Licensing Getting Started

According to the terms of your CM Labs contract, you are entitled to one or more products.

CM Labs will create one or more activation keys corresponding to the purchased products.

An activation key is a 16-digit code and is used to generate of one or more license files for the computer(s) that will run Vortex Studio applications.

The Vortex Studio License Manager application lets you generate license files using the activation keys provided by CM Labs, you don't need to contact support to generate license files once you have an activation key.

Products are complementary, i.e. each license file unblocks a product. For example, Vortex Studio Create and CAD Add-On require two license files, each one generated using a different activation key.

See Using the License Manager Application.

Terminology

• Activation Key: An activation key is a 16-digit code used to generate one or more license files
• Activation Server:  Server that users connect to in order to generate a license file using an activation key. The RLM activation server is reached via the internet.  The activation server URL is http://hostedactivation.com/cmlabs.
• License file: A file created as the result of generating a license.
• License Server: A centralized computer software system that allows client computers to enable licensed software to run on them.
• License Folder: Location of  the generated license file, typically C:/CM Labs/Licenses folder on Windows or /opt/cmlabs/licenses/ on Linux. 

Types of Licensing

Four types of licenses are available depending on the products you purchased.

Node-Locked Licensing

Node-locked license files are bound to one hardware device and cannot be transferred.

Any number of application instances are allowed to execute on the same computer.

See Generating Node-Locked License Files.

Dongle-Locked Licensing

Dongle-locked license files are bound to one specific dongle device.

The generated license files are valid on any computer that detects the specific dongle for which the license files have been generated.

You must install a dongle driver on each computer you want to use the dongle with. The dongle driver can be found on the Sentinel customer website.

See Generating Dongle-Locked License Files on Windows

Floating Licensing

Floating licensing is hosted on license servers.

The application using a floating license must connect to the license server, a request is sent to the server.

If a license is available, the license server allows the application to run.

When the application ends using the license, the license is reclaimed by the license server and made available to other authorized users.

Floating licensing enforces a maximum number of computers that can use the product at the same time.

See License Server Setup.

See Generating Floating License Files.

Application-Locked Licensing

Compatibility Notice

A product activated with an Academic license can open and run content created with other licenses.

How to Use your Activation Key

How to Use your Activation Key for Vortex Studio Create

How to Use your Activation Key for Vortex Studio Activate

Using the License Manager Application

To generate each license file, you must use the Vortex License Manager application, installed by default with Vortex Studio.

Generating Node-Locked License Files

When you purchase a Vortex Studio product with a node-locked license, CM Labs sends you activation keys that you can use to generate the node-locked license files on your computer.

License Server Setup

This information explains how to set up a license server, allowing any computer on your network to run Vortex Studio with floating licenses.

Generating Floating License Files

When you purchase a Vortex Studio product with a floating license, CM Labs sends you activation keys that you can use to generate the floating license files on the license server.

Troubleshooting Licenses

This section describes how to troubleshoot issues with licensing.

Custom Licensing

This topic covers some licensing situations that apply to custom use cases.