V-Ray Licensing System


V-Ray uses a floating licensing system and it can obtain licenses from V-Ray license server, running on any machine, which can be accessed through your network, or even over Internet. The access to the license server is done over TCP/IP protocol on port 30304. Make sure that your anti-virus or firewall software is not blocking the communication to the license server.

V-Ray license server requires one or more dongles (hardware lock containing your licenses, similar to a USB flash drive) installed on the same machine to operate. You should receive your dongle(s) and information whether it is already reprogrammed with the necessary licenses from your reseller.

After the installation, please make sure that you have the necessary licenses as described in “V-Ray license server status” below.

If your dongle doesn't contain the necessary licenses, please go to D ongle r eprogramming”.

D ongle s are not node locked, they can be transferred without any res trictions between V-Ray license servers . This allows you to quickly set up a new license server after a computer failure or to move a dongle to different locations when necessary .

Starting and Stopping the V-Ray License Server


This section shows how to start and stop the V-Ray license server. You need to have a machine with a V-Ray license server running and a dongle with licenses plugged in in order to run V-Ray.

If you have opted to register the V-Ray license server as a Windows service, it will start automatically on the next Windows boot and this icon will not be visible. If there is no dongle attached to the machine, it will still start as a service but you will not be able to access the web status page or use any licenses until you plug-in your dongle.

You can start a V-Ray license server from Windows Start > All Programs > Chaos Group > V-Ray License Server for x64 > Launch V-Ray license serv er

If Windows Firewall is enabled, you may get the message below. Select the Unblock option to allow connections to the V-Ray license server.

If the V-Ray license server starts successfully, you will get the V-Ray license server icon in the Windows System Tray:

To stop V-Ray license service double click on it's icon in the Windows System Tray and then click Terminate V-Ray license service.

V-Ray License Server Status


The V-Ray license server has a web interface that allows you to check its status and available licenses. The license server must be running to view the status web page. Please open the link http:// < IP_address > :30304 /getstatus in a web browser, where < IP_address > is the IP address of the license server. For example:

http://10.0.0.100:30304/getstatus

The status page shows information about the total number of licenses available to the license server; how many of them are engaged and from which IP address they are engaged.

You have to make sure that you have V-Ray for Softimage (1.5/3.0) and  V-Ray Render Node 3.0 licenses.

In the “Licenses usage summary” section you can see information about the licenses on the license server. In the Total column you can see all the available licenses on the dongle; in the Engaged column you can see how many of the licenses are currently being used, and in the Free column you can see the number of the licenses that are currently free.

 

The “Stored licenses detail s is useful when more than one dongle is plugged in the license server. Here you can see a summary of all available licenses and the serial number of the dongle on which they are placed. If the license has an expiration date this is also displayed. In the example below, you can see that we only have one dongle connected, the serial number of the dongle is 10552214 and it has two V-Ray for Softimage (1.5/3.0) and two V-Ray Render Node 3.0 licenses which are non-expiring.

The “Active sessions” list shows the IP addresses of all computers currently connected to the license server and the types of licenses they are using.

The “Global dongle expiration dates” shows a list of all dongles plugged in the license server and their expiration dates (different from license expiration dates explained above). In the example below there is one dongle with serial number 10552214 and it does not have an expiration date.

 

If you do not see V-Ray for Softimage (1.5/3.0) and V-Ray Render Node 3.0 licenses, your dongle has to be reprogrammed as described in D ongle r eprogramming” section below.

If you can't access the V-Ray license server web page, please refer to the “Troubleshooting” section.

Dongle Reprogramming


If you do not have the necessary V-Ray licenses on your dongle, it will have to be reprogrammed. Reprogramming a dongle is a two-part process:

  • Creating a . wbc file – you will need to create and send to Chaos Group a remote programming context file, which contains information identifying your specific dongle.

  • Updating the contents of the dongle – Chaos Group will send you file called “.rtu” file which can be used to update the licenses on your dongle.

Creating a .wbc File

 


Here we describe how to create a remote programing context file (“.wbc”) file, which identifies your specific dongle. If there are more dongles attached on the machine, the steps below will create one “.wbc” file containing information for all dongles. You need to have JavaScript enabled on your web browser.

  1. Please open the link http:// <IP_address> :30304/ upgrade in a web browser, where <IP_address> is the IP address of the license server. For example:

    http://10.0.0.100:30304/upgrade

  2. A web-based wizard will appear. Click on the link shown on the screenshot:

  3. Wait until the remote context file is created.

  4. When the Success! page appears, save the remote context file by right-clicking on the link and using Save Link As.../Save Target As...

  5. Email this file to support@chaosgroup.com along with company and order information.

Updating the Contents of the Dongle


The support team at Chaos Group will use your “.wbc” file to generate one or more “.rtu” files and send them back to you. Each “.rtu” file is named with the serial number of the dongle that it is intended for. You can find the dongle serial number on its sticker.

  1. When you receive the “.rtu” file, save it on the machine where the dongle with the same serial number is plugged-in.

  2. If the V-Ray license server is running, stop it by double clicking its icon in the Task Bar and selecting Terminate V-Ray license service . If it is registered as a service you have to stop the V-Ray license server from Windows Control panel > Administrative tools > Services applet.

  3. Double-click the saved “.rtu” file. You will be asked to confirm the transfer on the dongle. Click Yes to update your dongle. If there is a problem, please refer to Updating dongle s when .rtu files are not associated properly” in the “Troubleshooting” section.

  4. Start the V-Ray license server from Windows Start > All Programs > Chaos Group > V-Ray License Server for x64 > Launch V-Ray license serv er or from the Services applet.

V-Ray License Settings Change


If you are running the V-Ray license server on a different machine, you need to tell V-Ray for Softimage where to look for it. This section describes how to do that.

Run the V-Ray license client configuration utility setvrlservice.exe that came with the V-Ray for Softimage installation archive

This will show you the window below, where you can specify the IP address of the machine that is running the V-Ray License Server. Please do not change the connection port that is set by default to 30304.

For example, if the license server machine has IP address of 10.0.0.100, you have to put that address in the “License server” field, under the tab “Primary license server”.