License borrowing, different domains

[Huug]

Guys,


Yet another licence borrowing topic, asI can't find answers in the previous ones.


I setup the new Flexlm, which comes with the M100 cd's, and readed the new licenses, in order to make license borrowing available. At that point we said definitely goodbye to Proe 2001.

So when I run proe_borrow.bat I can borrow anything I want, and when disconneting, is works fine. Make sure you set the config option "suppress_license_loss_dialog" to yes.


This borrowing makes it easy to take your computer home to continue working but still saving the weekend. Or, to take your computer to a customer to demonstrate something with Proe.


But here's my situation. A customer of us does not have Proe, so he wants to borrow a license from us. They send a computer over to us to install it. At that point we had toadd this computerin our network domain, in order to point to our license server, and get proe installed. Borrowed a license, and worked fine when disconnected. But when the computer got back to the customer, they had to add it back to their network domain. And after doing this, the borrowed licence wasn't available anymore.


In the second try a asked their system administrator to setup a login that had administrator rights, but again, I was not able to install proe again (run ptcsetup), when is was not added to our domain.


So after two days trying, I ended up with nothing. I know everything about Pro/E and licensing, but do not know enough about networking and domains, I guess. Our system administrator wasn't very helpfull either.


As a workaround, I brought my own computer to the customer, with a borrowed license. But their system administrator refuses to get this connected to their network. Boy! As I can only figure out WHAT they want!

So you guys are my last try. Thanks for any reply's.


Huug

 

[kschauer]

Thier network administrator refused to help?!

You are trying to do them a favor. Maybe he should just dig deep
in his pockets and support his people with the software they need.

I'm not positive on this but I think I know what is tripping you
up. When you say "added to domain" I assume you mean that you are
given the laptop a new IP address. I think that the proe license
is locked to an IP and/or MAC address. If he was helpful and
logged your laptop to thier network you may loose proe here. You
can confirm this if that bonehead would help.

If taht is true, you may get by with adding a second NIC (Network
Interface Card) to the laptop. Configure the original on thier
system and the new one on your system. Maybe ProE would be
satisfied.

Now a little note on Ethics...

Some people may say that what you are doing violates the license
agreement with PTC. Thier veiwpoint is that the software license
was sold to your company for it's use only. This can not be
loaned, sold, etc, to other companies. blah, blah, blah.

When it comes to situations like this I tend to take the consumer side,
not the side of the giant. When you perform license borrowing,
your license manager has n-1 license available for your company.
Thus meaning you just forfited the opportunity to use that seat of proe
for yourself. You're not doing this for a profit other than you
normal business. (not in the business of renting software).


Saying that, I don't have a problem with what you are trying to
do. Have you asked PTC. In the long run, they may have an
opportunity of selling more software to other company.

The situation I would give them is that you borrow a license on your
company laptop, go to the customer for review, hook into thier system
for internet access, and then nothing

. They should help. After all, that is what WE pay maintenance for.

 

[Huug]

After not succeeding in configuring their computer, I brought my own, a heavy tower, which worked fine with the borrowd license, including ISDX. Also with my own settings, configs and spaceball. And when plugging their network in, I could access the path to their files.Andwas able to finish my job therein no time.


They did say something aboutI was not authorized to plug a "strange" computer in their network, but hey? How to acces the files? "Burn CD's!" Yeah right.


About those ethics: you are right. The customer was actually hiring me, instead of a license. Normally we do the work for them in our office, but on this "special" occasion I was needed over there. I couldn't be convinced whatmade itso special, after five years of working for them.


No need to tell it where two horrible weeks... But I shouldn't complain from my boss.


Huug

 

[kschauer]

Good job then.

I support you on the ethics as well. You are licensed user and may use it.

"Have mcad, will travel"

 

[slashct]

kschauer is on the right line. Laptops today have 3 (if they have wireless, bluetooth, and regular networking etc) and the order in which they connect will actually change your cpu id. You can go into networking and force it to always use one, but when you connect with one connection to your network and than toanother with a different connection the cpu id changes.


First you should make sure you use the same connections on sharing. I have found that flexible licensing on new laptops such a nightmare that we just made them fixed to the machine, and sometimes this messes up when users use the blue tooth and wirelessbut is fixed when they disconnect and restart.
One trick you can do is make the laptop think that it is always connected bytheethernet port bytaking a network cable and cutting it open and jumping the wires (not sure which off the top of my head). You can change the registry key cannot remember which one from a 0 to1 or something like that. I think I had found the key at : http://www.windowsitlibrary.com/Content/69/01/1.htmlwhat this does it make the laptop always think it is connected.



I think the easiest route for you to get them a license is set up a VPN connection and allow them to get the license from your company as well they could see your database etc.


As for ethics, PTC does not sees that the license is per company and if you change the company name or sell it they will actually make you buy licenese again. This followsas well as other big software companies. I have gone through this twice with PTC as well as EDS. I am not 100% sure what the sharing license says now, maybe they loosened up.