Sometimes, we all just need a wee bit more time!

Every day, our Ideate Software Support team fields questions from the architecture, engineering, construction and building owner (AECO) community from around the world.

One of our top support requests is about the management of network licenses.

Ideate Software uses the same network license technology used by Autodesk applications for network licenses. The FlexLM software is provided as part of Autodesk Revit software, and it allows network licensing of Ideate Software applications as well.

We quickly field many questions around setting up the server and client computers. However, one little tidbit of information wasn’t so obvious. It came up recently with a question from a large AECO firm whose London office was able to ping the server in Oakland, California just fine; but the Ideate Software network license didn’t seem to be able to contact the server in Oakland from the London location. The answer was to set the FLEXLM_TIMEOUT environment variable to a higher number, giving the client’s PC more time to talk to the server that holds the licenses. This was needed because there is a large distance and network latency between computers. Sometimes, even the internet needs a wee bit more time to provide answers over long distances.

You can find more information on setting the environment variable in our online HELP file for Ideate Software network licensing. It’s also a GREAT place to look for answers to any question on network licensing.

Network licensing is an amazingly convenient and powerful way to share licenses across your network anywhere in the world. We are always here to help if you have questions.