If your organization already licenses a prior release of StressCheck Professional (e.g. StressCheck v11.1), and your organization is ready to upgrade to StressCheck v12.0, the following steps must be performed by your organization’s IT administrator before distribution. NOTE: You must have an active ESRD membership with Software Downloader access and your organization must have an active StressCheck Software Maintenance & Technical Support (SM&TS) contract to download the latest StressCheck updates.

• Contact ESRD Support to request your StressCheck v12.0 license upgrade.
  • Provide your name, e-mail, organization and server information (server name/server 12-digit MAC address) to ensure we have the latest information on file.
• Update your organization’s FlexNet license server installation to FlexNet 2023 R3 (v11.19.5). Note: FlexNet v11.19.5 is supported on Windows Server 2019 and 2022, as well as Windows 10 and 11. Click here for more details on FlexNet support.
  • This upgrade is required for serving StressCheck v12.0 FEATURES, as previous FlexNet versions will not support the new FEATURES.
• Once the v12.0 FEATURES are sent from ESRD’s Support team to the e-mail provided in the support request, make a backup of your organization’s current license file and then re-import/re-read the upgraded license file using Lmgrd or LMAdmin.
  • Note: v12.0 FEATURES will run either StressCheck v12.0 OR v11.x, so there is no need to keep any v11.x FEATURES.
  • Please notify ESRD Support if StressCheck v10.x or prior FEATURES are still required by your organization.
• Download StressCheck v12.0 from our Resource Library and install on the client machines.
  • Note that StressCheck v12.0, v11.x and v10.x may be concurrently installed/run on the same client node, and FlexNet will decrement from the available license count accordingly.

For more information on upgrading your installation of FlexNet Publisher to serve StressCheck v12.0 FEATURES, refer to FlexNet v11.19.5 License Administration Guide.

For more information on replacing your existing StressCheck license on your FlexNet license server, refer to How Do I Replace ESRD Software Licenses On A FlexNet License Server?

The quickest way to find the path to the StressCheck license file or license server is to open a command prompt (cmd.exe) and copy/paste the following text:

REG QUERY "HKCU\Software\FLEXlm License Manager" /v ESRD2_LICENSE_FILE

  Note: to paste, right click in the command prompt window, and then click “Paste” Hit “Enter”, and the path to the license file and/or license server will be returned. More information:

• How Do I Point to a New License File or Server?
• How Do I Specify My ESRD Software Product License File Or License Server

The FlexNet administrator can control access and permissions of specific FlexNet licensing features based on user, node or group. This is performed by creating a FlexNet Options file (.opt) and placing this file in the root directory of your FlexNet installation. From Chapter 13, “Managing the Options File” in the FlexNet v11.19.5 License Administration Guide:

For concurrent (floating) licenses, the license administrator can:

• Allow the use of features
• Deny the use of features
• Reserve licenses

The concurrent licenses can be held either in license files or in fulfillment records within trusted storage. For activatable licenses, the license administrator can:

• Allow activation of licenses in a specific fulfillment record
• Deny activation of licenses in a specific fulfillment record

For all licenses, the license administrator can:

• Restrict the number of licenses available
• Control the amount of information logged about license usage
• Enable a report log file

Options files allow you, as the license administrator, to be as secure or open with licenses as you like. Lines in the options file are limited to 2048 characters. The \ character is a continuation character in options file lines.

Creating an Options File

• Use the appropriate options listed in Options File Syntax to create the options file for a vendor daemon using any text editor.
• Locate the options file anywhere; however, it is recommended that the options file be placed in the same directory as the license file.
• Add the path to the options file in the license file as the fourth field on the VENDOR line for the application’s vendor daemon.
  • For example: VENDOR sampled /etc/sampled \[options=]/sample_app/sampled/licenses/sampled.opt enables the sampled vendor daemon to look at the specified options file.

