Installation for administrators

Obtain and install a license file

Generate a new license file for your network server only in the following cases:

  • You get or renew a license subscription. 
  • You add subscriptions for a network license product. 
  • You add products to your network license server. 
  • You add licenses to a new version of a network license product.
  • You change your network license server. 
  • You reconfigure your network license server.

Collect license server information

To generate a license file, you need the following information:

  • For a single server model, the server host name and MAC address (12-character host ID)
  • For a redundant server model, the server host names and MAC addresses of the primary server and the two backup servers
  • For a distributed server model:
    • The number of servers
    • The host name and MAC address of all servers
    • The number of subscriptions on each server

Note: for descriptions of the different server models, see Plan your license

Find the host name and MAC address with LMTOOLS on Windows

  1. While signed in with Administrator rights on a local computer, click All Programs > Autodesk > Network License Manager > LMTOOLS Utility.
  2. In LMTOOLS, click the Systems Settings tab.
  3. Locate the Computer/Hostname box. This box contains the host name.
  4. Locate the Ethernet Address box. The 12-character address is the host ID, also called the MAC address.

    Note: If your server has more than one Ethernet adapter, select one that corresponds to a MAC network adapter.
  5. Close LMTOOLS.

Find the host name and host ID from the Windows Command prompt

  1. Open the Windows Command prompt.
  2. Enter ipconfig /all. A list of configuration data appears.
  3. From the Windows IP Configuration section, record the host name.
  4. From the Ethernet Adapter Local Area Connection section, enter the MAC address without the dashes. The MAC address is your 12-character host ID.

    Note: If your server has more than one network adapter, select the one that corresponds to a physical network adapter. View the Description field above each MAC address. When you have more than one physical network adapter, it doesn’t matter which one you use. Devices such as VPN adapters, PPP adapters, and wireless or Bluetooth devices aren’t valid.
  5. Close the Windows Command prompt.

Find the name and host ID on macOS or Linux

  1. Open a Terminal window.
  2. Go to the folder where lmutil is installed.
  3. Retrieve the host name by entering the following:
    <prompt>./lmutil lmhostid -hostname
  4. Retrieve the host ID (MAC address) by entering the following:
    ./lmutil lmhostid

Generate a license file in Autodesk Account

When you purchase new seats of Autodesk software, Autodesk may send you a serial number and product key, which you use to generate a license file. You can also find this information in Autodesk Account.

To generate a network license, you must be an administrator. You must also have a subscription with multi-user access for the product requiring the network license. If you have a mix of products and want to generate license file for all products, you can do so one product at a time.

Note to Contract Managers and Software Coordinators: To generate a license file for a perpetual or non-subscription product, go to Classic product view on the All Products and Services page of Autodesk Account. Find your product and generate the license file.

Generate a license file

  1. Sign in to Autodesk Account at manage.autodesk.com.
  2. Under All Products and Services, find your product. You can use Search to limit the number of products that display.
  3. In the product tile, click View Details and choose a product version.
  4. In the product details page, click License Details. If your product does not have a network license type, View Details does not display.
  5. In the License Details window, select Generate Network License File.
  6. In the Generate Network License File page, choose a license server model and click Select.
  7. Enter the Server name and Server ID (MAC address).
  8. Click Add Products. 
  9. In the Add Products to Server dialog box, select one or more products to add to this license server and click Add.
  10. Click Generate License File.

Save the license file

When you have your license file, save it in the folder where you installed the Network License Manager. You can choose any filename, but use the extension .lic. Here are examples of license file locations for different operating systems:

  • Windows: C:\Autodesk\Network License Manager\Licenses
  • macOS: /Users/<user>/local/flexnetserver
  • Linux: /opt/flexnetserver

Confirm license file accuracy

After saving your license file, confirm that it contains the correct information. Your license file works only on a computer that has the MAC address you provided when you obtained the license.

  1. Open the license file in a text editor. Don’t use a word-processing program such as Microsoft Word. You can introduce formatting errors or inadvertently modify the file.
  2. Verify that the MAC address matches the address of your server. The first line of the license file, beginning with SERVER, shows your host name and MAC address. If they don’t match, request a new license file with the correct information.
  3. Verify the filename extension. It must be .lic, and not .txt or .doc.