Installation & Licensing

[#1]

Hi,

I'm looking at buying some Inventor 2013 licenses for our department.  It will be for academic use, so will be getting them from academia.co.uk (http://www.academia.co.uk/fehe/autodesk-inventor-professional-2013/default.aspx)

There are many options, and no one I've spoken to (including those at acadima.co.uk and Autodesk UK) seem to know the answer... or rather they give answers that contradict what I've read online!

So, here's my question:  Is there any way of using a network license offline?  

According to the wikihelp site, there is a way to "borrow" a license from the server for a period of time.  (http://wikihelp.autodesk.com/Inventor/enu/2013/Help/3877-CAD_Mana3877/3880-Installa3880/3881-License...) but no-one seems to know how it works.  Has anyone got any experience with it?  How does it work?

The way I envisige it working from what I've managed to read online is that I run a server, which may hold 25 licenses.  Every time someone opens Inventor, it checks the license server.  If there is a license available, it "checks it out" and there is one less available on the server.  When the 26th person tries to open Inventor they will be unable to.  

In addition, there is some function where you can "borrow" a license from the server for some period of time.  This is the key bit that I'd like more information on.

Some information on the requirements of the server would be good too - could it be a NAS?  Windows 7? XP? Linux? Could I connect to it via VPN and aquire a license?

Thanks for any input!

[#2]

NAS is not supported

all windows OSes are supported from XP to Windows Server 2008 R2

Linux is also supported

the way borrowing license works is when you borrow a license from the product you can say how long you want to borrow it for

you can use an options file for more control over it: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=7459915&linkID=9240617

[#3]

you are correct with everything else

if you have 25 licenses and they are all "checked out" the 26th person will not be able to open their product until someone "checks in" a license

[#4]

Excellent, that's exactly what I needed to hear.  Thanks for your help!

What is the procedure for someone wanting to borrow a license?  And is it possible for an administrator to reclaim it early?

[#5]

the user has to borrow through the autodesk application

i would have to check to see if thats possible for your 2nd question

[#6]

i know through the options file you can set up certain users that can only borrow licenses

i don't know of way to force a license return early

[#7]

If you're in a position to check I would be very grateful.  

[#8 · Accepted solution]

i found it

there isn't a way: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=10305064&linkID=9240617

you have to use an options file to restrict users

which is what i thought

[#9]

A good practice is to make use of MAX_BORROW_HOURS in the options file to limit the lenght licenses can be borrowed. Some users tend to borrow several months and then not return the license when they don't need it borrow. It is a convenient way to make sure they always have a license available. I have a report for this purpose in JTB FlexReport so you can find users that are online but still have the license borrowed.