If the path is omitted, the vendor daemon automatically looks for a file according to the following criteria:

• the name of the file is vendor.opt, where vendor is the vendor daemon name
• the directory that contains the license file used by lmgrd or lmadmin

The above means that if the name of the vendor daemon (i.e. esrd2.exe) is the same as the options file (esrd2.opt), there is no need to add the path to the options file in the license file. It will be found automatically.

Options File Syntax Examples

• EXCLUDE – Deny a user access to a feature.
  • Usage: EXCLUDE feature[:keyword=value] type {name | group_name}
  • Excludes a user or predefined group of users from the list of who is allowed to use the feature.
  • EXCLUDE supersedes INCLUDE; conflicts between the EXCLUDE list and the INCLUDE list are resolved by the EXCLUDE taking precedence.
  • To exclude the user hank from the list of users able to use feature f1:
    • EXCLUDE f1 USER hank
• GROUP – Define a group of users for use with any options.
  • Usage: GROUP group_name user_list
  • Defines a group of users for use in INCLUDE, INCLUDEALL, INCLUDE_ENTITLEMENT, EXCLUDE, EXCLUDEALL, EXCLUDE_ENTITLEMENT, and RESERVE option lines.
  • Multiple GROUP lines for the same group name add all the specified users into the group. To define the group Hackers consisting of bob, howard, and james:
    • GROUP Hackers bob howard james
  • To specify a list of users or hosts, first define the list using the GROUP or HOST_GROUP option lines, then use the GROUP or HOST_GROUP type to specify the group name. For example:
    • GROUP stars joe barbara susan
    • EXCLUDE coolsoft GROUP stars
• INCLUDE – Allow a user to use a feature.
  • Usage: INCLUDE feature[:keyword=value] type {name | group_name}
  • Includes a user or predefined group of users in the list of who is allowed to use licenses for this feature.
  • Anyone not in an INCLUDE statement is not allowed to use that feature. EXCLUDE supersedes INCLUDE; conflicts between the EXCLUDE list and the INCLUDE list are resolved by the EXCLUDE taking precedence.
  • To include user bob in the list of users able to use feature f1:
    • INCLUDE f1 USER bob
• RESERVE – Reserves licenses for a user or group of users/hosts.
  • Usage: RESERVE num_lic feature[:keyword=value] type {name | group_name}
  • To reserve one license of feature f1 for user mel:
    • RESERVE 1 f1 USER mel
  • If you want to reserve a license for each of several users or groups, you must use a separate RESERVE line for each user or group. If a package name is specified, all components that comprise the package are reserved.

Simple Options File Example (Sampled.opt)

GROUP ESRDEngs matt eric andrew GROUP ESRDDevs kristen dave meng RESERVE 2 SC10_WIN_SC_Ref3D GROUP ESRDEngs RESERVE 1 SC10_WIN_SC_Ref3D GROUP ESRDDevs EXCLUDE SC10_WIN_SC_Ref3D USER lori NOLOG QUEUED This options file restricts the use of concurrent licenses as follows:

• Defines a group called ESRDEngs and lists users matt, eric and andrew.
• Defines a group called ESRDDevs and lists users kristen, dave and meng.
• Reserves two licenses for the feature SC10_WIN_SC_Ref3D for the group ESRDEngs.
• Reserves one license for the feature SC10_WIN_SC_Ref3D for the group ESRDDevs.
• Prevents the user lori from using the SC10_WIN_SC_Ref3D feature on any system on the network.
• Causes QUEUED messages to be omitted from the debug log file.

The sum total of the licenses reserved must be less than or equal to the number of licenses specified in the FEATURE line. In the example above, there must be a minimum of three licenses on the SC10_WIN_SC_Ref3D FEATURE line. If fewer licenses are available, only the first set of reservations (up to the license limit) is used.

For more details refer to: FlexNet v11.19.5 License Administration Guide

If it is desired to override the current license file/server registry values to point to a new license file path or FlexNet license server PORT@SERVER, you will need to create the environment variable “ESRD2_LICENSE_FILE” and set the value of this to be the new license path or PORT@SERVER.

