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Floating License


In a production environment where licenses must be shared between multiple users and there is no distinct owner of a license, a floating license model must be employed using a FLEXlm license server. Evaluation licenses can be requested here.

Configure Your License Server

  1. Submit the server machine's details (machine name and physical Ethernet address) to Frantic Films and obtain a license file. We recommend storing your license file in the same location as the license manager tools, by default located at c:\Program Files\Frantic Films\Krakatoa\etc\YourPlatform\.
  2. Launch the License Manager Tools application from the Krakatoa entry in the Start Menu. Switch to the Config Services tab. If you do not have this shortcut, use the Krakatoa installer or the Windows Add/Remove Programs utility to change your installed features and add the licensing tools for your platform.
  3. Click in the Service Name drop down list, and type a name for the new FLEXlm license service. For example: 'Krakatoa'
  4. Use the Browse button next to Path to the lmgrd.exe file to select the lmgrd.exe, by default located at c:\Program Files\Frantic Films\Krakatoa\etc\YourPlatform\.
  5. Use the Browse button next to Path to the license file to select the license file supplied by Frantic Films.
  6. IMPORTANT: Point the "Path to the debug log file" to a log file of your choosing.
  7. IMPORTANT: Enable Use Services and Start Server at Power Up in order to register the licensing server as a Windows service that starts when the computer boots.
  8. Click the Save Service button to save your changes and create the service.
  9. Switch to the Start/Stop/Reread tab. You should see the service you just created in the list.
  10. Select the service, and click Start Server.

Configuring Licensing On Workstations

  1. Launch 3ds Max and open the Rendering dialog box. On the Common tab, scroll down to the Assign Renderer panel, and assign Krakatoa to the Production renderer slot. (Step by step instructions are given in the Configuring the Renderer topic.) If no license for Krakatoa has yet been configured, the FLEXlm License Finder will pop up.
  2. Select Specify the License Server and click Next.
  3. Click Next and input the hostname of the license server. Click Next to continue.
  4. The FLEXlm License Finder will confirm completion of the setup. Click Finish to close the window.
  5. If Krakatoa detects a valid license server supporting the correct features, you can launch the Krakatoa Scripted GUI and begin rendering particles.

(Administrator tip: Once defined, the name of the license server will be stored in the Windows registry under the value FRANTIC_LICENSE_FILE in the key: My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\FLEXlm License Manager\FRANTIC_LICENSE_FILE.)

Configuring Licensing On Render Nodes

Since there is no popup that requests a license when rendering in slave mode, you will need to add the requisite registry keys for render nodes. This zip file krakatoa_license_registry_files.zip contains the necessary registry entries.

  1. Unzip the files and open the the relevant one in a text editor. (32_bit_key.reg for 32bit Windows, 64_bit_key.reg for 64bit windows)
  2. Replace all occurrences of your-license-server with the hostname of your FLEXlm server. For example, it may look like this: "FRANTIC_LICENSE_FILE"="@license_server2".
  3. Run it on each machine (by double-clicking, for instance) to add the entries to the registry.