This table is meant as a reference and guideline. While we strive to maintain this list regularly, it may be out of date at any given time. If an advertised feature of FlexSim is not listed here, it is generally not subject to limitations by license type.   The Express license type is FlexSim's default, unlicensed state. Downloading and installing FlexSim to a new computer, it will be in Express mode. The other license types require you to obtain a license and apply it to the software. Please refer to FlexSim's End User License Agreement (EULA) for details on allowed uses, restrictions, and other considerations. If you wish to test a particular license type, please contact your local distributor to request a test license.   Please Note: Runtime seats are no longer available for new purchase or renewal but are referenced in this table to support those Runtime licenses still outstanding.   Please Note: Autodesk sells a node-locked subscription license. This is the same as Enterprise in the table below, with some restrictions on moving the license. Please see our article Node-locked license vs Transferable license.       Express Runtime Student Educational Enterprise Use Cases (see EULA) Testing, evaluation, and model viewer only. Run only (no model building). Educational use only. Educational use only. See EULA. Open, Run, Save open and run any size model ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ open and save models in XML format     ✔ ✔ ✔ unlocked random streams   ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ compile models built with C++ (optional, requires Visual Studio)   ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ save model size limitations model size must be under limitations none model size must be under limitations none none experimenter   ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ OptQuest optimizer   with OptQuest add-on license up to 10 optimization variables with OptQuest add-on license with OptQuest add-on license webserver (requires separate download) ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ Model Building model building features available ✔ no ability to add objects or activities, but any objects and activities used by existing models are editable ✔ ✔ ✔ create objects and activities ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ object creation limit 30   100 none none process flow activity creation limit 35   250 none none execute FlexScript in script console     ✔ ✔ ✔ tree view     ✔ ✔ ✔ Tool Box Add Tools ✔ no ability to add tools, but all tools used by existing models are editable ✔ ✔ ✔ FlowItem Bin ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Global Tables ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Time Tables ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ MTBF/MTTR ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Down Behavior ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Dashboards ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Groups ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Process Flow (all options) ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Global List (all options) ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Statistics - Statistics Collector ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Statistics - Milestone Collector ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Statistics - Calculated Table ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Statistics - Experimenter     ✔ ✔ ✔ Statistics - Tracked Variable     ✔ ✔ ✔ FlowItem (all options) ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Modeling Logic (all options)     ✔ ✔ ✔ Visual - Model Floor ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Visual - Model Background ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Visual - Video Recorder     ✔ ✔ ✔ Visual - Fly Path     ✔ ✔ ✔ Connectivity - Database Connector ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Connectivity - Excel Import/Export ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Connectivity - Visio Import     ✔ ✔ ✔ Connectivity - Emulation (Modbus and OPC DA connections only. Other connection types require an Emulation license.) ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔

