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CLP Overview

Most simulation software on Rescale requires a license to run. If your company already owns licenses from an ISV like Ansys, Siemens (STAR-CCM+), Dassault (Abaqus), COMSOL, Convergent Science, or LSTC (LS-DYNA), the Company License Proxy (CLP) is how you make those on-premises licenses reachable from Rescale jobs and desktops. This page explains what the CLP does, when to use it, and how the two proxy modes compare so you can pick the right one for your network.

What the CLP solves​

Rescale jobs run on cloud hardware in regions your on-premises license server cannot normally see. A FlexLM, RLM, or LSTC license daemon listens on a license port and a vendor daemon port, and those ports are usually firewalled to your corporate network. Without a proxy, jobs on Rescale cannot check out licenses, so they fail before the solver starts.

The CLP is a dedicated proxy that Rescale provisions for your organization. It sits between Rescale's job clusters and your license server. When a solver starts on a Rescale node, it points at the proxy's address, the proxy forwards the checkout request to your on-premises license server, and the license seat is issued back through the proxy. Your license server stays where it is, on your network, under your control.

You configure the CLP from the organization admin portal, under Integrations → License Proxy. Only organization administrators can launch, edit, or terminate a proxy. If you do not have that role yet, email support@rescale.com.

Choosing a proxy mode​

The CLP runs in one of two modes. Both forward license traffic from Rescale to your on-prem license server, but they differ in how the connection is established and secured.

IP forwarding mode is the simpler setup. Rescale assigns the proxy a public IP address, and you allowlist that IP on your firewall so inbound traffic from the proxy can reach your license server. Once you launch the proxy, no long-running tunnel remains to maintain, and no software to install on the license server. It does not encrypt license traffic on the wire, so pick this mode when your security team is comfortable with IP allowlisting over the public internet and when license checkout payloads are acceptable in cleartext.

SSH tunnel mode flips the direction. Your license server (or another always-on host on your network) initiates an outbound SSH connection to the Rescale proxy and keeps the tunnel open. License traffic is encrypted inside SSH. There is no inbound firewall rule to open, only outbound port 22 (or a custom SSH port) from the license server to the proxy. This mode is a better fit when your security policy requires encryption or forbids inbound allowlisting. It adds a recurring monthly charge for the connectivity, and the tunnel must stay up whenever jobs are in flight. Rescale recommends running the tunnel from a license server or another high-uptime machine, not a laptop.

Either mode requires a floating license (not node-locked) and a fixed vendor daemon port. See Vendor Ports and Config for how to pin the vendor port in your license file before you start the CLP setup.

How jobs use the CLP​

Once the proxy is up, you connect each software application in the License Proxy form by choosing its Rescale software entry (for example, COMSOL Multiphysics for batch and COMSOL Multiphysics GUI for desktops), specifying the license port the solver connects to on-premises, and the vendor port the vendor daemon uses. The proxy status panel shows three indicators:

  • Proxy shows UP in green when the proxy is running.
  • Last Sync shows SUCCESSFUL when the most recent configuration change was applied.
  • Connections shows ACTIVE when the proxy is serving traffic to Rescale jobs.

If any indicator is yellow or red, the configuration did not sync or the proxy is not reachable. Contact Rescale support before submitting jobs that depend on it.

When you submit a job and choose Use Existing License for a software title covered by the proxy, Rescale points the solver at the proxy's address using the license port you configured. The Check Availability button on the job submission page queries the proxy and returns the license features and seat counts it sees, which is the fastest way to confirm the plumbing works before a long run.

Maintenance windows​

Rescale applies OS security updates to Company License Proxies on a recurring weekly schedule. You can configure the day and hour when maintenance may begin:

  • Required for FedRAMP Moderate organizations — if your organization has one or more FedRAMP Moderate compliant workspaces, your CLPs have a maintenance window that must be configured.
  • Optional but recommended for all others — a proxy without a maintenance window does not receive security updates.
  • Maintenance reboot preserves your proxy's public IP — only terminating and relaunching a proxy changes it.
  • For SSH Tunnel mode, set up automatic reconnection first — a reboot drops the tunnel, and it must be re-established from your network.

For full details on maintenance windows, including how to set them, what happens during maintenance, and how to choose a good window, see Maintenance Windows.

Terminating a CLP​

You can terminate a license proxy from the same page by clicking Terminate. Terminating a proxy interrupts any running jobs that are checking out licenses through it, so drain active jobs first. If you later relaunch the proxy, the public IP will change unless the CLP was originally provisioned with a static IP. In that case you need to re-allowlist the new IP on your firewall before jobs can check out licenses again.