• In System properties, go to Advanced system settings, then click “Environment Variables…”:

• Then, under “User variables for (your username)” click “New…” and set the variable name to “ESRD2_LICENSE_FILE” and the variable value to the license path or PORT@SERVER:

• Then click OK.

For example, if the new license file is located in “C:\My Documents\license.dat”, you will need to set the value to this.  If the license server is “29731@server” (as in the above capture), you will need to set the value to this. When you start an ESRD product, it should use the “ESRD2_LICENSE_FILE” value.

Want to delete the current license file/server registry pointers? How Do I Remove References To ESRD Software License Pointers?

When attempting to obtain a license from a license server, StressCheck does not appear to be able to communicate with the license server even though the client machine is on the network.  Checking LMTools server status returns error message “lmgrd is not running: Cannot connect to license server system. 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.” The firewall on the server machine is blocking incoming requests or the license server has been stopped.  Disable the firewall, make sure the license server is running and try again. To diagnose on the server machine, ensure that lmgrd.exe can run from a command line on the server machine.

Similar messages may occur if using lmadmin as the license server manager. For more details, refer to “Error Code Descriptions” in the FlexNet v11.19.5 License Administration Guide.

Are you connecting to a computer via remote desktop? ESRD products will not run on a physical or virtual machine using a node-locked license when accessed via remote desktop. This is due to the design security of our license manager, FlexNet. If you would like to run ESRD products on a computer remotely, please contact ESRD Support to upgrade to a floating license.

In order to replace an ESRD software license file currently in use on a FlexNet license server (lmgrd or lmadmin), for example if expired or upgraded, the following steps are recommended. Note: it is always recommended to make a backup of FlexNet license files before proceeding with the update.

Lmgrd License Server Manager

If using LMGRD to manage the FlexNet license server, replacing the license can be performed via LMTools.exe.

• Rename the new license file to the SAME name as the current license file in use on the FlexNet license server.
• Replace the current license file with the new license file.
• Ensure the license server name on the SERVER line of the new license file matches the name of the FlexNet license server machine.
• Start LMTools, navigate to the “Start/Stop/Reread” tab, and click “ReRead License File”.
• Verify that the ESRD software product license FEATURES are available by selecting the Server Status tab and selecting the “Perform Status Enquiry” button. The new license file FEATURES should now be seen by the FlexNet license manager and available for clients.

LMAdmin License Server Manager

LMAdmin Interface.

If using the LMAdmin Interface to manage the FlexNet license server, the above process is similar but performed through the Vendor Daemon Configuration tab:

• Rename the new license file to the SAME name as the current license file in use on the FlexNet license server.
• Replace the current license file with the new license file.
• Ensure the license server name on the SERVER line of the new license file matches the name of the FlexNet license server machine.
• Open the Web browser and go to the license server management interface at http://<server>:8090, where <server> is the machine name where the license server is running. Note: LMAdmin can also be launched by using http://localhost:8090.
• Click the Administration tab in the top right and sign in as the administrator.
• On the left side menu, click Vendor Daemon Configuration.
• In the appropriate vendor daemon row (e.g. esrd2), click the Administer button.
• Click the Reread License Files button. If the license file is successfully imported, you will see an appropriate message on the webpage. Note: a restart of the license server or the LMAdmin (Flex) service may be necessary.

For more information: FlexNet v11.19.5 License Administration Guide

As of August 16, 2024 ESRD supports Revenera’s FlexNet Publisher 2023 R3 (v11.19.5) to manage client requests for the latest ESRD software product features via a local network license server. Follow the below steps to get started with setting up a new FlexNet license server manager for concurrent (floating) license management of the latest ESRD software products.

• Is FlexNet v11.19.5 or above already installed and running on the license server? Only the ESRD Daemon installation is required. Learn more about installing the ESRD vendor daemons on an existing FlexNet license server here.
• Don’t have an ESRD product license yet? Follow Tip #2 in our Installation and Licensing page or How Do I Find My HOST ID For ESRD Software Product Licensing? to obtain the FlexNet server’s HOST ID and send to ESRD Support.