Names and version numbers   FlexSim releases have names like “FlexSim 2016 Update 1”, with corresponding version numbers in the format year.update.bugfix.   The year version number tracks with the “release year” when the software was released. For example, FlexSim 2016, having version number 16.0.0, was released for the 2016 “release year”. A “release year” roughly follows the calendar year, but a 2017 release could come at the end of the 2016 calendar year, for instance. The update version number is a count of how many feature-updates have been produced for a “release year”. For example, version 16.0.0 is the first feature-release for 2016. It is not an update, so the update version number is “0”. FlexSim 2016 Update 1 has version number 16.1.0 – it is the first update to the 2016 release. 16.2.0 is the 2nd update, and so on. Bugfix version numbers change when software is released without significant new features, but where errors, inconsistencies, or other bugs are fixed. For example, the first bugfix release for FlexSim 2016 Update 1 is 16.1.1, the next 16.1.2, and so on. Release schedule   New versions of FlexSim are released on a loose schedule:   Yearly release: November beta, December release. Update 1: March beta, April release. Update 2: July beta, August release. Bugfixes: as needed As with all future-looking plans, this schedule is subject to change. You should not rely on this schedule for making purchasing decisions.   How licensing works for a given version number   A new license is required for feature releases (i.e. year and update releases). Bugfix releases do not need a new license. For example, if you have a 16.1 license, you can license any FlexSim 2016 Update 1 releases, including all its bugfix releases, like 16.1.0, 16.1.1, 16.1.2, etc.   Licenses can also be used for older versions – i.e. they are backward compatible. For instance, if you have a 16.1 license, it can license any 16.1.x release, plus all older versions of the software back to 5.0.0. However, your 16.1 license will not work for any newer versions, such as 16.2.x or 17.0.x.   License Codes   Your license code should look something like mycompany.com03-A9B8C-7D6E5-F4G3H-FSENT17.1. Each part conveys some information:   mycompany.com- means this seat was initially licensed to mycompany. 03 is a unique index number for the license, but the actual number is meaningless. This number persists across upgrades. The mycompany.com03 license, if upgraded to version 18.0 or 18.1, etc, would still begin with mycompany.com03, even though the random characters and version number would change. A9B8C... The middle part of a license code is a unique, random mix of letters and numbers. It is different for each license, and changes when a license is upgraded for the next FlexSim version. FSENT signifies the product, in this case FlexSim Enterprise, but you may also see FSEDU for Educational, or OPTQU for OptQuest, etc. Each FlexSim product has a unique product code. 17.1 specifies the version number this license is good for. It can be used to license any FlexSim 17.1.x version or earlier, back to version 5.0. The license won't work for later software versions, like 17.2 or 18.0. For that, the license must have current maintenance and be upgraded for use with the new version. Upgrading Licenses   To use a new year or update release, your FlexSim license will need to be upgraded.   The exact steps for upgrading your license differ based on your type of license:   License Server - Upgrading your hosted licenses Standalone - Upgrading your license If your maintenance agreement has expired, or if you have timed licenses, your licenses will not upgrade. In either case, please contact your local FlexSim representative.   If you install and run a version of FlexSim software greater than your license’s version number, that newer software won’t be licensed, but will run in the feature-limited "Express" mode. To use a fully-featured, licensed copy of the software, make sure that the software’s year.update version number is not greater than your license’s year.update version number (which is typically visible in the license code itself as the final digits of the code - see License Codes above).   Long-term support (LTS) versions   From Wikipedia: Long-term support (LTS) is a product lifecycle management policy in which a stable release of computer software is maintained for a longer period of time than the standard edition.   FlexSim maintains the year release for more than a year, overlapping with the release of the next yearly release for a few months.   Here is an example of how it works:   In December 2017, the current LTS release was version 17.0.11. That same month version 18.0.0 was released. Because 18.0 was brand new, it was not yet considered the LTS version - we let it mature a bit before promoting it to the current LTS. During the time when 18.0 was the latest version, new bugfix releases were added for both 18.0 and 17.0. Finally, in April 2018, 18.1.0 was released. At that time the 18.0 branch was on its 4th bugfix release, 18.0.4, and the 17.0 LTS branch was up to 17.0.13. With the release of 18.1.0 the 18.0 branch was promoted to our current LTS release, and the 17.0 LTS was retired - it receives no further bugfix releases.   As with all future-looking plans, our LTS plan is subject to change. You should not rely on this plan for making purchasing decisions.   Downloading an appropriate version of FlexSim software   To download the version of FlexSim software that best matches your license version:   Log in to your FlexSim Account at https://account.flexsim.com/login/. Visit the downloads page at https://account.flexsim.com/downloads/. Download the latest bugfix release for your license’s version.   If a version of the software most appropriate for your license version is not listed on the main download page, click the More Versions button next to the product matching your license (see screenshot). This will open an expanded view with older versions of that product. Older software versions are not available for download from within unlicensed guest accounts.     If your FlexSim Account is a guest account (does not own a FlexSim license), only the latest software versions are available for download. Your FlexSim Account must own a license directly, or a license owner can share their license info with you, in order for you to see the More Versions button and have access to download older versions of the software. Visit your Licenses page to see if your account has access to licenses and have them loaded into your account session, then go back to the Downloads page and look for the More Versions button. Older software versions are not available for download from within unlicensed guest accounts.   Model compatibility across FlexSim versions   FlexSim versions are backward compatible, meaning that when a model built in an older year.update release of the software is opened in a newer year.update version, the model is put through an upgrade process that updates the model for use in that later version:     We recommend always saving this updated model under a new file name in order to preserve the original, non-upgraded model file, which you should archive for safe keeping.   FlexSim is NOT forward compatible, meaning that a particular year.update version of FlexSim does not support opening model files saved in newer year.update versions of the software. This is due to changes that are introduced to objects, data structures, added features, etc., that an older version of the software would not support.   A FlexSim model built with a particular year.release version of FlexSim can be opened by any bugfix release of the same year.release version, forward or backward. Bugfix releases do not change objects, data structures, etc., in such a way as to break model compatibility across different bugfix versions of the same year.update FlexSim release.   You should use judgment and care in upgrading models and continuing model development in newer versions of the software. If your simulation team has licenses that have expired at different times, and a colleague is on an older license and you are not able to renew maintenance at this time, you may want to standardize on that lowest version number of FlexSim so that models your team creates and edits can be interoperable among teammates.   FlexSim's model upgrade functionality is fairly robust, but if you are upgrading a model from a version of FlexSim many years older than the version you're opening it in, it may be necessary to open and save the model in an intermediate version (or two). Post a new question here on Answers if you encounter any problems upgrading your FlexSim model to a later version.   Opening Files from different versions (Flexsim Version Selector)   If this is a first time install of the FlexSim software, you can double click on any .fsm file and Windows will ask you what software you'd like to open .fsm files. In the program selection scroll down to the version entitled Flexsim Version Selector. This application will automatically open any .fsm file in the version that the file was originally saved or created in.   Alternatively, you can right click on a .fsm file in Windows and navigate to the option Open With > and then navigate to Flexsim Version Selector from here. This will set the version selector application as the primary method for opening .fsm files in the future.  

Background   The method for licensing a single-user client PC saves client PC license settings to the Windows profile data of the signed in user, so license settings are saved on a per-user basis.   In cases where the exact number or identity of PC users is not predetermined, such as in a university computer lab, it is impractical to license users individually in this manner. Another use-case for this method is when FlexSim Software is automatically pushed or deployed to client PCs. Having the licensing as part of the deployment is useful.   For this mult-user method we'll use a license file on the client PC to license FlexSim software generally for any user of the PC.   Use a license file   Create a plaintext license file   On the client PC create a plaintext license file named flexsim.lic with the following 2 lines (exclude any line numbers):   SERVER 127.0.0.1 ANY 26914 USE_SERVER   If your Windows settings do not show file extensions, it is possible that your flexsim.lic license file is actually named flexsim.lic.txt, which will not work. Be sure to show file extensions and make sure your license file ends with the .lic file extension. The actual name of the file is not important (it could be helloWorld.lic, for instance), but it needs to end in .lic.   Modify   On the client PC, modify your new license file with the following changes:   On line 1 change "127.0.0.1" to the IP address or fully qualified domain name of your license server. If you modified your license server with custom port numbers, on line 1 replace the default port 26914 with your custom port number.   Install   With FlexSim software installed on a client PC, your new license file should be copied into FlexSim’s installation directory in the following location:   C:\Program Files\FlexSim <version>\program\   Your exact folder path could differ based on custom installation locations or FlexSim version, but it should be placed into FlexSim’s program\ folder.   Multiple license servers?   If your FlexSim licenses/seats are spread across multiple license servers, you can configure your client software to try to pull a license from any of your multiple license servers. Simply create a new license file for each possible license server and save each to the same program\ folder. In this scenario, in your program\ folder you would have multiple license files listed, like this:   flexsim1.lic flexsim2.lic flexsim3.lic etc. Each license file should reference a different license server and its port number.   Next   Check out the next article to learn how to verify that your client PC is licensed, and what to do if it isn't: License Server - Verify client PC licensing.  

