licensing Package ........................................................................................... 7
2.1. Default Directory Structure ............................................................................................................... 7
2.2. Files Provided with the Enterprise Licensing Package ......................................................................... 8
2.3. Files created by the Licensing Interconnect ..................................................................................... 12
2.4. Files You Create for the Licensing Interconnect ................................................................................ 13
2.5. Files Created for and by FlexNet ...................................................................................................... 14
2.6. Installing the Enterprise Licensing Package for the First Time ........................................................... 15
2.7. Installing the Enterprise Licensing Package Subsequent Times ......................................................... 17
2.8. Migrating ansoftd to ansyslmd ........................................................................................................ 17
2.8.1. Port Numbers ......................................................................................................................... 18
2.8.2. License File Changes .............................................................................................................. 19
2.8.3. Migration Steps ...................................................................................................................... 19
2.8.4. Relationship of the Licensing Interconnect with Electronics (ansoftd) products ........................ 20
3. Procedures ............................................................................................................................................ 21
3.1. Running FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect Separately on Linux/UNIX ..................................... 21
3.2. Running FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect Separately on Windows ........................................ 21
3.2.1. Installing the Licensing Interconnect as a Windows Service ..................................................... 21
3.2.1.1. Specify Startup Options via the ansyslmd.ini File ............................................................ 22
3.2.1.2. Specify Startup Options via Command Line .................................................................... 22
3.2.1.3. Uninstalling the Service ................................................................................................. 23
3.3. Determining if the Licensing Interconnect is Working Properly ......................................................... 23
3.3.1. Using the statli Command ...................................................................................................... 23
3.3.2. Using the Licensing Interconnect Log File ............................................................................... 24
3.4. Determining the Version Number of the Licensing Interconnect ...................................................... 24
3.5. Shutting Down the Licensing Interconnect ...................................................................................... 24
3.6. Rereading the Licensing Interconnect ............................................................................................. 25
3.7. Installing a New License File ............................................................................................................ 25
3.8. Removing Hung Licenses from the Licensing Interconnect .............................................................. 25
3.9. Displaying a List of Currently Active Jobs ......................................................................................... 26
3.10. Caching License Information from Another License Server ............................................................. 27
3.11. Improving Licensing Performance ................................................................................................. 28
3.11.1. Running a Standalone Licensing Interconnect ....................................................................... 28
3.11.2. Balancing the Load on a Triad ............................................................................................... 29
3.12. Managing Triads ........................................................................................................................... 30
3.13. Understanding Port Numbers ........................................................................................................ 30
3.14. Using Virus Scanners ..................................................................................................................... 31
3.15. License Reporting Tools ................................................................................................................ 31
3.16. Managing Design Point License Reserves ...................................................................................... 31
3.16.1. Disabling License Reservation ............................................................................................... 32
3.16.2. Managing License Usage Tracking for Design Point Reserves ................................................. 32
3.16.3. Releasing Reserved Licenses ................................................................................................. 33
3.17. Updating the Product Order File .................................................................................................... 34
3.18. Enabling License Manager Privacy Controls ................................................................................... 34

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Enterprise Licensing Guide

4. Reference .............................................................................................................................................. 37
4.1. Environment Variables .................................................................................................................... 37
4.2. Licensing Interconnect Command Options ...................................................................................... 38
4.3. ansyslmd.ini Keywords .................................................................................................................... 51
4.4. Glossary ......................................................................................................................................... 67
5. Troubleshooting .................................................................................................................................... 69
5.1. Interpreting the ansysli_server.log File ............................................................................................. 69
5.1.1. Log File Keywords .................................................................................................................. 69
5.2. Log File Error Messages ................................................................................................................... 72
5.3. Problem Situations ......................................................................................................................... 73
5.3.1. I See CHECKIN/CHECKOUT Actions for Names that do Not Correspond to License Features in
the License File ............................................................................................................................... 73

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Chapter 1: Introduction
The purpose of this guide is to give you a better understanding of the ANSYS License Manager, specifically
the Licensing Interconnect and its interaction with FlexNet, to enable you to easily integrate the ANSYS
Enterprise Licensing Package into your licensing configuration.

This guide is directed toward the Enterprise IT license administrator with excellent FlexNet knowledge
and system administration skills, who has a uniquely customized licensing environment. Neither an in-
stallation program nor license administration tools are provided with the ANSYS Enterprise Licensing
Package.

Assumptions

• You must have an excellent working knowledge of FlexNet. We do not provide extensive details on
FlexNet, except as it relates to the interactions with the Licensing Interconnect.

• You have well-established scripts and processes for administering FlexNet and want to continue their
use and would prefer to administer FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect separately.

• Except where otherwise noted, all information in this guide assumes that you are administering FlexNet
and the Licensing Interconnect separately.

• You are not running ANSYS, Inc. products on the license server machine.

Resources If you prefer to use an installation program to install ANSYS licensing and GUI license ad-
ministration tools, use the ANSYS release media or download the ANSYS License Manager package from
the ANSYS Download Center and proceed with that package instead. The ANSYS Licensing Guide, found
in the ANSYS media package, or in the ANSYS Release Documentation Package on the ANSYS Download
Center, contains supporting documentation for the ANSYS License Manager package.

Version Information

• This package is associated with ANSYS Release 2020 R1

• FlexNet version:

– Windows: Version 11.16.4.0 (ansylmd: Version 11.16.4.0)

– Linux: Version 11.16.4.0 (ansylmd: Version 11.16.4.0)

Note:

For both Windows and Linux platforms, the FlexNet version used by LMGRD is 11.16.4.0.

• The Licensing Interconnect version is 2.1.1

New and Changed Features

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Introduction

• The ANSYS License Manager now supports Electronics PPE products.

• The ANSYS License Manager now supports ANSYS SPEOS products.

• The ANSYS License Manager now supports the ANSYS Twin Builder Generic Runtime product.

• The ANSYS License Manager now supports the ANSYS GRANTA products.

• The ANSYS License Manager now supports the ANSYS Minerva product.

• The ANSYS License Manager now supports VRXPERIENCE products.

• The ANSYS License Manager now supports Motor-CAD products.

• The ANSYS License Manager now supports Helic products.

• The ANSYS License Manager now supports the Electronics Pro, Premium and Enterprise products.

• ANSYS licensing supports the Idle Timeout option which defines the time-out value before a license
can be returned. This feature is currently available for ANSYS Mechanical Fluent, CFX and Electronics
products.

1.1. About the Licensing Interconnect

Introduced at Release 12.0, the Licensing Interconnect is an intermediary process that manages commu-
nications between FlexNet and ANSYS applications; specifically, the Licensing Interconnect:

• coordinates ANSYS licensing business, product definition, and packaging rules into a central component

• enables license sharing of multiple data-integrated applications at run time

• checks out licenses on behalf of ANSYS applications

The Licensing Interconnect runs on the license server system and must be running on the license
server in order to run ANSYS 12.0 and higher products. It has two components:

• ansysli_server - the Licensing Interconnect executable

• ansysli_monitor - monitors the Licensing Interconnect and restarts it if it goes down

Unless otherwise specified, all Licensing Interconnect references throughout this document refer to
both components together.

The Licensing Interconnect offers the following benefits:

• allows more advanced license feature interaction than FlexNet alone

• offers “one at a time sharing” of multiple applications or application instances

• provides the ability to specify your license preferences when more than one license can satisfy a given user
requirement

• offers run time flexibility to adjust application behavior based on the combination of applications that are
checked out

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 FlexNet and Licensing Interconnect Administration Options

• provides the ability to update licensing rules and business logic independent of the applications

• allows updates for server-side licensing changes without having to re-install client-side applications

• allows us to change product definitions and support new products in prior releases

• allows us to provide application/solver/physics neutral product modules such as ANSYS HPC, ANSYS CFD,
and ANSYS Academic products

• allows us to take advantage of new FlexNet features, without introducing any incompatibilities with prior
releases

1.2. FlexNet and Licensing Interconnect Administration Options

You can administer ANSYS licensing by managing its component parts, FlexNet and the Licensing Inter-
connect, either together or separately.

1.2.1. Managing FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect Together

Whether you are using the full License Manager Installation package provided on the download
center or on the installation media or you are using this Enterprise Licensing Package, managing
FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect together is the default. The primary advantage of this technique
is that there is only one process to manage.

When managing ANSYS licensing under this method, the components are started in the following
order:

1. Licensing Interconnect (ansysli_server)

2. Licensing Interconnect monitor (ansysli_monitor)

3. FlexNet (lmgrd, which starts ansyslmd)

When managing Flexnet and the Licensing Interconnect together, you start only the Licensing Inter-
connect; it then starts the Licensing Interconnect monitor and FlexNet.

The Licensing Interconnect will periodically check to make sure that FlexNet is still running and if it
is not, will attempt to restart it. Likewise, the Licensing Interconnect monitor will periodically check
to make sure the Licensing Interconnect is still running and will attempt to restart it if not.

1.2.2. Managing FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect Separately

The advantage with managing FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect separately is that if you already
have well-established scripts and procedures to manage FlexNet, you do not have to change them.
You only need to add the administration of the Licensing Interconnect to your process. This Enterprise
Licensing Guide assumes that this method of administering ANSYS licensing is your preference.

When managing ANSYS licensing under this method, the components are started in the following
order:

1. Licensing Interconnect (ansysli_server)

2. Licensing Interconnect monitor (ansysli_monitor)

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Introduction

FlexNet is not started. The Licensing Interconnect starts only the Licensing Interconnect monitor. The
Licensing Interconnect monitor will periodically check to make sure the Licensing Interconnect is still
running and will attempt to restart it if not.

Some additional options need to be used when starting the Licensing Interconnect in this scenario.
Most options can be specified either via command line or by using ansyslmd.ini keywords. Both
methods are referenced throughout this document.

If you are using command options to start the Licensing Interconnect, include these options to the
startup:

• -c

• -cacheflexlic

• -noflex

If you are setting your options via keywords in the ansyslmd.ini file, be sure to include these
keywords:

• LICKEYFIL

• CACHE_FLEXLIC

• ANSYSLI_NOFLEX

See Licensing Interconnect Command Options (p. 38) for more information on setting the Licensing
Interconnect command options and ansyslmd.ini Keywords (p. 51) for more information on setting
ansyslmd.ini keywords.

1.2.3. Using a Stand-Alone Licensing Interconnect

In addition to one of the above options, you may also choose to have a standalone Licensing Inter-
connect running on a separate system. You must always have a Licensing Interconnect running on
the license server system; this option provides an additional Licensing Interconnect running on a
separate system.

See the section Running a Standalone Licensing Interconnect (p. 28) for detailed information on the
setup.

The benefits of having an additional Licensing Interconnect running on a separate system are:

• If you have many users, especially at diverse locations, this configuration could help ease the load on the
Licensing Interconnect.

The disadvantages of having an additional Licensing Interconnect running on a separate system are:

• Each time you upgrade the Licensing Interconnect on the license server, you would also want to upgrade
any standalone Licensing Interconnects.

1.2.4. Running FlexNet Without the Licensing Interconnect

If this license server contains licenses for ANSYS (non-Electronics) products, this is not a valid option,
since the Licensing Interconnect is required.

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 FlexNet and Licensing Interconnect Administration Options

Electronics (Ansoft) products do not use the Licensing Interconnect; Electronics (Ansoft) products
continue to check out licenses directly from FlexNet. If your license server only serves licenses for
Electronics (Ansoft) products, it is permissible to only run FlexNet without the Licensing Interconnect.
The advantage to running only FlexNet is that less system resources are consumed, since the Licensing
Interconnect would not be running.

When running ANSYS licensing using this method:

• Follow the steps presented in this guide to install the ANSYS License Manager

• No entries are needed in the ansyslmd.ini file, since it is not used by FlexNet

• Use your established procedures or FlexNet Manager to start (lmgrd and ansyslmd) and shut down (lmutil
lmdown) FlexNet with the ansyslmd vendor daemon.

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Chapter 2: Installing the Enterprise Licensing Package
Before installing the Enterprise Licensing Package, you should understand the files included with the
package, the files created by the Licensing Interconnect, and the files you create for use with the Licensing
Interconnect, as well as the overall directory structure.

Details about the directory structure and all of the files are provided in the following sections.

2.1. Default Directory Structure

The default directory structure for the ANSYS License Manager installation is /an-
sys_inc/shared_files/licensing on Linux/UNIX and <OS Drive>:\Program
Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licensing\ for Windows. Many of the files contained in
this package require a specific relative relationship. Keeping the ANSYS-specific files in
shared_files/licensing on Linux/UNIX and in Shared Files\Licensing on Windows will
ensure that needed relationship. You may select a different parent directory, such as /licens-
ing/flexnet/shared_files/licensing.

However, we recommend keeping shared_files and below intact. The FlexNet component does
not need to reside in the same directory; it may be installed elsewhere. Review ansyslmd.ini
Keywords (p. 51) and Licensing Interconnect Command Options (p. 38) for information on specifying
the location of specific files, such as the FlexNet license file.

The following diagram illustrates where the files contained in the Enterprise Licensing Package and
their associated files reside within the default directory structure.

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Installing the Enterprise Licensing Package

2.2. Files Provided with the Enterprise Licensing Package

The ANSYS Enterprise Licensing Package contains the minimum files required to successfully run the
ANSYS, Inc. License Manager. The files listed in this section are included in the Enterprise Licensing
Package.

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 Files Provided with the Enterprise Licensing Package

Any directory requirements are noted. The FlexNet files can generally reside anywhere. However, the
Licensing Interconnect-related files (non-FlexNet) must remain in the same directory structure from
Shared Files down as provided in the Enterprise Licensing Package.

lmgrd
Description: FlexNet License Manager Daemon

Default Directory:

• UNIX/Linux: /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/<platform>

• Windows: <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licens-

ing\<platform>

Directory Requirements: lmgrd can reside in any directory.

ansyslmd
Description: FlexNet ANSYS Vendor Daemon

Default Directory:

• UNIX/Linux: /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/<platform>

• Windows: <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licens-

ing\<platform>

Directory Requirements: ansyslmd can reside in any directory.

lmutil
Description: FlexNet License Administration Tool

Default Directory:

• UNIX/Linux: /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/<platform>

• Windows: <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licens-

ing\<platform>

Directory Requirements: lmutil can reside in any directory.

installs.exe (Windows)
Description: The FlexNet-supplied program to install FlexNet as a service on Windows.

Default Directory:

• Windows: <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licens-

ing\<platform>

Directory Requirements: installs.exe can reside in any directory.

ansysli_server
Description: ANSYS Licensing Interconnect. Manages license requests between ANSYS, Inc. applications
and FlexNet; contains ANSYS product definitions and must be running on the license server to be able to
run ANSYS products.

Default Directory:

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Installing the Enterprise Licensing Package

• UNIX/Linux: /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/<platform>

• Windows: <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licens-

ing\<platform>

Directory Requirements: ansysli_server needs to reside in the same directory as an-

sysli_monitor and ansysli_util. Files that are created or read by ansysli_server may
have specific relative directory requirements.

Note:

Back-up log files for the ansysli_server file are stored in the logs_backup directory
using the following format: ansysli_server.log<#>.

ansysli_monitor
Description: ANSYS Licensing Interconnect Monitor. This program is started by the Licensing Interconnect.
Its sole purpose is to make sure the Licensing Interconnect is running. If the Licensing Interconnect goes
down, the monitor will restart it.

