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FlexNet Licensing Overview

07/04/2025 . Technical Note

Relevant product(s): Siemens EDA
Operating systems: Windows, Linux
Versions affected: All
Relevant area(s): Licensing

Summary

Siemens EDA licensing is based on FlexNet, and uses the FlexNet license file format (certificate-based only) to administer software licenses. The authorisation codes in the license file enable the Siemens EDA applications, which are delivered to you as a result of booking an order or requesting an evaluation.

Details

FlexNet is a method of providing software licensing that has a number of basic components:

  • FlexNet enabled application – The software application that requires a license and communicates with the license server.
  • License manager daemon (lmgrd) – The lmgrd daemon handles initial contact with the client application programs and passes the connection to the appropriate vendor daemon. The lmgrd daemon also starts and restarts the vendor daemons.
  • Vendor daemon (mgcld/saltd) – The vendor daemon, keeps track of the licenses that are checked out. If the process terminates for any reason, all users lose their licenses but usually regain them automatically when lmgrd restarts the daemon.
  • A license file – Contains the license rights that define how the software application can be used.

The license is stored as a text file, e.g. file_name.txt, which defines: what software functionality can be used, what versions of the software can be used, how many copies of the software can be running, the period during which the software can be used, etc… Licenses must be served from the Computer/Server whose host ID matches the host ID listed on the SERVER line of the license file.

Types of License

Siemens offers different license types for its products, including:

Floating – Any user can run the tools and request a license from the license server located somewhere on the network. License file contains Server and Daemon lines.

Node-Locked Counted – The license is locked to a particular piece of hardware, either an Ethernet/MAC address, dongle FlexID, or hardware key. A license server is required, and the software runs only on the system that has the particular piece of hardware installed.

Node-Locked Uncounted (Mobile Compute) – The license resides on the same computer as the licensed software will be run. No license server needed, Windows only.

Finding your Host ID

The term “hostid” simply refers to a number we can use for licensing. This can be an Ethernet/MAC address, Hardware Key (dongle) ID or a Composite ID​​​​​​​. This is synonymous with “server ID”, and is used across Floating, Node-Locked, and Mobile Compute license types.

You can obtain the MAC Address of your Computer/Server by using the following system commands:

Windows – Open a CMD prompt, type in command “getmac”. Copy the “Physical Address” returned.

Linux – Open a CMD prompt, type in command “ifconfig -a”. Look for the network eth0 (depending on your distro it can also have a different name). Copy the line with ether which specifies the MAC ID.

License File Format

Licenses are delivered to you as a result of booking an order or requesting an evaluation, and after providing the license type required and the Host ID of your device. The license file will adhere to a standard format determined by the type of license.

N.B. Mobile Compute licenses do not come with Server and Daemon lines and do not require a license server to run

License File - Server Daemon

Once you receive your license file the Server and Daemon lines need to be configured before the license server can read it:

  1. Computer/Server name – A placeholder for your Computer/Server name, which you must replace.
  2. Host ID – The Computer/Server MAC Address or dongle FlexID, which must match the device you are hosting the license from. Do not change this.
  3. Port number – The TCP/IP port the license manager (lmgrd) can use. This can be changed to any available port.
  4. Daemon name – Defines the vendor daemon being used (mgcld/saltd).
  5. Path to Daemon – A placeholder for the filepath to the daemon, which you must replace.

Useful Links

SALT Licensing – Manual Installation Guide (Windows): https://www.saros.co.uk/knowledge-base/salt-licensing-windows/

Mentor Standard Licensing Manual: https://docs.sw.siemens.com/en-US/product/905395197/doc/DC202102052.release_docs.mgc_licen.en_us/html/manualtitle

FlexNet License Administration guide: https://docs.sw.siemens.com/en-US/doc/905395197/DC202102052.release_docs.flexnet_lic_admin.en_us?audience=external&productId=905395197

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