A license server hosting FlexNet enabled products like FlexSim relies on a service called FlexNet Licensing Service 64. As of FlexSim version 25.2, FlexSim requires FlexNet Licensing Service 64 version 11.19.8.0 or higher.   Is FlexNet Licensing Service 64 already installed?   There is a chance that you already have a version of FlexNet Licensing Service 64 installed. Let’s check: Click the Start button or press the Windows key, then type “Services” into the search box in the Start menu, and press Enter. Windows will search for and open Windows Services Manager. If the list of services is not already sorted by name, click the Name column heading. Scroll down to services beginning with F. Do you see a FlexNet Licensing Service 64?   If you find that FlexNet Licensing Service 64 is not installed, or if you only have the 32-bit version (missing the ‘64’ in the service name), skip below to the heading Install the FlexNet Licensing Service.   Check the installed version of FlexNet Licensing Service 64   If FlexNet Licensing Service 64 is already installed, we should make sure it is version 11.19.8.0 or higher. If your FlexNet Licensing Service 64 has a lower version number, you will need to remove the older service and upgrade. We’ll get to those steps soon, but first, let’s check what version is installed:   In Windows Services Manager, scroll down to the entry for FlexNet Licensing Service 64. Double click the service name to open its Properties window. In the middle of the General tab, find the Path to executable. Copy the path location from just after the opening double quote (“) until the final backslash (\) before the filename. This is the path. It is probably something like C:\Program Files\Common Files\Macrovision Shared\FlexNet Publisher\. With the path now copied to your clipboard, note the name of the .exe. It is probably FNPLicensingService64.exe. Open a file explorer (Windows Key + E) and paste the path into the Address bar. Hit Enter to navigate to the path. Right click the .exe file that the service's Properties indicated is the service executable. Select Properties to view the .exe file’s properties. Navigate to the Properties window’s Details tab. The Product version should be version 11.19.8.0 or greater. Make sure that the Product name indicates 64-bit.   If you found that you don’t have FlexNet Licensing Service 64 installed, skip below to the heading Install the FlexNet Licensing Service.   If you found that your version number of FlexNet Licensing Service 64 is lower than 11.19.8.0, you will need to upgrade the service.   Upgrade FlexNet Licensing Service 64   To upgrade your FlexNet Licensing Service 64 to version 11.19.8.0, first complete the following: In Windows Services Manager, right click FlexNet Licensing Service 64 and choose Stop. Navigate to the Path to executable shown in the service’s properties. Rename the service’s .exe file by putting an underscore (_) in front of the .exe’s name. Continue with the instructions below under the heading Install FlexNet Licensing Service 64.   Install FlexNet Licensing Service 64   In your extracted download folder of FlexSim license server materials, navigate into the folder flexsimserveractutil. Right-click flexsimserveractutil.exe and select Run as administrator. Select the menu option Tools > Licensing Service > Install anchor service.   You should receive a confirmation that FlexNet Licensing Service 64 is now installed.     For further information on compatibility of various Flexnet licensing components, see Version Compatibility Between Components.  

Node-locked   Node-locked can only be activated once. Be sure that you install the license where you would like it to be installed for the next year. FlexSim can assist with one migration for extenuating circumstances, such as a crashed computer, but there will be fees for any additional migrations. Please contact your distributor to receive assistance with moving your license. The node-locked license feature of terminal server usage (remote desktop) is disabled and cannot be enabled.   Transferable   There is no limit to the number of times a license seat can be activated and returned. If the transferable license is not a network license, then by default the license feature of terminal server usage (remote desktop) is disabled.    Please reference other articles or our documentation for further information about licensing.

Have you received this licensing error?   Operations error: 7288 The activation of the fulfillment is denied by the activation policy because fulfill count exceeded the available seat count.     Here are some common reasons you may encounter this error, along with some possible solutions.   All seats are already in use   Problem: All the seats of this license are already activated. There are no available seats left to activate.   Solution: You must return a seat from a computer where it is currently activated. Once a seat has been successfully returned it is available for a new activation.   If you are not sure where your license is currently activated, there are two main methods for finding out:   Go on a hunt: On each computer where the license may be activated, check the license status by opening FlexSim and going to Help > License Activation > View Licenses tab > press the View Licenses button. This will show you the license information for the current PC. Check the history: You can view your activation/return history from your FlexSim account's licenses page. On the Licenses page, expand the folders until you can see the Activation ID you are trying to track down. Click the Activation ID to load the history for this license. This history includes dates/times of the activations and returns. If the information is available it will also list the computer name where the license was last activated and the Windows username of the logged in user who completed the action. If the computer where your license was activated has been stolen, destroyed, wiped, etc., please contact your local distributor to discuss a solution.   Activation ID is obsolete   Problem: You are trying to activate an obsolete activation ID. An activation ID can become obsolete if it has been cancelled, replaced, or upgraded.   Solution: Make sure to use the most up-to-date version of your license. Log in to your FlexSim account to view your latest license codes.   Consider the following scenario: You purchased a FlexSim license and were emailed a license code. You used that license on your laptop for several years, upgrading FlexSim as new versions were released and following the prompts to upgrade your license as needed. Now you have purchased a new laptop. You successfully returned your license from your previous laptop. On the new PC you installed FlexSim and needed to get it licensed. You looked up your original license code from your years-old email, but when attempting to activate you received error 7288.   The reason is that over the years as you upgraded FlexSim you also upgraded your license code. The old, original license code is obsolete. You must log in to your FlexSim account to get the most recent license code. With the new license code you are able to successfully activate your license on your new laptop.