Installing ESRD’s FlexNet v11.19.5 License Manager

• Download the FlexNet 11.19.5 License Manager install kit from the ESRD Resource Library.
• Unzip the install kit, and double-click on the MSI to begin the installation. Note: you must have Administrative privileges in order to properly install FlexNet Publisher.
• A setup wizard will appear with the installation options LMAdmin, LMGRD and ESRD Daemon, as well as several checkboxes:

• The default installation directory for all installation options is: C:\Program Files\FlexNet Publisher 64-bit License Server Manager.
  • This directory will also include LicenseAdministrationGuide.pdf for documentation on the LMAdmin and LMGRD options.
  • This documentation can also be downloaded from the ESRD Resource Library: FlexNet v11.19.5 License Administration Guide.

After selecting the preferred installation option, follow the prompts to complete the installation. The installation options and additional checkbox options are discussed in the following.

LMAdmin Option

LMAdmin is the newest implementation of the FlexNet License Manager. Before using this option, IT administrators should uninstall any previous versions of FlexNet as the installer will NOT automatically detect any previous versions.

The LMAdmin installer will attempt to automatically create the service “LMAdmin (Flex)”, install the ESRD vendor daemon(s) and launch the web interface.  Start menu shortcuts should also be available from the Windows Start menu:

• If the service is not found in Windows’ list of services, try uninstalling, then installing again.  If still unsuccessful, the user may need to manually create the service from the command line as described in the License Administration Guide.
• If the service is available but the web interface does not launch and/or the user wishes to manually open the interface instead of using the LMAdmin start menu shortcut, open any browser and go to http://[servername]:8090, where [servername] is the name of the license server. Note: LMAdmin can also be launched by using http://localhost:8090.

To access the LMAdmin interface, click on “LMAdmin Interface”. To apply ESRD floating licenses, the IT administrator first should go to the Administration tab in the upper right:

• The first time the IT Administrator goes to the Administration page, they will need to enter username/password = admin/admin:

• After clicking “Submit,” they will be prompted to change the password from “admin,” to something else. Note: if the password is forgotten, it can always be reset.

Below is a snapshot of the FlexNet Publisher Administration tabs when running LMAdmin:

Next, click Vendor Daemon Configuration on the left. Make sure the ESRD product license is available to be imported. If not, contact ESRD Support and provide the server name and HOST ID.

• Click Import License and browse to/select the ESRD product license file.
• Click the Import License button. Note: if you want to re-import the license key file, select the Overwrite License File on License Server check box.

Finally, verify that the license was properly imported:

• Click the Dashboard tab in the upper right and ensure that the esrd2 vendor daemon is selected:

• Click Concurrent. All active licenses are listed in a table. Note: restarting the license server or the LMAdmin (Flex) service may solve issues with active license listings.

The LMAdmin FlexNet license server is configured and running. You should be able to access this license server and run the licensed ESRD software product(s) on any computer within your company local area network.

For more details on LMAdmin, refer to FlexNet v11.19.5 License Administration Guide.

LMGRD Option

LMGRD is the traditional license server. Before using this option, IT administrators should uninstall any previous versions of FlexNet as the installer will NOT automatically detect any previous versions.

LMGRD can be administered via the LMTools.exe application:

When you receive your ESRD floating license file from ESRD Support, copy it to the FlexNet folder and rename it “license.dat”. Make certain that the true file extension is not hidden from view by Windows Explorer.

To configure the license service and apply the ESRD floating license, start LMTools.exe from the FlexNet folder (requires administrative privileges) and perform the following steps:

• Select the Configuration using Services bubble in the Service/License File tab.
• Select the Start/Stop/Reread tab and click Stop Server.
• Select the Config Services tab. If the paths shown for “lmgrd.exe”, “License File”, and “Debug Log File” are not correct, use the corresponding “Browse” buttons to correct each path as necessary.
• Activate the switches for “Use Services” and “Start Server at Power-Up”. Click Save Service.
• Select the Start/Stop/Reread tab and select Start Server.
• Verify that the ESRD product software license FEATURES are available by selecting the Server Status tab and selecting the “Perform Status Enquiry” button.
• Exit LMTools.

