Chaos Licensing Setup
All Chaos products need to be connected to a Chaos License Server to function on your machine. It allows you to easily activate more licenses right after the purchase and provides a way to stay offline while using your Chaos products, when you need to.
An instance of the Chaos License Server that uses the same user account may be installed more than once on the same internal network when on different workstations or servers to act as a redundancy measure. This is to make sure licenses are still obtainable during server downtime due to failures or maintenance, which is especially useful for organizations with multiple locations that share the same internal network.
The following are a few examples of how to best deploy license servers in multi-machine environments, depending on the needs.
1. Two-Machine Setup – In a case where there are only a couple of machines, such as users with a workstation and a laptop, it’s best to install and activate the License Server on both machines.
Please note that any borrowed licenses will be available only on the License Server from which they were borrowed.
2. Small Studio Office – In a small office or studio environment, for example with 10 workstations, it’s best to install and activate a single License Server for the office, that is activated by the user account. All of the workstations will then need their license settings configured to use the IP address of that one license server machine as their primary server.
The license server should be visible from the local network by default, however, you can check Settings > Expert mode to make sure that Network Visibility is set to Visible to Local Network.
To make configuration changes easier, a single vrlclient.xml file may be loaded from a shared network drive for all networked office machines requiring a license. For more details on how to do that, Sharing vrlclient.xml over a network page.
3. Large Studio Office – In a larger office or studio where there are many workstations and a render farm with multiple render nodes, install the license server on the network with a redundancy as discussed here. In other words, the license server is installed on 2-3 machines on the network which are all activated by the same user account. All of the workstations in that office will need their license settings configured to use the IP addresses of those 2-3 license server machines as their primary and alternate server(s) as discussed in a following section: Setting up multiple license servers for redundancy.
4. Multiple Regional/Global Locations – In offices or studios with multiple regional or even global locations, install up to three license servers for each location, all activated on the same account. This way, each office will have a local redundancy. All the workstations in that local office would have their license settings configured to use the IP addresses of those 2-3 local license server machines as their primary and alternate server(s).
Note that installing a license server for one location in a remote location may lead to connection issues when obtaining a license.
How many computers can I run my Chaos license on?
Licenses are not locked to a specific machine and you can install products on multiple machines. Chaos uses a floating licensing system that redistributes the licenses upon request – you can have the software installed on multiple machines but you’ll be able to run it simultaneously on several machines (that do not exceed the number of your available floating licenses).
How do I move my Chaos license to a new computer?
Chaos License Server version 6.0 provides licensing of the Chaos products without the need for any physical devices to be plugged into your machine. It allows you to easily activate more licenses right after the purchase and provides a way to stay offline while using your Chaos products when you need to. It is still compatible with existing USB dongles, in case you need to use your licenses in this way.
V-Ray Render Nodes
Will V-Ray Next Render Node licenses work with V-Ray 5 Workstation licenses?
No, users who wish to use V-Ray 5 to render need V-Ray 5 Render Node licenses.
When you use a V-Ray render node to help speed up a render farm, do you still need a trial version of the design application (ie 3ds Max) to be installed on that PC?
I don’t believe so if I’m understanding this correctly. You will need to run another application that comes with the node. “V-Ray DR spawner (vrayspawner) is used in CPU distributed rendering. It starts a 3ds Max instance on the slave machine that waits for render requests;”
See also: Chaos Enscape Licensing for v4.1+