You should have already completed all preceding steps found in the article Hosting your FlexSim licenses with lmtools, including all those under the headings "Preparation and Prerequisites" and "Activate licenses to your license server". At this point you're ready to install, configure, and start the service that will serve your FlexSim licenses.   Create the service Configure service permissions Start the service Check the service status Troubleshooting problems with the service   Create the service   We'll use lmtools to create your new licensing service.   On your license server, in your extracted download folder of FlexSim license server materials, right-click lmtools.exe and choose Run as administrator. Go to the Config Services tab. Create a new licensing service by typing FlexSim_License into the Service Name input field. The Service Name field looks like a dropdown selector, but you can click in it to type a new name. Use the 3 Browse buttons to specify the paths to files (lmgrd.exe, flexsim.lic, log.log) that are also included with the FlexSim license server materials. Check the boxes for Use Services and Start Server at Power Up. Press the Save Service button in the upper right. Confirm the save by choosing Yes. You may receive an error message regarding "Windows preferred path". This is normal and this message can be safely ignored.   Configure service permissions   Your new FlexSim_License service needs permissions set to function properly.   Click the Windows Start button or press the Windows key, then type “Services” into the search box in the Start menu, and press Enter. Windows will search for and open Windows Services Manager. Find FlexSim_License in the list of services. If it is missing from the list, see the section Troubleshooting the licensing service below. Open the FlexSim_License service’s Properties window by double-clicking its name. Go to the Log On tab. Choose the option to Log on as: Local System account. Press OK to close the FlexSim_License Properties window.   Start the service   While still in Windows Services Manager, use the Start link to start your new FlexSim_License service.     You should see a status bar showing the startup progress. The service usually starts in under a minute.   If there are any errors or other problems with starting the service, skip to the section Troubleshooting problems with the service.   Check the service status   After the service is started, head back to lmtools to check the log. You can view the service log from the Config Services tab, press the View Log... button, located toward the lower right of the Config Services panel.   You should find the following information in your log file:     lmgrd.exe is listening on port 26914. This is the port the licensing service will use when listening for client PC communication. The bootstrap license file flexsim.lic was found and loaded. (This is not a license file specific to you and does not contain your license info. FlexSim licenses use Trusted Storage and licenses are activated to your license server using flexsimserveractutil.exe). The flexsim.opt Options file was found and loaded. A list of product features activated in your server's Trusted Storage. Your feature set may differ somewhat from this example, depending on your license and product, but you should see several of the features above. 900 seconds is the minimum timeout allowed by FlexNet, and we configure our installation to use this minimum value using the options file. The flexsim.exe vendor daemon is using port 56914.   To close the log, press the Close Log button, toward the lower right of the Config Services panel in lmtools.   Troubleshooting problems with the service   Did everything work? If not, perhaps you have one of these issues:   The FlexSim_License service is not listed as an installed service in Windows’ services. The FlexSim_License service does not start manually. The FlexSim_License service does not start up automatically when the computer restarts.   If any of these apply to you, please check the following:   You ran lmtools as a user with admin rights, and right clicked the program to choose Run as Administrator. On the Config Services tab, you checked the boxes Use Services and Start Server at Power Up. There isn’t already a process running or service installed named FlexSim_License. lmgrd.exe, flexsim.exe, and all other files downloaded together with them are in the same folder, and in a file path that does not contain any folder named “FlexSim” (case insensitive). The FlexSim_License service must run as an account with proper permissions. It’s possible that the Local System Account setting specified in Configure service permissions above does not have adequate permissions, and you will need to specify the service to run under a different account. Work with your server administrator or IT department to determine an account with the proper permissions to run your license service. You could have a port conflict, where one or both of the ports specified in your flexsim.lic license file are in use by another service on your license server. Check the section Resolving port conflicts. Some anti-virus solutions prevent unrecognized services from running or accessing necessary functionality. If your license service won't start, try temporarily disabling any anti-virus solution installed on your license server. If this fixes the issue, work with your IT administrator to modify your anti-virus settings. Remember to reactivate your anti-virus software after this experiment.  

Does your license server randomly stop serving your FlexSim seats? When you check the logs, do you see error messages like the following? 5:34:42 (flexsim) Trusted storage binding change detected! Vendor daemon is being shutdown. 5:34:42 (flexsim) EXITING DUE TO SIGNAL 65 Exit reason 42 5:34:47 (lmgrd) flexsim exited with status 65 (Trusted storage binding change detected.) 5:34:47 (lmgrd) Vendor daemon shutdown - trusted storage binding change detected. Hosting your license server on a VM Many organizations host their license servers on virtual machines and this is a perfectly fine and fully supported way to host your licenses. However, you should be aware that some common virtual machine workflows can disrupt your license server. For instance, you may encounter the errors above if you restored your VM's state to a live snapshot. A live snapshot takes a snapshot of memory as well as disk. Hyper-V is an example of a hypervisor that allows live snapshotting. If a virtual machine does a revert-to-live-snapshot operation, restoring the memory and disk to a previous state, it can interrupt the integrity of your server's trusted storage. To prevent any corruption of your Trusted Storage state, Trusted-Storage-based license servers poll Trusted Storage every 90 seconds to determine if a snapshot restore has occurred. Hence, within at least two minutes of a Trusted-Storage-based license server being reverted, it will shut down, with server log messages similar to the log block above. This shutdown helps preserve the integrity of your license server's local trusted storage. Restoring functionality As you can see at the bottom of the error message, the resultant state of your license server is that your vendor daemon is shut down. This means that your license server is no longer serving FlexSim seats. To restore full functionality, simply start (or restart) the service from Windows services: Or if you're hosting your licenses with lmadmin, start (or restart) the vendor daemon:

Staying up-to-date FlexSim recommends staying up-to-date and using the latest Software version. New features, improvements, and bug fixes make your simulations more stable, more powerful, and easier to build.   In addition, the Software is developed for use with contemporaneous hardware, operating systems, and drivers. Among other reasons, as third parties phase out these technologies, FlexSim must discontinue support for Software versions developed for use with those technologies.   Finally, as usage of older versions decreases, FlexSim must devote its resources to supporting more recent Software versions to best serve the majority of our customers who stay current on Software maintenance and updates.   Lifecycle and Support Policy If you must use an older Software version, understanding the Software Support Lifecycle will help you make informed decisions about when to upgrade.   A Software release is generally supported until it is four (4) or more versions prior to the current release. For the most up-to-date lifecycle and support policy information, please see section 17. Software Support of FlexSim's Software License Agreement.   Lifecycle status terminology Supported - FlexSim will maintain licensing infrastructure necessary for a given Software version and will provide technical support for that version for licensed users under current maintenance or subscription. Bugfixes - Bugfixes are issued periodically for the latest Software version, as needed. A Software version typically receives bugfixes until the next Software feature release. Learn more about FlexSim version numbering and bugfixes. LTS - Long-term support versions receive bugfixes for a longer period, typically 12-15 months. Beta - Preview the next version of FlexSim Software for demonstration, testing, and validation. Beta versions may not be suitable for day-to-day production use. Beta versions are superseded by their production-release version. No support - After a Software version is 4 or more versions older than the latest release it is no longer supported. Such a version may continue to work on the computer where it is installed and licensed, but it is no longer eligible for technical support and FlexSim cannot guarantee that licensing infrastructure will remain in place to move the license key to another computer. Supported Versions The following Software versions are currently supported.    Application   Version   General Availability     Lifecycle Status  FlexSim 25.1 2025-04-14   supported + bugfixes FlexSim 25.0 2024-12-11   supported + LTS FlexSim 24.2 2024-08-05   supported FlexSim 24.1 2024-04-08   supported   Unsupported Versions The following Software versions are past their supported lifecycle. We recommend updating your software to a supported version.    Application   Version   General Availability   End-of-Life   Lifecycle Status  FlexSim 24.0 2024-12-06 2025-04-14 no support FlexSim 23.2 2023-08-07 2024-12-11 no support FlexSim 23.1 2023-04-03 2024-08-05 no support FlexSim 23.0 2022-12-05 2024-04-08 no support FlexSim 22.2 2022-08-02 2024-04-05 no support FlexSim 22.1 2022-04-04 2024-04-05 no support FlexSim 22.0 2021-12-06 2024-04-05 no support FlexSim 21.2 2021-08-09 2024-04-05 no support FlexSim 21.1 2021-04-02 2024-04-02 no support FlexSim 21.0 2020-12-04 2024-03-26 no support FlexSim 20.2 2020-08-11 2024-03-26 no support FlexSim 20.1 2020-04-10 2024-03-26 no support FlexSim 20.0 2019-12-06 2023-12-31 no support FlexSim 17.0 - 19.2 various 2023-12-31 no support FlexSim 7.7 - 16.2 various 2022-06-30 no support HC 5.3 2017-10-13 2022-06-30 no support FlexSim < 7.7 various 2020-12-31 no support HC < 5.3 various 2020-12-31 no support   Notes The date format used is YYYY-MM-DD Bugfix releases follow the same lifecycle as the major release with which they are associated. Versions not listed should be assumed as past their supported lifecycle.

Pools of features, organized by version A license is actually a set of features. Different license types are made up of different sets of features. This table shows the various features that make up different FlexSim license types (Enterprise, Educational, Runtime, etc): Each license is set to a given version, and each of the contained features is at that version. With that background, once a license is activated on a license server, its features are added to a pool of license features at a given version. So for instance, let's say you have the following 2 licenses activated to your license server: Enterprise 23.0 - 2 seats Runtime 22.2 - 1 seat Once these licenses are activated to your license server, the server actually has no idea it has 2 Enterprise and 1 Runtime. It sees only the following pools of license features: dragdropconnect 2 seats [23.0: 2 seats] (the Runtime license didn't provide one of these) compile 3 seats [23.0: 2 seats, 22.2: 1 seat] xmlsaveload 2 seats [23.0: 2 seats] (the Runtime license didn't provide one of these) ... commercialuse 3 seats [23.0: 2 seats, 22.2: 1 seat] createobjects 2 seats [23.0: 2 seats] (the Runtime license didn't provide one of these) modeltree 1 seat [22.2: 1 seat] (not a feature of Enterprise licenses) FlexSim software is feature-greedy By default, when a FlexSim install contacts a license server for a license, it will try to get 1 of every feature at the software's version or later. In this way we say that FlexSim software is "greedy". For instance, under the above scenario, when you start FlexSim 22.2, the software will default to pull the following features: dragdropconnect compile xmlsaveload stochastics consolescript nomodellimit entiretree commercialuse createobjects modeltree The italicized features are Enterprise-specific. The bold feature is Runtime specific. The software just tries to get one of each feature, so now its feature set is a hybrid of Enterprise+Runtime. In the software it reports a "Custom" license: If a 2nd person were to open the 22.2 software, they would get that same set, minus the one modeltree feature from Runtime, essentially giving them the 2nd Enterprise seat. If a 3rd person tried to open the software in version 22.2, they would get a slightly hobbled version of a Runtime license, without the modeltree feature. Any in-software features that relied on that being present would be blocked. Only checkout features for license type The software includes an option to limit what features it will ask for: In this way you can ensure that the right people are getting the right feature set.

