Installation & Licensing
Welcome to Autodesk’s Installation and Licensing Forums. Share your knowledge, ask questions, and explore popular Download, Installation, and Licensing topics.
cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

VPN connection to NLM machine causes error

18 REPLIES 18
Reply
Message 1 of 19
FigmentMark
2864 Views, 18 Replies

VPN connection to NLM machine causes error

Hi,

I'm running a NLM on a Win2008r2 server for 3DS Max licensing. All works fine on the LAN, clients connect and pick up licenses.
I've set up the server to do VPN as well, when I make a VPN connection the NLM stops working and a status enquiry returns:

"adskflex: Cannot read data from license server system.
The license server system appears to be running, but is not
responding. If this persists, notify the System Administrator.
(The license server manager (lmgrd) and vendor daemon processes
should be terminated and restarted.)"

When the service is restarted I get:

"The license server manager (lmgrd) has not been started yet,
the wrong port@host or license file is being used, or the
port or hostname in the license file has been changed.
Server name: 192.168.0.123
License path: 27000@ServerName;
FLEXnet Licensing error:-15,10. System Error: 10061 "WinSock: Connection refused"

 

It seems that the IP address assigned to the Server for the PPP dial in adapter is over-riding the IP address in the license file. I've put an entry in the hosts file for the IP address and set firewall rules - but no joy. My only way out of this is to reboot the server and not make any new VPN connections.

Any ideas on how to overcome this?

Mark

 

Tags (1)
18 REPLIES 18
Message 2 of 19
TravisNave
in reply to: FigmentMark

Make sure you can PING the server over the VPN and get the valid IP address.  Your hosts should resolve any DNS issue, as you have stated.  So long as firewall is not blocking 27000 and 2080, you should be able to connect.  You can verify with Internet Explorer by pointing to:

 

http://servername:27000

http://servername:2080

 

Each should display a jargon page.

 

Once verified, you likely need to add a system environment variable to the client to overcome the latency of the VPN connection.  Start by setting the FLEXLM_TIMEOUT to 1000000 and increase from there until connectivity is made. 

 

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=7574782&linkID=9240617



Travis Nave Send TravisNave a Private Message                                             Need help in your post? Mention me with @TravisNave



My Expert Contributions to the
Autodesk Forums:
FLEXnet License Admin | MSI Cleanup Utility | .NET Framework Cleanup Tool | IPv6 NLM Fix | adskflex.opt Options File | Combine .LIC Files
Message 3 of 19
FigmentMark
in reply to: TravisNave

Thanks for picking this up Travis.
Ping is fine - like you say the hosts file takes care of that.

But I still get the: "FLEXnet Licensing error:-15,10.  System Error: 10061 "WinSock: Connection refused" "

And although the server name is right in the license path the ip address is the RAS adapter rather than the physical adapter.:

Server name: 192.168.0.123 (Should be 192.168.0.6)
License path: 27000@ServerName;

 

 

I can access port 27000 fine but 2080 times out and goes to page not found.

I've double checked firewall rules and port forwarding on the router; inbound and outbound tcp rules should be letting all programs use 2080 for all adapters and port forwarding is sending 2080 to the server. 
I thought 2080 was an Autodesk registered port so nothing else should be using it.

I've just rebooted the server - no change...

 

I'll be sure to set the timeout if I get this working over VPN!

Thanks again.

Mark

Message 4 of 19
TravisNave
in reply to: FigmentMark

Okay, that is actually good news that 27000 is working.  That means the NLM is working.  The problem is likely that your version of adskflex.exe is being problematic on Server 2008 R2 (or similar.)

 

What you should try is replacing the adskflex.exe with an older version that is known to work better.  On newer servers, I have found that v11.7 works the best when faced with this issue.

 

I have provided that fix here:

 

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Installation-Licensing/FLEXnet-Licensing-error-15-quot-WinSock-Operati...

 



Travis Nave Send TravisNave a Private Message                                             Need help in your post? Mention me with @TravisNave



My Expert Contributions to the
Autodesk Forums:
FLEXnet License Admin | MSI Cleanup Utility | .NET Framework Cleanup Tool | IPv6 NLM Fix | adskflex.opt Options File | Combine .LIC Files
Message 5 of 19
FigmentMark
in reply to: TravisNave

Thanks Travis.

I have reinstalled and changed the version of adsflex. Everything works fine on the local network - I can see that ports 27000 and 2080 are absolutely fine and the server is issuing licenses and the Host IP address in System settings is 192.168.0.6 as it should be.

 

As soon as I make a VPN connection from a remote PC, before I even request a license It all stops working, port 2080 becomes unresponsive and the Host ID changes to 192.168.0.123 - which is the RAS adapter. If I then perform a status enquiry I get the -15,10 error - "Winsock: Connection refused".