The LMGRD FlexNet license server is configured and running. You should be able to access this license server and run the licensed ESRD software product(s) on any computer within your company local area network.

For more details on LMGRD, refer to FlexNet v11.19.5 License Administration Guide.

ESRD Daemon Option

ESRD Daemon is for users that already have FlexNet License Manager version 11.19.5 or later installed; it will only install ESRD’s vendor daemon(s).  Users should NOT uninstall FlexNet before installing the ESRD vendor daemon(s).

Note: the user may have to copy the daemons (e.g. esrd2.exe) from the installation directory to their server directory.

Enable Event Logging Support

Ensures LMAdmin or LMGRD events are logged under Windows Events. These events are helpful for debugging license administration issues. LMAdmin or LMGRD license server logs are always available for viewing under the LMAdmin Interface or LMTools, respectively.

Include ESRD v9.2 Daemon

Ensures the older ESRD vendor daemon (esrd.exe) is also included in the installation of LMAdmin, LMGRD or ESRD Daemon. This vendor daemon is required to run StressCheck v9.2.

Distribution of ESRD Software Product Licenses and Features

Once a LMGRD or LMAdmin FlexNet license manager is running, ESRD product features may be distributed to client machines on the same network as the license server:

• Place a copy of the license file named “license.dat” (unedited and including the “SERVER” line(s)) onto each client machine that you have installed the ESRD software. Note: if the system administrator prefers to have the client provide a port number and server name, instead of using a copy of the license.dat, this is also supported by setting the environment variable ESRD2_LICENSE_FILE.

• Verify that the licensed ESRD software product(s) can be run from a client machine on the local network by specifying the license file or server upon startup. Are there issues running the software?

If the usage of certain features needs to be limited for one or more users, an options file may be added to the FlexNet license manager. For more details on FlexNet license management, refer to FlexNet v11.19.5 License Administration Guide.

If a FlexNet License Manager is already serving floating (concurrent) licenses for other software products, or the version of FlexNet available on the ESRD Resource Library is not the preferred version of FlexNet, support for ESRD software product licensing is confirmed through FlexNet Publisher 2023 R3 (11.19.5 64-bit). All that is required is the installation of ESRD’s vendor daemons.

Follow the below steps to get started with setting up an existing FlexNet License Manager for concurrent (floating) license management of ESRD software products.

Installing ESRD’s Vendor Daemons

• Download the FlexNet v11.19.5 License Manager package from the ESRD Resource Library. This is required to obtain the ESRD vendor daemons necessary to serve the latest ESRD software product licenses.
• Unzip the install kit, and double-click on the MSI to begin the installation. Note: you must have Administrative privileges in order to properly install FlexNet Publisher.
• A setup wizard will appear with the installation options LMAdmin, LMGRD and ESRD Daemon, as well as several checkboxes:

• Select the ESRD Daemon option and follow the instructions to complete the installation. Note: if StressCheck v9.2 vendor daemons are required, check the “Include ESRD Daemon used by StressCheck 9.2 and earlier” option.
  • Ideally, the ESRD vendor daemons should be installed in the same path as the current FlexNet installation.
  • Otherwise, the user can always copy the ESRD vendor daemons (e.g. esrd.exe, esrd2.exe) from the installation location to their FlexNet folder.

ESRD’s vendor daemon(s) should now be installed on the license server machine. All that is necessary is to ensure the current FlexNet license file and license service is updated. Note: it is always recommended to make a backup of FlexNet license files before proceeding with the update.

Updating the FlexNet License File

If there is an existing FlexNet license file, ESRD product features will need to be appended and the FlexNet license file saved.