Have you received this licensing error? Operations error: 7284 Cannot perform support actions on inactive fulfillment record FID_ ... (entire fulfillment ID listed) You may encounter this error during an attempted license return or repair. This error means that the fulfillment was already returned. A fulfillment is an activation of a license. Once that activation has been returned to the main license server, the fulfillment becomes inactive. It is meaningless to return or repair a fulfillment that has already been returned. So, how do you have an inactive fulfillment still on your computer if it was supposedly returned? There are a couple of ways this can happen: Someone requested that the license be force-returned. Sometimes a license can be lost, so a client contacts their local distributor to force the license back. Later on, the license is found activated on a PC, however it will not be returnable because the license was already force-returned. You returned your license normally, but later restored your computer from a backup or otherwise rolled back to a previous state. This may break your license, but in trying to repair the old fulfillment, the main license server reports to you that actions cannot be taken on that inactive fulfillment - it was already returned. The point with this error is that FlexSim's main license server has a record that your fulfillment was already returned. The fulfillment you are trying to return or repair is inactive - no actions can be taken on it. The solution is to delete the fulfillment record from your PC: License Server - Delete fulfillment Standalone - Delete fulfillment

Help->License Activation" />Open FlexSim Software. Click Help in the main menu. Choose License Activation. Click the Return tab. Each of your activated licenses will be listed in the dropdown selector. Select a license you want to return. Click the Return button. Please wait while your FlexSim Software communicates with the license server. The status text will update, and should end with an indication of success. Repeat to return any other Activation IDs that need to be returned. If you have any questions or problems, please search our Answers Community for possible solutions. There is a good chance someone else has already asked your question. Still not finding what you're looking for? Submit a new question and we'll check it out. If you're including any confidential information, such as license codes, be sure to mark your question as private! You can also contact your local FlexSim distributor for live phone, web, or email help.

Have you ever encountered this error?   --- Status... Status: 4 Creating request Status: 5 Request created Status: 6 Context created Status: 7 Connected to remote server Status: 0 Error ERROR: flxActAppReturnSend - (50018,41145,32) "Failure to send request or receive a response for an unspecified reason. Recovery: check parameters used for the request." ---   We're looking for more information on this error. If you're encountering this error, please comment below.   This error appears to be a communication error where the client PC may have an Internet connection, but is not successful in contacting the license server. This may be due to a firewall misconfiguration or a proxy server.   You may want to make sure your client PC can connect to FlexSim's servers (addresses and ports listed in this article).   You may also need to configure FlexSim to communicate through your proxy server:  

Sometimes things don't work out the way you thought they would. Usually, at least with license servers, it just means that you missed a step, or there is some issue that wasn't considered. Below we'll outline some things you should check:   Server configuration   - Check the service   Is the FlexSim_License service you created using LMTOOLS up and running? When you created and configured your licensing service, did you check the log file? Look for any errors or issues in the log. Troubleshoot the service if necessary.   - Local test   You can rule out configuration issues by installing FlexSim locally on your license server. Configure the local FlexSim installation using the port you specified (default is 26914) and the local IP address 127.0.0.1, to point your local FlexSim installation to the local license server to see if your license server can license itself.   - Connectivity problems   If your local test works, then your client PC licensing issues may actually stem from connectivity problems. In that case, check out our article Client/Server connectivity.   - Check, check again   Double check that your server is configured properly. When viewing your license service’s log file, you should see indications of ports in use, features being served, etc. (lmtools, lmadmin). If no features are listed, or port numbers are different than what was expected, please revisit the configuration guide (lmtools, lmadmin). Carefully read and execute each step of the instructions to make sure that you have properly configured your license server.   Overzealous anti-virus   Some anti-virus solutions prevent unrecognized services from running or accessing necessary functionality. If a local test (above) works, you may only need to test disabling anti-virus solutions on the client PC. Or if you're trying to get the license service to run on the server, you may need to test there also. Remember to reactivate your anti-virus software after this experiment.   Version or product mismatch   Your actual license, activated to your server using flexsimserveractutil.exe (online, manual), must be for a FlexSim version the same or greater than the software’s version number.   Your license is also for a specific product (FlexSim vs FlexSim Healthcare vs FlexTerm, etc.).   See the article FlexSim Version Numbering, for more information regarding FlexSim versioning and how it relates to licensing.   Seats all in use   If your FlexSim client software is not obtaining a license from the server, it’s possible that all seats are already in use on other client PCs. Check the log files (lmtools, lmadmin) to determine where your seats are currently in use.

You've installed, configured, and started your license server. FlexSim is installed and your client PCs are set to get a license from your license server. How can you tell if they're communicating and licensing properly? You can check both the client PC and the license server to make sure that licensing is happening: Client PC Within FlexSim software on the client PC, go to the main menu, Help > About FlexSim. The popup should indicate the activated license type. Test licensed features to see if they work. Check the article FlexSim Feature Limitations by License Type to see what features should be available given your license type (Enterprise, Educational, Student, Runtime). For instance, the Experimenter feature should be available to each of those license types. License Server In lmtools logs (Config Services > View Log…), you should see that a seat is in use. (See How do I read/analyze my vendor daemon logs? What do the various lines mean?). In lmadmin logs you should see that a seat is in use. If your client PC is not getting licensed and/or your license server logs don't indicate communication with a client PC, check the license server troubleshooting steps.

