How does licensing work?
This topic provides an overview of how Sonnet's licensing is done and is intended for a user already familiar with FLEXnet, the license manager software.
If you are having problems opening a project, or analyzing a project in Sonnet Lite, please see Cannot open or analyze a project in Sonnet Lite under Known Bugs.
When you receive a license email from Sonnet, it includes a ”sonnet.lic” attachment The sonnet.lic is a standalone license file and in the right circumstances may be used without any changes. By default, Sonnet looks for this file at <Sonnet Directory>/licenses/sonnet.lic where <Sonnet Directory> is the directory in which Sonnet is installed.
The Sonnet Suite software checks out the license by first checking standard FLEXnet environmental variables such as ”SONNETD_LICENSE_FILE” and ”LM_LICENSE_FILE.” If these environmental variables are not present, Sonnet then uses the settings in the License dialog box environmental variables, it then uses the setting in the license dialog box.
NOTE: If you are using the environmental variables, then we suggest you use SONNETD_LICENSE_FILE and not LM_LICENSE_FILE. If you are using SONNETD_LICENSE_FILE, then you will not need to use the License dialog box. If the dialog box is accessed, you should select the "Local" option and leave the License File text entry box empty.
The license dialog box provides an easy way for the end user to set up their license and enable their software without getting involved with environmental variables. There are two options: Local and Remote.
The Local option tells the software to use the license file sent to you by email from Sonnet in response to a license request. You should have saved this file on your computer, enter its location in the License File text entry box, then click on the OK button. This will copy the emailed license file to your Sonnet directory.
Normally, the license file you enter is copied to a default location
<Sonnet Directory>\licenses\sonnet.lic
where <Sonnet Directory> is the directory in which Sonnet is installed. If you wish to place the license file used by the License Manager in another location, click on the Advanced button and enter the desired destination for the license file when it is copied.
Windows Only Note: If you do not have administrator permissions and your license does not require a license manager (for example, if you are evaluating the software), then the default location for the license file is in <My Documents>/sonnet/<version>/licenses/sonnet.lic
The Remote option tells the software to access the license manager using the port@host feature for FLEXnet. Again any environment setting will override the settings in this dialog box. For example, if SONNETD_LICENSE_FILE=7852@oldserver (used for the previous release of the software) and this dialog box says to use ”newserver” with a port of 7852, the license is still going to be checked out from the old server.
