How to specify license servers using the ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE environment variable

Issue

Solution

To use an environment variable to specify one or more license servers for your Autodesk products:

1. On the Start menu (Windows), click Settings > Control Panel.
2. Double-click System.
3. In the System Properties dialog box, click the Advanced tab.
4. Click Environment Variables.
5. Under System Variables, click New.
6. In the Variable Name box, enter ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE
7. In the Variable Value box, enter the license server(s) in the following format:

@server1;@server2;@server3 (where server is the hostname or IP address of your license server)

8. Click OK to close each dialog box.

Consider the following when using the ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE environment variable to specify license servers: 

• This variable is automatically set during a client installation from a deployment that is configured for distributed servers.
• Licenses are located based on the order that the servers are listed in the environment variable. It is strongly recommended that you have client computers look to their closest geographic server first.
• There is no maximum number of servers that you can specify, but an environment variable does have certain character limitations, which depend on the version of Windows® operating system that you use.
• You do not need to restart your system for this change to take effect. The setting becomes valid once you close the System Properties dialog box.
• This variable automatically overwrites the current license server settings, such as the licpath.lic file and registry cache.
• Only products that use the ADSKFLEX.EXE vendor daemon are affected. Other FLEXnet®-enabled products are not affected by this variable. Contact the appropriate product vendor directly for similar variables for vendor daemons.

See also

Using an IP address in place of server hostname
Using ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE and LM_LICENSE_FILE variables on same computer
Network License Finder dialog box is always displayed at startup