Background   Often a client PC is used by a single user who should have access to change license settings.   This method saves licensing settings to the user’s Windows profile. In this manner licensing is saved on a per-user basis and should be completed in advance for each FlexSim user on this client PC.   In some situations it is better to license the PC once for any user who might log in. This can be the case for a university computer lab, for instance. If your situation would be better served by licensing the software one time for all users of the PC, please check out our guide to license a mult-user client PC.   Configure Licensing   To license an individual Windows user, do the following while logged into Windows as that user:   Open FlexSim software on the client PC by right clicking the program icon and choosing Run as Administrator. You won't normally need to start FlexSim under elevated privileges, but sometimes licensing the PC for the first time requires it. Go to the software’s main menu and select Help > License Activation. Navigate to the License Server tab. Check Use concurrent licensing. Enter the License Server Address using the form port@host, where host is an IP address or fully qualified domain name (FQDN). For example, if your license server is reachable via the FQDN licenseserver.mycompany.com: If you used FlexSim’s default license service port number, enter 26914@licenseserver.mycompany.com. If you specified a custom port, use that number instead. For example, if you entered 27500 as your custom port number, you should enter 27500@licenseserver.mycompany.com. Click Apply Configuration.   Multiple license servers?   If your FlexSim licenses/seats are spread across multiple license servers, you can configure your client software to try to pull a license from any of your multiple license servers. Simply enter all available license server options, separated using a semi-colon, like this:   26914@lic.server.one;27001@lic.server.two;27009@lic.server.three   Here is an example image:   The software will attempt to contact each license server in turn until it obtains a seat or has attempted all license servers and failed.   In the example above, lic.server.one and lic.server.two are fully qualified domain names to properly configured license servers, with lmgrd serving on ports 26914 and 27001 respectively. You could also use an IP address instead of a FQDN.   Next   Check out the next article to learn how to verify that your client PC is licensed, and what to do if it isn't: License Server - Verify client PC licensing.

You should have already completed all preceding steps found in the article Hosting your FlexSim licenses with lmtools, including all those under the headings "Preparation and Prerequisites" and "Activate licenses to your license server". Your license server will communicate with client PCs using two executables, the lmgrd.exe licensing service and the flexsim.exe vendor daemon.   This article shows how to add exceptions for these applications through Windows Firewall. If you have additional firewalls or network appliances that need to be configured, please check the section Port Considerations at the end of this article.   Allow an app through Windows Firewall Port Considerations   Allow an app through Windows Firewall   Windows Firewall allows you to specify certain applications that will be allowed through different network types. If you're not sure about firewalls and networking, be sure to contact someone in your organization that administers these things.   You will need administrator privileges on your license server to add firewall exceptions.   Open the Allowed apps interface   Click the Start button or press the Windows key, then type Firewall into the search box. Choose the option to Allow an app through Windows Firewall.     If you don't see that option, you can choose the option Windows Defender Firewall at the top of the search results. This will open the Windows Defender Firewall topic the Control Panel. There you can choose Allow an app or feature through Windows Defender Firewall in the side panel:     Add a firewall exception for lmgrd.exe   In the Allowed apps window, click the Change Settings button, then the Allow another app… button.     In the Add an app window that opens, click the Browse… button. Navigate to extracted license server downloads. Double click lmgrd.exe to choose the file.     Click the Network types… button.   Check the boxes for the various network types that the firewall should allow. We recommend allowing your FlexNet licensing to communicate across all network types, but contact your server or network administrators if you're not sure.     Click Okay to close the Choose Network Types window.   Back on the Add an app window, click the Add button.   Add a firewall exception for flexsim.exe   Repeat the steps above for flexsim.exe:   Click the Allow another app… button. Browse… to your extracted license server downloads. Select flexsim.exe. Click Network types… and choose the appropriate networks to allow access to lmgrd.exe. These should be set to the same settings chosen for lmgrd.exe, and you can usually allow all network types - domain, private, and public. Click the Add button. Click OK to close the Control Panel window.   Port considerations   You may need to allow communication through other firewalls or network appliances, depending on your network topology and specific licensing plans for how and from where client PCs will connect to the license server. Usually for such firewalls or devices you will configure inbound and outbound port exceptions to allow your license server communications to pass through.   A FlexSim license server has its ports defined in a flexsim.lic license file, specified when you configured your FlexSim_Licensing service.   Our default ports are as follows:   lmgrd.exe - licensing service - port 26914 - TCP flexsim.exe - vendor daemon - port 56914 - TCP   There is a chance you specified custom your port numbers. If you're not sure you can check your flexsim.lic license file. Read more about FlexSim's license file and default vs custom port numbers in our article FlexSim's license file.

