Up and Ready

Quick Start: Setting up a license server on Mac

Here is another series of Quick Start guides in our blog.  This one is for setting up a license server on the Mac for supported Autodesk products:

1.  This is forum post that I have been using since Maya 2010, 2011 & 2012 to setup a license server from start to finish:

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Installation-Licensing/Installing-Maya-2011-2012-with-a-Network-license-Mac/m-p/2766718#M23828

2.  Here are some known issues posted in Up and Ready:

http://upandready.typepad.com/up_and_ready/2011/08/general-licensing-mac-license-server-exiting-due-to-signal-37-exit-reason-5.html

http://upandready.typepad.com/up_and_ready/2011/08/general-licensing-using-a-mac-mini-as-a-license-server.html

3.  Installing 11.7 license tools vs 11.9 license tools:

http://upandready.typepad.com/up_and_ready/2011/11/general-licensing-network-licensing-manager-on-the-mac.html

http://upandready.typepad.com/up_and_ready/2011/11/general-licensing-how-to-downgrade-mac-nlm-119-to-mac-nlm-117.html

Note:  You can also use Pacifist to force the installation of 11.7 license tools.

4.  The coolest 3rd party application:  Pacifist!

http://upandready.typepad.com/up_and_ready/2011/10/maya-2012-on-mac-maya-core-doesnt-install.html

http://upandready.typepad.com/up_and_ready/2011/12/sketchbook-pro-2011-installing-on-mac-os-107-lion.html

5.   The location of all the server and client files for Maya, Smoke and AutoCAD:

http://upandready.typepad.com/up_and_ready/2011/11/autocad-2012-for-mac-where-is-the-licpathlic-file.html

6.  Here is an informal request for a user interface for the licensing for Maya and AutoCAD:

http://upandready.typepad.com/up_and_ready/2011/10/general-licensing-user-interface-for-setting-up-a-license-server-on-mac.html

Epilogue

Please check out the other Quick Start guides.  Use Quick Start as the search term in our blog!

Licensing: License server Status License handle

 

What is the number appearing after the port in the license server status query output?

 

 

 

 

According to the documentation it is the license Handle which is used for "lmremove" command. This is not supported for any Autodesk software.

http://www.globes.com/support/utilities/fnp_LicAdmin_11_10.pdf (page 107)

Licensing: License Timeout and license server log

The Network License Manager can be configured to reclaim a license when a client workstation is idle for longer than a defined time-out period, or the connection with the workstation is lost.

For details please check the solution here.

http://usa.autodesk.com/getdoc/id=TS67304

The debug log file can be examined to determine if a license has been reclaimed. When a license has been reclaimed, the debug log file will contain a line similar to:

10:11 (adskflex) IN feature_code user_name@host_name (INACTIVE)

General Systems: What is NIC Teaming?

NIC teaming is basically combining 2 network cards to act as 1 network card to inprove bandwidth of the server and to provide some redundancy.  The full definition for NIC teaming can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_teaming

We occassionally get this inquiry into Product Support and it is not supported.  It is noted in our Technical Solution under the section Network Interface Card here:

2012: Windows system requirements for the Autodesk Network License Manager
http://usa.autodesk.com/getdoc/id=TS17796070

Maya 2012: Getting BackBurner rendering on Windows and Mac OS X simultaneously

Every now and then we do get asked if BackBurner does cross platform rendering.  The simply answer is yes but there is indeed some setup involved to make sure things work.  

Please check out this post at the Maya Station:

http://mayastation.typepad.com/maya-station/2012/01/getting-backburner-rendering-on-windows-and-mac-os-x-simultaneously.html

Mudbox application file has stopped working

We just noticed that Mudbox 2012 or Mudbox SAP 2012 can crash at startup with the error:

 



We have identified this problem to be a corruption of the directory Mudbox under My Documents.

To work around this problem, first of all, create a copy of the Mudbox directory C:\Users\<UserName>\Documents\Mudbox\, then, delete the Mudbox directory.

When starting, Mudbox will recreate the directory and apply the settings by default to the Mudbox graphic interface.

If you want to try retrieving your previous interface settings, copy the directory settings from the backup directory Mudbox\2012-xxx\ into the newly created Mudbox\2012-xxx directory.

 

Maya 2012: Service Pack 2 is available.

For details, please check out the following URL:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=18428455&linkID=9242259

NOTE:  This Service Pack is a full installer (over 1 GB) and not a 'hotfix'.

Network: Autodesk online services through proxy server with SecureNAT client

We have discussed the issues with proxy server and Autodesk's online cloud services here.

There were few reported issues when "secureNAT" client is in use, these services don't work even with the work around mentioned in the link.

The issue is due to the ISA Firewall service performing reverse DNS name resolution to determine whether a rule applies for every request from SecureNAT client.

If you add Akamai hosts (*. edgekey.net & *.akamaiedge.net) to the exception lists this issue could be resolved.

Complete list of sites to have an exception rule on proxy for anonymous access would be.

*.autodesk.com

*.google-analytics.com

*.cloudfront.net

*. edgekey.net

*.akamaiedge.net

 

 

Licensing: The security system (Softlock license manager) is not functioning or is improperly installed

you have corrupted installation of an Autodesk program or if you have tweaked the registry to change the license method

You might see the following error when starting the Autodesk program.

"The security system (Softlock license manager) is not functioning or is improperly installed"

Reason for the error could be a corrupted installation of an Autodesk program or a registry tweak to change the license method from Network to Standalone.

Most cases clean uninstall and reinstall of the Autodesk Program should fix the issue.

If it doesn't fix please delete the license file and re-activate the software.

License files are located here.

On Vista or Windows 7:

C:\ProgramData\FLEXnet\adskflex_00691b00_tsf.data

C:\ProgramData\FLEXnet\adskflex_00691b00_tsf.data.backup

On Windows XP:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\FLEXnet\adskflex_00691b00_tsf.data

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\FLEXnet\adskflex_00691b00_tsf.data.backup

If the issue persists it could be related to the user permission, so please try to install and run the software as a local administrator account.

Installation: AutoCAD Civil 3D 2012 Material Library Error

When trying to use Material library if you get following error, you will need to repair/reinstall the Material Library using add/remove program features in the control panel.

"The Autodesk Base Texture library could not be found.

This library is needed for you to apply or edit materials. Also objects that use images from the library will not be displayed correctly in a viewport or when rendered. The expected location of the library is:

C:\Program files (x86)\Common files\Autodesk Shared\Materials\Textures\1

To correct this problem, uninstall and reinstall the Autodesk Base Texture library."

If you get following error during the AutoCAD Civil 3D 2012 installation maintenance, you might have to reinstall AutoCAD Civil 3D 2012. If it doesn't work in normal mode please try in diagnostics mode

"Internal Error 2711. Materials"