There are three versions of the Exoswitch Constraint: Trail The Trial version is a full version of the constraint that is limited to 30 days from the date of first usage. The trial version is offered at no cost for testing purposes.
Playback The Playback version is a complete version of the constraint with the exception that constraints cannot be created, they need to be loaded from a file. The Playback version gets offered at a reduced price and it is ideal for Technical Directors and Animators that do not need authoring capabilities. This version of the constraint has Floating License capabilities.
Full This is the complete version of the constraint. It can use a license server to support Floating Licenses.
None of the versions of the constraint require a license to run in Batch, Batch Render or from a Python external interpreter (mayapy).
A license is necessary to load the plugin in a Maya session but it’s not necessary to batch process scenes like when a file is sent to a render farm. These chapters describe the commands and procedures necessary to request and manage licenses for the exoSwitch Constraint.
The process of licensing for ExoTools follows these steps.
A code generator tools (exocode) need to be run.
The code generated is emailed to EXOTOOLS that send a license file (exolic.txt) back.
The license file needs to be placed in the directory specified by the EXOTOOLSLICENSE environment variable.
In case of a network license the licensing software and the license file needs to live in a directory where the machines using the license and the license server can access to it. In other words exoserv, exoadm and exolic.txt need to be located where the license server and user nodes can find them.
The plug-in will look at this license to allow you to use the tool. HOWEVER; you need to setup the environment variable EXOTOOLSLICENSE to point at the directory where the license file lives. There is nothing keeping you from moving the license file to another directory as long as the environment variable reflects that new location.
To set the environment variable you can modify your .cshrc or .tcshrc files and use setenv. If your shell is bash you can set the variable in your .bashrc using export.
setenv EXOTOOLSLICENSE=/path/where/you/copied/the/license/file or export EXOTOOLSLICENSE=/path/where/you/copied/the/license/file
The following link has some great resource on adding/editing environment variables for Maya: environment variable
Obtain and Install a Node-Lock license This is how a node-lock license can be obtained. Navigate to the <installation path of the exoTools product>/syLicense/Linux execute ./exocode you'll get something like: To get your license key send this code to license@exotools.net code = 0001-001c-42dc-2878 computer.domain Email that file to license@exotools.net . You will get back a file called exolic.txt. Copy that file in location specified by the EXOTOOLSLICENSE environment variable.
Obtain and Install a Floating license Navigate to the <installation path of the exoTools product>/syLicense/Linux execute ./exocode you'll get something like: To get your license key send this code to license@exotools.net code = 0001-001c-42dc-2878 computer.domain You will get back a file called exolic.txt. Copy that file in the location where the rest of the licensing tools are. Ex /your/installation/path/syLicense/Linux/. Make sure all the clients accessing the plugin have an environment variable called EXOTOOLSLICENSE pointing to the directory where the exolic.txt file has been copied.
Running the license Server To run the license server navigate in the location where you have decided to install the licensing tool. For instance: /your/installation/path/syLicense/Linux/ Start the license server administrator tool with:.
./exoadm then type the command: start You will see a new file called log_exoserv.txt. It represents the server log. You'll also see that the server has started. You can use the command ?, stop, etc. to perform other operations. Now, with the license server running make sure the clients have an environment variable called EXOTOOLSLICENSE pointing to the location where the exolic.txt file is. Once that in place you are now ready to load the plugin.
The plug-in will look at the license to allow you to use the tool .HOWEVER, you need to setup the environment variable EXOTOOLSLICENSEto point at the directory where the license file lives. There is nothing keeping you from moving the license file to another directory as long as the environment variable reflects that new location.
To set the environment variable open the System Properties window. Go in the Advanced tab and click Environment Variables. Under system variables click New. Enter EXOTOOLSLICENSE under Variable name and the path where the exolic.txt file under Variables value.
The following link has some a great resource on adding/editing environment variables for Maya: environment variable
Obtain and Install a Node-Lock license This is how a node-lock license can be obtained. Navigate to the <installation path of the exoTools product>/syLicense/Windows Run exocode.exe You’ll get a window that displays a string similar to this one: 0001-001c-1084-0407 mypc
Email that file to license@exotools.net You will get back a file called exolic.txt. Copy that file in location specified by the EXOTOOLSLICENSE environment variable.
