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Lumerical license configuration using environment variable and ini files

This page explains how to configure the Lumerical license without using the Ansys Optics Launcher or the Ansys licensing client settings, through using environment variables or .ini preference files. 

This approach is useful for machines without a graphical interface, defining a license per  system, or defining a license per Lumerical product.

You can set the license in two ways outside the GUI: 

  1. Using the 'License.ini' file 
  2. Using the ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE environment variable

Important – Override order

  • If both the "License.ini" file and the environment variable are set, the "License.ini" file takes precedence.
  • If both the user and system-wide "License.ini" files are set, the user's "License.ini" file will take precedence.
  • Domain (Enterprise or Business) setting in product-specific preferences files takes precedence over “License.ini” settings. 

Using ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE environment variable

  • The ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE environment variable is supported starting Ansys Lumerical 2021 R2.
  • For prior releases that use the legacy Lumerical FlexNet license manager, configure the "License.ini" file as shown below.  

Add the environment variable, ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE with the corresponding port and license server hostname or IP address on the machine running Ansys Lumerical. See adding/modifying environment variables in Windows and Linux for more information.

Using the License.ini preference file

The License.ini file defines the license server hostname, port and license domain (Enterprise or Business)

  • 'License.ini' specifies the port and server running the Ansys license manager. This file is located in the user's home directory (local), or in the installation folder of Ansys Lumerical on the machine (system-wide).
  • The 'License.ini' file is automatically created when configuring Lumerical with the Ansys Optics Launcher > Licenses configuration utility. 
  • This can also be manually created and edited from the command line to specify different licensing information e.g. license server, port and license type to checkout, either Enteprise or Standard license.

Preference files location

Local User

  • Windows local user: %AppData%\Lumerical\
  • Linux local user: ~/.config/Lumerical
  • System: In the Lumerical installation directory. [These files are created manually.]

See this KB for more information of the Lumerical preference (.ini) files. See notes and examples below for usage information.  

License.ini license domain options and examples

By default, Lumerical will checkout and utilize the Enterprise license if both Business and Enterprise product licenses are available on the license server. 

Set "domain" to the appropriate license type and version as shown in this table: 

Domain License Type Usage
domain=0 Enterprise All versions
domain=1 Business (formerly Standard) From 2024 R1
domain=2 Standard used only on older versions

Note: As of 2024 R1, the option for the Legacy Lumerical FlexNet license has been removed.

Example

  • User settings to checkout Business licenses starting from the 2024 R1 release: 
[license]
default=user
domain=1          
ansysserver\host=1055@myserver
  • System-wide settings to checkout Enterprise licenses starting from the 2024 R1 release: 
[license]   
default=system
domain=0
ansysserver\host=1055@myserver
[license]
default=user
domain=2  
ansysserver\host=1055@myserver
overrideLicenseFile=true

Where:

  • 1055, SERVER port (default). Replaced with this port number with the one used in your license file. 
  • myserver, hostname or IP address of the machine running the Ansys License Manager.
  • overrideLicenseFile=true, option to override the ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE variable which defaults to the Enterprise license. 

Triad license server configuration

Triad redundance license server can also be configured using either the ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE environment variable or 'License.ini' file. 

Windows: Separate the Ansys license server information 

#separate servers with semi-colon(;)
ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE=1055@server1;1055@server2;1055@server3
#License.ini file - separate servers with comma(,) and inside quotes("")
[license]
default=user
domain=2 
ansysserver\host="1055@server1,1055@server2,1055@server3"

Linux: Separate the Ansys license server information with a colon ":".

ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE=1055@server1:1055@server2:1055@server3
#License.ini file
[license]
default=user
domain=1
ansysserver\host=1055@server1:1055@server2:1055@server3

Note: The example above uses default port 1055, with server1, server2, and server3 as the hostnames of the triad license servers. Change the port and the hostname to the port number and hostname of the servers you are using.  

Product-specific ini file overrides

Each product has its own .ini preference file named <productname>.ini. You can set the license per product by creating a [license] section and adding domain variables, or editing domain variables under an existing [license] section. 

Use the following domain variables:

Use the following domain variables:

  • domain=0 for Enterprise license (all versions)
  • domain=1 for Business license (2024 R1 and newer release) 

These settings override the global license domain defined in the License.ini file described in the section above.

Note: You can only set the domain in the product preference files. License server for all products still uses the server either set through the License.ini file or through other means.

Example

In the global License.ini file, set the domain to Enterprise license.

[license]   
default=system
domain=0
ansysserver\host=1055@myserver

In the “Lumerical FDTD.ini” file, set the domain to Business license. This will override the global License.ini specifically for Lumerical FDTD™.

[license]   
domain=1

See also

Lumerical license configuration with the Ansys Optics Launcher  

Create or modify environment variables in Windows  

Setting environment variable in Linux  

Associated files

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