License server on a virtual

[msteffke]

Good Morning Everyone,
Can you run Flexnet (or FlexLM ) on a virtual server. Is there confusion over the mac address?
Mac address of the virtual server vs mac address of the hosting hardware- or are they the same?
Thanks all

[gchampoux]

We have been doing this for years with all of our FlexLM/FlexNet license managers.
It works identically on a VM server.

However, be aware that Flexera (the makers of FlexNet) recognize that VM servers can be assigned a MAC address, which can compromise FlexNet.
They implemented an optional tool/method to lock the license to the physical MAC address of the VM host.
This requires installing a daemon directly on the VM host.
At this time, PTC has not implemented this.

Gerry Champoux
Williams International
Walled Lake, MI

In Reply to Mark Steffke:

Can you run Flexnet (or FlexLM ) on a virtual server. Is there confusion over the mac address?
Mac address of the virtual server vs mac address of the hosting hardware- or are they the same?

[AllanS]

Mark,



You can run the license server on a virtual machine, but you take the
risk of it shutting down should the MAC address change, invalidating the
license file, which can happen under certain scenarios. This is why we
have stuck with physical servers for license servers.



That said, I understand that VMWare does offer a method to set a static
MAC. With a static MAC, I believe there should be no issue using a
virtual server. We are currently considering this option.



Below are some links related to this that I received from someone else a
year ago; I have not reviewed these in detail and cannot speak to or
validate their content.



Best Regards,

Allan Saja

Meritor, Inc.



Reference:
This is where I found the information on setting up a static MAC on a
VM:



The main VMware KB article:

[rporzel-5]

Mark,

Each time you create a virtual server, it receives a unique MAC address.
However, with VMWare, you have the ability to set you own Staic MAC address
if needed.

Thanks,

Ryan Porzel
ProductSpace Solutions
Director of Operations