At IU, what is the Central License Service?

Many software vendors, including ERDAS IMAGINE and ESRI, use a third-party application to manage software licenses electronically. This method of licensing ensures that only licensed customers use their products, and that users stay within the terms of their license agreement (e.g., product level, number of concurrent users). In order for licensed software to run, a license manager application must be installed on either the client machine or a central server accessible to the computers where the software will be used. Because of the technical support associated with installing, configuring, updating, and maintaining the license manager, it is more efficient to install this application on a centralized server instead of on individual computers. A centralized server allows multiple GIS or remote sensing clients to access the license via a network.

At Indiana University, UITS manages a three-server Unix system to provide automated failover capability. These license servers are administered by UITS GIS Services and High Performance Systems in UITS Research Technologies. UITS controls access to the ESRI and ERDAS centralized license services using an option file (text format). This file lists hostnames, usernames, or IP numbers of users granted access to licenses on the service. The license servers available are as follows:

To connect to the Central License Service after purchasing a license for ESRI or ERDAS from UITS, verify the following:

1. You contacted UITS GIS Services to provide your computer or user information for UITS central license service.
   
   
2. You updated the license pathway on your machine:
   • For ESRI, update the ArcGIS Desktop Administrator to point to esri1.uits.indiana.edu .
   • For ERDAS, update the ERDAS-Net Licensing Manager to point to erdas1.uits.indiana.edu .
   
   
3. If you are off campus, connect to the IU VPN.
   
   
4. Your system's DNS suffixes should include  uits.indiana.edu . To check your DNS suffixes, see In Windows 2000, XP, or Vista, how do I change the DNS and WINS server IP numbers?

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