User`s guide

License Operation and Availability
When a user starts an Autodesk product, the product determines the server
from which it should try to obtain a license. The product then requests a
license through the TCP/IP network protocol to the license server.
If the number of available licenses has not been exceeded on the license server,
the Network License Manager assigns a license to the workstation. A product
session then starts on the workstation, and the number of available licenses
on the license server is reduced by one.
Likewise, when a user exits a product, the Network License Manager frees a
license for another user. If a user runs multiple sessions of an Autodesk product
on an individual workstation, only one license is used. When the last session
is closed, the license is freed.
The following three processes manage the distribution and availability of
licenses:
■ License manager daemon (lmgrd.exe). Handles the original contact with
the application, and then passes the connection to the vendor daemon.
The lmgrd.exe daemon is used to communicate with the vendor daemon
only; lmgrd.exe does not authenticate or dispense licenses, but rather passes
user requests to the vendor daemon. By using this approach, a single
lmgrd.exe daemon can be used by multiple software vendors to provide
license authentication. The lmgrd.exe daemon starts and restarts the vendor
daemons as needed.
■ Autodesk vendor daemon (adskflex.exe). Keeps track of the licenses that
are checked out and the workstations that are using them. Each software
vendor has a unique vendor daemon to manage vendor-specific licensing.
As its name implies, the adskflex.exe vendor daemon is specific to Autodesk
products.
NOTE If the adskflex.exe vendor daemon terminates for any reason, all users lose
their licenses until lmgrd.exe restarts the vendor daemon or the problem causing
the termination is resolved.
■ License file. A text file that has vendor-specific license information.
18 | Chapter 3 Plan Your Network Licensing