Default Directory:

• UNIX/Linux: /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/<platform>

• Windows: <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licens-

ing\<platform>

Directory Requirements: ansysli_monitor needs to reside in the same directory as an-

sysli_server and ansysli_util. Files that are created by ansysli_monitor may have
specific relative directory requirements.

ansysli_util
Description: ANSYS Licensing Interconnect Informational Utility

Default Directory:

• UNIX/Linux: /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/<platform>

• Windows: <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licens-

ing\<platform>

Directory Requirements: ansysli_util needs to reside in the same directory as ansysli_serv-

er and ansysli_monitor.

ansysli.prodord.xml
Description: File used by ANSYS licensing to determine the preferred order in which license features
should be checked out. We do not recommend manually editing this file. Instead, if you need to modify
this file, log onto a system where you have installed the non-enterprise license manager package, run the
Set Site Preferences> Specify Product Order option of the ANSLIC_ADMIN utility, and copy the resulting
ansysli.prodord.active.xml file to the recommended directory on your license server system.

If you modified the product order file at a prior release and would like to continue using these
modifications, you may automatically update your existing product order file to include any new
site preference updates by using the -updatesiteprefs command. For more information, see Updating
the Product Order File (p. 34)

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 Files Provided with the Enterprise Licensing Package

The unmodified file, as provided to you from ANSYS, Inc. should remain named ansysli.pro-
dord.xml. The modified file should be named ansysli.prodord.active.xml. ANSYS, Inc.
licensing will use the ansysli.prodord.active.xml file if it exists; otherwise, it will use the
ansysli.prodord.xml file.

Default Directory:

• UNIX/Linux: /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/prodord

• Windows: <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licensing\pro-

dord

Directory Requirements: The Licensing Interconnect determines the directory location for an-
sysli.prodord.xml and ansysli.prodord.active.xml relative to the ansysli_server
executable. It finds shared_files/licensing within the current directory tree and looks one
level down for prodord. If the directory cannot be found in this manner, the Licensing Interconnect
looks for the ANSYSLIC_DIR environment variable (which typically points to /an-
sys_inc/shared_files/licensing on Linux/UNIX and <OS Drive>:\Program
Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licensing on Windows) and then one level down to
prodord.

ansysli_msgs.xml
Description: This file contains licensing-related information and error messages that are displayed by
ANSYS licensing, localized into specific languages: English, French, German and Japanese.

Default Directory:

• UNIX/Linux: /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/language/<language locale>

• Windows: <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licensing\lan-

guage\<language locale>

Directory Requirements: Each language locale directory will contain a message file translated
specifically for that language. The Licensing Interconnect determines the directory location for an-
sysli_msgs.xml relative to the ansysli_server executable. It finds shared_files/li-
censing within the current directory tree and looks one level down for the appropriate language
directory. If the directory cannot be found in this manner, the Licensing Interconnect looks for the
ANSYSLIC_DIR environment variable (which typically points to /ansys_inc/shared_files/li-
censing on Linux/UNIX and <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared
Files\Licensing on Windows) and then one level down to the language directory.

Note that although a Japanese localized message file is provided, Licensing Interconnect messages
are displayed in English when Japanese is selected.

ansyslm_report
Description: The ansyslm_report program extracts the raw data from the FlexNet debug log file to produce
the license usage, license history and license denial reports.

Default Directory:

• UNIX/Linux: /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/<platform>

• Windows: <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licens-

ing\<platform>

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Installing the Enterprise Licensing Package

Directory Requirements: ansyslm_report must reside in the platform directory.

2.3. Files created by the Licensing Interconnect

The files listed in this section are created by the Licensing Interconnect or its components.

ansysli_server.log
Description: This log file contains a history of Licensing Interconnect activity (e.g., license checkouts, license
checkins), including any errors that may have occurred.

Default Directory:

• UNIX/Linux: /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing

• Windows: <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licensing

Directory Requirements: If not using the default directory structure, use the -log Licensing Inter-
connect command option or the DEBUG_LOG_FILE keyword to indicate the location where the
ansysli_server.log file should reside.

monitor.log
Description: This log file contains a history of Licensing Interconnect monitor activity.

Default Directory:

• UNIX/Linux: /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/ansysli_data

• Windows: <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licensing\an-

sysli_data

Directory Requirements: The Licensing Interconnect monitor determines the directory location for
monitor.log relative to the monitor executable. It finds shared_files/licensing within
the current directory tree and looks one level down for ansysli_data. If the directory cannot be
found in this manner, the monitor looks for the ANSYSLIC_DIR environment variable (which typically
points to /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing on Linux/UNIX and <OS Drive>:\Pro-
gram Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licensing on Windows) and then one level down
to ansysli_data.

RESERVE.opt
Description: File used to store reserve cache information for design point studies.

Default Directory:

• UNIX/Linux: /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/ansysli_data

• Windows: <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licensing\an-

sysli_data

Directory Requirements: The Licensing Interconnect determines the directory location for RE-
SERVE.opt relative to the ansysli_server executable. It finds shared_files/licensing
within the current directory tree and looks one level down for ansysli_data. If the directory
cannot be found in this manner, the Licensing Interconnect looks for the ANSYSLIC_DIR environment
variable (which typically points to /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing on Linux/UNIX
and <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licensing on Windows)

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 Files You Create for the Licensing Interconnect

and then one level down to ansysli_data. We programmatically set the permissions on this file
to 775 on Linux/UNIX to be certain that the Licensing Interconnect can write to this file, regardless
of what user starts the Licensing Interconnect. If the permissions on this file are changed such that
the user who started the Licensing Interconnect is no longer able to read from or write to the file,
then users will not be able to reserve or rereserve licenses.

ANSYSLI_PORT
Description: File used to store (or that contains) the port number being used by the Licensing Interconnect.

Default Directory:

• UNIX/Linux: /var/tmp

• Windows: <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licensing\an-

sysli_data

Directory Requirements: On Windows, the Licensing Interconnect determines the directory location
for ANSYSLI_PORT relative to the ansysli_server executable. It finds Shared Files\Li-
censing within the current directory tree and looks one level down for ansysli_data. If the
directory cannot be found in this manner, the Licensing Interconnect looks for the ANSYSLIC_DIR
environment variable (which typically points to <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys
Inc\Shared Files\Licensing) and then one level down to ansysli_data.

On Linux/UNIX, it will always be placed in /var/tmp.

usage_track.xml
Description: This file contains archived usage data for ANSYS Workbench license usage reporting only. Once
the usage data is archived to this file, the data will be cleared from memory. By default, this file is purged
every 14 days; use the ansyslmd.ini ANSYSLI_PURGE_WB_USAGE keyword or the -purge_wb_usage
command option when starting the Licensing Interconnect to change the purge frequency. To disable
usage reporting altogether, use the ansyslmd.ini keyword ANSYSLI_WB_USAGE or the -wb_usage
command option when starting the Licensing Interconnect.

Default Directory:

• UNIX/Linux: /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/ansysli_data/archive

• Windows: <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licensing\an-

sysli_data\archive

Directory Requirements: The Licensing Interconnect determines the directory location for us-
age_track.xml relative to the ansysli_server executable. It finds shared_files/li-
censing within the current directory tree and looks one level down for ansysli_data and then
down one level for archive. If the directory cannot be found in this manner, the Licensing Inter-
connect looks for the ANSYSLIC_DIR environment variable (which typically points to /an-
sys_inc/shared_files/licensing on Linux/UNIX and <OS Drive>:\Program
Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licensing on Windows) and then one level down to
ansysli_data and then down one level for archive.

2.4. Files You Create for the Licensing Interconnect

The files in this section are created by you, the IT license administrator, for the Licensing Interconnect.

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ansyslmd.ini
Description: File used to control various operating parameters of the Licensing Interconnect. Many of the
keywords also have a corresponding command line argument. This file is also used on client systems to
locate FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect. For more information on ansyslmd.ini keywords, see
ansyslmd.ini Keywords (p. 51).

Default Directory:

• UNIX/Linux: /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing

• Windows: <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licensing

Directory Requirements: If not using the default directory structure, specify the location for the
ansyslmd.ini file with the -ini Licensing Interconnect command option.

2.5. Files Created for and by FlexNet

The files in this section are created for or by FlexNet.

ansyslmd.lic
Description:The default name of ANSYS’ FlexNet license file. Placing all of your ANSYS license files in the
subdirectory license_files and naming them with a .lic file extension allows the ANSYS License Manager
to recognize multiple license files. This is especially useful since the ANSYS License Manager supports
multiple vendor daemons, via FlexNet’s CVD technology.

Default Directory:

• UNIX/Linux: /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/license_files

• Windows: <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licensing\li-

cense_files

Directory Requirements: When not using the default directory structure, use either the -c command
argument when starting the Licensing Interconnect or the ansyslmd.ini file keyword LICKEYFIL
to specify the license file or path to the license file.

Source: Provided by ANSYS, Inc. and installed by you, the IT license administrator

license.log
Description: The FlexNet debug log file

Default Directory:

• UNIX/Linux: /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing

• Windows: <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licensing

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Directory Requirements: The Licensing Interconnect does not need to access this file; thus, there
are no directory requirements.

Note:

Back-up log files for the license.log file are stored in the logs_backup directory using
the following format: license_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.log.

Source: Created by FlexNet

ansyslmd.opt
Description: The FlexNet options file

Default Directory:

• UNIX/Linux: /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing

• Windows: <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licensing

Directory Requirements: The Licensing Interconnect gets the directory location of this file from
the FlexNet license file. If the location of the FlexNet options file is not contained in the license file,
the Licensing Interconnect looks for it in the same directory as the license file.

Source: Created by you, the IT license administrator

2.6. Installing the Enterprise Licensing Package for the First Time
If this is your first time installing the Enterprise Licensing Package, you may want to take a few additional
steps to make sure that your configuration meets the needs of your organization. Refer to Proced-
ures (p. 21) for more detailed instructions on the various procedures outlined below.

1. Untar/unzip the package contents into a clean empty directory structure.

2. Ideally, the package contents should stay in the directory structure provided. If you need to change the
directory structure, review the information in Files Provided with the Enterprise Licensing Package (p. 8)
on how the files need to relate to one another within the directory structure.

3. Put the files in their target directories.

4. The directory location containing the license and FlexNet options files has changed at release 16.0. If you
have not moved your license and options files to this new location yet, you should do so now. Name the
license file with a .lic file extension in the following directory.

Linux: /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/license_files

Windows: <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licensing\li-

cense_files

If you have scripts that start the license manager, verify that the –c command option is pointing
to the correct location. If your ansyslmd.ini file uses the LICKEYFIL keyword, make sure it points to
the correct location.

5. If the FLEXlm for Ansoft (ansoftd) License Manager is running:

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• Shut down the ansoftd License Manager.

• If applicable, uninstall the ansoftd service.

• Remove any procedures that start the ansoftd at boot time.

• Copy any ansoftd license and FlexNet options files to:

Linux: /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/license_files

Windows: <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licens-

ing\license_files

• Update your license files to have consistent port numbers and change the daemon name in the VENDOR
line to ansyslmd. See Migrating ansoftd to ansyslmd (p. 17) for more information.

6. If you modified the product order file at a prior release and would like to continue using these modifications,
be sure to update your existing product order file to include any new site preference updates by using
the -updatesiteprefs command. For more information, see Updating the Product Order File (p. 34).

7. Decide which command options should be used to start the ansysli_server component of the Li-
censing Interconnect:

• If administering FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect separately, use the command options -c,
-cacheflexlic, and -noflex or add the LICKEYFIL, CACHE_FLEXLIC, and ANSYSLI_NOFLEX keywords
to your ansyslmd.ini file.

• If you are using an ansyslmd.ini file and it is not located in the default directory path, use the -ini
command option.

• For command options controlling the Licensing Interconnect log file, use command option -log or
add the DEBUG_LOG_FILE keyword to your ansyslmd.ini file.

• For command options to restrict users or groups who will be able to shut down the Licensing Intercon-
nect, use command options -group and -user (Linux/UNIX only).

• To disable the ability of your users running ANSYS Workbench to track their license usage or reserve
licenses for design point studies, use the command options -wb_usage and -dp_reserve, respect-
ively, or add the ANSYSLI_WB_USAGE and ANSYSLI_DP_RESERVE keywords to the ansyslmd.ini
file.

8. If this is a Windows system, install the Licensing Interconnect as a service (see Installing the Licensing In-
terconnect as a Windows Service (p. 21)) and start it.

If this is a UNIX/Linux system, start the Licensing Interconnect (ansysli_server). Set up the
Licensing Interconnect to start automatically upon reboot with the command options selected.

9. Start FlexNet.

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 Migrating ansoftd to ansyslmd

2.7. Installing the Enterprise Licensing Package Subsequent Times

If you have already installed the Enterprise Licensing Package once and are satisfied that your configur-
ation meets your needs, follow these steps for subsequent upgrades. Refer to Procedures (p. 21) for
more detailed instructions on the various procedures outlined below.

1. Untar/unzip the package contents into a clean, empty directory structure.

2. Check the version numbers for both FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect, verifying that the files being
installed are newer than the existing ones.

3. Stop the Licensing Interconnect and FlexNet.

4. Replace the existing files with the new files.

5. We changed the directory location containing the license and FlexNet options files at release 16.0. If you
have not moved your license and options files to this new location yet, you should do so now. Name the
license file with a .lic file extension in the following directory.

Linux: /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/license_files

Windows: <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licensing\li-

cense_files

6. If the FLEXlm for Ansoft (ansoftd) License Manager is running:

• Shut down the ansoftd License Manager.

• If applicable, uninstall the ansoftd service.

• Remove any procedures that start the ansoftd at boot time.

• Copy any ansoftd license and FlexNet options files to:

Linux: /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/license_files

Windows: <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licens-

ing\license_files

• Update your license files to have consistent port numbers and change the daemon name in the VENDOR
line to ansyslmd. See Migrating ansoftd to ansyslmd (p. 17) for more information.

7. If you modified the product order file at a prior release and would like to continue using these modifications,
be sure to update your existing product order file to include any new site preference updates by using
the -updatesiteprefs command. For more information, see Updating the Product Order File (p. 34).

8. Start the Licensing Interconnect and FlexNet.

2.8. Migrating ansoftd to ansyslmd

This section is only relevant to those who have both the ANSYS (ansyslmd) and the FLEXlm for Ansoft
(ansoftd) License Managers running on the same license server system.

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Installing the Enterprise Licensing Package

The ANSYS (ansyslmd) and FLEXlm for Ansoft (ansoftd) License Managers have been joined into a single
ANSYS License Manager (ansyslmd) that supports both ansyslmd and ansoftd licenses using FlexNet’s
Common Vendor Daemon (CVD) technology. Once the ANSYS (16.0 or later) License Manager is installed
on your system, you will no longer be able to run the FLEXlm for Ansoft License Manager on the same
system, since the encryption for both license managers is built into ansyslmd. Once you have successfully
performed this migration, no further action should be necessary.

2.8.1. Port Numbers

Before performing the license manager migration, it is important to make sure client machines running
Electronics (ansoftd) products are able to communicate with the ANSYS License Manager. The product
installation for Electronics (ansoftd) products will give you the opportunity to specify the license
server. Be certain to add the port number used by the ANSYS License Manager; 1055 is the default
port number.

If the ANSYS License Manager (ansyslmd) is currently running, we recommend continuing to use 1055
as the port number. If only the FLEXlm for Ansoft (ansoftd) License Manager is running, with no port
specified, we recommend using port 1055. If only the FLEXlm for Ansoft (ansoftd) License Manager
is running and a port number is specified, we recommend continuing to use that port number.

If you are currently specifying a specific port number for the FLEXlm for Ansoft (ansoftd) License
Manager, it may be more convenient for you to forward all communications on your current port
number to 1055.

