Altair Licensing

Quick Reference Guide for Windows and Linux

Version 14.02
Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 2
Altair License file ........................................................................................................................................... 3
Requesting a license ................................................................................................................................. 3
Reviewing the license................................................................................................................................ 3
Altair License Manager ................................................................................................................................. 5
Installing or upgrading the Altair License Manager .................................................................................. 5
Reviewing the Altair License Manager...................................................................................................... 7
Altair Client-Server setup .............................................................................................................................. 8
Setting up an Altair License file ................................................................................................................. 8
Connecting Network Clients to the Altair License Server ......................................................................... 9
Altair Standalone license setup .................................................................................................................. 11
FAQ.............................................................................................................................................................. 12
Appendix 1: Altair Connect ......................................................................................................................... 13
Appendix 2: Uninstalling an older version of ALM...................................................................................... 14

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Introduction

The Altair License Management System (ALM) provides a common units-based licensing model for all
Altair software related to CAE, on-demand computing, and business intelligence. This system has been
designed to enable Altair products as well as Altair Partner Products to be licensed via HyperWorks
Units.

The Altair License Management System is comprised of two components: The Altair License Server
(ALM) and the Usage Reporting System (URT).

This Quick Reference guide covers requesting a HyperWorks License, installation/updating the ALM and
Installing/Updating the Altair License file.

If you need more details, please refer to the Altair License Management System document, which can be
found on Altair Connect.

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Altair License file

Requesting a license
In order to run Altair products, you need a valid Altair license. There are two types of licenses Altair
provides, a server license and a standalone or node-locked license.

A server license allows a pool of HyperWorks Units to be shared amongst a group of users, whereas a
standalone license is (node) locked to a machine and allows the user to run the products he has been
given access to.

An Altair license is tied to the HostID of the machine that will serve the license. You can get the HostID
of the host machine using the Altair License Utility

Send the hostid.txt file or the HostID copied from the almutil, to your Account Manager and let them
know what type of license file you are requesting

NOTE: Please do not use a virtual adapter HostID when requesting a license. Virtual HostID’s can change
with system reboots and will cause your license checkout to fail.

Reviewing the license

Once you receive your new license, take a moment to review it for accuracy. The license file can be
opened in any text editor. The main things to verify are:

• Type of license (server vs standalone)

• Zone in which the license is valid (Valid zones are Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific)
• The Unit Count (for a server license)
• Available features (for a stand-alone/node locked license)
• Host ID of the machine the license is going to be on.

If any information in the license is incorrect, please contact your Altair Account Manager or Altair
Support to get it corrected.

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The table below highlights the information for you to review.

# The conversion from HWU to feature counts in this license file is 1 to 1000.
# For every 1 HWU purchased, there will be 1000 HyperWorks features in this
file
# This license contains 1234 HWU # Units purchased
# Company: ABC AM: Jane Doe AM Email: J.D@altair.com Lic ID: XXXXXX Account Manager info

Unique License identifier

FEATURE GlobalZoneAM The Global Zone where this
license is valid
1000 x #Units for a server
license
COUNT = 1234000
No COUNT line on a
standalone license
VERSION = 19.0 Highest version of the
product supported
START = 2018-01-01 Start and End date for the
END = 2018-12-31 license file
COMMENT = " Server Info: ETHERNET = XXXXXXXXXXXX" Host ID of the machine on
which the license server is
running

NOTE: Do not edit the license. The information in the license is digitally signed. If any changes are made
to the license, the license server will reject the license as being not valid.

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Altair License Manager

Installing or upgrading the Altair License Manager

Use the latest version of Altair License Manager downloaded from Altair Connect. The installer will walk
you thru the following steps:

• check if you have a previous version of ALM

• stop the previous version of the ALM
• confirm that you want to upgrade the ALM installation
• allow you to set an ALM installation location
• and, (optionally) let you point to a license file.

Windows

Using Admin privileges, launch the altair_licensing_<version>.win64 file to start the installation process.
If a previous version of ALM is detected, the installer will inform you about it. Click on “yes” to proceed
to the next step in the installation.

The next couple of steps allow you to choose a location for the ALM installation, as well as (optionally)
point to a license file. It is ok to complete the installation without a license file. You can also set up the
license file manually after the installation has completed.

Once the installation has completed, you can verify that the ALM is running, by using the Windows
Services app.

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Linux

Log into a terminal window with root credentials. Go to the directory where the installer package is
placed and execute it with the command “./installer_file_name.bin”.

On some Linux platforms the installer is a self-extracting shell script and needs to either have the
executable bit set or be invoked by “/bin/sh package_name.bin”.

