FME Floating License Server: How to Upgrade FlexLM on the Same Machine

FME Version

Introduction

This article will walk through the process of upgrading the floating license manager and the process of re-licensing. A floating license serves multiple instances of FME Form (formerly Desktop). The FlexNet software license manager provides the floating license capability for FME Form and is installed on a computer that acts as a license server. For more details about installing a new FME Floating License Server, please consult the FME Administrator guide.

The license manager may not need to be updated, but we recommend using the latest FlexNet for Safe Software Floating License Manager release of Flexera (FlexLM) provided on our website. To check the current version of your license manager to determine if an upgrade is necessary, open LMTools > About. You may not need to request a new license file as long as your hostname and host ID remain the same. If the upgrade is being performed on the same machine these values should not change.

To upgrade your version of FlexLM on the same machine, please follow the steps outlined below.

Requirements

FlexNet License Server Installer for FME Form

Step-by-Step Instructions

Windows

1. Download the latest FlexNet License Server Installer from Safe Software
Download the floating license installer (License Manager) for FME Form from https://engage.safe.com/support/downloads/

2. Stop the License Server
Stop your license server, by opening LMTools on your license server machine. Navigate to Windows Start menu > FlexNet for Safe Software > LMTools, select the Start/Stop/Restart tab and click ‘Stop Server’. The LMTools application is located in the installation directory, by default this is C:\Program Files\FlexServer folder

3. Uninstall the Existing License Server
After the license server is stopped, uninstall the existing license server. Navigate to Windows Start menu > Add or Remove Programs. Search or find Flexnet for Safe Software.

4. Install the Newly Downloaded License Server
Confirm the previous license server was successfully uninstalled. The safe.lic should be the only remaining file in the FlexNet directory. You will use the same safe.lic file with your new license server.

Next, install the new version of the license server.

5. Validate Host ID and Host Name in the License File
Once installed, view the newly generated hostid.txt to ensure the host name and host ID are the same.

Note: If the host ID and host name are different in the safe.lic file and hostid.txt, you will need to request a new floating license file.
If you need to request a new license file, make note of any port modifications in the existing license file and apply them to the new license file. Please see this article for more details on specifying ports.

6. Start the License Server
Start your license server, by navigating to Windows Start menu > FlexNet for Safe Software > LMTools, select the Start/Stop/Restart tab and click ‘Start Server’.

7. Test the License Server with FME Form
After the license server is running, verify that FME Form can be licensed successfully by running FME Workbench on a client machine. If you have issues checking out a license, please take a look at the Floating License Troubleshooting page.

Linux

1. Download the latest FlexNet License Server Installer from Safe Software
Download the floating license installer (License Manager) for FME Form from https://engage.safe.com/support/downloads/

2. Locate the FlexServer directory
Locate the FlexServer directory. In the original documentation, this directory is defined as /opt/FlexServer by default, but it could be user-defined.

3. Stop the Floating License Server
Stop the floating license server with the command:

% ./lmutil lmdown -c <path_to_safe.lic>

4. Replace the FlexServer folder Files
Backup and then replace the files in your <FlexServer> directory with the files in the downloaded package.

5. Restart the Floating License Server
Restart the floating license server using the same command, initially used to start the license server. By default, the command is:

% ./lmgrd -c ./safe.lic -l safe.log

but your system administrator may have modified the path to the license file or to the floating license log to suit your own environment and may have placed this command in a start-up script.