Licensing

Introduction

Lightmap uses RLM encryption from Reprise Software to unlock HDR Light Studio. We support both nodelocked license keys and floating (network) license keys.

Activation codes encapsulate what you have bought on the web site and are used to generate an RLM license key for the computer you will use.

Installing your license keys

If you have bought a nodelocked license, just run HDR Light Studio on the computer you wish to use and enter the activation code in the dialog on startup, or from the Help menu after launch. The activation code and Mac Address of the computer are used to generate an RLM license key that is stored in a directory on your computer.

If you have bought a floating license you will need the hostid and hostname of the computer you wish to use as a license server. Follow our step-by-step guide to the floating license installation process.

Nodelocked and Floating Licenses

A single nodelocked license will allow HDR Light Studio to run on one nominated computer.

A single floating license will allow HDR Light Studio to run on any networked computer at any one time.

Without a valid license key installed, a red watermark will appear on your HDRI canvas and you will not be able to save your lighting projects.

Nodelocked License

Nodelocked licenses are easy to get working. They simply require a text file containing the license key to be stored in a particular directory on the computer you are using to run HDR Light Studio. Here’s an example of a nodelocked license.

It should be stored in a plain text file with a .lic file extension. If you have installed your nodelocked license from an activation code, we will have put the license key in the correct directory for you. If you’re interested, those locations are shown below for a user called Fred.

Windows C:\Users\Fred\AppData\Local\Lightmap\licenses

Linux /Users/local/Lightmap/licenses

Floating Licenses

To get floating licenses to work, you will need to install the RLM license server software on a nominated computer on your network (license server). The license server manages your use of HDR Light Studio through the license key. The license key is a human-readable text file that typically defines the version of HDR Light Studio you can use, the number of computers you can use for lighting and how long the license is valid. Here is an example:

Any client computer that has HDR Light Studio installed needs to know which computer is being used as the license server. This is done through a simple text file or an environment variable.

Step-by-step guide to the floating license installation process

You can buy a floating license from our web site. You do not need to know any details of your license server when you purchase your license. You will receive an activation code.

1. Pick a computer to be your license server.
2. Download the RLM on the license server.
3. Install the RLM on the license server.
4. Get the hostid of your license server.
5. Get the hostname of your license server.
6. Use your activation code, hostid and hostname to generate your floating license key.
7. Put the floating license key in the same directory as your rlm executable.
8. Start rlm.
9. Set up your client machines to request a license from the license server.

1. Pick a computer to be your license server.

Choose one that is up and running most of the time and bear in mind the following requirements.

System Requirements for the License Server

• All client machines must be able to connect to the license server using TCP/IP.
• The license server can run on a virtual machine.
• The license server can run on Mac OS X, Linux or Windows.
• If you are already using rlm for another product and wish to use it to license our products, the version of rlm must be 9.4BL4 or above.

2. Download the RLM License Server

If you don’t already have rlm, you can download it here

• RLM License Server for Windows
• RLM License Server for Linux 64
• RLM License Server for Mac

Note - If you require RLM for another operating system then please download the RLM License Administration Tools directly from Reprise Software (http://www.reprisesoftware.com/admin/software-licensing.php). If you download these tools directly from Reprise, or wish to use an existing RLM server from another vendor to license HDR Light Studio, you will be missing the ISV server settings file, lightmap.set. You should download lightmap.set and put it in the same directory as the RLM executable.

3. Install the RLM License Server

Extract the files from the archive. You can put the rlm files into any directory. We call this the RLM Directory. Several files are shipped with RLM but three files are worth mentioning.

rlm
This is the generic RLM license server. This runs the vendor specific license server, reads your license files and manages your license usage across the network.

rlmutil
This is a command line utility that allows you to start/stop the license server, display information about your computer (hostname, hostid) and show the number of available licenses.

lightmap.set
This is the Lightmap license server.

4. Get the hostid of your license server

The easiest way of displaying your hostid (MAC Address) is to use the rlmutil command. See the user guide for other methods.

On Linux or Mac OS X, type the following command in a terminal or shell:

On Windows, type the following command at the command prompt:

In the example below, the hostid is b8e856438582. You should use just the first number if more than one is returned.

5. Get the hostname of your license server

The easiest way of displaying your hostname is to use the rlmutil command.

On Linux or Mac OS X, type the following command in a terminal or shell:

On Windows, type the following command at the command prompt:

In the example below, the hostname is acme_server

6. Use your activation code, hostid and hostname to generate your floating license key.

7. Put the floating license key in the same directory as your rlm executable

You will have received your license keys in an email. You may have one or more files attached to the email. Save the attached .lic files in the same directory as your rlm executable.

8. Start rlm

A quick way to get RLM running is to run it directly from the command line. It will read any file with a .lic file extension in the same directory. From a terminal, shell or command prompt, change directory to the RLM Directory and enter the following command to start the rlm license server and print diagnostic information to the screen.

If you prefer to write diagnostic information to a log file, type this instead:

To append log information to an existing log file, try this:

Although running rlm from the command line is quick, the disadvantage of this method is that you’ll need to restart rlm each time you restart the computer. To configure rlm so that it starts automatically each time the license server is rebooted, read Auto-starting the RLM License Server in the user guide.

If RLM is already running and you don't want to stop and restart it, just put the license file in the RLM directory and reread the license files by typing this command.

9. Set up your client machines to request a license from the license server.

On artists’ machines you need to set up the environment so that HDR Light Studio can find the license server and request a license to use the software. This can be done with a simple text file or an environment variable.

Text File Method

Start HDR Light Studio on the client machine and, from the top menu bar, select Help -> Open License Directory. In this directory, create a plain text file called client.lic and edit the contents so that it contains the following single line.

where acme_server is the hostname of the license server and 5053 is the port number.

Environment Variable Method

If you prefer, you can use an environment variable on the user's machine that is set as part of their login script.

Where 5053 is the port number and hostname is the host name of the license server. Note that lightmap_LICENSE is case sensitive and must be typed exactly as shown. Setting LIGHTMAP_LICENSE will not work.

Testing it works

Run HDR Light Studio on a client machine and check that the software is licensed.

Something not working?

Have a look in the user guide.