Installation

You will receive your copy of the software as a downloaded installation file. To install it double click on the setup file and follow the instructions.

Licensing system

Currently Pdplayer supports two types of licensing – hardware and software.

The software license is locked to the hardware of a specific machine and can later be distributed across the network. Once issued a software license cannot be moved or revoked. Section II.3. Next examines the software licensing in detail.

Pdplayer licenses can also be placed on a Chaos Group dongle. This allows the licenses to be moved across different machines and shared across different networks.

It is important to note that separate builds exist for the software and hardware licensed versions of Pdplayer. This means that depending on the version you purchased you will be given access to download different installation files. If for some reason you do not have the appropriate access please contact the Chaos Group support team at pdplayer@chaosgroup.com.

Local Software Licensing

Image Modified

Figure 1. License not Found

When you run the software licensed version of Pdplayer for the first time you will be presented with the License not Found dialogue (Figure 1) In order to be able to use Pdplayer you will need to authorize it with a license key.

Pdplayer's license system allows for two modes of operation - Local and Network.

In Local mode, you run Pdplayer on the machine for which you have been issued a license. To authorize a machine you need to enter a license code in the provided field and press the Validate button (Figure 1). If you do not have a code you can request one by entering your Order ID in the provided field and pressing on the Request License button. This should open the default e-mail client. If it does not you can send us an e-mail at pdplayer@chaosgroup.com with your Order ID and the Node Identifier provided in the first field of the License not Found dialogue.

In network mode, you run the Pdplayer license server on the licensed machine. This allows you to run Pdplayer on other machines on the network.

Network Software Licensing

General

The Pdplayer network licensing system is composed of an independent licensing routine (the Pdplayer floating license server, with a license locked to the specific hardware) and the Pdplayer itself. The communication between the two is based on the HTTP protocol, even if the license server and the Pdplayer are on the same computer. This means that in order for the licensing to work, the computer must have TCP/IP installed properly.

Setting-up the Server

The Pdplayer floating license server consists of a single executable file that has to be run prior to launching the Pdplayer. The Pdplayer installer creates a shortcut to the license server in the Start menu. You can also choose to register the Pdplayer floating license server as a Windows service that is started automatically by Windows.

When you start the Pdplayer license server for the first time you will be prompted to enter a registration code (Figure 2). To get the license copy the data provided on the first row and send it to pdplayer@chaosgroup.com along with your Order ID. You will receive a reply with a license code. Copy that to the second row and press OK to run the license server.

Image Modified

Figure 2. Pdplayer floating license

All of the settings of the license server can be found in an .xml file called VRFLServer2.xml that would be usually located in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\ChaosGroup\VRFLServer2.xml. In case of any problems the user can edit the file directly, but we strongly recommend that, unless the user is experienced, they should not do so.

Securing the Pdplayer License Server

Please keep in mind that it is up to you and/or your system administrator to keep the machine running the Pdplayer license server secure from unauthorized access and usage of your Pdplayer licenses, especially if the Pdplayer license server is running on a machine that can be accessed from the Internet.

Sharing a License across the Network

To share a license across your network install, license and run the Pdplayer license server on a suitable machine. Now install Pdplayer on multiple machines across your network. Run Pdplayer and when asked for a license (Figure 1) in the bottom field, enter the IP address of the machine which has the Pdplayer license server running. Now you will be able to run Pdplayer on multiple machines free, provided that the number of copies of Pdplayer running does not exceed the number of licenses provided by the license server.

Hardware licensing

Starting with Pdplayer 1.0.3.12, licenses can be programmed into Chaos Software dongles. If you already have a V-Ray dongle, your Pdplayer license can be added to it. Dongles are also available separately from Chaos Software for $35 or 25 EUR + S/H.

Note that hardware licensing is supported by a separate Pdplayer build. Contact Chaos Software support at pdplayer@chaosgroup.com if you aren't seeing it in the download area.

Hardware licensing always operates in floating (network) mode, so you need to be running a license server. You can use the Pdplayer license server included with the hardware build, or you can use a recent V-Ray license server (SP3a or later). The two servers are identical. When you run the hardware licensed version of Pdplayer for the first time you will be prompted to specify the location of the License Server(Figure 3). Make sure that you have a License Server sharing licenses over your network and specify its IP address . If you are running the License Server on your local machine you can specify the IP as “localhost”.

Image Modified

Figure 3. Pdplayer hardware license request

Usually when you receive a dongle it will have no licenses on it. In order to use Pdplayer we need to place a Pdplayer license on that dongle. To do that, please follow the next steps:

• Start a license server, if one is not already running;
• Open http://server:30304 in your Web browser, where server is the name or IP address of the machine running the license server (use localhost if it's the same machine);
• Click on "Get status of the server";

Image Modified

• The page that loads will show information about the currently installed licenses on your dongle and how many of them are in use. Click on the "To upgrade your licenses, click here" link at the very bottom;

Image Modified

• On the next page, click on the link that says "Generate a .wbc file by clicking here" and wait until a remote context file is created;

Image Modified

• When the "Success" page opens, save the remote context file (context.wbc) by right-clicking on the link and using Save Link As.. / Save Target As...;

Image Modified

• E-mail the context file to pdplayer@chaosgroup.com.