NOTE: Using root privileges to install ALM, will ensure that the license init scripts automatically launch
the daemons at boot time.

If a previous version of ALM is detected, the installer will inform you about it. Allow the installer to stop
the license server (answer 1) and confirm the upgrading of the license server (answer 1).
================================================================
Detected previous installation - older
--------------------------------------
Older installation of License Server detected.

We found a previous version of the license manager installed on

this machine in /usr/local/altair/licensing13.0. Do you want to
continue with this installation?
If you answer Yes, the current license server will be stopped, a
new one installed and configured, then started. Is this ok?
->1- Yes
2- No

ENTER THE HUMBER OF THE DESIRED CHOICE, OR PRESS <ENTER> TO

ACCEPT THE DEFAULT: 1
================================================================
Upgrade existing installation
-----------------------------
Confirm to upgrade the existing installation of License Server.

You have chosen to upgrade the existing License Server

installation. Please click "OR" to continue with the
installation OR click "Cancel" to exit installation.

->1- OK
2- Cancel

ENTER THE HUMBER OF THE DESIRED CHOICE, OR PRESS <ENTER> TO

ACCEPT THE DEFAULT: 1

The next couple of steps allow you to let the installer know the location where you want ALM installed,
and (optionally) the path to the license file. It is ok to complete the installation without a license file. You
can also set up the license file manually after the installation has completed.

==================================================
Choose Install Folder
---------------------
Please choose a destination folder for this installation.

Installation Directory:

Default Install Folder: /usr/local/altair/licensing14.0

ENTER AN ABSOLUTE PATH, OR PRESS <ENTER> TO ACCEPT THE DEFAULT

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The installer will ask you if you want to have the init scripts for automatic startup installed. It is
recommended to say yes to this question.

Finally, the installer will also attempt to configure the URT. If needed you can manually configure the
proxy in the “<install_directory>/alus.conf” file. Once the installation has completed, you can verify that
the ALM is running by using “ps -ef|grep altair”.

Reviewing the Altair License Manager

You can find the version of ALM by looking in the alm_release file in the folder where ALM is installed
(eg: C:\Program Files\Altair\licensing14). The alm_release file is a plain text file and can be opened in a
text editor. The version number mentioned here is the installed version of ALM.

In case you have multiple versions of ALM installed on your machine, the version that is currently
running, can be identified as follows:

Windows

Look at the properties of Altair License Server in the windows services app.

Linux

Open up a terminal window on the machine that is running ALM and run the following commands:

[coyohuacan@localhost ~]$ ps -ef:grep altair

root 936 1 2 13:28 ? 00:00:07 /usr/local/altair/licensing14/
bin/lmx-sery -b -c /usr/local/altair/licensing14.0/altair-serv.cfg
coyohua+ 1289 1248 0 13:32 ttyl 00:00:00 grep –color auto altair
Ecoyohuacan@localhost -3$ cd /usr/local/altair/licensing14.0
EcoyohuacanPlocalhost licensing14.0]$ cat alm_release
Altair License Manager (ALM) v14.0 build 2
[coyohuacan&localhost licensing14.0]$ _

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 Altair Client-Server setup

Setting up a client server environment involves installing (or updating) the ALM, getting the ALM running
with a valid license file, and connecting the clients to ALM

Setting up an Altair License file

The basic process of getting the license server up and running is to place your license in an appropriate
location, and restarting the license manager.

Windows

Place (or replace) the license file in the ALM installation directory (default C:/Program
Files/Altair/Licensing <version>/). Launch the “Services” app. From the list of services, browse for Altair
License Manager. Right click on it, and restart the process.

Once this is done, open the Altair License Manager, go to the License Usage tab and check that the
license is working properly.

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Linux

Place (or replace) the license file in the ALM installation directory (default
/usr/local/altair/licensing<version>), restart the license daemon using altairlmxd (ALM startup script)
which is located in /etc/init.d.

The script accepts the arguments stop, start and restart to perform such actions. For example

/etc/init.d/altairlmxd [start;stoplrestart]
[root@localhost etc]# /etc/init.d/altairlmxd stop
The [Altair License Manager] was successfully stopped.
[root@localhost etc]# /etc/init.d/altairlmxd start
Starting Altair License Manager...
The Altair License Manager was successfully started.
[root@localhost etcl# Croot@localhost etc]# /etc/init.d/altairlmxd restart
The [Altair License Manager] was successfully stopped.
Starting Altair License Manager...
The Altair License Manager was successfully started.
[root@localhost etc]#

Connecting Network Clients to the Altair License Server

To connect your Network clients to your license server, you have to set up an environment variable
pointing to your ALM. This will enable the applications to access the Units required for it to be launched.