Windows:

To forward all communications on Windows, use netsh. For example, if you are currently using port
27000 for FLEXlm for Ansoft (ansoftd), forward communication from port 27000 to 1055 on your license
server by:

Netsh interface portproxy add v4tov4 listenport=27000 listenaddress=<Serv-

er_IP> connectport=1055 connectaddress=<Server_IP>

Linux:

To forward all communications on Linux, activate forwarding. For example, if you are currently using
port 27000 for FLEXlm for Ansoft (ansoftd), forward communication from port 27000 to 1055 on your
license server by:

1. Activate both ports:

iptables -A INPUT -i eth0 -p tcp --dport 27000 -j ACCEPT

iptables -A INPUT -i eth0 -p tcp --dport 1055 -j ACCEPT

2. Then activate forwarding:

iptables -A PREROUTING -t nat -i eth0 -p tcp --dport 27000 -j

REDIRECT --to-port 1055

Note:

You must be root to run the iptables command.

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 Migrating ansoftd to ansyslmd

2.8.2. License File Changes

Your existing Electronics (ansoftd) license files will work with the ANSYS License Manager, providing
you make the following changes.

1. License file name and location – The ANSYS License Manager supports the use of multiple license files,
residing in a common directory. Note that the license files must have a .lic file extension. The default
location for ANSYS license files is:

Windows:

C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\Shared Files\Licensing\license_files

Linux:

/ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/license_files

Be sure to copy your Electronics (ansoftd) license file to this directory, with the default name of
ansoftd.lic.

2. SERVER port number – Be certain that all license files (both ansyslmd and ansoftd ) use the same
port number. The default port number for the ANSYS License Manager is 1055. Modify the SERVER line(s)
your Electronics (ansoftd) license files to use the same port number, as in the following example:

SERVER earth DISK_SERIAL_NUM=12345678 1055

3. VENDOR port number – If you use a port number on the VENDOR line of your license file, for such cases
as checking out licenses through a firewall, be sure that all license files (both ansyslmd and ansoftd)
use the same port number. For example:

VENDOR ansyslmd port=9876

4. VENDOR daemon – The VENDOR lines of your license files must be changed from ansoftd to an-
syslmd. Below is a before and after example:

Before:

VENDOR ansoftd

After:

VENDOR ansyslmd

Note:

Do not change the vendor name in any of the INCREMENT lines.

2.8.3. Migration Steps

The specific migration steps are enumerated in the sections Installing the Enterprise Licensing Package
for the First Time (p. 15) and Installing the Enterprise Licensing Package Subsequent Times (p. 17).

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Installing the Enterprise Licensing Package

2.8.4. Relationship of the Licensing Interconnect with Electronics (ansoftd)

products
Electronics (ansoftd) products do not use the Licensing Interconnect; Electronics (ansoftd) products
continue to check out licenses directly from FlexNet. If your license server only serves licenses for
Electronics (ansoftd) products, it is permissible to only run FlexNet, without the Licensing Interconnect.
See Running FlexNet Without the Licensing Interconnect (p. 4) for more information.

Note that much of this guide describes the use and benefits of the Licensing Interconnect. Since
Electronics (ansoftd) products do not use the Licensing Interconnect, much of this guide will not apply.

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Chapter 3: Procedures
This section describes various procedures for both setting up ANSYS, Inc. licensing and its day-to-day
management.

3.1. Running FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect Separately on

Linux/UNIX
Use the instructions in this section to start the Licensing Interconnect and manage FlexNet and the Li-
censing Interconnect separately on Linux/UNIX systems.

On each license server, start the Licensing Interconnect with the following command:
ansysli_server -cacheflexlic -noflex -c /FlexNet/ansys/license/license_files/

Replace /FlexNet/ansys/license/license_files in the above example with the actual dir-

ectory path to the license files and or the file name of the FlexNet license file; either directory path or
file name is valid. This step applies to both single servers and triads.

You should start FlexNet in the same manner as you usually do. It does not matter whether FlexNet or
the Licensing Interconnect is started first.

Note that each time you reread FlexNet, you also need to reread the Licensing Interconnect.

You can also specify startup options using the ansyslmd.ini file, as described in Specify Startup
Options via the ansyslmd.ini File (p. 22).

3.2. Running FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect Separately on Win-

dows
Use the instructions in this section to start the Licensing Interconnect and manage FlexNet and the Li-
censing Interconnect separately on Windows systems. On Windows, you will need to install the Licensing
Interconnect as a Windows Service; see Installing the Licensing Interconnect as a Windows Service (p. 21)
for detailed procedures.

After you have installed the service, on each license server, start the Licensing Interconnect with the
following command:
ansysli_server -k start

3.2.1. Installing the Licensing Interconnect as a Windows Service

You can install the Licensing Interconnect as a Windows Service (named ANSYS, Inc. License Manager)
via command arguments. You can specify startup options via command arguments or via the an-

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Procedures

syslmd.ini file. Procedures for both methods are described below, but we recommend using the
ansyslmd.ini method to specify startup options.

When installing the Licensing Interconnect as a Windows Service, be sure that the Licensing Intercon-
nect Service is set to automatically restart.

The basic form of the command to install the Licensing Interconnect as a Windows Service is:
ansysli_server -k install

Any other command arguments needed to start the Licensing Interconnect must precede the -k
install argument.

The following example indicates installation of the Licensing Interconnect as a Windows Service,
starting it with the options specified in your ansyslmd.ini file. Use the -ini option, replacing
path_to_file with the actual path of the ansyslmd.ini file only if the ansyslmd.ini file is
not in the default location. The -ini command and any other command arguments needed to start
the Licensing Interconnect must precede the -k install argument.
ansysli_server -ini "path_to_file" -k install

See the sample ansyslmd.ini file in Specify Startup Options via the ansyslmd.ini File (p. 22) for
an example of the entries needed to administer FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect separately.

3.2.1.1. Specify Startup Options via the ansyslmd.ini File

You can use the ansyslmd.ini file to specify startup options. We recommend using this method
to specify startup options, as this method allows you to change startup options without reinstalling
the service.

You may use the sample ansyslmd.ini file below to indicate that the Licensing Interconnect
will not start FlexNet (ANSYSLI_NOFLEX) and will read the license feature information
(CACHE_FLEXLIC) from thedirectory path specified (LICKEYFIL), allowing you to administer FlexNet
and the Licensing Interconnect separately.
ANSYSLI_NOFLEX=1
CACHE_FLEXLIC=1
LICKEYFIL=c:\FlexNet\ansys\license\license_files\

Replace c:\FlexNet\ansys\license\license_files\ above with the actual directory

path to the license files file name of the FlexNet license file, either directory path or file name is
valid.

3.2.1.2. Specify Startup Options via Command Line

The following example installs the Licensing Interconnect as a Windows Service, allowing you to
administer FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect separately:
ansysli_server -noflex -cacheflexlic -c "c:\FlexNet\ansys\license\license_files\" -k install

where:

• -noflex indicates that the Licensing Interconnect will not start FlexNet

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 Determining if the Licensing Interconnect is Working Properly

• -cacheflexlic indicates that the Licensing Interconnect will read the license feature information

• -c indicates the FlexNet license file directory location

Replace c:\FlexNet\ansys\license\license_files\ above with the actual directory

path to the license files file name of the FlexNet license file, either directory path or file name is
valid.

3.2.1.3. Uninstalling the Service

Use this command to uninstall the Licensing Interconnect Windows Service:
ansysli_server -k uninstall

3.3. Determining if the Licensing Interconnect is Working Properly

You can use either of the following methods to determine if the Licensing Interconnect is working
properly:

• statli command

• The Licensing Interconnect log file

3.3.1. Using the statli Command

To determine the status of the Licensing Interconnect, issue the statli command as follows:
ansysli_util [-log <filename>] -statli [<port>@<host>]

Above, port refers to the Licensing Interconnect port number (2325 by default), and host is the
hostname. If <port>@<host> is not specified, localhost is tried.

This command displays the following information regarding the Licensing Interconnect:

• Its current state (running/stopped)

• Its port number

• Its Process ID number

• Version information

• Number of active, max, and total clients

• Service status, status message, and service execution path (Windows only)

• Monitor status and version

• Information about each of the license features being served

The optional -log command argument allows you to redirect the output to the designated file. The
optional <port>@<host> designation allows you to obtain the status of a remote license server.
The following example provides the status of the Licensing Interconnect on the local host:

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Procedures

ansysli_util -statli

3.3.2. Using the Licensing Interconnect Log File

Look for the following keyword entry in the Licensing Interconnect log file, ansysli_server.log,
to indicate that the Licensing Interconnect is ready:
CACHE_SERVER Available licenses: <license feature 1>, <license feature 2>, ... <license feature n>

The above keyword will be followed by a list of available license features. Verify that this list matches
your license file.

The following keyword also indicates that the Licensing Interconnect is ready.
INFO Ready to accept connections

3.4. Determining the Version Number of the Licensing Interconnect

To determine the Licensing Interconnect version number, enter the command:
ansysli_server -version

Use this command to ensure that you are always running the latest release. Each new release of ANSYS
products requires a new version of the Licensing Interconnect.

You can also find the version number in the STARTUP banner in the log file.

3.5. Shutting Down the Licensing Interconnect

Issue the following command from the system on which the Licensing Interconnect is running to shut
down the Licensing Interconnect, including the service on Windows systems:
ansysli_server –k stop

If you are administering the Licensing Interconnect and FlexNet separately, this command will shut
down only the Licensing Interconnect. If you are administering the Licensing Interconnect and FlexNet
together, this command will shut down both the Licensing Interconnect and FlexNet.

If you need to manually kill the Licensing Interconnect, terminate the processes in this order:

1. ansysli_monitor

2. ansysli_server

3. lmgrd

4. ansyslmd

If you are managing the Licensing Interconnect and FlexNet separately, you may not want to kill lmgrd
and ansyslmd.

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 Removing Hung Licenses from the Licensing Interconnect

3.6. Rereading the Licensing Interconnect

As with FlexNet, if you make changes to the license file or the FlexNet options file, you need to reread
the Licensing Interconnect. The Licensing Interconnect must have current license feature information
so that your users have access to all available licenses.

You also need to make the Licensing Interconnect aware of any changes you make to the an-
syslmd.ini file. Depending on the option(s) you change, you will need to reread or shut down and
restart the Licensing Interconnect. See the description of each option in ansyslmd.ini Keywords (p. 51)
to determine if a reread or restart is needed.

To reread the Licensing Interconnect on the local host, enter the following command from the system
on which the Licensing Interconnect is running:
ansysli_server -k reread

Note that if you are administering FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect together, this command will
reread both FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect.

3.7. Installing a New License File

When you install a new license file, you need to ensure that the Licensing Interconnect recognizes the
new file by rereading the Licensing Interconnect. See Rereading the Licensing Interconnect (p. 25).

You must also inform the Licensing Interconnect if you change the location of the license file. Use either
of the following methods:

1. Use the -c command argument to specify the new license file(s) or new path to the license file. On
Linux/UNIX, use the -c command argument in the command that you use to start the Licensing Interconnect.
On Windows, use it in the command that you use to install the Windows service. If the service is already
installed and the location of the license file was specified on the command line that created the service,
you must uninstall the existing service before installing it again with the new path.

2. In the ansyslmd.ini file, use the LICKEYFIL=<path to license file directory or FlexNet
license file> keyword to specify the new license file(s) or the new path to the license file. Do NOT
include double quotes around any path specified in the ansyslmd.ini file.

3. When specifying a directory path (rather than a file), be sure that all license files within that directory have
a .lic file extension to be recognized by the license manager.

Update any scripts that start the Licensing Interconnect with the new directory path.

3.8. Removing Hung Licenses from the Licensing Interconnect

Use the instructions in this section to remove hung licenses from the Licensing Interconnect. A hung
license is a license for which the user is no longer connected to the license server. Usually, when a user
disconnects from the license server, the licenses will be automatically returned to the license pool.
However, under some network circumstances, the license may not be returned to the license pool. In
this case, the liremove command can be used to force a return. By using the liremove command, the
administrator can remove licenses by user name, host name or the PID of the job. Similar in function

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Procedures

to the FlexNet lmremove command, liremove provides the same functionality for the Licensing Inter-
connect.

Note:

Only an administrator who is allowed to shut down the license manager can perform
this action.

Caution:

Administrators should take care that the job is gone prior to using liremove to free a
hung license. If a license is removed, the associated job is actually still active, the client
will try to reconnect and reclaim the licenses.

Use the following command to remove licenses from the license manager:
ansysli_util -liremove <[user]@[host][:pid]>]

Examples:

ansysli_util -liremove user1@ - Removes all licenses by “user1”

ansysli_util -liremove user1@mymachine – Removes all licenses by “user1” on the computer “mymachine”

ansysli_util -liremove user1@mymachine:mypid – Removes all licenses by “user1”, on the computer

“mymachine” with the PID “mypid”

Note:

The user1@, and @mymachine options can be used independently to remove all licenses
by a user or all licenses on a computer. The user, host or PID can be empty. When re-
moving licenses by PID with the liremove command, the user and computer must be
specified in the form user@host:pid.

See liusage command described in Displaying a List of Currently Active Jobs (p. 26) for help in identifying
user, computer and PID.

3.9. Displaying a List of Currently Active Jobs

Use the instructions in this section to display details about currently active jobs. The liusage command
displays the following information:

• User

• Host

• PID

• When the license was checked out (TIMESTAMP)

• License name (NAME)

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 Caching License Information from Another License Server

• Number of licenses used by this job (USED)

• ANSYS product version (VERSION)

• Application calling the license (APP)

• What server the license was taken from (SERVER)

Use the following command to view the currently active jobs:

ansysli_util -liusage [<[[user]@[host]:[pid]:][feature]>]

Examples:

ansysli_util -liuseage user1@ - Displays all jobs by “user1”

ansysli_util -liuseage user1@mymachine – Displays all jobs by “user1” on the computer “mymachine”

ansysli_util -liuseage user1@mymachine:mypid – Displays all jobs by “user1”, on the computer “myma-
chine” with the PID “mypid”

Note:

The liusage command can also be run without any argument. In this case, the command
will display all jobs, however ANSYS advises against this practice because it may slow
down the server if there are a large number of jobs to be displayed.

Additionally, the liuseage command can display any licenses used by a specific license feature.

ansysli_util -liuseage ABC - Displays all jobs using the ABC license feature.

3.10. Caching License Information from Another License Server

If you have multiple independent license servers (non-triad) and your individual users often check out
licenses from more than one of those servers, you can cache the license information from the other li-
cense servers when the Licensing Interconnect starts to speed up license checkouts. If the caching is
not done upon startup of the Licensing Interconnect, it will be done on the fly, when a client connects
with the other license server in its license path. Caching makes the local Licensing Interconnect aware
of license features available on other license servers. You should not cache the local host.

Use one of the following methods to cache licensing information from another license server:

1. Start the Licensing Interconnect with the following command option:

-cache_srv <port>@<host>

2. Add any of the following keywords to the ansyslmd.ini file:

CACHE_SERVER=<port>@<host>

or
SERVER=<port>@<host>

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or
ANSYSLI_SERVERS=<port>@<host>

See Licensing Interconnect Command Options (p. 38) and ansyslmd.ini Keywords (p. 51) for more in-
formation on these startup options.

3.11. Improving Licensing Performance

If you see sluggish performance with your licensing, you may need to ease the load on the Licensing
Interconnect. Try the following suggestions to improve your company’s licensing performance.

3.11.1. Running a Standalone Licensing Interconnect

In addition to the Licensing Interconnect that must be running on your license server, you can also
set up standalone Licensing Interconnects on other systems. There is no limit to the number of
standalone Licensing Interconnects that can be running.

You might find it beneficial to set up standalone Licensing Interconnects if, for example, you have
the license server at one geographic location (City A) and a group of users at a separate, geographically
distant location (City B), especially if the user’s location in City B has a slower Ethernet connection. If
you set up a standalone Licensing Interconnect in City B, all of the user’s licensing requests are to
the local standalone Licensing Interconnect; the Licensing Interconnect is the only entity that needs
to communicate with City A. This example minimizes the communication between City A and City B.
If no standalone Licensing Interconnect is setup in City B, all users would need to communicate indi-
vidually to the Licensing Interconnect in City A.

