Running License servers on Virtual Machines?

[smurthy]

Hi All,

I have a query on running License servers on VMware ESX 3.5 VMs. Some of the applications have FLEXLM licenses which is fixed to Physical servers MAC address or USB dongle on the server.

If I plan to move these physical servers to virtual how does the licensing schemes changes for these applications?

Any prior experiences on the same will definitely help. Thank You.

Regards

Sathish

[weinstein5]

Welcome to the Forums - VMware uses the FlexLM License server for virtual center and it can run in a Virtual Machine - the issue you have is how to deal with the physical links to MAC Address - for the USB dongles I have had success using Digi's USBAnywhere device (www.digi.com) an IP based USB hub - this will allow you still to use VMotion/DRS/HA with those license servers using the dongles. For MAC address you can actually set the virtual NIC's MAC Address by modifying the configuration file for the VM-

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[kjb007]

VMware uses a certain range for user modifiable MAC addresses, so if your license relies on your current MAC address, you will have to have you license updated.

It will be something like 00:50:56:XX:YY:ZZ, with part of that range being self assigned, and the other half being esx/vc assigned.

-KjB

[BLonborg]

As kjb007, VMware uses it's own range of MAC addresses. When we tried changing the MAC address to a HP one in the VMX file - the VM wouldn't boot. 8-(

For one application, we changed the MAC address by putting the original (HP) address in the NIC properties in Windows 2003. Fortunately, the application kept humming along without having to get a new license.

[smurthy]

Hi,

Thank You for the reply.

My question is not about VMware license itself.

I need to know if you have any experience of running some License servers as Virtual Machines.

Let me know your inputs on the same.

Regards

Sathish

[weinstein5]

VMware's License server is a FlexLM Server and yes I have run it in a Virtual Machine - only difference is it does not rely on the MAC Address or a licensing dongle -

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[kjb007]

I've run many different type of license servers as vm's. Since they are usually very low resource intensive applications, they do well as virtual machines, as long as you can get around the limitations they bring, such as these hardware dongles and other such means to protect the validity of the license.

-KjB

[jguidroz · Accepted solution]

Yes, we do run license servers in VMs. For license servers that are tied to MAC address, you can statically configure the MAC of a VM, but the license server will need to be updated with the new MAC address. For license servers that use a USB dongle, Digi's USB Anywhere is the best route, and we currently utilize this solution.