With site network licenses each client computer on the network can "check out" licenses from the license server application which manages the allocation of licenses. The system is designed to provide a maximum number of concurrent users according to the number of seats purchased. For example if you purchased a site licence with 10 seats for the EnergyPlus module then the software can be installed on any number of computers but only a maximum of 10 people will be able to access DesignBuilder EnergyPlus simulations at any one time. If an eleventh person on the network tries to check out an EnergyPlus license (by starting DesignBuilder with EnergyPlus selected in the License dialog) then they will receive a message to say that the seats are all in use and to wait until one becomes available.
DesignBuilder site licensing requires a simple server application to run on the network to provide licenses. Each client computer has a setting to tell the software to run in site license mode and where to find the Licence Server on the network. The site licensing system is quite straightforward but does require a network administrator with adequate IT skills to set it up.
To set up site network licensing on a client computer (i.e. the computer that is to run DesignBuilder) follow the instructions below.
Open the Licence Manager dialog (Help > Licence). Click on the Licence button to open the Licence Manager Wizard.
Select the Site network licence option and press Next.
On the second page enter:
- Either the name of the server or its IP address.
You can find the IP address of your server by typing ipconfig in the Windows Command box on the server machine.
- The port number which will usually be 5053.
When you click the Finish button the connection to the License Server is established based on the port number and IP address you provided on the dialog.
If the site network licence connection was successful you will be shown the Modules Licence tab displaying the licence status of each module.
Once back to the main License Manager dialog you can check out or check back in module licenses through the check boxes in the Use column for each module.
If the server host name or IP address was incorrect, if that server is not running or if the Licence Server service isn't running then the licences will not be accessed and error messages are displayed.