Summary

Synopsis

Discussion

Borrowing is a feature that enables you to use a concurrent license of the product while being disconnected from the network on which your FlexNet Licensing Server resides.

After following the steps in Setting Up Your License Server for Concurrent Licenses of InstallShield, the license server manager (lmadmin) displays the licenses available for check-out. Click the Activatable icon to see how many licenses are available. The following screen shot of lmadmin shows that 2 concurrent licenses of InstallShield 2013 Premier Edition (IS2013-PREM-CC) are available for checkout, and 0 of those licenses are currently borrowed, or detached. The screen shot also shows that 1 concurrent license of InstallShield 2013 Standalone Build (IS2013-SAB-CC) is available for check-out, and that license is not currently borrowed.

When a license is simply checked out (but not borrowed), clicking the Concurrent icon shows that the license has been checked out, or is in use. The following screen shot shows that 1 license of InstallShield (IS2.win.prem) is checked out.

When a license has been borrowed, clicking the Activatable icon reveals that it has been borrowed, or detached. In the screen shot below, 1 of the 2 total concurrent licenses of InstallShield 2013 Premier (IS2013-PREM-CC) is currently borrowed. The single concurrent license of the Standalone Build (IS2013-SAB-CC) is available for borrowing.

For step-by-step instructions regarding how to borrow a license, see Borrowing InstallShield or InstallShield Collaboration Licenses from the License Server. When you are borrowing a license, the Borrow a License Wizard requires you to enter a value for the borrow duration - the number of days that you want to borrow the license. Once the borrow period has elapsed, the borrowed license becomes invalid on the client and available again for check-out on the license server.

This value may be anywhere from 1 to 60 days. Note that the FlexNet Licensing Server cannot cancel the borrowed license before this borrow period has elapsed. Returning the license from the client is the only means of making the license available again for check-out before the borrow period has elapsed.

To return a license before it has expired:

1. While being connected to the same network as the FlexNet Licensing Server, launch InstallShield.

2. On the Help menu, click About InstallShield. The About InstallShield dialog box opens. This dialog box shows the number of days left in the borrow duration.

3. Click the Return License button.

If the client is unable to connect to the FlexNet Licensing Server, an error dialog is displayed.

Additional Information

• Once a license has been borrowed, it is not possible for the FlexNet Licensing Server to cancel the borrowed license. That is, it is not possible for the FlexNet Licensing Server to force the license to be returned before the borrow period has ended. The license must either be returned by the user or the borrow period must elapse.
• In order to return a license before the borrow period has ended, the client must be able to connect to the FlexNet Licensing Server from which the license was borrowed.
• In the case of client hardware failure, the license will not be available for check-out until the borrow period has elapsed.
• Users with a limited number of licenses should consider these conditions when determining whether to borrow a license and the length of the borrow period.
• Users concerned about client hardware failure should limit the borrow period to a number of days that would be acceptable to be without access to the borrowed license.