License Admin

There are three alternative methods for configuring the Imagix license manager to operate in your environment.

Node-Locked A node-locked installation enables you to run Imagix 4D on a specific machine. This approach requires a node-locked style Windows or Linux license file.

Floating, File-Based Available under Linux but not Windows, a file-based floating installation enables users to share licenses; as one user closes an Imagix 4D session, a seat gets freed up, enabling another user to open Imagix 4D. License management is file-based, so no license server needs to be running in the background. This approach requires a floating style Linux license file, and only supports Imagix 4D running as a Linux client application.

Floating, Server-Based A server-based floating installation enables users to share licenses; as one user closes an Imagix 4D session, a seat gets freed up, enabling another user to open Imagix 4D. License management is server-based, so that a license server needs to be running in the background before an Imagix 4D client session can be started. Depending on where the license server is going to run, this approach requires a floating style Windows license file or a floating style Linux license file. Regardless of which operating system the license server itself is running under, Imagix 4D client applications are supported across Windows and Linux.

License File Contents

By inspecting a license file, you can determine which method of licensing it supports and what workstation it's tied to. If it's a floating license, you're also able to read how many concurrent users it supports.

All of this information is contained in the license file. The first two lines of the file have the format: 

Installation company_name machine_id any
License 4D rel_num.edition [num_seats] [mac_addr] l\}vy...

company_name identifies the company and specific license for which the license file was issued.

machine_id identifies the specific machine for which the license file was issued. In the case of a floating, file-based license installation, this is the machine that will serve as the Imagix 4D file server. For a floating, server-based installation, this is the machine where the license server will run. Under Windows, this is the host name, found by running `ipconfig /all'. Under Linux, this is the MAC address (HWaddr), found by running `/sbin/ip link', or `/sbin/ifconfig -a' if that fails.

rel_num indicates the release number supported by the license. A value of 10 indicates that the license works with any 10.x or earlier release of Imagix 4D.

edition indicates the edition supported by the license, and the resulting functionality that will be enabled. A value of 0 corresponds to the Advanced edition, a value of 1 to the Standard edition, and a value of 2 to the Core edition. A value of M means that the license supports multiple editions. The edition value can have multiple digits. In such licenses, the edition is indicated by the last digit, and earlier digits enable optional features.

num_seats indicates the number of concurrent users supported by the license. This integer value (followed by an S on Windows licenses) does not appear in a node-locked license file.

mac_addr, which appears only in Windows license files, is a second identifier of the specific machine for which the license file was issued. This is a MAC address (Physical Address) associated with ethernet hardware in the machine, and is found by running `ipconfig /all'.

Installing a License - Overview

Detailed instructions for license installation are available elsewhere. You can access them as part of the installation information on the Imagix website. They are also contained in the readme file in the root imagix installation directory, once you've run the self-installing Windows executable or untarred the Linux tarfile. What follows below is an overview of the license installation process.

Once you have received a license file from Imagix or your distributor, copy it to a permanent location on your file system. Choose a location that is visible from the machine you're installing Imagix 4D on.

You can start the Imagix License Installer through Help > License > Install menu in Imagix 4D. If you don't currently have a valid license installed, the License Installer will start automatically when you try to start Imagix 4D.

Node-Locked License

Typically, the evaluation licenses provided for Windows are node-locked licenses. The node-locked method is relatively straightforward to administer. On the machine for which the license has been issued, start the License Installer. Proceed through the dialogs of the License Installer; where appropriate, enter the full path name of the copied license file. Once the License Installer indicates that the license has been successfully installed, you can simply restart Imagix 4D and proceed to use the tool.

Floating, File-Based License

The floating, file-based method is also relatively straightforward to administer. Install the Imagix software on the same Linux machine that the license file is issued for. Make sure that you're logged into that machine; you can do this via remote login as long as the resulting X window of the Imagix License Installer can be displayed back on the monitor you're running from. You'll need to have write permissions to the directory ../imagix/data. Proceed through the dialogs of the License Installer; where appropriate, enter the full path name of copied license file.

Once the License Installer indicates that the license has been successfully installed, you can simply restart Imagix 4D and proceed to use the tool. You can then run the Imagix 4D application on any Linux machine, as long as a) that machine can read and write to the file location where the Imagix software is installed, and b) a concurrent seat of the license is available.

Under floating, file-based licensing, a concurrent seat is released when a user does a normal exit from Imagix 4D. If an irregular exit, such as a segfault, occurs, the seat is not released, and the user is considered to still be logged in. To free the seat, have the same user, on the same machine, invoke Imagix 4D and then perform a normal exit.

Floating, Server-Based License

Installing the license in the floating, server-based configuration is a bit more complex. At the time you install the license, you need to specify the communication channel. You also ought to configure your system so that the Imagix license server is automatically restarted when the machine running the license server reboots.