A license file? What's that? License not included Default port numbers Custom port numbers Automatic port numbers Resolving port conflicts A license file? What's that?   When you set up a license server to host your FlexSim licenses, you'll configure settings for a FlexNet licensing service (lmtools, lmadmin). Some settings are specified in a plain text file ending in the .lic file extension.   You'll find FlexSim's license file, flexsim.lic, alongside the other downloaded license server materials (lmtools, lmadmin). The license file is just plain text. You can open it and examine its contents using your favorite text editor (Notepad, Notepad++, VSCode, etc.).   If you've used FlexNet licensing before, you know that often a .lic license file contains license codes and hashes that authenticate a product license on a computer system. However, this isn't the case for FlexSim.   License not included   FlexSim's license file doesn't contain any license information. Instead FlexSim licenses are held in FlexNet's Trusted Storage. That's why every customer downloads an identical license file alongside all our other license server materials.   FlexSim's flexsim.lic license file is a bootstrapper that tells FlexNet's licensing service to find FlexSim's license information in Trusted Storage, and to specify port numbers that will be used for serving the licenses.   Here are the complete contents of FlexSim's default flexsim.lic license file:   SERVER this_host ANY 26914 VENDOR flexsim port=56914 USE_SERVER FEATURE serverfeature flexsim 1.000 permanent uncounted HOSTID=ANY \ SIGN="05CB 6F61 116D 06E3 A08D CAFB FC5C BEF3 DF53 BDC6 AF68 \ 060C 27B8 9968 CB94 0515 2BE7 E30C 2FAF C0D6 1D77 CCEB 878E \ 2D67 1434 0E3F 6BA5 1FDA BD35 F98D"   Default port numbers   You can see on lines 1 and 2 above where we've defined FlexSim's default license server port numbers:   26914 (lmgrd.exe - the licensing service. Client PCs specify this port on the license server.) 56914 (flexsim.exe - the vendor daemon)   Custom port numbers   While we recommend using FlexSim's default port numbers, you can edit your flexsim.lic file to specify your own custom port numbers. Simply replace the default port numbers in your plain text license file with any valid, available port numbers you wish to use.   Automatic port numbers   Also not recommended - you can also remove the port numbers (and the “port=”) from the flexsim.lic file to allow the FlexNet Licensing Service to auto-assign port numbers, like this:   SERVER this_host ANY VENDOR flexsim USE_SERVER FEATURE serverfeature flexsim 1.000 permanent uncounted HOSTID=ANY \ SIGN="05CB 6F61 116D 06E3 A08D CAFB FC5C BEF3 DF53 BDC6 AF68 \ 060C 27B8 9968 CB94 0515 2BE7 E30C 2FAF C0D6 1D77 CCEB 878E \ 2D67 1434 0E3F 6BA5 1FDA BD35 F98D"   We don't recommend auto-assigned port numbers since the FlexNet Licensing Service could auto-assign new, different port numbers any time the licensing service is restarted (such as when your server restarts to install Windows updates, etc.).   Port numbers that change regularly can make it more difficult to maintain the firewall exceptions or other network settings needed for your license server to communicate properly with client PCs.   Resolving port conflicts   If your licensing service has trouble starting or properly hosting licenses, or if other licensing services fail after starting your FlexSim licensing service, you could have a port conflict.   You could try specifying your own custom ports as described above. This is a good solution if you know what port numbers are in use with existing services and can choose unused port numbers. After changing the port numbers defined in your flexsim.lic license file, restart your FlexSim_Licensing service.   If you’re not sure what port numbers to try, you could allow FlexNet to auto-assign port numbers itself – it tries to find and use free ports, though it isn’t foolproof. After modifying your flexsim.lic license file to allow automatically chosen port numbers, restart your FlexSim_License service. Then check the log file (lmtools, lmadmin) to see what ports were auto assigned.   If everything works, we suggest that you take the port numbers automatically assigned by FlexNet and hardcode them into your license file. This way you can maintain static exceptions more easily in your firewall. Be sure to configure your client PCs to use the new license service port number.  

Preparation   You may want to brush up on how a license version is related to a product version.   When you understand what version of FlexSim will work with your license, download and install an appropriate software version for your license.     Find your licenses   From your FlexSim Account, click the Licenses link in the top menu. In the submenu, choose List. Expand the various product and version folders to find the Activation ID you wish to activate. An Activation ID looks similar to this example: yourcompany.com01-ABCDE-FGHIJ-KLMNO-FSENT21.2 Highlight and copy the Activation ID you will activate.   License your software   Open FlexSim Software. Click Help in the main menu. Choose License Activation. Paste your Activation ID into the field. Click the Activate button. Wait for an indication of success. Repeat for any other Activation ID you wish to activate to this computer.   Your license activates via the Internet, so make sure your computer is connected!   If your computer is offline or has trouble connecting to FlexSim's license server, try the Standalone - Activation - XML / Offline instructions.     If you have any questions or problems, please search our Answers Community for possible solutions. There is a good chance someone else has already asked your question.   Still not finding what you're looking for? Submit a new question and we'll check it out. Please do not include any confidential information, such as license codes, since anything posted on the forum is public! You can also contact your local FlexSim distributor for live phone, web, or email help.

First things first Sometimes the easiest method for fixing a standalone license is to simply activate the same license again. No need to return first. Just get the full activation ID for any broken licenses and activate them again. Look for the broken licenses within FlexSim by going to Help > License Activation > View Licenses tab and pressing the View Licenses button. Scan the license information for licenses that indicate they are **BROKEN**. For licenses that are broken, look up the full activation IDs in your online FlexSim Account. Using the full activation IDs for each broken license, activate the licenses normally within FlexSim by going to the Activate tab and pasting and activating each activation ID in turn. No need to return the licenses first. In case you need more detailed activation instructions, see: Standalone - Activation - Online Standalone - Activation - XML / Offline If you completed the 3 steps above but encountered error messages, it is time to manually repair your licenses. Okay, time to repair Standalone licensing does not have a method for repairing online. Here are the steps to manually repair your license. These instructions apply to FlexSim 2016 and later. If you are using an older version of FlexSim, please download FlexSim's latest version and follow these instructions. You can manage your older FlexSim licenses from the latest software - the License Activation window will still show your older licenses and you'll be able to complete all these steps for your broken pre-version-16.0 licenses. Open FlexSim as an administrator by right clicking the program icon and selecting Run as Administrator. From the main menu, go to Help > License Activation. Go to the Advanced tab, then the Repair tab. For each broken license listed in the License selector box, click the Generate XML Request button. Save each XML file to a convenient location on your computer. Log in to your FlexSim Account. From the top navigation header click the Licenses link, then choose Manual XML in the Licenses submenu. Upload your XML files by dragging them onto the drop zone. Your uploaded XML requests will be processed. Upon completion, you will be prompted to download each XML response. In FlexSim (your instance opened above in step 1 using Run as administrator), you should still be on the same License Activation > Advanced > Repair tab. Process each response by pressing the Process Response button and browsing to an XML response. FlexSim should successfully repair the license. After repair it should be usable and returnable. If you have any questions or problems, please search our Answers Community for possible solutions. There is a good chance someone else has already asked your question. Still not finding what you're looking for? Submit a new question and we'll check it out. If you're including any confidential information, such as license codes, be sure to mark your question as private! You can also contact your local FlexSim distributor for live phone, web, or email help.