Is there a way to administer FLEXnet based licenses? How do I create an Options file?

Solution:

An options (generally called mlm.opt) file allows the license administrator to administer licenses for product users. Specifically, an options file can do the following:

- Specify certain users or groups of users for certain products
- Keep unwanted users from using your licenses
- Reserve licenses for certain users

For a Network Named User (NNU) installation of MATLAB and for an individual Installation on Unix/Linux for versions prior to R2008a. For the named user license type, if any licensed products are not specifically assigned to a user, they will be unusable by any user. Generally this is represented by an "UNSUPPORTED" message in the license manager log file.

For more information on how to create an Options file for Network Named User, please see the section entitled "Administering Network Named-User Licenses" in the License Administration Guide. This guide is available at:

http://www.mathworks.com/access/helpdesk/help/base/install/license/brgm80r.html

To use an options file you must first define the options file in your license manager license file. To do so edit the line that starts with the word DAEMON. For example:
DAEMON MLM "C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2010b\etc\win32\mlm.exe"
To use the options file, specify it at the end of the line using the "options=" flag. For example:
DAEMON MLM "C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2010b\etc\win32\mlm.exe" options="C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2010b\etc\win32\mlm.opt"
Once you have specified the path to your options file, the file will be read the next time you restart the license manager.

In the options file there are a few options you can use. Here is a brief example:

INCLUDE - Restricts the usage of a feature to a particular user or host.
INCLUDEALL - Restricts the usage of all features to a particular user or host
EXCLUDE - Restricts a particular user or host from accessing a feature.
EXCLUDEALL - Restricts a particular user or host from accessing all features.
RESERVE - Reserve licenses for a user or group of users/hosts.
MAX - Limit usage for a particular feature/group to a specified number of instances

GROUP - Define a group of users for use with any options.
HOST_GROUP - Define a group of hosts for use with any options.

GROUPCASEINSENSITIVE ON - Sets case sensitivity for user and host lists specified in GROUP and HOST_GROUP keywords
TIMEOUT MATLAB 14400 - Specify idle timeout for a concurrent license of MATLAB . (Returns concurrent licenses back to the pool if MATLAB is left open for 4 consecutive hours. See the related solution, 1-1Q98BU - "Does MathWorks support the FLEXnet TIMEOUT feature for MATLAB?" for more information)

When using options, you will restrict the options to typically a USER or a HOST. Options only apply to the feature specified unless using the INCLUDEALL or EXCLUDEALL options.

For example, if you wanted to restrict MATLAB usage to only a certain set of users, you could create the following options:
GROUP matlab_users user1 user2 user3 user4 user5
INCLUDE MATLAB GROUP matlab_users
In this example, the GROUP called matlab_users has the users: user1, user2, user3, etc. Only the matlab_users group will have access to the MATLAB feature.

If instead you wanted to restrict usage to a certain set of computers, you could use the HOST_GROUP option. For example:
HOST_GROUP matlab_computers computer1 computer2 computer3
INCLUDE MATLAB HOST_GROUP matlab_computers
In this example the HOST_GROUP called matlab_computers has the computers: computer1, computer2, computer3. Only these computers would have access to the MATLAB license.

The options can also be specified using IP addresses (including IP ranges). For example, you could use the options:
INCLUDE MATLAB INTERNET 192.168.1.1
or
INCLUDE MATLAB INTERNET 192.168.*.*
In the latter example, MATLAB would be available to any machine that has an IP starting with 192.168.

For additional FLEXnet options, see section 13 of the FLEXnet License Administration Guide. This manual is contained in the license manager installation directory in the file enduser.pdf. This manual can also be found on Acresso's website here:

http://kb.flexerasoftware.com/doc/DocumentRepository/Licensing/FLEXnet_Publisher/FLEXnet_Publisher_11.6/03_ISV/Product%20Manual/LicenseAdministration.pdf