Obtain a Floating licenseRun getcode.exe You’ll get a window that displays a string similar to this one: 0001-001c-1084-0407 mypc Email that string to license@exotools.net . You will get back a file called exolic.txt. Copy that file in the location where the rest of the licensing tools are. Make sure all the clients accessing the plugin have an environment variable called EXOTOOLSLICENSE pointing to the directory where the exolic.txt file has been copied.
Running the license ServerNavigate in the location where you have decided to install the licensing tool. For instance: /your/installation/path/syLicense/Windows/ Start the license server administrator tool with: ./exoadm.exe then type the command start You will see a new file called log_exoserv.txt. It represents the server log. You'll also see that the server has started You can use the command ?, or stop, etc. With the license server running make sure the clients have an environment variable called EXOTOOLSLICENSE pointing to the location where the exolic.txt file is. Once that in place you are now ready to load the plugin.
The plug-in will look at this license to allow you to use the tool. HOWEVER, you need to setup the environment variable EXOTOOLSLICENSEto point at the directory where the license file lives. There is nothing keeping you from moving the license file to another directory as long as the environment variable reflects that new location.
To set the environment variable edit your Maya.env or .bashrc files and add this line:
The following link has some great resource on adding/editing environment variables for Maya: environment variable
Obtain and Install a Node-Lock licenseThis is how a node-lock license can be obtained. Navigate to the <installation path of the exoTools product>/syLicense/OSX Run exocode.app You’ll get a window that displays a string similar to this one: 0001-001c-42dc-2878 computer.domain Email that file to license@exotools.net . You will get back a file called exolic.txt. Copy that file in location specified by the EXOTOOLSLICENSE environment variable.
Obtain a Floating licenseNavigate to the <installation path of the exoTools product>/syLicense/OSX execute ./exocode you'll get a window that display a string similar to this one: 0001-001c-42dc-2878 computer.domain Email that file to license@exotools.net . You will get back a file called exolic.txt. Make sure all the clients accessing the plugin have an environment variable called EXOTOOLSLICENSE pointing to the directory where the exolic.txt file has been copied.
Copy that file in the location where the rest of the licensing tools are. Ex: /your/installation/path/syLicense/OSX/
Running the license ServerTo run the license server navigate in the location where you have decided to install the licensing tool. For instance: /your/installation/path/syLicense/OSX/ Start the license server administrator tool with:.
./exoadm then type the command start You will see a new file called log_exoserv.txt. It represents the server log. You'll also see that the server has started You can use the command ?, stop, etc. to perform other operations. Now, with the license server running make sure the clients have an environment variable called EXOTOOLSLICENSE pointing to the location where the exolic.txt file is. Once that in place you are now ready to load the plugin.
These are the commands that come as part of the ExoTools licensing suite.
exocode This standalone program returns the code of the computer the user is running the software from or the computer acting as a license server. Run the application and email the code generated by the tool to: license@exotools.net. We will return you a license file.
exoserv This is the license server program. You can just run it manually, or use exoadm.exe (see below) to run (and manage) it. Exoserv(.exe) logs messages in a text file located in the same directory, called log_exoserv.txt. This log file can be deleted at any time. It is useful for you (or the support team) to monitor the status of the server. exoadm This tool is used to interact with the license server exoserv(.exe). These are the available commands: start Start the server. stop Stops the server. ? Check is the server is running. who Gives you the list of users connected on the server, the machine name and the pid.
The first thing to do in case of license problems is to make sure that the format of the license file (exolic.txt ) is correct. Below is an example license file:
10ea10 500 0001-c83a-414c-bd4b abc123fe server
10ea10 = identifies as the server 500 = number of licenses served 0001-c83a-414c-bd4b = server MAC address for active NIC, preceded by 0001- abc123fe = encryption key server = server name
The client system must be able to see the machine via DNS. In the case of an OS X server, a hostname ending in .local may cause problems.
This is a list of common errors found in the license server log file (log_exoserv.txt):
error wrong_server
Make sure that the MAC address of the active network connection is the MAC address submitted for license creation
Make 100% sure that the MAC address matches the address in the exolic.txt
e.g. MAC address c8:3a:41:4c:bd:4b would result in the following entry in exolic.txt: c83a-414c-bd4b
Make sure that the machine name is the same name from the exolic.txt file
To be 100% certain, on OS X, type scutil --get HostName
The results must match the server name in the license file
error one_server_only
Unless specifically licensed, you can only run one server on your network at a time
error socket Sometimes happens after the server process is restarted.