To implement this example:

1. On the license server in City A, no additional changes are needed.

2. On the system hosting the standalone Licensing Interconnect in City B, only the Licensing Interconnect
will be running, not FlexNet. The Licensing Interconnect in City B will need to obtain the license file
cache from the license server in City A. For this configuration, the Licensing Interconnect in City B should
be started with the following command:
ansysli_server -noflex -cache_srv 2325@cityA

Alternatively, you can use an ansyslmd.ini file for the Licensing Interconnect in City B. It
would look similar to this example:
ANSYSLI_NOFLEX=1
CACHE_SERVER=2325@cityA

For the client systems in City B, we recommend including the path to both City B and City A’s
Licensing Interconnect, with the local Licensing Interconnect in City B being listed first. The an-
syslmd.ini file on the client systems in City B would look like the following:
SERVER=1055@cityA
ANSYSLI_SERVERS=2325@cityB
ANSYSLI_SERVERS=2325@cityA

where cityA and cityB in the above example are hostnames.

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 Improving Licensing Performance

If you prefer to use environment variables on the client side rather than the ansyslmd.ini
file, use the ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE environment variable for the FlexNet path and the AN-
SYSLI_SERVERS environment variable for the Licensing Interconnect path. For the ANSYSLI_SERV-
ERS environment variable, join the two by delimiting the two servers with colons on UNIX/Linux
and semicolons on Windows, with City B being listed first.

3. Client systems in City A would only point to the Licensing Interconnect in City A.

When it is time for an upgrade, remember to upgrade any standalone Licensing Interconnects when
the primary Licensing Interconnect is upgraded.

3.11.2. Balancing the Load on a Triad

Because the Licensing Interconnects running on a triad work independently and are all active and
able to accept client connections at any time, you can divide the load across the triad. To do so, split
your user base (the client systems) into three groups and have each group point to the Licensing In-
terconnects in a different order.

No special changes are needed for your triad setup. All three systems run FlexNet and all three run
the Licensing Interconnect. No different license server ansyslmd.ini file settings or command
options to start the Licensing Interconnect are needed.

For example, the hostnames of the systems in your triad are apricot, coconut, and fig. Split
your users into three groups:

• Group 1 has apricot first in their path

• Group 2has coconut first in their path

• Group 3 has fig first in their path

The ansyslmd.ini file for each of the groups would look like the following:

First Group (all running from UNIX/Linux systems; note the colon delimiter):
SERVER=1055@apricot:1055@coconut:1055@fig
ANSYSLI_SERVERS=2325@apricot:2325@coconut:2325@fig

Second Group (all running from UNIX/Linux systems; note the colon delimiter):
SERVER=1055@apricot:1055@coconut:1055@fig
ANSYSLI_SERVERS=2325@coconut:2325@fig:2325@apricot

Third Group (all running from UNIX/Linux systems; note the colon delimiter):
SERVER=1055@apricot:1055@coconut:1055@fig
ANSYSLI_SERVERS=2325@fig:2325@apricot:2325@coconut

First Group (all running from Windows systems; note the semicolon delimiter):
SERVER=1055@apricot;1055@coconut;1055@fig
ANSYSLI_SERVERS=2325@apricot;2325@coconut;2325@fig

Note that for all users the path to FlexNet stayed the same; only the path to the Licensing Interconnect
changed. If you prefer to use environment variables on the client side rather than the ansyslmd.ini

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file, use the ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE environment variable for the FlexNet path and the AN-
SYSLI_SERVERS environment variable for the Licensing Interconnect path.

See Managing Triads (p. 30)for more information.

3.12. Managing Triads

Each system that is a license server needs to run both FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect; this re-
quirement applies to both single servers and triads. We recommend that you always configure triads
to manage FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect independently. Keep the following points in mind
when working with triads.

In a triad environment, the Licensing Interconnect functions in an independent manner. All systems are
active and can all accept client requests at any time, unlike FlexNet, where only one of the three is
serving licenses at a time. Although we strongly recommend that each of the systems in the triad is
running a Licensing Interconnect, unlike FlexNet, a quorum of Licensing Interconnects is not required.

We recommend that you include the path to each of the triad systems in the license path of each of
the clients via the ansyslmd.ini file on the client machines. The license server listed first in the client
license path is tried first to check out a license. If no licenses are available, the second license server is
tried.

If you need to change the order of the systems in your triad (for example, making the secondary server
the primary), you will also need to change the license paths on the client machines to be consistent.

We do not recommend caching the license file of the other two servers in the triad. Since the same file
is used on all three systems, it is unnecessary.

When shutting down the Licensing Interconnect on triad systems, initiating shutdown on one system
will not shut down the Licensing Interconnect on other systems in the triad; you must shut each of
them down individually.

3.13. Understanding Port Numbers

In addition to the FlexNet port, the Licensing Interconnect also uses a port. ANSYS, Inc. has registered
two port numbers with the IANA: 1055 for FlexNet and 2325 for the Licensing Interconnect. When no
port numbers are specified, the defaults are used.

Below are the locations where you may need to specify the Licensing Interconnect port number:

1. If you are not using the default Licensing Interconnect port number (2325), you must include the AN-
SYSLI_PORT=<port> keyword in the ansyslmd.ini file on the license server.

2. If you have multiple standalone license servers (non-triad) and you are caching the license file information
from one license server to another, use either the -cache_srv command option when starting the Li-
censing Interconnect or the CACHE_SERVER=<ansysli_port>@<host> keyword in the ansyslmd.ini
file.

3. When running ANSYS applications from a client machine, specify the path to the Licensing Interconnect
by either the ANSYSLI_SERVERS=<port>@<host> keyword in the ansyslmd.ini file on the client
system or the ANSYSLI_SERVERS environment variable on the client system.

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 Managing Design Point License Reserves

Firewall Issues When any of your users are running ANSYS, Inc. products over a firewall, be sure that
all three necessary port numbers are open to ensure successful communications:

• 2325 for the Licensing Interconnect

• 1055 for lmgrd

• The port you specify (in the license file) for ansyslmd (required only if specified in the license file)

WAN Optimization Software: When using WAN Optimization Software on your network, it may be
necessary to set the WAN Optimization Software to bypass the Licensing Interconnect port (2325) to
ensure that the Licensing Interconnect communication is not blocked. Failure to bypass the Licensing
Interconnect port could result in licenses remaining checked out even after the application has exited.

Freeing Ports Some systems take much longer to free ports than other systems, especially if a process
crashes or is stopped with kill -9. We provide two ansyslmd.ini keywords and corresponding
command options to ensure that the Licensing Interconnect and the Licensing Interconnect Monitor
wait a sufficient amount of time to allow the Licensing Interconnect port to free, thus allowing the Li-
censing Interconnect to start successfully. These keywords/command options are described in Refer-
ence (p. 37):

• ANSYSLI_PORT_TIMEOUT (-port_timeout)

• ANSYSLI_RESTART_PORT_TIMEOUT (-restart_port_timeout)

3.14. Using Virus Scanners

Some virus scanning software view applications that perform a high volume of communications as a
threat. To avoid any conflict, you may need to specify these executables as exceptions to the virus
scanning software.

• ansysli_server

• ansysli_monitor

• ansyslmd

• lmgrd

3.15. License Reporting Tools

You may already be using reporting tools provided by Flexera Software or other software vendors.
ANSYS, Inc. Licensing in no way interferes with these tools. All license checkins/checkouts are done
though FlexNet and therefore all entries are logged to the FlexNet debug log file. If FlexNet reporting
is enabled, all checkin/checkout entries are logged there as well.

3.16. Managing Design Point License Reserves

In addition to allowing on-demand license checkout for a design point study, ANSYS Workbench also
allows users to reserve specific licenses for a design point study. This capability ensures that when a
Workbench user is ready to submit a design point study (often a lengthy operation run via Remote
Solve Manager across multiple machines), he is assured that his study will have access to the licenses

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needed to complete the entire job. When a Workbench user reserves licenses, the licenses are not actually
checked out until he begins the actual update.

As the license administrator, you can manage this capability at an enterprise level.

The Design Point License Reserve capability does not relate to nor conflict with the FlexNet options file
RESERVE keyword.

3.16.1. Disabling License Reservation

You can disable the ability to reserve licenses for a design point study at the enterprise level using
the Licensing Interconnect command line option -dp_reserve or the ansyslmd.ini keyword
ANSYSLI_DP_RESERVE. To disable the ability to reserve licenses, issue the command line option:
ansysli_server -dp_reserve 0

or set the keyword to 0 in the ansyslmd.ini file:

ANSYSLI_DP_RESERVE=0

3.16.2. Managing License Usage Tracking for Design Point Reserves

ANSYS Workbench allows users to monitor license usage so that they can determine the appropriate
licenses to reserve for future runs. As the license administrator, you can control this usage tracking
to disable it completely or to manage the file where the usage tracking data is stored. Tracking is
done on an individual basis, not site-wide. We do not provide any aggregated usage report.

To disable the capability, issue the following command:

ansysli_server -wb_usage 0

or set the keyword to 0 in the ansyslmd.ini file:

ANSYSLI_WB_USAGE=0

If you allow the tracking capability, usage data is written to the usage_track.xml in the licensing
directory under ansysli_data/archive. See the description of the usage_track.xml in Files
created by the Licensing Interconnect (p. 12). By default, this file is purged every 14 days. To change
the purge interval, issue the following command:
ansysli_server -purge_wb_usage 31

where 31 indicates that you wish to purge the file every 31 days. You can set the purge interval to
any positive integer. To set the purge interval via the ansyslmd.ini file, set the following keyword:
ANSYSLI_PURGE_WB_USAGE=31

Usage data is periodically written to the usage_track.xml file so as to not consume excess memory
within the Licensing Interconnect. To control how frequently data is written to this file, issue the fol-
lowing command:
ansysli_server -usage_archive_interval 120

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 Managing Design Point License Reserves

where 120 indicates that you wish to archive data every 120 minutes. You can set the archive interval
from 5 to 720 minutes; the default is 60 minutes. To set the archive interval via the ansyslmd.ini
file, set the following keyword:
ANSYSLI_USAGE_ARCHIVE_INTERVAL=120

3.16.3. Releasing Reserved Licenses

If you have users who are running a design point study in ANSYS Workbench and are using reserved
licenses, you may need to free licenses if one or more design point runs hang or do not complete
successfully; otherwise the licenses could remain checked out indefinitely. You can return reserved
licenses by ID or by user; you can also return all reserved licenses. When a user reserves a group of
licenses, the group is given a reserve ID.

To obtain a list of all reservations, issue the following ansysli_util command to find the reserve
ID of the reserved licenses:
ansysli_util -reserve_list

For example, issuing the above command might return output similar to the following (your output
will appear on a single line):
USER LABEL/RESERVE-ID PRODUCT
jqd MyProject(###)(###)634710595285628367 licabc.acme.com--7782-6343374 ANSYS Dynamics <dynamics> ...
TASK HOST FLEXNET_SERVER RESERVED_DATE
19 jqd.win.acme.com--7782-6343374 1055@licabc 2012/05/01 14:51:43 ANSYS Academic Mechanical HPC 3

The list of reserve IDs will be displayed. Using the reserve ID from the previous command output, issue
the following command to remove a specific reserve:
ansysli_util -return_reserve_by_id id

In the example above, licabc.acme.com--7782-6343374 is the ID.

If you want to return licenses reserved by a specific user, issue the following command:
ansysli_util -return_reserve_by_user username

In the example above, jqd is the username.

If you want the ability to return all reserved licenses, use one of the following Licensing Interconnect
startup options:

1. Start the License Interconnect under your user ID.

OR

2. Start the Licensing Interconnect, using the ansyslmd.ini keyword (RETURN_RESERVE=USER) or Licensing
Interconnect command option (-reserveuser) to specify the users who are able to return reserved licenses.
Note that you can also specify by group on Linux, using the Licensing Interconnect command option-
reservegroup or the ansyslmd.ini keyword RETURN_RESERVE=GROUP. See keyword and command options
in the Reference Section for more information.

Once you are permitted to return reserved licenses, issue the following command to return all reserved
licenses:

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ansysli_util -return_reserve_all

This command removes any free or hung licenses in the reserve; if any of the reserved licenses are
still in use, those running jobs will continue to completion. Any licenses checked out by those running
jobs will remain checked out until the jobs complete. The design point study will not start new jobs,
since the reserves have been removed.

3.17. Updating the Product Order File

If you have customized your product order by utilizing the ANSLIC_ADMIN Set Site Preferences>Specify
Product Order option, you can use the –updatesiteprefs command to automatically update your
modified product order file to include any product changes that have occurred in the most recently
installed release of ANSYS License Manager.

This command performs the following actions to your existing product order file:

• Adds any new preferences to the end of each product category

• Removes any obsolete preferences from each product category

To update the product order file, use the following command:

ansysli_util -updatesiteprefs <dir>

The optional <dir> value can be used to specify an alternative directory. If the <dir> value is not specified,
the relative prodord directory is used to run the update.

3.18. Enabling License Manager Privacy Controls

To comply with data privacy requirements (such as the General Data Protection Regulation), you can
perform the following steps to ensure that personally identifiable information (username and hostname)
is not returned during client calls for license or queue status queries. Examples: “lmutil lmstat -a”, “an-
sysli_util -reserve_list”, “ansysli_util -printqueueusage”.

1. Enable Privacy Mode in the ANSYS Licensing Interconnect

To enable privacy mode in the Licensing Interconnect, you can perform either step “a” or “b”
below:

a. Enable the -private Licensing Interconnect Command Option

The -private command option dictates whether the Licensing Interconnect should run
in private mode where requests for license usage from client systems do not return
user or host information.

For more information, see Licensing Interconnect Command Options (p. 38).

b. Enable the ANSYSLI_PRIVATE ansyslmd.ini Keyword

The ANSYSLI_PRIVATE feature dictates whether the license server should run in private
mode where requests for license usage from client systems do not return user or host
information.

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 Enabling License Manager Privacy Controls

For more information, see ansyslmd.ini Keywords (p. 51).

2. Enable Privacy Mode in FlexNet

Configuring port forwarding ensures that a client running the command "lmutil lmstat -a" from
a client machine is unable to see the user or hostname information from other clients that have
licenses checked out from the ANSYS license server.

To do this you will need to set a static port for the ansyslmd daemon.

You can set a static port for the ansyslmd daemon by adding PORT=#### to the end of the
vendor line in your license file and restarting the license manager.

Example:

VENDOR ansyslmd PORT=1056

You must configure port forwarding through IPtables (as root) or the firewall on your license
server to forward all inbound traffic on the lmgrd port (default is 1055) to the vendor port (ex-
ample 1056).

Note:

The license server will still be able to run queries of the license status, reserved status, or
queued status; all usage data is displayed from the license server.

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Chapter 4: Reference

4.1. Environment Variables

This section describes licensing-related environment variables and their usage.

ANSYSLIC_DIR
You may find this environment variable helpful for the Licensing Interconnect to locate files within the li-
censing directory structure. If the Licensing Interconnect is unable to locate files in their default location,
it tries the directory path in this environment variable. If this environment variable is set, it should point
to the directory that we refer to as the licensing directory; reference the diagram in Default Directory
Structure (p. 7). This default directory location is /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing for Linux
and <OS Drive>:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\Shared Files\Licensing for Windows.

The Licensing Interconnect and the Licensing Interconnect monitor use this environment variable
as a fallback to locate most licensing-related files.