• Follow Tip #2 in our Installation and Licensing page to obtain the FlexNet server’s HOST ID and send to ESRD Support.
• If applicable, save a backup copy of your current FlexNet license file that is serving other applications and then append the content of the new license file sent to you from your ESRD Support representative to the end of your current license file.
• Remove the “SERVER” lines from the newly copied information so that you do not have these duplicated within the license file, leaving the original “SERVER” lines at the top of the resulting license file.
• Move the “VENDOR esrd2” and “VENDOR esrd” (optional) lines from the copied information under the “SERVER” lines and save the FlexNet license file.
• The resulting license file should be in a format similar to the following lines:

SERVER 12345abcdef 111222333444 28518

VENDOR other

VENDOR esrd

VENDOR esrd2

#Existing features

FEATURE OTHERSOFTWARE other…

#ESRD software product features

FEATURE SC_WIN_SC_Ref3D esrd2 …

Note: it may be required to update the port number on the SERVER line.  By default, ESRD produces license files which use port 29731 but it may be necessary to use a different port (e.g. 28518).

Updating the FlexNet License Service

Once the FlexNet license file is updated, the existing FlexNet license service will need to re-read the FlexNet license file.

LMGRD License Manager

• If not already running, run the LMTools utility (LMTools.exe), and go to the “Start/Stop/Reread” tab.
• DO NOT stop the license server, as this may interrupt licensing for other software products.  Click “ReRead License File”.
• Verify that the ESRD software licenses are available by selecting the Server Status tab and selecting the “Perform Status Enquiry” button. The status report should display the same license keys that are contained in the license file including those for the ESRD software that you just appended.

LMAdmin License Manager

• Open the Web browser and go to the license server management interface at http://<server>:8090, where <server> is the machine name where the license server is running.
• Click the Administration tab in the top right and sign in as the administrator.
• On the left side menu, click Vendor Daemon Configuration.
• In the appropriate vendor daemon row (e.g. esrd2), click the Administer button.
• Click the Reread License Files button. If the license file is successfully updated, you will see an appropriate message on the webpage. Note: a restart of the license server may be necessary.

Distribution of ESRD Software Product Licenses and Features

Once the existing LMGRD or LMAdmin FlexNet license manager is updated, ESRD product features may be distributed to client machines on the same network as the license server:

• Place a copy of the license file named “license.dat” (unedited and including the “SERVER” line(s)) onto each client machine that you have installed the ESRD software. Note: if the system administrator prefers to have the client provide a port number and server name, instead of using a copy of the license.dat, this is also supported by setting the environment variable ESRD2_LICENSE_FILE.

• Verify that the licensed ESRD software product(s) can be run from a client machine on the local network by specifying the license file or server upon startup. Are there issues running the software?

If the usage of certain features needs to be limited for one or more users, an options file may be added to the FlexNet license manager. For more details on FlexNet license management, refer to FlexNet v11.19.5 License Administration Guide.

ESRD products periodically communicate with the FlexNet license manager to ensure the connection is secure. The periodicity of license checking depends on the licensed ESRD product feature.

StressCheck Core License

The StressCheck Core license remains checked out while StressCheck is open.  Once StressCheck is closed, the license will be released back to the server after a few minutes.

StressCheck Solver Licenses

Typically, a solver license is released “in session”, meaning users should not have to close down StressCheck to release this license once the solver completes or fails. Once the solver completes or fails, the solver license will be released back to the server after a few minutes.

StressCheck Advanced Module Licenses

StressCheck Advanced modules, such as Fracture Mechanics, StressCheck Composites, SRS and BRS, may remain checked out once requested during the session. For example, extracting a stress intensity factor (SIF) during a session will result in a Fracture Mechanics module license being checked out. The Fracture Mechanics license will then be returned to the license server once that session is terminated. The MeshSim Advanced module, which is commonly used to generate boundary layer automeshes around 3D cracks, will be checked in shortly after usage.