Licensing

To use CaraVR, you need either a valid license key or a floating license and server running Foundry Licensing Tools (FLT):

• License Keys - These can be used to install and activate node locked (also known as uncounted) licenses. Node locked licenses allow you to use CaraVR on a single machine. This license does not work on a different machine and if you need it to, you have to transfer your license. Node locked licenses do not require additional licensing software to be installed. See Licensing on a Single Machine for more information.

• Floating Licenses - also known as counted licenses, enable CaraVR to work on any networked client machine. The floating license should be put on the server and is locked to a unique number on that server. Floating licenses on a server require additional software to be installed. This software manages those licenses on the server, giving licenses out to client stations that want them. The software you need to manage these licenses is called Foundry License Tools (FLT) and it can be freely downloaded from our website. Floating licenses often declare a port number on the server line and a port number on the vendor line. See Licensing Over a Network for more information.

Warning:  If there is an interruption between the license server and CaraVR, rendering aborts with an exit code of 1. You can use the --cont command line argument to force CaraVR to continue rendering on failure, producing black license failure frames rather than aborting the whole render.

These instructions run through both licensing methods, and you can find a more detailed description in the FLT User Guide available from our Support Portal support.foundry.com.

Licensing on a Single Machine

You can purchase license keys by:

• going to our website at www.foundry.com, or

• e-mailing us at sales@foundry.com

To generate a license key, we need to know your System ID. The System ID (sometimes called Host ID or rlmhostid) returns a unique number for your computer. We lock our license keys to the System ID.

To display your System ID, do the following:

• On Windows and Mac

Download the Foundry License Utility (FLU) from support.foundry.com and run it. The System ID is displayed at the bottom of the window.

• On Linux

Download the Foundry License Utility (FLU) from support.foundry.com and run it from the command line:

<download location>/FoundryLicenseUtility -i

Note:  The <download location> refers to the location where you saved the Foundry Licensing Utility.

Just so you know what a System ID number looks like, here’s an example: 000ea641d7a1.

Installing the License

Once a license has been generated for you, we e-mail you the license key and instructions on how to obtain the correct version of the Foundry License Utility (FLU). Gunzip or untar the file and save the FLU and your license key to a folder of your choice. The instructions below tell you what to do with these.

On Windows and Mac

Just drop the license key on the Foundry License Utility (FLU) application to install it. This checks the license key and copies it to the correct directory.

On Linux

1.   Navigate to the location of the FLU_[version]_linux-x86-release-64.tgz file.
2.   Type the following commands to extract and install the FLU. Note that you need to replace [version] with the version of FLU you are using and [my license] with the location of your license key.

tar xvzf FLU_[version]_linux-x86-release-64.tgz

cd FLU_[version]_linux-x86-release-64

./FoundryLicenseUtility -l [my license]

For example, if you saved your license key to /tmp/Foundry.lic, the last line should be:

./FoundryLicenseUtility -l /tmp/foundry.lic

This checks the license key and copies it to the correct directory.

Licensing Over a Network

You can purchase a floating license key by:

• going to our website at www.foundry.com, or

• e-mailing us at sales@foundry.com

To generate a license key, we need to know the System ID of the machine that will act as the server. The System ID (sometimes called Host ID or rlmhostid) returns a unique number for the computer. We lock our license keys to the System ID. See Installing Floating Licenses.

To display your System ID, do the following:

• On Windows and Mac

Download Foundry License Utility (FLU) from support.foundry.com and run it. The System ID is displayed at the bottom of the window.

• On Linux

Download Foundry License Utility (FLU) from support.foundry.com and run it from the command line:

<download location>/FoundryLicenseUtility -i

Note:  The <download location> refers to the location where you saved the Foundry Licensing Utility.

Note:  The System ID needs to be from the machine that will act as the server and not one of the client machines.

Just so you know what a System ID number looks like, here’s an example: 000ea641d7a1.

Installing Floating Licenses

Once a floating license has been created for you, we e-mail you a file containing the license key and instructions on how to obtain the correct version of the Foundry License Utility (FLU). Unzip or untar the file and save the FLU and your license key to a folder of your choice.

Having installed a floating license key, you need to install some additional software (FLT) to manage the licenses on your network. Then you need to tell the client machines where to find the licenses.

On Windows and Mac

1.   Just drop the license key on the Foundry License Utility (FLU) application to install it. This checks the license key and copies it to the correct directory.

The license server address is displayed on screen:

<number>@<license server name>

You should make a note of the address as you’ll need it to activate the client machines.

2.   In order for the floating license to work, you need to install the Foundry Licensing Tools (FLT) on the license server machine (not the client machines). For more information on how to install floating licenses, refer to the FLT user guide, which you can download from our Support Portal at support.foundry.com.
3.   Once your license server is up and running, you need to direct your client machines to the server in order to obtain a license. See Telling the Client Machines Where to Find the Licenses.

On Linux

1.   Navigate to the location of the FLU_[version]_linux-x86-release-64.tgz file.
2.   Type the following commands to extract and install the FLU. Note that you need to replace [version] with the version of FLU you are using and [my license] with the location of your license key.

tar xvzf FLU_[version]_linux-x86-release-64.tgz

cd FLU_[version]_linux-x86-release-64

./FoundryLicenseUtility -l [my license]

For example, if you saved your license key to /tmp/Foundry.lic, the last line should be:

./FoundryLicenseUtility -l /tmp/Foundry.lic

This checks the license key and copies it to the correct directory.

The license server address is displayed on screen:

<number>@<license server name>

You should make a note of the address as you’ll need it to activate the client machines.

3.   In order for the floating license to work, you need to install the Foundry Licensing Tools (FLT) on the license server machine (not the client machines). For more information on how to install floating licenses, refer to the FLT user guide, which you can download from our Support Portal at support.foundry.com.
4.   Once your license server is up and running, you need to direct your client machines to the server in order to obtain a license. See Telling the Client Machines Where to Find the Licenses.

Telling the Client Machines Where to Find the Licenses

In order for the client machines to get a license from the server, they need to be told where to look.

On Windows and Mac

1.   Launch the Foundry License Utility (FLU).
2.   Make sure you are viewing the License Install tab and copy and paste in an RLM server line:

HOST <server name> any <port>

For example: HOST red any 4101

This creates and installs both a FLEXlm and an RLM client license.

3.   Repeat this process for each machine you wish to have access to licenses on the server.

On Linux

1.   Launch a shell and navigate to the location of the FLU_[version]_linux-x86-release-64.tgz file.
2.   Type the following commands, replacing [version] with the version of FLU you are using:

tar xvzf FLU_[version]_linux-x86-release-64.tgz

cd FLU_[version]_linux-x86-release-64

./FoundryLicenseUtility -c <port>@<server name>

For example, the last line may be:

./FoundryLicenseUtility -c 4101@red

This creates and installs both a FLEXlm and an RLM client license.

3.   Repeat this process for each machine you wish to have access to licenses on the server.

Further Reading

There is a lot to learn about licenses, much of which is beyond the scope of this manual. For more information on licensing CaraVR, displaying the System ID number, setting up a floating license server, adding new license keys and managing license usage across a network, you should read the Foundry Licensing Tools (FLT) User Guide, which can be downloaded from our Support Portal, support.foundry.com.