The Licensing Interconnect command options -ini and -log and the ansyslmd.ini keyword
DEBUG_LOG_FILE use the ANSYSLIC_DIR environment variable (if it is set) and the default directory
path is not used; these are so noted in the Licensing Interconnect command option description
(Licensing Interconnect Command Options (p. 38)) or in the ansyslmd.ini keyword description
(ansyslmd.ini Keywords (p. 51)). When possible, we recommend that you specify the full path name
for command options and ansyslmd.ini keywords.

ANSYSLI_SERVERS
This environment variable is used to specify the Licensing Interconnect license path on client systems. Use
the port@host designation to set this environment variable. The default port number is 2325 for the
Licensing Interconnect. If it is more convenient, you may use this environment variable in lieu of the AN-
SYSLI_SERVERS=<port@host> setting in the ansyslmd.ini file on client systems. The environment
variable setting will take precedence over the ansyslmd.ini file setting. You can list multiple Licensing
Interconnect paths as a list, delimited by colons (:) on Linux and semicolons (;) on Windows.

ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE
Use the port@host designation to set this vendor-specific FlexNet environment variable. The default
port number is 1055 for the ansyslmd vendor daemon. The vendor-specific FlexNet license path envir-
onment variable is recognized by the Licensing Interconnect. If it is more convenient, you may use this
environment variable in lieu of the SERVER=<port@host> setting in the ansyslmd.ini file on client
systems. List multiple entries separated by colons (:) on Linux and semicolons (;) on Windows.

LM_LICENSE_FILE
The Licensing Interconnect does not use the generic FlexNet environment variable LM_LICENSE_FILE
(used for setting the license path for all FlexNet-enabled products) in order to maintain acceptable per-
formance levels.

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Reference

4.2. Licensing Interconnect Command Options

This section describes command options that you can use when starting the Licensing Interconnect.
For each option, we provide the following information:

• a description

• the default value and range of values

• the corresponding ansyslmd.ini option

• other options that need to be combined with each one

• any platform restrictions

• an example

When combinations of command options are used, the order in which the options are specified does
not matter unless otherwise noted.

-ali_tls_version [1.2]
Description:This command allows you to disable previous versions of TLS and enable TLS version 1.2 for
communication.

Default value/range: 1.2

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: ANSYSLI_TLS_VERSION

Use in combination with these command options: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: This example enables TLS version 1.2.

-ali_tls_version 1.2

-AnsysclCiphersToUse [OpenSSL Cipher(s)]

Description:This command allows the user to specify the SSL Cipher Suite used on the licensing server to
secure communications between client and server. OpenSSL Cipher names are used and can be combined
in a comma separated list without spaces in order of preference. To see what ciphers are supported, use
the ansysli_server.exe command "-DisplaySupportedCiphers (p. 40)". Setting the Ciphers to only use a
preferred cipher, for example ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256, may prevent older clients that do not
support that cipher from connecting. To ensure older clients can connect, AES128-SHA256 and/or AES256-
SHA should be enabled.

Default value/range:Output from -DisplaySupportedCiphers command

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: ANSYSCL_CIPHERS_TO_USE

Use in combination with these command options: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: This example sets the SSL Cipher Suite to use the ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 cipher,
or the AES256-SHA Cipher if the client doesn’t support the first.

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 Licensing Interconnect Command Options

-AnsysclCiphersToUse ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256,AES256-SHA

-c <license_file_path>
Description: Use this command option to pass the file name or path of the FlexNet license file to the Li-
censing Interconnect, which is needed when administering FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect separ-
ately. If you are administering FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect together, allowing the Licensing
Interconnect to start FlexNet, this command option is used to start FlexNet. The optional <li-
cense_file_path> is required only if you are not using the default location. When specifying a directory
path (rather than a file), be sure that all license files within that directory have a .lic file extension to be
recognized by the license manager.

Default value/range: Valid directory path or filename of the FlexNet license file. The default is the
directory path - /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/license_files.

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: LICKEYFIL=<license_file_path>

Use in combination with these command options: -cacheflexlic and -noflex

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: This example starts the Licensing Interconnect and identifies the location of the license
file as /FlexNet/ansys/license/license_files/.
ansysli_server -c "/FlexNet/ansys/license/license_files/"

-cacheflexlic
Description: Indicates to the Licensing Interconnect to cache the FlexNet license file when administering
FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect separately to make the Licensing Interconnect aware of available
license features.

Default value/range: N/A

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: CACHE_FLEXLIC=1

Use in combination with these command options: -c and -noflex

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: This example starts the Licensing Interconnect; the Licensing Interconnect will not start
FlexNet (-noflex). The Licensing Interconnect will read the license feature information
(-cacheflexlic) from the license file path specified (-c).
ansysli_server -cacheflexlic -noflex -c "/FlexNet/ansys/license/license_files/"

-cache_srv <port@host>
Description: When you have multiple single license servers (not a triad), use this option to specify license
servers other than the localhost for which to cache their FlexNet licenses at startup. This option will make
the Licensing Interconnect aware of what license features are available on the other license servers. Use
this option to speed up license checkouts, so that the caching is done upon startup of the Licensing Inter-
connect, rather than on the fly, when a client connects with the other license server in its license path.

Default value/range: The port number is the Licensing Interconnect port; the default is 2325. The
host is the hostname of another standalone license server. The port@host can also be a list, de-
limited by colons (:) on Linux and semicolons (;) on Windows.

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Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: CACHE_SERVER=<port@host>

Use in combination with these command options: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: This example starts the Licensing Interconnect on your current system. Upon startup, the
Licensing Interconnect will cache the license information from a different license server named
apple on port 2325 on that machine.
ansysli_server -cache_srv 2325@apple

-checkoutretry [1/0]
Description:This command allows you to disable and enable the ANSYSLI_CHECKOUT_RETRY feature. The
ANSYSLI_CHECKOUT_RETRY feature dictates the number of seconds the license check-out retry attempts
will continue before failing. This command is set to 1 (allowed) by default.

Default value/range: 1/0; default is 1

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: ANSYSLI_CHECKOUT_RETRY

Use in combination with these command options: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: This example turns the ANSYSLI_CHECKOUT_RETRY feature off.

-checkoutretry 0

-DisplaySupportedCiphers
Description:This command allows the user to display the default Cipher Suites currently supported in
ansysli_server. Cipher Suites can be set via the -AnsysclCiphersToUse command line option. Ansy-
sclCiphersToUse will only accept the ciphers if they are in the output list of -DisplaySupported-
Ciphers.

Default value/range:N/A

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: N/A

Use in combination with these command options: AnsysclCiphersToUse

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: This example prints the currently enabled cipher suites

ansysli_server -DisplaySupportedCiphers

-dp_reserve [1/0]
Description: This command allows you to turn off the license reservation feature for design points in
ANSYS Workbench. See Managing Design Point License Reserves (p. 31) for more information. This keyword
is set to 1 (license reservation allowed) by default.

Default value/range: 1/0; default is 1.

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: ANSYSLI_DP_RESERVE

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 Licensing Interconnect Command Options

Use in combination with these command options: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: This example turns license reservation off for design points in ANSYS Workbench.
ansysli_server -dp_reserve 0

-fnp_ip_env [0/1]
Description: Enabling this command option sets the FlexNet environment variable - FNP_IP_ENV. This
option allows you to bypass the client-side hostname resolution, thus improving license checkout perform-
ance. Use this option when you see such messages as "FLEXlm server is not responding. Resource is tem-
porarily unavailable."

Default value/range: 0/1; default is 0 (off )

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: ANSYSLI_FNP_IP_ENV

Use in combination with these command options: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: This example bypasses the client-side hostname resolution.

-fnp_ip_env 1

-fnp_restart_attempts [1-10]
Description: This option allows you to specify the number of times that the Licensing Interconnect attempts
to restart lmgrd/ansyslmd. After attempting to restart for the specified number of times, the Licensing In-
terconnect discontinues the restart process until the next CHECKPOINT. At the time of the next CHECKPOINT,
the Licensing Interconnect again attempts to restart for the specified number of times. This process con-
tinues until the issue is resolved. This situation might occur if licenses in the license file have expired.

Note:

The time of each CHECKPOINT is determined by the last start time and the CHECKPOINT_IN-
TERVAL value in ansyslmd.ini (default is 6 hours).

Default value/range: 1-10; default is 1

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: ANSYSLI_FNP_RESTART_ATTEMPTS

Use in combination with these command options: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: This example sets the number of restart attempts to 1.

-fnp_restart_attempts 1

-group <group>
Description: Only a member of the group specified can shutdown the Licensing Interconnect. If the group
restriction is in place, when shutting down the Licensing Interconnect, the group specified must be your
primary group.

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Default value/range: Valid system group names.

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: RESTRICT_SHUTDOWN=GROUP:<group>

Use in combination with these command options: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: This option is only available on Linux platforms.

Example: This example starts the Licensing Interconnect on your current system and limits the
users who can shutdown the Licensing Interconnect to those who are members of the group
lmadmin.
ansysli_server -group lmadmin

-include_flexsvr <server name>

Description: This command allows you to define which license servers to use from the licensing path. Any
servers that you specify will be used, ignoring all other servers listed in the licensing path.

Default value/range: N/A

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: ANSYSLI_INCLUDE_FLEXSVR=<Server1, server2,

etc.>

Use in combination with these command options: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: This example ignores all supplied servers in the licensing path except server1 and server2.
ansysli_server -include_flexsvr server1, server2

-ignore_flexsvr <server name>

Description: Any server that you specify will not be included in the FlexNet license path. The reason to
remove these servers from your path is that FlexNet can take too long to return when a server in the path
does not exist. This can cause the Licensing Interconnect to delay license checkout calls. Candidates are
license servers that are off-line but still in the DNS.

Default value/range: N/A

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: ANSYSLI_IGNORE_FLEXSVR=<Server1, server2,

etc.>

Use in combination with these command options: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: This example removes server1 from the license path.

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 Licensing Interconnect Command Options

ansysli_server -ignore_flexsvr=server1

Note:

To ensure that all appropriate domain aliases are removed from the licensing path,
ANSYS, Inc., recommends that you use the base hostname rather than the fully
qualified domain name whenever applicable.

-ini <ini_file_path>
Description: Most command arguments to the Licensing Interconnect also have a corresponding an-
syslmd.ini keyword. This command option signals the Licensing Interconnect to read the startup options
from the specified ansyslmd.ini file. Use this option if your ansyslmd.ini file is not in the default
location.

Default value/range: The default location for the ansyslmd.ini file is determined as follows:

1. The default directory is one directory level up from the ansysli_server executable.

2. If not found in the default directory and the ANSYSLIC_DIR environment variable is set, that
path is used.

Specify both the path and file name.

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: N/A

Use in combination with these command options: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: This example will start the Licensing Interconnect, identifying the location of the an-
syslmd.ini file. The Licensing Interconnect will read and apply any settings contained in the
ansyslmd.ini file.
ansysli_server -ini "/my_directory/shared_files/licensing/ansyslmd.ini"

-IpOverride
Description: This Licensing Interconnect command option allows the Licensing Interconnect to revert
back to Release 14.5 and prior behavior with regard to client IP addresses. For most sites, the 15.0 and
later behavior is appropriate. This option should only be used if you are using stand-alone Licensing In-
terconnects in addition to the one on your license server and you want the IP address used to be that of
the system on which the stand-alone Licensing Interconnect is running, not the client machine. To change
the default behavior, this command option would need to be set on the systems running the stand-alone
Licensing Interconnect.

Default value/range: N/A

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: ANSYSLI_IP_OVERRIDE

Use in combination with these command options: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: This example turns off the IP address override.

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ansysli_server -IpOverride

-k info [port@host]
Description: Returns information on the Licensing Interconnect running at port@host. Information re-
turned includes whether the Licensing Interconnect is running and on which port.

Default value/range: Port refers to the Licensing Interconnect port number; the default port
number is 2325. Host is the hostname. If port@host is not specified, localhost is tried (using the
ANSYSLI_PORT value).

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: N/A

Use in combination with these command options: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: Use this example to determine if the Licensing Interconnect is running on a license server
named grape on port 2325.
ansysli_server –k info 2325@grape

-k reread [port@host]
Description: This command option will reread information for the Licensing Interconnect. If you are ad-
ministering FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect separately, each time you reread FlexNet, you must
also reread the Licensing Interconnect. If you are administering FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect
together, this command option will reread both FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect. Files that are read
include:

• the FlexNet license file(s)

• the FlexNet options file

• the ansyslmd.ini file

Reread cannot be used in the following situations:

• The Licensing Interconnect port number is changed

• The licensing configuration option is changed

• The number of licenses in an existing RESERVE line in the FlexNet options file is changed

Default value/range: Port number refers to the Licensing Interconnect port number; the default
is 2325. Host is the hostname. If port@host is not given, the localhost is tried (using the AN-
SYSLI_PORT value).

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: N/A

Use in combination with these command options: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: Use this command to have the Licensing Interconnect reread the FlexNet license file(s),
the FlexNet options file, and the ansyslmd.ini file on the license server named orange on port

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 Licensing Interconnect Command Options

2325. Note that if FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect are being administered together, this
command will also send a reread command to FlexNet.
ansysli_server –k reread 2325@orange

-k stop [port@host]
Description: Stops the License Manager running at port@host. If -noflex was used to start the Licensing
Interconnect, only the Licensing Interconnect will be stopped. If -noflex was not used to start the Licens-
ing Interconnect, both FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect will be shutdown.

Default value/range: Port refers to the Licensing Interconnect port number; the default is 2325. If
you do not specify port@host, it will attempt to shut down the Licensing Interconnect running
on localhost (using the ANSYSLI_PORT value). This command argument will only accept one Licensing
Interconnect to shutdown. If you need to kill the Licensing Interconnect manually, kill the monitor
first, ansysli_server second, then FlexNet.

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: N/A

Use in combination with these command options: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: Use this command to stop the Licensing Interconnect on the system named peach, using
port 2325. Note that if FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect are being administered together,
both FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect will be shutdown.
ansysli_server –k stop 2325@peach

-log <file>
Description: This command option specifies the directory path and name of the output log file for the
Licensing Interconnect; debugging and usage information is included in the file.

Default value/range: If a log file name and path is not specified the file is put in the default location
one directory level up from ansysli_server<.exe> and is named ansysli_server.log.
If no directory is specified and the default directory is not found, the file is placed in the directory
specified by ANSLIC_DIR.

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: DEBUG_LOG_FILE =<path_file_name>

Use in combination with these command options: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: This command specifies the directory path and file name of the Licensing Interconnect
log file as /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/ansysli_server.log.
ansysli_server –log "/ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/my_ansysli_server.log"

-logtype
Description: When included on the command line to start the Licensing Interconnect, this command option
indicates the level of verbosity of the Licensing Interconnect log file information (ansysli_server.log).
If this command option is not specified, the verbosity level is set to STANDARD. The verbosity level should
be changed only if you are actively working with the ANSYS, Inc. Technical Support staff to solve a specific
problem.

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STANDARD level logs ansysli_server STARTUP options, license cache information (such as
features/counts and FlexNet options file content), CHECKOUT, CHECKIN, RESERVE, and RETURN_RE-
SERVE. It also logs CLIENT_SHUTDOWN for all but ansysli_monitor.

CONNECTIONS level logs everything that STANDARD logs, and CLIENT_ACCEPT and CLIENT_SHUT-
DOWN for the monitor.

VERBOSE level logs STANDARD plus CONNECTIONS, and ADD (product definitions and shared cap-
abilities) and REMOVE (shared capabilities).

Default value/range: STANDARD (default), CONNECTIONS, VERBOSE

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: DEBUG_LOG_TYPE

Use in combination with these command options: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: This command indicates that Licensing Interconnect log file (specified by -log) verbosity
level should be set to VERBOSE.
ansysli_server –log "/ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/my_ansysli_server.log" -logtype verbose

-max_queued_requests
Description: The ANSYS License Manager supports FlexNet's licensing queuing in many ANSYS, Inc.
products. By default, queuing is off. Each user enables queuing by setting the ANSWAIT environment
variable. This command option indicates the maximum number of license checkout requests that can be
queued at any one time.