The Imagix license server communicates with the actual Imagix 4D client application via tcp/ip sockets. In the License Installer, you need to specify the IP address (or equivalent machine name) of the machine where the license server is to run. You also need to specify which port, or socket, to reserve for the communication. This is an integer between 1024 and 49151; typically values in the range 8000 and higher ought to be used. Check with your system administrator about what ports are available on your system.

If the Imagix 4D client application is going to run from a different copy of the Imagix software than the Imagix license server does (i.e., the Imagix 4D application software is installed on a client machine, or one or more of the Imagix file servers is a different machine than the Imagix license server), then you also need to install the client machine portion of the server-based licensing. This is also done through the Imagix License Installer. It involves specifying the same IP address for the license server and the same port /socket that was installed on the license server machine. This needs to be repeated for each file server that is not also the license server.

For example, you might have one Linux machine (Helsinki1) and one Windows machine (Redmond1) acting as Imagix 4D file servers. This means that when a user on a second Linux machine (Helsinki2) starts Imagix 4D, Helsinki2 reads the Imagix client application software from Helsinki1, and then runs it. The same is true on the Windows side, with Redmond2 reading and running the Imagix software on Redmond1. Assuming that the license server is also Helsinki1, you'd need to run the Imagix License Installer on Helsinki1 and install as `server-based floating license -- server machine'. You'd also need to run the Imagix License Installer on Redmond1 and install as `server-based floating license -- client machine'.

In another example, you might have a Windows-only network, but have the license server running on one machine, and have the Imagix 4D software installed locally on each of 7 user machines. Here, you'd need to run the license install process on Redmond1 as `server-based floating license -- server machine', and on each of Redmond2 - Redmond8 as `server-based floating license -- client machine'.

Invoking the License Server

For both node-locked and floating, file-based licensing, the Imagix 4D application starts by simply invoking the application. However, with the server-based floating license, the Imagix license server must be started before you can check out a seat of Imagix 4D.

In a Windows Win7/Win8/Win10/Win11 system, the installation process automatically sets up the license server as one of the machine's services, but you'll need to manually start the license server through the Services applet when you first install the licensing. For any of these environments, refer to your system documentation for more information.

Under Linux, the license server is started by invoking ../imagix/bin/imagix-licsrv. You ought to configure your system so that the Imagix license server is automatically restarted whenever the machine running the license server reboots. In a Linux system, this generally means adding the invocation of the Imagix license server into your service startup scripts (/etc/systemd/system or /etc/rc?). The Linux distributions include a sample systemd service file and rc script in the ../imagix/bin directory. You can modify these for your environment.

A couple of license server configuration options are available.

You can generate a log of license server activity - client applications being checked out and checked back in. You'll need to specify the full path and filename of the logfile. Under Windows, create a file that contains just one line, the full path you want to use as the logfile, such as `c:/temp/imagix_lic.log'. Name this one-line file LogInfo and place it in the directory $(AllUsersProfile)\Imagix\4D (under recent versions of Windows, this would be c:\ProgramData\Imagix\4D\LogInfo). Under Linux, specify the full pathname of the logfile directly, as part of the license server invocation. This is done using the option `-licsrvlog FILENAME' (for example `imagix-licsrv -licsrvlog /tmp/imagix_lic.log').

Current license status can be obtained through command-line queries. To query the Windows license server, run `imagix-licsppt -licstatus' on the license server machine. Under Linux, invoke `imagix-licstatus'.

You can also limit which machines are allowed to check out a license (and thereby run the Imagix 4D client application). Normally, any machine that can access the license server can then check out the client application, as long as a seat is available. However, if the file ../imagix/data/clients exists, the file will be read, and only machines whose hostname appears in the clients file will be able to check out the Imagix 4D client application. In the clients file, separate each valid machine name with a space rather than with a punctuation character.

Free-Floating License

If you have a Windows laptop running Imagix 4D under a floating, server-based installation of Imagix 4D, you may at times want to disconnect the laptop from your network and take it offsite, but continue to be able to run Imagix 4D on the laptop. The Imagix License Server supports this through the Free-Float License mechanism (Help > License > CheckXX Free-Float License). You can use the mechanism to check out a license to your Windows laptop.

Once you've done so, the seat is retained by the laptop and you're be able to start Imagix 4D even when you are disconnected from the license server. When you're reconnected to the network and done with the license, simply check it back in through the same mechanism.

At the time you check out the free-floating license, you're able specify the maximum checkout period, up to 45 days. If by the expiration of that period you haven't checked the license back in, the check in will occur automatically.

Removing the License Server

On a Windows Win7/Win8/Win10/Win11 system, the first step in removing the Imagix license server is to stop the license server through the Services applet on the license server machine. Next, from the ..\imagix\bin directory on the same machine, run `imagix-licsppt -remove' to unregister the Imagix license server from the list of services. Once that's been done, you can remove the actual Imagix license server and application software from where you've installed it on that machine.

Under Linux, you'll need to halt the license server and back out any changes you made to the your initialization scripts (/etc/rc?).