 

Unless you have any other ideas I might need to run the NLS elswhere...

 

Thanks,

Mark

Message 6 of 19
TravisNave
in reply to: FigmentMark

Are you unable to connect via the other valid IP address either by hosts, DNS, or environment variable?



Travis Nave Send TravisNave a Private Message                                             Need help in your post? Mention me with @TravisNave



My Expert Contributions to the
Autodesk Forums:
FLEXnet License Admin | MSI Cleanup Utility | .NET Framework Cleanup Tool | IPv6 NLM Fix | adskflex.opt Options File | Combine .LIC Files
Message 7 of 19
FigmentMark
in reply to: TravisNave

I can connect to the server, locally and remotely once a VPN connection is in place. It's just the NLM that picks up the IPaddress of the RAS adapter and therefore thinks that the lic file is invalid and stops the adskflex working. Strange though as the MAC address are the same in system settings it's just the IP address that changes.

 

I'm trying to get hold of a new lic file so I can run NLM on a different machine so I can avoid using the VPN server completely.

Message 8 of 19
TravisNave
in reply to: FigmentMark

The IP address is irrelevant to the NLM's working so there is definitely some strangeness going on here.  When you are on VPN, can you check the port 2080 via the correct IP address from Internet Explorer?

 

http://192.168.0.6:2080



Travis Nave Send TravisNave a Private Message                                             Need help in your post? Mention me with @TravisNave



My Expert Contributions to the
Autodesk Forums:
FLEXnet License Admin | MSI Cleanup Utility | .NET Framework Cleanup Tool | IPv6 NLM Fix | adskflex.opt Options File | Combine .LIC Files
Message 9 of 19
FigmentMark
in reply to: TravisNave

Strangeness indeed!
No, that times out if I try to hook up to port 2080 on the correct IP adresss - but I see your thinking. It's as if as soon as the VPN connection is made the ip address that ADSKFLEX is looking to gets changed, when it hits the new IP it invalidates the lic file and stops responding.

 

Message 10 of 19
TravisNave
in reply to: FigmentMark

That is so weird.  The service should already be running on that server regardless of how you connect to it.  And I can't imagine it being partitioned so that it cannot see the MAC of the other NIC.  I'll have to say, I've never heard of anything like you're describing in all the years that I have been supporting the NLM. 



Travis Nave Send TravisNave a Private Message                                             Need help in your post? Mention me with @TravisNave



My Expert Contributions to the
Autodesk Forums:
FLEXnet License Admin | MSI Cleanup Utility | .NET Framework Cleanup Tool | IPv6 NLM Fix | adskflex.opt Options File | Combine .LIC Files
Message 11 of 19
MDS-Messe
in reply to: TravisNave

Hello Travis,

I got exactly the same problem as described.

situation:

OS: Microsoft Server SBS 2011  

FlexLm: v11.7.0.0 Build 73797

NIC-MAC: XXXXXXc80ed4

IP from the Server: XXX.XXX.10.10

 

In the normal business everything is fine. If activate VPN in the Dashboard from SBS2011 it's also everything ok. But when a connection is esteblished (form outside the company to the SBS2011) thes FlexLm stop working.

On the VPN-Connection everything is fine: the client get's a IP, the client can access the network everything is perfect!

But in the same second ther is on FlexLm reachable under XXX.XXX.10.10.

If I look in the configurationtool (LMTOOLS) under "System Settings" the IP ist switched to the first ip witch is used by RAS. This causes that if a licence is requestet from the internal network it fails.

To "fix" the problem I have to deaktivate the VPN on the Dashboard and restart the Flexlm service

Message 12 of 19
TravisNave
in reply to: MDS-Messe

The IP address shouldn't matter.  If the service is configured and running correctly, then the VPN connection should just find it regardless. Are you sure that you set up your NLM correctly?



Travis Nave Send TravisNave a Private Message                                             Need help in your post? Mention me with @TravisNave



My Expert Contributions to the
Autodesk Forums:
FLEXnet License Admin | MSI Cleanup Utility | .NET Framework Cleanup Tool | IPv6 NLM Fix | adskflex.opt Options File | Combine .LIC Files
Message 13 of 19
MDS-Messe
in reply to: TravisNave

I think/hope so!

 

In my opinion it's a issue between the NLM and the RAS.

I have tested a little more:

When I start the LMTools > open the "System Settigs" (as shown in the screens) and than activate the vpn - the IP switch

If LMTools is not startet while activating VPN > than start LMTools > I can't access the "System Settigs" page - I think the service crashes

 

In the case of the IP is changed into the wrong IP no one in the internel LAN get a licence.