Default value/range:1 - 10000 (default)

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: MAX_QUEUED_REQUESTS

Use in combination with these command options: -queuing_interval

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: This example indicates that a maximum of 20 requests can be queued:

ansysli_server –max_queued_requests 20

-multitask_queuing_flex [0/1]
Description: This option only applies when queuing for multiple tasks of the same feature, like HPC. When
this option is enabled (default/on=1), you are using FNP queuing and you are put in the queue in the order
in which the request is made. When this option is disabled (off=0), you are not using FNP queuing and are
using ANSYS Licensing Interconnect queuing only.

Default value/range: 0/1; default is 1 (on)

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: ANSYSLI_MULTITASK_QUEUEING_FLEX

Use in combination with these command options: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

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 Licensing Interconnect Command Options

Example: This example uses FlexNet Publisher to queue multi-task checkout requests when you
choose to queue requests.
-multitask_queueing_flex 1

-nocache_srv <port@host>
Description:When you have multiple single license servers (not a triad), use this option to specify which
license servers, other than the localhost, should not cache their FlexNet licenses at startup.

Default value/range: The port number is the Licensing Interconnect port; the default is 2325. The
host is the hostname of another standalone license server. The port@host can also be a list, de-
limited by colons (:) on Linux and semicolons (;) on Windows.

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: ANSYSLI_ NOCACHE_SERVER=<port@host>

Use in combination with these command options: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: This example indicates that port1@host1 and port2@host2 should not cache their FlexNet
licenses at startup (on a Windows system).
ansysli_server -nocache_server=port1@host1;port2@host2

-noflex
Description: This command option allows you to administer FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect sep-
arately by telling the Licensing Interconnect to not start FlexNet. If this command option is omitted, the
Licensing Interconnect will attempt to start FlexNet.

Default value/range: N/A

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: ANSYSLI_NOFLEX=1

Use in combination with these command options: -c and -cacheflexlic

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: This example starts the Licensing Interconnect; the Licensing Interconnect will not start
FlexNet (-noflex). The Licensing Interconnect will read the license feature information
(-cacheflexlic) from the license file path specified (-c).
ansysli_server -cacheflexlic -noflex -c "/FlexNet/ansys/license/license_files/"

-port_timeout
Description: This option controls how long the ansysli_server process should wait before
abandoning attempts to access the Licensing Interconnect port if the port was in use when the an-
sysli_server process began. This option may be useful if your system takes a long time to free its
ports.

Default value/range: 15 minutes; minimum 10 minutes, maximum 60 minutes

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: ANSYSLI_PORT_TIMEOUT

Use in combination with these command options: -restart_port_timeout

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Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: Use this command to tell the ansysli_server to wait 25 minutes before it stops
checking for the port availability and exits:
ansysli_server -port_timeout 25

-Private [0/1]
Description: This command dictates whether the ANSYS Licensing Interconnect should run in private
mode where requests for license usage from client systems do not return user or host information. Setting
this command to 1 (on) blocks user and hostname information while setting it to 0 (off ) allows this inform-
ation to be included. This command is set to 0 (off ) by default.

Note: This command only modifies license or queue status queries from client systems, requests
made from the server system are not affected.

Default value/range: 1/0; default is 0 (off )

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: ANSYSLI_PRIVATE

Use in combination with these command options: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: This example sets the ANSYS Licensing Interconnect to run in private mode:
-private 1

-purge_wb_usage
Description: Use this command option to purge obsolete usage data from the license tracking usage file
(usage_track.xml; see the file description in Files created by the Licensing Interconnect (p. 12)). If you
do not purge this file periodically, it could become very large. By default, this file is purged every 14 days.
See Managing License Usage Tracking for Design Point Reserves (p. 32) for more information.

Default value/range: positive integers representing days; default is 14

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: ANSYSLI_PURGE_WB_USAGE

Use in combination with these command options: -wb_usage, -usage_archive_interval

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: This example purges the usage_track.xml file every 31 days.

ansysli_server -purge_wb_usage 31

-queuing_interval
Description: The ANSYS License Manager supports FlexNet's licensing queuing in many ANSYS, Inc.
Products. By default, queuing is off. Each user enables queuing by setting the ANSWAIT environment
variable. This command option specifies the frequency by which checkout attempts are performed on
queued license checkout requests.

Default value/range: 15 - 600 seconds; default is 120 seconds

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: QUEUING_INTERVAL

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 Licensing Interconnect Command Options

Use in combination with these command options: -max_queued_requests

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: This example indicates that checkout attempts for queued requests are performed every
5 minutes (300 seconds):
ansysli_server –queuing_interval 300

-restart_port_timeout
Description: This command controls how long the ansysli_monitor should wait for the Licensing
Interconnect port to free before restarting the ansysli_server. This option may be useful if your system
takes a long time to free its ports.

Default value/range: 15 minutes; minimum 10 minutes, maximum 60 minutes

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: ANSYSLI_RESTART_PORT_TIMEOUT

Use in combination with these command options: -port_timeout

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: The following example tells the ansysli_monitor to wait 25 minutes for the port to
free before restarting the ansysli_server:
ansysli_server -restart_port_timeout 25

-reservegroup <group list>

Description: Use this command option to stipulate that a member of the group specified can return reserved
licenses for the design point reservation feature. This command option identifies the group or (comma
separated) list of groups that are permitted to return reserved licenses for all users. If this option is used,
the user who started the Licensing Interconnect will be unable to return reserved licenses, unless that user
is a member of the group specified.

Default value/range: The system group name specified must be valid. When returning reserved
licenses, the group must be your active group.

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: RETURN_RESERVE=GROUP

Use in combination with these command options: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: This option is only available on Linux platforms.

Example: The following example allows only those users who are a member of the group lmadmin
to return reserved licenses.
ansysli_server -reservegroup lmadmin

-reserveuser <userlist>
Description: Use this command option to stipulate that the users specified can return the reserved licenses
of all users for the design point reservation feature. This command option identifies the user or (comma
separated) list of users that are allowed to return reserved licenses for all users. If this option is used, the
person who started the Licensing Interconnect will be unable to return reserved licenses, unless that person
is included in the member list.

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Default value/range: Valid usernames. Comma separate list of valid users

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: RETURN_RESERVE=USER

Use in combination with these command options: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: The following example allows only users legolas and gimli to return reserved licenses.
ansysli_server -reservegroup legolas,gimli

-usage_archive_interval
Description: This option is used to specify how frequently usage data is archived for ANSYS Workbench license
usage reporting only. Once the usage data is archived, the data will be cleared from memory. Data is archived
to <osdrive>\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\Shared Files\Licensing\an-
sysli_data\archive\usage_track.xml (Windows) or ansys_inc/shared_files/licens-
ing/ansysli_data/archive/usage_track.xml (Linux). For more information, see Managing
License Usage Tracking for Design Point Reserves (p. 32) and the usage_track.xml file information in
Files created by the Licensing Interconnect (p. 12).

Default value/range: 60 minutes; minimum 5 minutes, maximum 720 minutes

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: ANSYSLI_USAGE_ARCHIVE_INTERVAL

Use in combination with these command options: -purge_wb_usage, -wb_usage

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: The following example sets the archive interval to every two hours (120 minutes):
ansysli_server -usage_archive_interval 120

-user
Description: This command option will restrict shut down of the Licensing Interconnect to only the user
who started it.

Default value/range: N/A

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: RESTRICT_SHUTDOWN=USER

Use in combination with these command options: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: This option is only available on Linux platforms.

Example: This example starts the Licensing Interconnect and limits the user who can shutdown the
Licensing Interconnect to only the user who started the Licensing Interconnect.
ansysli_server -user

-version [<type>]
Description: This command option displays the Licensing Interconnect version information.

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 ansyslmd.ini Keywords

Default value/range: When no value is given, all version information is given. This option is the
equivalent of -version long. Other values for <type> are: short, build, ali, or revn, each of
which will display a subset of the long output.

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: N/A

Use in combination with these command options: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: Use this command to obtain version information on the Licensing Interconnect.
ansysli_server -version

-wb_usage [0/1]
Description: This command option turns license tracking on or off for the license reservation feature for
ANSYS Workbench. License tracking is on by default. License data usage is archived to <osdrive>\Pro-
gram Files\ANSYS Inc\Shared Files\Licensing\ansysli_data\archive\us-
age_track.xml (Windows) or ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/an-
sysli_data/archive/usage_track.xml (Linux). For more information, see Managing License
Usage Tracking for Design Point Reserves (p. 32) and the usage_track.xml file information in Files
created by the Licensing Interconnect (p. 12).

Default value/range: 0/1; default is 1 (on)

Corresponding ansyslmd.ini keyword: ANSYSLI_WB_USAGE

Use in combination with these command options: -purge_wb_usage, -usage_archive_in-

terval

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Example: This example turns license tracking off for design points in ANSYS Workbench.
ansysli_server -wb_usage 0

4.3. ansyslmd.ini Keywords

Below is a list of keywords that may be used in the ansyslmd.ini file. For each keyword, we provide
the following information:

• a description

• the default value and range of values

• corresponding command option

• other keywords that need to be combined with each one

• any platform restrictions

• whether the Licensing Interconnect needs to be restarted or reread when changed

• an example

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The ansyslmd.ini file must be a text file. Entries should begin in column one. Be sure that no spaces
are used in any of the entries. Do not use quotes around paths in the ansyslmd.ini, even if the path
contains spaces. Keywords can appear in any order.

ANSYSCL_CIPHERS_TO_USE = [OpenSSL Cipher(s)]

Description:This option allows the user to specify the SSL Cipher Suite used on the licensing server to
secure communications between client and server. OpenSSL Cipher names are used and can be combined
in a comma separated list without spaces in order of preference. To see what ciphers are supported, use
the ansysli_server.exe command "-DisplaySupportedCiphers (p. 40)". Setting the Ciphers to only use a
preferred cipher, for example ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256, may prevent older clients that do not
support that cipher from connecting. To ensure older clients can connect, AES128-SHA256 and/or AES256-
SHA should be enabled.

Default value/range: Output from -DisplaySupportedCiphers command

Corresponding command argument: -AnsysclCiphersToUse

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Reread or stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: This example sets the SSL Cipher Suite to use the ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 cipher,
or the AES256-SHA Cipher if the client doesn’t support the first.
ANSYSCL_CIPHERS_TO_USE=ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256,AES256-SHA

ANSYSLI_CHECKOUT_RETRY[=1]
Description: This keyword allows you to disable and enable the ANSYSLI_CHECKOUT_RETRY feature. The
ANSYSLI_CHECKOUT_RETRY feature dictates the number of seconds the license check-out retry attempts
will continue before failing. This keyword is set to 1 (allowed) by default.

Default value/range: 1/0; default is 1 (on)

Corresponding command argument: -checkoutretry

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Reread or stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: This example turns the ANSYSLI_CHECKOUT_RETRY feature off.

ANSYSLI_CHECKOUT_RETRY=0

ANSYSLI_DP_RESERVE[=1]
Description: This keyword allows you to turn off the license reservation feature for design points in ANSYS
Workbench. This keyword is set to 1 (license reservation allowed) by default. See Managing Design Point
License Reserves (p. 31) for more information.

Default value/range: Default=1, Range=0-1

Corresponding command argument: -dp_reserve

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Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Reread or stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: This example turns off license reservation for design points in ANSYS Workbench.
ANSYSLI_DP_RESERVE=0

ANSYSLI_EXTERNAL_IP[=External IP]
Description: In a scenario where a client connects to a server using an external IP which redirects traffic
to the license server machine, and the license server does not know its own external IP address, the license
server will read the IP address in the licensing path and try to connect to it to get the cache information.
This causes a license server machine to try a connect to itself over the internet to get the licensing cache
information. This keyword will prevent this issue from occuring. To use this option, set the following an-
syslmd.ini keyword to the external IP address of the license server.

Default value/range: N/A

Corresponding command argument: N/A

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Reread or stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example:This example defines the license server external IP as 100.00.00.101.

ANSYSLI_EXTERNAL_IP=100.00.00.101

Note:

ANSYSLI_EXTERNAL_IP can be used to define multiple external IP addresses by

separating each with a comma.

ANSYSLI_FNP_IP_ENV[=0]
Description: Enabling this keyword internally sets the FlexNet environment variable - FNP_IP_ENV. This
keyword allows you to bypass the client-side hostname resolution, thus improving license checkout per-
formance. Use this keyword when you see such messages as "FLEXlm server is not responding. Resource
is temporarily unavailable."

Default value/range: Default=0, Range=0-1

Corresponding command argument: -fnp_ip_env

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Reread or stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: This example bypasses the client-side hostname resolution.

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ANSYSLI_FNP_IP_ENV=1

ANSYSLI_FNP_RESTART_ATTEMPTS[=#]
Description: This option allows you to specify the number of times that the Licensing Interconnect attempts
to restart lmgrd/ansyslmd. After attempting to restart for the specified number of times, the Licensing In-
terconnect discontinues the restart process until the next CHECKPOINT. At the time of the next CHECKPOINT,
the Licensing Interconnect again attempts to restart for the specified number of times. This process con-
tinues until the issue is resolved. This situation might occur if licenses in the license file have expired.

Note:

The time of each CHECKPOINT is determined by the last start time and the CHECKPOINT_IN-
TERVAL value in ansyslmd.ini (default is 6 hours).

Default value/range: Default=1, Range=1-10

Corresponding command argument: -fnp_restart_attempts

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Reread or stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: This example sets the number of restart attempts to 1.

ANSYSLI_FNP_RESTART_ATTEMPTS=1

ANSYSLI_INCLUDE_FLEXSVR [=server name]

Description: This keyword allows you to define which license servers to use from the licensing path. Any
servers that you specify will be used, ignoring all other servers listed in the licensing path.

Default value/range: N/A

Corresponding command argument: -include_flexsvr

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: This example ignores all supplied servers in the licensing path except server1 and server2.
ANSYSLI_INCLUDE_FLEXSVR=server1, server2

ANSYSLI_IGNORE_FLEXSVR[=server name]
Description: This keyword allows you to specify which servers will not be included in the FlexNet license
path. The reason to remove these servers from your path is that FlexNet can take too long to return when
a server in the path does not exist. This can cause the Licensing Interconnect to delay license checkout
calls. Candidates are license servers that are off-line but still in the DNS.

Default value/range: N/A

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Corresponding command argument: -ignore_flexsvr

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: This example removes server1 from the license path.

ANSYSLI_IGNORE_FLEXSVR=server1

Note:

To ensure that all appropriate domain aliases are removed from the licensing path, ANSYS,
Inc., recommends that you use the base hostname rather than the fully qualified domain
name whenever applicable.

ANSYSLI_IP_OVERRIDE
Description: This Licensing Interconnect keyword allows the Licensing Interconnect to revert back to Release
14.5 and prior behavior with regard to client IP addresses. For most sites, the 15.0 and later behavior is
appropriate. This option should only be used if you are using stand-alone Licensing Interconnects in ad-
dition to the one on your license server and you want the IP address used to be that of the system on
which the stand-alone Licensing Interconnect is running, not the client machine. To change the default
behavior, this keyword would need to be set on the systems running the stand-alone Licensing Interconnect.

Default value/range: N/A

Corresponding command argument: -IpOverride

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Reread

Example: This example turns off the IP address override.

ANSYSLI_IP_OVERRIDE

ANSYSLI_LICSTARTOPTS[=lmgrd command line option]

Description: This Licensing Interconnect keyword allows you to include any optional lmgrd command
line arguments. For more information on the lmgrd command line options, see the FlexNet Publisher
License Administration Guide.