Windows

Go to Systems Properties  Environment Variables  New and set:

Variable Name: ALTAIR_LICENSE_PATH
Variable Value: <port>@<ServerName>
or
Variable Value: <port>@<ServerIPaddress>

For example:
Variable Name: ALTAIR_LICENSE_PATH
Variable Value: 6200@server-1

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Linux

On a POSIX compliant shell you could use:

export ALTAIR_LICENSE_PATH= <port>@<hostname>

or
export ALTAIR_LICENSE_PATH= <port>@<ip address>

For Example:
export ALTAIR_LICENSE_PATH=6200@server-1

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Altair Standalone license setup

A standalone (or node-locked) license allows users to run enabled Altair products only on the approved
machine, without the need to set up a license server.

In order to get Altair products running, place the license file at a location of your choice, and create an
ALTAIR_LICENSE_PATH Environment Variable and point it to the license file

Windows

Go to Systems Properties  Environment Variables  New and set:

Variable Name: ALTAIR_LICENSE_PATH

Variable Value:<path to the license file>\altair_lic.dat

For Example:
Variable Name: ALTAIR_LICENSE_PATH
Variable Value: C:\Program Files\Altair\License\altair_lic.dat

Linux

On a POSIX compliant shell you could use:

export ALTAIR_LICENSE_PATH=<path to the license file> /altair_lic.dat

e.g.,

export ALTAIR_LICENSE_PATH=/usr/local/Altair/License/altair_lic.dat

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FAQ

Q: Do I need a 2019 license to run HyperWorks 2019 applications?

A: Yes.

Q: Can I use 2019 license file to launch HyperWorks applications from previous versions?
A: Yes. HyperWorks 2019 license file is compatible with HyperWorks versions 2018, 2017, 14.0, 13.0,
12.0, 11.0, 10.1 and 9.1.

Q: Is an existing Altair License Manager (ALM) v13 on my license server machine compatible with
HyperWorks 2019?
A: No. It is required to use Altair License Manager 14.0.2 or later versions on your license server
machine.

Q: How can I check the ALM version currently in use on my license server machine?
A: The ALM version is documented in the file alm_release located in the license server directory. For
more information see section on Reviewing the Altair License manager

Q: Can running HyperWorks applications remain active when installing a 2019 license file for the first
time?
A: No. Any running HyperWorks application should be closed prior to installing a 2019 license file for the
first time.

Q: Can I use several ALM in parallel on my license server machine?

A: No. You can run only one ALM on the same license server machine.

Q: How do I point to a license server in order to invoke a HyperWorks application from my local
machine?
A: Set the environment variable, ALTAIR_LICENSE_PATH, to the value <port>@<host>. For example:
6200@servername.

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Appendix 1: Altair Connect

Altair Connect, is Altair’s customer portal (https://connect.altair.com)). Users and Systems Admins can
download the latest version of Altair License Manager, Altair Products as well as relevant product
Documentation from Altair Connect. Altair Connect also provides an avenue for Altair users to submit
help desk requests that are answered by the Altair Technical Staff.

If you are a new user requesting Altair Connect access, please register using your work email address.
Registrations with a generic e-mail address will not be approved.

Software Downloads
If you have already registered on Altair Connect, please login to Altair Connect to download the latest version of
HyperWorks and Altair License Manager using this link:

https://connect.altair.com/CP/downloads.html?suite=HyperWorks
For Altair license manager, go to "Licensing" section
For HyperWorks software, go to "Software" section and select your platform.
For HyperWorks Installation guides and Release notes, go to "Documentation" section.

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Appendix 2: Uninstalling an older version of ALM
Once you have the new version of ALM running, we recommend that you uninstall the older version of
ALM.

Windows

You can launch the Uninstall wizard in one of the following ways:

• C:\Program Files\Altair\licensing<version>\uninstall\Altair_License_Server_<version>_Uninstaller.exe, or
• Uninstall the “Altair License Server <version number>” from the “Programs and Features” section of the
Control Panel.

Linux

You can launch the uninstaller from a terminal window, by going to the <install_location>” and the
running “./run_uninstall”.

[root@localhost licensing14.0]# ./run_uninstall Altair

========================================================
License Server 14.0 (created with InstallAnywhere)
--------------------------------------------------------
Preparing CONSOLE Mode Uninstallation...

========================================================
Uninstall Altair License Server 14.0
------------------------------------
About to uninstall...

Altair License Server 14.0 This will remove features installed

by InstallAnywhere. It will not remove files and folders created
after the installation.

PRESS <ENTER> TO CONTINUE:

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