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| Standardized licensing across all ERDAS products In October 2008, ERDAS is standardizing on a single yearly release for all products, so that customers can better plan their upgrade strategies. For the ERDAS Software 2009 (October 6, 2008) release, all ERDAS products (with minor exceptions) use FLEXnet Publisher 11.5 from Acresso Software (formerly Macrovision) as the sole means to manage licenses. Standardization on FLEXnet simplifies licensing since only a single license manager package will be required to manage licensing for all products, seats, etc. ERDAS-Net licensing offers new, simplified license interfaces, Supersede licenses, multi-dongle support, and advanced features such as license borrowing (check out). See the Downloads tab to download the stand-alone ERDAS-Net license manager. Multi-Platform Support Supported Platforms: - Windows XP (32 and 64-bit) - Windows Vista Enterprise (32 and 64-bit) - Windows Server 2003 (32 and 64-bit) - Windows Server 2008 (32 and 64-bit) - Red Hat Enterprise 5.x (32-bit x86) - CentOS 5.x (32-bit x86) - Solaris 10 (32-bit SPARC) ERDAS-Net Licensing FAQ Q: If I already have license files for prior versions, will I be able to use them in the ERDAS-Net Licensing? A: No. ERDAS-Net licensing is used for all releases in October 2008 and beyond. In order to license an older version, you must operate the prior ERDAS, ER-Mapper, or IONIC licensing systems. We have proven that the ERDAS and ERDAS-Net license managers can both run on the same license server machine during your transition, although each will need to use distinct ports. Q: Will a new ERDAS-Net license file unlock older versions of ERDAS software? A: No. An ERDAS-Net license will not unlock a FLEXlm version (9.2 and earlier) of an application. An LPS 9.3 license file (ERDAS-Net) will not unlock LPS 9.2 (ERDAS), but a future LPS 9.4 license will unlock LPS 9.3. Q: May I use an old license manager and old license file to unlock new versions of ERDAS software? A: No. In order to use a floating license of an ERDAS-Net enabled product, you must set up an ERDAS-Net license manager on your network. Q: Will new license files be required for every new release of ERDAS software? A: Yes. All annual releases of software require a new license file. Fortunately, license merging is no longer necessary. If your ERDAS Software Maintenance contract was valid at the time of release of the new version, you can visit the ERDAS Licensing web site and either self-generate or be issued an updated license file that reflects all of the products you have licensed. You only need to load and keep the latest license file you get from ERDAS. Q: Will I be able to continue to use my ERDAS IMAGINE / LPS hardware key (dongle) to provide the unique system ID for licensing? A: Legacy ERDAS-style dongles from SafeNet (Rainbow) will continue to be supported on Microsoft Windows, but the system ID it reports will be different. Q: Will I be able to continue to use my ER Mapper Pro hardware key (dongle) to provide the unique system id against which to license? A: Dongles from Rockey were required for previous versions of ER Mapper Professional in some areas of the world. A dongle will not be required for ERDAS ER Mapper 7.2. As with all of ERDAS's products, you have the option of using dongle-free system identification or purchasing a SafeNet dongle. If you already have a SafeNet dongle, you can now have all of your new products tied to that dongle. Q: Do I have to use the same computer for licensing as I did previously? A: It is not necessary to use the same machine as your license server. Since your system ID for licensing ERDAS Software 2009 and beyond will be different from before, ERDAS will allow you to chose any computer to license under the new scheme. As with every release, if you change system IDs, you are not entitled to use the new upgraded licenses and also use the old licenses on different machines. Other system ID changes are governed by ERDAS's standard System ID Change policy. Q: How do I determine the unique System ID for the computer I wish to license? A: Install your ERDAS software or the stand-alone ERDAS-Net license manager, open the License Administration dialog, and select System > Show Sysid. Q: What is a FLEXid Dongle? A: FLEXnet ID is a dongle resold by Acresso. The FLEXID "9" series of dongles are based upon Aladdin HASP HL dongles. The advantages of FLEXnet ID dongles are that the dongle support is built into the FLEXnet licensing software (no need for error-prone custom code), and the dongle can be shared between many applications, not just those produced by ERDAS. Q: Will both Floating and Node-locked licensing be supported? A: Yes. For desktop products, ERDAS does not charge a premium for floating (concurrent use) licenses, and the floating licenses are issued by default. Most ERDAS products are also available with node-locked licenses, so you can select that when running a license server is not desirable. Q: Will license borrowing ("check out") be supported? A: License borrowing permits you to "check out" a floating license from a server, and use that license even when disconnected from that server. This is useful if you have a laptop you want to take home or into the field for a period of time. This feature is disabled by default, but can be easily enabled. Please see Home > Support > Licensing > License Borrowing. Q: Will Redundant Servers be supported, or any other style of "failure-proofing" of the license server? A: The option to set up a three-node redundant server remains for the current floating license files. |