Default value/range: N/A

Corresponding command argument: N/A

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

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Example: This example enables the -local lmgrd command line option.
ANSYSLI_ LICSTARTOPTS=-local

ANSYSLI_MULTITASK_QUEUING_FLEX[=0]
Description: This keyword only applies when queuing for multiple tasks of the same feature, like HPC.
When this keyword is enabled (default/on=1), you are using FNP queuing and you are put in the queue in
the order in which the request is made. When this keyword is disabled (off=0), you are not using FNP
queuing and are using ANSYS Licensing Interconnect queuing only.

Default value/range: Default=1 (on), Range=0-1

Corresponding command argument: -multitask_queueing_flex

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Reread or stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: This example uses FlexNet Publisher to queue multi-task checkout requests when you
choose to queue requests.
ANSYSLI_MULTITASK_QUEUEING_FLEX=1

ANSYSLI_NOFLEX[=0]
Description: This keyword allows you to administer FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect separately by
telling the Licensing Interconnect to not start FlexNet. Set this keyword to 1 so the Licensing Interconnect
will not start FlexNet. You must stop and start the Licensing Interconnect if changing; a reread is not suffi-
cient.

Default value/range: Default=0, Range=0-1

Corresponding command argument: -noflex

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: LICKEYFIL and CACHE_FLEXLIC

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: When using this example to start the Licensing Interconnect, the Licensing Interconnect
will not start FlexNet (ANSYSLI_NOFLEX). The Licensing Interconnect will read the license feature
information (CACHE_FLEXLIC) from the license files in /FlexNet/ansys/license/li-
cense_files/ (LICKEYFIL).
ANSYSLI_NOFLEX=1
CACHE_FLEXLIC=1
LICKEYFIL=/FlexNet/ansys/license/license_files/

ANSYSLI_PORT=<port>
Description: This ansyslmd.ini keyword is needed if you are using a port number for the Licensing
Interconnect that is other than the default (2325). Make sure ANSYSLI_SERVERS (on both clients and the
license server) and CACHE_SERVER (on license servers) use the same port number. If port numbers change
for a Licensing Interconnect, all clients and license servers pointing to that Licensing Interconnect must
change their port numbers locally using the ANSLIC_ADMIN utility.

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Default value/range: Default is 2325. Range is any valid port number.

Corresponding command argument: N/A

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: Use this keyword to use a Licensing Interconnect port number other than the default;
this example uses 5678:
ANSYSLI_PORT=5678

ANSYSLI_PORT_TIMEOUT=[minutes]
Description: This keyword controls how long the ansysli_server process should wait before
abandoning attempts to access the Licensing Interconnect port if the port was in use when the an-
sysli_server process began. This option may be useful if your system takes a long time to free its
ports.

Default value/range: 15 minutes. Range is 10–60 minutes.

Corresponding command argument: -port_timeout

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: ANSYSLI_RESTART_PORT_TIMEOUT

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: Use this keyword to tell the ansysli_server to wait 25 minutes before it stops
checking for the port availability and exits:
ANSYSLI_PORT_TIMEOUT=25

ANSYSLI_PRIVATE=[1/0]
Description: This keyword allows you to disable and enable the ANSYSLI_PRIVATE feature. The AN-
SYSLI_PRIVATE feature dictates whether the license server should run in private mode where requests for
license usage from client systems do not return user or host information. Setting this keyword to 1 (on)
blocks user and hostname information while setting it to 0 (off ) allows this information to be included.
This keyword is set to 0 (off ) by default.

Note: This keyword only modifies license or queue status queries from client systems, requests
made from the server system are not affected.

Default value/range: 1/0; default is 0 (off )

Corresponding command argument: -private

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

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Example: This example sets the license server to run in private mode:
ANSYSLI_PRIVATE=1

ANSYSLI_PURGE_WB_USAGE=[<number of days>]
Description: Use this keyword to purge obsolete usage data from the license tracking archive usage file
(usage_track.xml; see the file description in Files created by the Licensing Interconnect (p. 12)). If you
do not purge this file periodically, it could become very large. By default, this file is purged every 14 days.
See Managing License Usage Tracking for Design Point Reserves (p. 32) for more information.

Default value/range: Range is positive integers representing days; default is 14 (days).

Corresponding command argument: -purge_wb_usage

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: ANSYSLI_WB_USAGE, ANSYSLI_US-

AGE_ARCHIVE_INTERVAL

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Reread or stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: This example purges the usage_track.xml file every 31 days.

ANSYSLI_PURGE_WB_USAGE=31

ANSYSLI_RESERVE=[group]
Description: Use this keyword to stipulate that a member of the group specified can return reserved licenses
for the design point reservation feature. This keyword identifies the group or (comma separated) list of
groups that are permitted to return reserved licenses for all users. If this keyword is used, the user who
started the Licensing Interconnect will be unable to return reserved licenses, unless that user is a member
of the group specified.

Corresponding command argument: -reservegroup <group list>

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords:N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Reread or stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: The following example allows only those users who are a member of the group lmadmin
to return reserved licenses.
ANSYSLI_RESERVE=lmadmin

ANSYSLI_RESERVE=[user]
Description: Use this keyword to stipulate that the users specified can return the reserved licenses of all
users for the design point reservation feature. This keyword identifies the user or (comma separated) list
of users that are allowed to return reserved licenses for all users. If this keyword is used, the user who
started the Licensing Interconnect will be unable to return reserved licenses, unless that user is included
in the member list.

Default value/range: Valid usernames. Comma separate list of valid users

Corresponding command argument: -reserveuser <userlist>

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Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: NA

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Reread or stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: The following example allows only users legolas and gimli to return reserved licenses.
ANSYSLI_RESERVE=legolas,gimli

ANSYSLI_RESTART_PORT_TIMEOUT=[minutes]
Description: This ansyslmd.ini keyword controls how long the ansysli_monitor should wait for
the Licensing Interconnect port to free before restarting the ansysli_server. This option may be
useful if your system takes a long time to free its ports.

Default value/range: 15 minutes. Range is 10–60 minutes.

Corresponding command argument: -restart_port_timeout

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: ANSYSLI_PORT_TIMEOUT

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: Use this keyword to tell the ansysli_monitor to wait 25 minutes for the port to free
before restarting the ansysli_server:
ANSYSLI_RESTART_PORT_TIMEOUT=25

ANSYSLI_SERVERS=<port@host>
Description: This keyword is needed on client systems; it is used by the client to locate the Licensing In-
terconnect. It is not required to be in the server ansyslmd.ini file, but there is no harm in it being in
there. Single, independent servers should be listed one per line; triads should be listed one per line. When
there are multiple servers, they should be listed in order of preference.

Default value/range: The default port number is 2325. When joining multiple servers on one line,
delimit them with colons (:) on Linux and semicolons (;) on Windows.

Corresponding command argument: N/A

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: N/A

Example: This example identifies the Licensing Interconnect port number and hostname of the license
server as 2325 and mango respectively.
ANSYSLI_SERVERS=2325@mango

ANSYSLI_TLS_VERSION[=1.2]
Description: This keyword allows you to disable previous versions of TLS and enable TLS version 1.2 for
communication.

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Default value/range: 1.2

Corresponding command argument: -ali_tls_version

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Reread or stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: This example enables TLS version 1.2.

ANSYSLI_TLS_VERSION=1.2

ANSYSLI_USAGE_ARCHIVE_INTERVAL=<number>
Description: This keyword is used to specify how frequently usage data is archived for ANSYS Workbench
license usage reporting only. Once the usage data is archived, the data will be cleared from memory. Data
is archived to <osdrive>\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\Shared Files\Licensing\an-
sysli_data\archive\usage_track.xml (Windows) or ansys_inc/shared_files/licens-
ing/ansysli_data/archive/usage_track.xml (Linux). For more information, see Managing
License Usage Tracking for Design Point Reserves (p. 32) and the usage_track.xml file information in
Files created by the Licensing Interconnect (p. 12).

Default value/range: 60 minutes; minimum 5 minutes, maximum 720 minutes

Corresponding command argument: -usage_archive_interval

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: ANSYSLI_WB_USAGE, AN-

SYSLI_PURGE_WB_USAGE

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Reread or stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: The following example sets the archive interval to every two hours (120 minutes):
ANSYSLI_USAGE_ARCHIVE_INTERVAL=120

ANSYSLI_WB_USAGE[=0]
Description: This keyword turns license tracking on or off for the license reservation feature for ANSYS
Workbench. License tracking is on by default. License data usage is archived to \Licensing\an-
sysli_data\archive\usage_track.xml (Windows) or /licensing/an-
sysli_data/archive/usage_track.xml (Linux). For more information, see Managing License
Usage Tracking for Design Point Reserves (p. 32) and the usage_track.xml file information in Files
created by the Licensing Interconnect (p. 12).

Default value/range: 0/1; default is 1 (on)

Corresponding command argument: -wb_usage

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: ANSYSLI_USAGE_ARCHIVE_INTERVAL,

ANSYSLI_PURGE_WB_USAGE

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

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Action required to make keyword active: Stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: This example turns license tracking off for design points in ANSYS Workbench.
ANSYSLI_WB_USAGE=0

CACHE_FLEXLIC[=0]
Description: Indicates to the Licensing Interconnect to cache the FlexNet license file. This option is used
when administering FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect separately so that the Licensing Interconnect
is aware of the available license features. The default is to not cache the FlexNet license file.

Default value/range: Default=0, Range=0-1

Corresponding command argument: -cacheflexlic

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: LICKEYFIL and ANSYSLI_NOFLEX

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: When using this example to start the Licensing Interconnect, the Licensing Interconnect
will not start FlexNet (ANSYSLI_NOFLEX). The Licensing Interconnect will read the license feature
information (CACHE_FLEXLIC) from the license files in /FlexNet/ansys/license/license_files/(LICKEYFIL).
ANSYSLI_NOFLEX=1
CACHE_FLEXLIC=1
LICKEYFIL=/FlexNet/ansys/license/license_files/

CACHE_SERVER=<port>@<host>
Description: When you have multiple single license servers (not a triad), use this keyword to specify license
servers other than the localhost for which to cache their FlexNet license file at startup. This will make the
Licensing Interconnect aware of what license features are available on the other license servers. Use this
option to speed up license checkouts, so that the caching is done upon startup of the Licensing Interconnect,
rather than on the fly, when a client connects with the other license server in its license path.

Default value/range: The port number is the Licensing Interconnect port; the default is 2325. The
host is the hostname of another license server. The port@host can also be a list, delimited by
colons (:) on Linux and semicolons (;) on Windows, but we recommend separate lines for multiple
single servers.

Corresponding command argument: -cache_srv <port@host>

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Reread or stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: When this keyword is in place, upon startup, the Licensing Interconnect will cache the
license file information from a different license server running on port 2325 on a machine with the
hostname kiwi.
CACHE_SERVER=2325@kiwi

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DEBUG_LOG_FILE=<path_file_name>
Description: This keyword specifies the directory path and name of the output log file for the Licensing
Interconnect; debugging and usage information is included in the file.

Default value/range: The default name and location for the Licensing Interconnect log file is one
directory level up from the ansysli_server executable and is named ansysli_server.log.
If a log file name and path is not specified and if the ANSYSLIC_DIR environment variable is set,
the log file will reside in that directory specified in the ANSYSLIC_DIR environment variable. Override
these defaults with this option by specifying the path and file name.

Corresponding command argument: -log <file>

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Reread or stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: This keyword specifies the directory path and file name of the Licensing Interconnect log
file as /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/ansysli_server.log.
DEBUG_LOG_FILE=/ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/ansysli_server.log

DEBUG_LOG_MAX_NUMBER=<number>
Description: Use this option to specify the number of back copies of the Licensing Interconnect log file,
anysysli_server.log by default, to keep.

Default value/range: The range is positive integers, with the default value being 10 and minimum
value being 1.

Corresponding command argument: N/A

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: DEBUG_LOG_MAX_SIZE

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Reread or stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: These keywords indicate that the Licensing Interconnect log file named /an-
sys_inc/shared_files/licensing/ansysli_server.log should maintain three back
copies.
DEBUG_LOG_MAX_NUMBER=3
DEBUG_LOG_FILE=/ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/ansysli_server.log

DEBUG_LOG_MAX_SIZE=<size>
Description: Use this keyword to set the maximum size (in MB) to which your Licensing Interconnect log
file, ansysli_server.log by default, can grow.

Default value/range: The range is positive integers, with 10 MB being the default and 1 MB being
the minimum.

Corresponding command argument: N/A

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: DEBUG_LOG_MAX_NUMBER

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Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Reread or stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: These keywords indicate that the Licensing Interconnect log file named /an-
sys_inc/shared_files/licensing/ansysli_server.log should only be allowed to
grow to 500 MB.
DEBUG_LOG_MAX_SIZE=500
DEBUG_LOG_FILE=/ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/ansysli_server.log

DEBUG_LOG_TYPE=<value>
Description: This keyword indicates the level of verbosity of the Licensing Interconnect log file information
(ansysli_server.log). If this keyword is not specified, the verbosity level is set to STANDARD. The
verbosity level should be changed only if you are actively working with the ANSYS, Inc. Technical Support
staff to solve a specific problem.

STANDARD level logs ansysli_server STARTUP options, license cache information (such as
features/counts and FlexNet options file content), CHECKOUT, CHECKIN, RESERVE, and RETURN_RE-
SERVE. It also logs CLIENT_SHUTDOWN for all but ansysli_monitor.

CONNECTIONS level logs everything that STANDARD logs, and CLIENT_ACCEPT and CLIENT_SHUT-
DOWN for the monitor.

VERBOSE level logs STANDARD plus CONNECTIONS, and ADD (product definitions and shared cap-
abilities) and REMOVE (shared capabilities).

Default value/range: This keyword can be set to STANDARD, CONNECTIONS, or VERBOSE.

Corresponding command argument: -logtype

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Reread or stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: This keyword indicates that the verbosity level of the log file should be set to VERBOSE.
DEBUG_LOG_TYPE=verbose

LICKEYFIL=<path to FlexNet license file>

Description: Use this keyword to pass the file name or path of the FlexNet license file to the Licensing
Interconnect, which is needed when administering FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect separately. If
you are administering FlexNet and the Licensing Interconnect together, allowing the Licensing Interconnect
to start FlexNet, the value in this keyword is used to start FlexNet. When specifying a directory path (rather
than a file), be sure that all license files within that directory have a .lic file extension to be recognized by
the license manager.

Default value/range: Valid directory path or file name of the FlexNet license file. The default is the
directory path - /ansys_inc/shared_files/licensing/license_files.

Corresponding command argument: -c <license_file_path>

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: CACHE_FLEXLIC and ANSYSLI_NOFLEX

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Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Reread or stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: This example identifies the path to the license files as /FlexNet/ansys/license/li-
cense_files/.
LICKEYFIL=/FlexNet/ansys/license/license_files/ansyslmd.lic

MAX_QUEUED_REQUESTS=<number>
Description: The ANSYS License Manager supports FlexNet's licensing queuing in many ANSYS, Inc.
Products. By default, queuing is off. Each user enables queuing by setting the ANSWAIT environment
variable. Use this keyword to specify the maximum number of license checkout requests that can be
queued at any one time.

Default value/range: 1 - 10000 (default)

Corresponding command argument: -max_queued_requests

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: QUEUING_INTERVAL

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Reread or stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: This example specifies that a maximum of 20 requests can be queued:

MAX_QUEUED_REQUESTS=20

NOCACHE_SERVER=<port>@<host>
Description: When you have multiple single license servers (not a triad), use this option to specify which
license servers, other than the localhost, should not cache their FlexNet licenses at startup.

Default value/range: The port number is the Licensing Interconnect port; the default is 2325. The
host is the hostname of another license server. The port@host can also be a list, delimited by
colons (:) on Linux and semicolons (;) on Windows.