 

Can I check or fix the service?

Message 14 of 19
FigmentMark
in reply to: MDS-Messe

Hi,

Sorry to hear someone else is stuggling as much as I did with this.

We never got the NLM to work on our Server which also acts as a VPN/RAS machine. 

We run the Autodesk licensing from a separate Windows machine in the office which is just left on so people can access the NLM locally or when connected to VPN.

Please let me know if you fix it.

Mark

Message 15 of 19
TravisNave
in reply to: MDS-Messe

This should not be a problem. 

 

Try adding a hosts file entry for your servername to 127.0.0.1 that way no matter the connection, the NLM always looks to local host.  If the service itself is running, it should not matter what the IP address ends up being so long as it can be connected thru the expected ports. 

 

Does that make sense?



Travis Nave Send TravisNave a Private Message                                             Need help in your post? Mention me with @TravisNave



My Expert Contributions to the
Autodesk Forums:
FLEXnet License Admin | MSI Cleanup Utility | .NET Framework Cleanup Tool | IPv6 NLM Fix | adskflex.opt Options File | Combine .LIC Files
Message 16 of 19
MDS-Messe
in reply to: TravisNave

All right I have tryed it - it dosn't work

with the entry 127.0.0.1 to Srv01 same error

A look to the TCP connections shows that port 2080 is connected to the IP and 27000 to localhost (attachment)

alfter establish th VPN form outside LMTools crashes and under "Server Status" -> "Preform Status Enquiry" you can see this:

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

--------
Status
--------
Flexible License Manager status on Tue 10/29/2013 08:38

[Detecting lmgrd processes...]
License server status: 27000@SRV01
    License file(s) on SRV01: H:\ACADNetzwerklizenz\License\ARCHDESK2004SRV01.lic:

     SRV01: license server UP (MASTER) v11.7

Vendor daemon status (on SRV01):

  adskflex: Cannot read data from license server system.
 The license server system appears to be running, but is not
responding.  If this persists, notify the System Administrator.
(The license server manager (lmgrd) and vendor daemon processes
should be terminated and restarted.)
Hostname:      SRV01
License path:  27000@SRV01;
FLEXnet Licensing error:-16,287
For further information, refer to the FLEXnet Licensing documentation,
available at "www.acresso.com".

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

The 3rd attachment is the error on a client (sorry it's in german Smiley Tongue )

 

What I don't understand is why the NLM "prefer" the IP from the RAS and not that what is bind to the NIC.

 

Message 17 of 19
TravisNave
in reply to: MDS-Messe

You created the hosts file entry on the server itself, correct?

 

Are  you sure that you configured your NLM properly as a service?  Also make sure you create a firewall exception for port 2080 (adskflex.exe)

 

For a Quick-Start Guide on configuring the Autodesk License Manager, please see my post for further information:

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Installation-Licensing/Quick-Start-Guide-for-Configuring-LMTOOLS/m-p/3...



Travis Nave Send TravisNave a Private Message                                             Need help in your post? Mention me with @TravisNave



My Expert Contributions to the
Autodesk Forums:
FLEXnet License Admin | MSI Cleanup Utility | .NET Framework Cleanup Tool | IPv6 NLM Fix | adskflex.opt Options File | Combine .LIC Files
Message 18 of 19
samir.alibabic
in reply to: TravisNave

I have the same problem.

Same problem reported here:
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Installation-Licensing/license-manager-vs-vpn/m-p/2991270/highlight/t...

So it is definitely something wrong with flexnet lm and vpn. They are conflicting.
Message 19 of 19

All,

 

I experienced this issue where there is some conflict between my NLM and my RAS VPN service and came up with a workaround that is currently working on our system. I don't plan to leave my server/clients on this configuration, given the configuration feels like a hack instead of solution, but if you are struggling with this issue this might help....

 

On the client PC set the ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE environment variable to BOTH the port@servername and the port@serverIP where the server IP is the RAS dial-in IP. You could also add the port@severIP of the LAN if you want to the list. This will require the client to check both the inside and outside facing IP addresses for the NLM service (and by-pass DNS, which could be a problem if your server is ALSO a DNS server)

 

Here is how to set the environment variable on the client PC:

 

http://knowledge.autodesk.com/search-result/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/How-to-specify-license-se...

 

A downside of this configuration is that when I reboot the server the RAS Virutal Interface will not turn on until a VPN connection is established. In this case, the NLM starts failing until a VPN connection is established. Once a connection has been conneted one time, however, it will work until the server is rebooted and the RAS interface disappears again.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks,

Andrew

Can't find what you're looking for? Ask the community or share your knowledge.

Post to forums  

Administrator Productivity


Autodesk Design & Make Report