Network Job Assignment/Backburner Issue

[AuroraJH]

Good Afternoon,

I am working with a piping visualization company that has recently started using 3DS Max Design 2012. Due to the resolution of images we wish to generate, we decided a render farm was the best bet, and are currently trying testing it out by having two computers, the manager and a single server for rendering. However, we seem to have run into a bit of a snag, and I haven't come across any posts with quite the same issue.

We are using Autodesk Backburner 2012 alongside our single license of 3DS Max Design 2012. We have opened up all the relevenat ports and programs in our firewalls, and the server computer and manager computer communicate between the two computers quite well. The computer running the manager also has a server running at the same time, though we will be changing this once we have our whole render farm working. The problem is, when we open up a scene and attempt to net render, only the server on the manager computer shows up. 3DS Max 2012 is licensed on the manager computer, and is installed on the render node, but has no license. If this is as simple as requiring a specific render node license, then all well and good, but I've read on some posts that to use a computer as a render node all you need is 3DS Max 2012 installed, not licensed in any way.

Attached are two images showing what I mean; the first is the backburner monitor, which shows the two servers (aurdft002 is the manager computer, DraftTest is the render node) as both connected to the manager and showing as idle. The second image is the 3DS Max Network Job assignment dialogue, which does connect to the manager, but only shows the aurdft002 server on the localhost. The scene itself is in a shared network drive, so both computers should be able to access it, if such precautions are neccesary for Backburner 2012.

If this problem has occured with other users, I would greatly appreciate being pointed in the direction of the solution, or if not, any aid you may be able to give would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

[TravisNave]

If you are unable to obtain a license when your software is installed on the same machine as your license manager, then it is almost always exclusively an IPv6 issue.  This is most common if your license manager and software exist on Windows 7 or Server 2008.

For more information about Network License Manager connectivity issues and IPv6, please see my discussion post here:

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Installation-Licensing/Network-License-Error-1-5-15-and-IPv6/td-p/2982...

[AuroraJH]

We have disabled IPv6 on both machines, and are only using IPv4 for our network. So, if I am understanding correctly, we do need license manager installed, and I'm assuming that the 3DS Max Design 2012 must be installed as a network license rather than a stand-alone? I was unsure if the render node required a license at all, since several posts I have seen have said just to have the software installed on the computer and that was all that was required. We are running Windows 7 as well, just wanted to double-check that the license manager is required for net rendering.

[TravisNave]

Just because IPv6 is disabled does not mean that the connectivity to the local loopback of the machine that has the software and the license manager will connect in IPv4.  The localhost setting is still likely responding on ::1.  You can verify this via a command prompt.  PING your servername itself from itself and you'll likely get a ::1 response instead of the 127.0.0.1 (or assigned IPv4 address.)  If that is the case, you need to modify your HOSTS file, per my instructions. 

If your product is a network version, you must install it as a network version with the network license manager.  You can not activate a stand-alone install with a network serial number.  My understanding is that render farms do not require additional licensing.

[TravisNave]

Once you have your licensing figured out, you can find additional information on the AREA forum for your product here:

http://area.autodesk.com/forum

Good Luck!

[AuroraJH]

Thank you for your feedback. Just had one more concern. When I ping the machines, they both return IPv4 addresses, and both are standalone versions, so no License managers are installed on either machine. Would we need to install it in order to net render?

Thank you.

[TravisNave]

Well then you shouldn't have to worry about the license manager details then at all.  You'll probably find better answers concerning your render farm in the AREA forum.  http://area.autodesk.com/forum

[AuroraJH]

Thank you very much, I will go give it a shot. Thank you for your help!