License Server Setup
This page walks through the prerequisites and the information you need to gather on your FlexLM, RLM, or LSTC license server before you connect it to Rescale. Once the server side is in order, you move on to CLP Overview to choose between IP forwarding and SSH tunnel modes, or submit jobs directly against an external license server from the Rescale CLI.
Prerequisites on your side
Before you start, make sure the following are true. Each one blocks the setup if it is missing.
- You are an organization administrator on Rescale. Only organization admins can launch or edit a Company License Proxy. Email support@rescale.com if you need the role.
- You have IT or network admin rights at your organization, including the ability to edit firewall rules on the gateway device and admin rights on the license server itself.
- Your license is a floating license, not node-locked. Rescale nodes are ephemeral and cannot check out node-locked seats.
- Your vendor daemon port is fixed. FlexLM and RLM assign a dynamic vendor port by default, and that port will change across license server restarts. See Vendor Ports and Config for how to pin it.
Information you need to collect
Gather the following before you touch the Rescale admin page. Having it in front of you shortens the setup from hours to minutes.
- Your public IP. This is the public address of your gateway or router, not the private address of the license server. On macOS or Linux run
curl ifconfig.me. On Windows runnslookup myip.opendns.com resolver1.opendns.comand use the non-authoritative answer. - License server hostname. Run
hostnameon the license server. Use the short hostname, not a fully qualified domain name. The hostname should not contain periods. - License port. This is the port the SERVER line uses in a FlexLM license file, or the HOST line in an RLM file. It is the port the solver connects to when checking out a license.
- Vendor daemon port. This is the port set with
PORT=...on the VENDOR line (FlexLM) or ISV line (RLM). If your license file does not have one, pin it first.
Some common license ports by ISV:
LS-DYNA uses the LSTC or Dynamore license service, which does not have a separate vendor port. Leave the vendor port blank for LSTC-managed titles.
Connecting your server through the CLP
For most customers, the server is connected to Rescale through a Company License Proxy. In the Company Admin page, open Integrations, select License Proxies, and click Add New. You give the proxy a unique name, pick IP forwarding or SSH tunnel mode, and add one or more License Hosts. For each host, you enter the hostname, then for each software application you attach the license port, vendor port, and the Rescale software entries that should use it. If the same software is used in both batch jobs and Rescale Desktops (for example, COMSOL Multiphysics and COMSOL Multiphysics GUI), add both entries so both job types can check out seats.
The advanced settings let you map multiple on-premises hosts to unique proxy ports, add additional license or vendor ports for software that uses more than one (Ansys and PowerFLOW are common examples), add another license service on the same host, or chain the proxy to a second license host entirely. See the CLP Overview for the full walkthrough of each mode.
Once the proxy launches, use Check License Availability in the License Hosts section to verify your settings. The check lists license features and available seats for FlexLM and LSTC-managed titles. RLM and DSLS titles do not report through Check License Availability, so verify those with a trial job.
Specifying licenses from the Rescale CLI
If you are submitting jobs through the Rescale CLI and want to point a job at an existing license server directly, you can specify the license address in the job configuration. The general form Rescale expects is port@hostname, for example 1055@my-license-host for Ansys. See the KB article How to Specify License Information in Rescale CLI Submission Scripts for the exact field placement per CLI version.
Verifying the connection
Two quick checks confirm the plumbing is correct before you run a paid job.
- On the License Proxy page, confirm that Proxy, Last Sync, and Connections are all green. Yellow or red indicators mean the configuration did not sync or the tunnel is not up.
- Start a new job, pick the software, and choose Use Existing License. Enter
port@hostnameand click Check Availability. Rescale queries the license server through the proxy and returns the features and seat counts it sees. If the response is "The license server is down or not responding," the public IP of the proxy is not allowlisted on your firewall, the on-prem server is down, or the license daemon is not serving.
Troubleshooting common errors
- License Server UP, Vendor Daemon Down. The lmgrd process is running but the vendor daemon (for example, ansyslmd, cdlmd, ABAQUSLM) is not. Check the vendor daemon log on the license server, confirm the vendor port is pinned, and restart the license manager. See the KB article Troubleshooting 'License Server UP; Vendor Daemon Down' Error.
- Connection timeouts from the job cluster. The proxy public IP is not allowlisted, or the license server's firewall is blocking inbound traffic on the license or vendor port. See How to Check Network Connection Between Job Cluster and License Server for
telnetandlmutil lmstatchecks you can run from the node-level Rescale shell.
Related
- CLP Overview for choosing between IP forwarding and SSH tunnel modes.
- Vendor Ports and Config for pinning the vendor daemon port in FlexLM and RLM license files.
- On-Demand Licenses if you would rather skip the license server setup and use Rescale-provided licenses.