Corresponding command argument: -nocache_srv <port@host>

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Reread or stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example:This example indicates that port1@host1 and port2@host2 should not cache their FlexNet
licenses at startup (on a Windows system).
ANSYSLI_ NOCACHE_SERVER=port1@host1;port2@host2

QUEUING_INTERVAL=<number in seconds>
Description: The ANSYS License Manager supports FlexNet's licensing queuing in many ANSYS, Inc.
Products. By default, queuing is off. Each user enables queuing by setting the ANSWAIT environment
variable. Use this keyword to specify the frequency by which checkout attempts are performed on queued
license checkout requests.

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Default value/range: 15 - 600 seconds; default is 120 seconds

Corresponding command argument: -queuing_interval

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: MAX_QUEUED_REQUESTS

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Reread or stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: This example indicates that checkout attempts for queued requests are performed every
5 minutes (300 seconds):
QUEUING_INTERVAL=300

RESTRICT_SHUTDOWN=GROUP:<group name> or RESTRICT_SHUTDOWN=USER

Description: Use this keyword to specify that either a member of the group specified can shutdown the
Licensing Interconnect or that the only the user who started the Licensing Interconnect can shut it down.
If the group restriction is in place, when shutting down the Licensing Interconnect, the group specified
must be your primary group. If specifying group, only one group can be specified. GROUP and USER cannot
be used together; you can only specify one or the other.

Default value/range: Valid values are: USER or GROUP. The group name specified must be a valid
Linux group name.

Corresponding command argument: -group <group> and -user

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: This option is only available on Linux platforms.

Action required to make keyword active: Stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example 1: When the Licensing Interconnect is started with the keyword in this example, only a
user whose primary group is lmadmin can shut down the Licensing Interconnect.
RESTRICT_SHUTDOWN=GROUP:lmadmin

Example 2: When the Licensing Interconnect is started with the keyword in this example, only the
user who started the Licensing Interconnect can shut it down.
RESTRICT_SHUTDOWN=USER

RETURN_RESERVE=GROUP: <group names separated by “,”>

Description: Use this keyword to stipulate that a member of the group specified can return reserved licenses
for the design point reservation feature. This keyword identifies the group or (comma separated) list of
groups that are permitted to return reserved licenses for all users. If this option is used, the user who
started the Licensing Interconnect will be unable to return reserved licenses, unless that user is a member
of the group specified.

Default value/range: The system group name specified must be valid. When returning reserved
licenses, the group must be your active group.

Corresponding command argument: -reservegroup <group list>

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Reference

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions:This option is only available on Linux platforms.

Action required to make keyword active: Reread or stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: The following example allows only those users who are a member of the group lmadmin
to return reserved licenses.
RETURN_RESERVE=GROUP:lmadmin

RETURN_RESERVE=USER: <users in list separated by “,”>

Description: Use this keyword to stipulate that the users specified can return the reserved licenses of all
users for the design point reservation feature. This keyword identifies the user or (comma separated) list
of users that are allowed to return reserved licenses for all users. If this option is used, the user who started
the Licensing Interconnect will be unable to return reserved licenses, unless that user is included in the
member list.

Default value/range: Valid usernames

Corresponding command argument: -reserveuser <user list>

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: Reread or stop and restart the Licensing Interconnect

Example: The following example allows only users legolas and gimli to return reserved licenses.
RETURN_RESERVE=USER:legolas, gimli

SERVER=<port@host>
Description: This keyword is needed on client systems; it is used by the client to locate FlexNet. It is not
required to be in the server ansyslmd.ini file, but there is no harm in it being in there. Single servers
should be listed only one per line; triads should be listed on the same line. When there are multiple servers,
they should be listed in order of preference.

Default value/range: The default port number is 1055. When joining multiple servers on one line,
delimit them with colons (:) on Linux and semicolons (;) on Windows.

Corresponding command argument: N/A

Use in combination with these ansyslmd.ini keywords: N/A

Hardware platform restrictions: N/A

Action required to make keyword active: N/A

Example: This example identifies the FlexNet port number and hostname of the license server as
1055 and cherry respectively.
SERVER=1055@cherry

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 Glossary

4.4. Glossary
Capability
ANSYS, Inc. has assigned identifiers to each of the specific areas of functionality in the product software.
We refer to these identifiers as capabilities, which you may see in ANSYS, Inc. licensing displays and logs.
Each capability can be satisfied by at least one license feature; often, multiple license features can satisfy
a particular capability. Based on the license features available, your individual preferences, and the capab-
ility requested, the Licensing Interconnect determines the best match. The license feature that best matches
is checked out.

Design Points
A design point is a set of input parameter values and corresponding output parameter values associated
with an individual parameterized project definition. Design points can be created within the Parameters
and Design Points workspace and allow users to perform what-if studies. Users can reserve licenses for
design point studies so that the licenses needed to complete the study will be available when needed. As
the license administrator, you can turn the license reserve feature on or off for your company.

Licensing Interconnect
The Licensing Interconnect is the intermediary process that communicates and manages license requests
between ANSYS applications and FlexNet. The actual Licensing Interconnect executable is ansysli_serv-
er on Linux and ansysli_server.exe on Windows. The Licensing Interconnect is one component of
the ANSYS License Manager; the other component is FlexNet.

Shared/Separate Mode
ANSYS, Inc. offers two different modes of license consumption when running ANSYS, Inc. Products from
within the Workbench environment. The preferred mode is set per user, per machine via the preferences
dialog in the ANSLIC_ADMIN utility or within the Workbench framework. The default mode is shared.

1. Shared mode: when possible, multiple applications within the same session will share a single license
(default).

2. Separate mode: each application instance will consume a separate license.

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Chapter 5: Troubleshooting

5.1. Interpreting the ansysli_server.log File

The Licensing Interconnect log file, ansysli_server.log contains a history of licensing activity.
Some common questions regarding the log file are addressed in the following sections.

5.1.1. Log File Keywords

Licensing Interconnect log file entries have the following basic format:
TIME ACTION FEATURE REVISION A/B/C/D W/X/Y/Z MPID:APP:USER@HOST:PLATFORM SOCKET:IP

where:

TIMESTAMP The date and time of when the action occurred

ACTION The action being taken by the Licensing Interconnect, e.g., CHECKIN, CHECKOUT
FEATURE The license feature or capability being requested
REVISION The revision and build date of the licensing version linked into the application
(BUILD DATE)
A The number of licenses requested by this action
B The number of licenses in use by this user
C The number of licenses of this license feature currently in use
D The number of licenses available in the local license pool, or in the case of a
DesignPoint study, this value will reflect the total number of licenses available to
the user based on the multiplicative effect of the ANSYS HPC Parametric Pack license.
W The number of client applications currently connected to this license server
X The highest number of connected client applications
Y The unique serial number of this client application
Z The cumulative number of all client applications served by this license server
PID The process ID number of the application requesting the action
MPID The process's master process ID number
APP The application that is requesting the action, e.g. MECH (for Mechanical),
ANS_SOLVER (for Mechanical APDL), FLUENT_SOLVER (for FLUENT), CFX_SOLVER
(for CFX)
USER The username who is requesting the action
HOST The hostname from where the action is being requested
PLATFORM The hardware platform from where the action is being requested
SOCKET The socket number of the machine making the request

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Troubleshooting

IP The IP address of the machine making the request

CHECKIN/CHECKOUT
The CHECKIN and CHECKOUT keywords indicate a license feature or capability checkin and checkout
respectively. If you look closely at the details of these lines, you can gain some valuable statistics on
overall license usage.

For each license checkout request, you will see at least two entries logged, one for the actual license
feature that is checked out from FlexNet and one or more for the capability request to the Licensing
Interconnect. (See the Capability definition in Glossary (p. 67)).

Example:
2012/09/20 12:42:36 CHECKOUT ane3fl 2020 R1 (2012.0814) 1/1/23/500 131/156/310068/310068
7060:7884:MECH:john@plum:winx64 65028:194.154.5.32

In this example, one license for ANSYS Multiphysics (ane3fl) is checked out by user john, by the
Mechanical (MECH) application (with process ID 7060, Mast Process ID 7884 and Licensing Inter-
connect-assigned ID of 310068), from hostname plum (a Windows x64 system), on June 6, 2012
12:42:36. User john currently has only this license checked out. Of the 500 licenses of ANSYS
Multiphysics available, 23 are currently in use. There are currently 131 client applications connected
to the license server. The highest number of concurrent connections to this license server is 156,
with a total number of client applications served of 310068. The revision of the ANSYS application
being run is 2020 R1, built on June 3, 2012. The socket number and the IP address of the machine
making the request are 65028 and 194.154.5.32, respectively.
2012/09/20 12:42:36 CHECKOUT MECH_STRUCT 2020 R1 (2012.0814) 1/1/17/-1 131/156/310068/310068
7060:7884:MECH:john@plum:winx64 65028:194.154.5.32

This example is the capability checkout that corresponds to the above license feature checkout.
A -1 in Field D should only occur for the capability checkout, not for the feature checkout. The
-1 indicates that licenses are being used in shared mode.

The identifier (RESERVE) immediately following the license feature name indicates that the license
checkin/checkout is for a license for a Design Point solve and is the time when the license is ac-
tually checked in or out.

CACHE_SERVER
This keyword is seen when the Licensing Interconnect is obtaining the license feature and FlexNet options
file cache from another license server. You will typically see CACHE_SERVER lines appear in pairs. The
first line indicates that the Licensing Interconnect is attempting to cache the license feature and FlexNet
options file information of another license server. The second line indicates the status of the cache.

CHECKPOINT
These messages provide a periodic status of the Licensing Interconnect. Information such as memory
usage, uptime, etc. is given.

CLIENT_ACCEPT
Depending on the verbosity setting of the Licensing Interconnect log file, you may see one of these
entries for each client that connects to the Licensing Interconnect. The entry is logged as soon as the
client’s socket is connected and prior to any processing.

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 Interpreting the ansysli_server.log File

CLIENT_EXIT
This keyword will appear when the application explicitly informs the Licensing Interconnect that it is
exiting; this triggers the check-in of any capabilities currently checked out by the application. See also
CLIENT_SHUTDOWN.

CLIENT_SHUTDOWN
This keyword will appear when the Licensing Interconnect has detected that the application has exited
but has not explicitly passed the CLIENT_EXIT message. See also CLIENT_EXIT.

CONNECT_ERROR
This keyword is seen when connecting to another license server for the cache information and that license
server is down or unreachable.

MEM_INFO
This system memory information will appear each time the Licensing Interconnect allocates additional
memory.

QUEUE
This keyword indicates that queuing has been initiated for the capability in question (regardless if it is
FlexNet queuing or ALI queuing).

QUEUE_GRANTED
This keyword is displayed when the FLEXlm server grants the license.

QUEUE_STARTED
This keyword indicates when a queue request is initiated to the FLEXlm server.

RECHECKOUT
If the connection between the Licensing Interconnect and the client application has been lost, once the
RECONNECT has occurred, this keyword will indicate that the license feature or capability has been
checked out again.

RECONNECT
If the connection between the Licensing Interconnect and the client application has been lost, this
keyword will indicate that the communication has been restored.

RESERVE
This keyword signifies the beginning of a Design Point study. At this time, the license feature indicated
is put into the RESERVE pool, but is not yet checked out. You will see corresponding license feature and
capability checkouts when the corresponding license features and capabilities are actually checked out,
and the (RETURN) keyword will appear in the CHECKOUT entry. See related keyword RETURN_RESERVE.

Note that in the case of a DesignPoint study, field D (see Log File Keywords (p. 69)) will reflect
the total number of licenses available to the user based on the multiplicative effect of the ANSYS
HPC Parametric Pack license, rather than the total number of licenses available in the license pool.

This example shows the checkout for an ANSYS Multiphysics license, when one ANSYS Multiphysics
and one ANSYS HPC Parametric Pack license are used for the DesignPoint study.
2012/09/20 12:42:36 CHECKOUT ane3fl (RESERVE) 2020 R1 (2012.0814) 1/1/1/4 1/1/2/2
1132:ANS_SOLVER:john@plum:winx64 68296:10.3.7.93

RETURN_RESERVE
This keyword will appear at the end of a Design Point study and indicates that the Design Point solve
has completed or that the licenses reserved for the Design Point solve were released manually (see Re-

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Troubleshooting

leasing Reserved Licenses (p. 33)). At this time, the license feature indicated is removed from the RESERVE
pool.
2012/09/20 14:42:36 RETURN_RESERVE ane3fl 2020 R1 (2012.0814) 1/0/0/1 2/7/1/29
9884:ANS_WB:john@plum:winx64 44012:10.121.3.76

The actual checkin of reserved licenses is noted in the log file with the keyword (RESERVE) in the
CHECKIN entry, as shown in the example below. See related keyword RESERVE.
2012/09/20 12:42:36 CHECKIN ane3fl (RESERVE) 2020 R1 (2012.0814) 1/1/1/4 1/1/2/2
1132:ANS_SOLVER:john@plum:winx64 68296:10.3.7.93

SHARE_LOCKER
This keyword indicates the locking mechanism is in play to prevent FLUENT and CFX from running in
shared mode outside of the Workbench environment. It prevents you from running FLUENT and CFX
Pre, Post and Solve concurrently outside of Workbench with a shared license. A SHARE_LOCKER checkout
entry will appear any time one of these products is checked out. This only applies to the products that
will run cross-application, such as ANSYS CFD.

SPLIT_CHECKOUT
A SPLIT_CHECKOUT will occur when there are license checkout requests for two or more of the same li-
cense feature. The primary example where multiple licenses of the same feature are requested is for
HPC products.

Example:
2012/09/20 15:05:23 SPLIT_CHECKOUT anshpc_pack 2020 R1(2012.0814) 2/6/10/500 152/165/314121/314121
7508:6652:ANS_SOLVER:ted@papaya:winx64 65028:194.154.5.32

2012/09/20 15:05:23 CHECKOUT ANS_SOLVER_HPC 2020 R1 (2012.0814) 16/44/56/184 152/165/314121/314121

7508:6652:ANS_SOLVER:ted@papaya:winx64 65028:194.154.5.32

Similar to the regular CHECKOUT, this example shows the license feature SPLIT_CHECKOUT for
anshpc_pack and the corresponding capability checkout for ANS_SOLVER_HPC.

5.2. Log File Error Messages

HANDSHAKE_ERROR

This is usually a communication error, typically caused by network bandwidth saturation. Virus
scanning software, too many client connections, or firewall software could be the cause. It could
also be caused by applications unknown to the Licensing Interconnect trying to connect to the Li-
censing Interconnect port.

Feature XXX does not exist in the ANSYSLI pool

This error is given when there is a request for a capability for which no valid license exists on the
license server. If you believe that a valid license does exist, be sure to reread both FlexNet and the
Licensing Interconnect each time you install a new license.

The specified license path does not have any licenses for any product

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 Problem Situations

This error typically indicates a cache problem. The license server from which you are trying to cache
may be down or the path to the license server is incorrect.

Dependent feature XXX in AND keyword is not available

This error occurs when two or more different license features are requested for checkout and one
or more are either not available or nonexistent.

A Workbench child application needs to wait for Workbench to recheckout its license

In the scenario where the Licensing Interconnect goes down and is restarted, for Workbench jobs
that were running while the Licensing Interconnect was up, the main Workbench application must
reconnect to the License Server before the job can proceed. This message will be seen for Workbench
clients that are waiting until the main Workbench application has reconnected.

5.3. Problem Situations

5.3.1. I See CHECKIN/CHECKOUT Actions for Names that do Not Correspond

to License Features in the License File
For each license checkout request, you will see at least two log entries, one for the actual license
feature that is checked out from FlexNet and one or more for the capability request to the Licensing
Interconnect. (See the Capability definition in Glossary (p. 67)).

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