When must we update the LAN Licenses?

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Joerg Vogel asked Sep 15, '16 Ben Wilson edited Sep 15, '16

When must we update the LAN Licenses?

I'd like to know when we have to update the LAN Licenses for the concurrent licenses. I know, that Flexsim informs me when I start the program. Can I indentify it by the Version number, too?

Would it be possible to limit the update process to the major release numbers?

In my case it is a more complex process. I have devided the licenses on two different servers. I return all licenses on the servers to the Flexsim.com license server, update them at the Flexsim account and then activate the assigned numbers of the licenses on the servers again.

After that I have to edit the option files of the license daemons to grant different versions for the users at the university. That has to be done, because our scripts don't fit to the actual newest versions and I don't want to answer all questions concerning the differences of the current and previous major release version of Flexsim.

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Answer 1 · 2016-09-15T13:41:36Z

Ben Wilson answered Sep 15, '16 Ben Wilson edited Sep 15, '16

FlexSim requires an upgraded license for every feature release - a release that includes new features. A new yearly release (like the upcoming FlexSim 2017) is an example of a feature release, as well as any updates to that version (like the eventual FlexSim 2017 Update 1, or the recent 2016 Update 2). New features are a mechanism that can drive maintenance renewals, and thus are tied to upgraded licenses which are made available to those with current maintenance. Maintenance renewals are an important part of our revenue that enables our continued software development and support efforts.

There are some cases, like your license complexity, when it may be better for companies or individuals to not upgrade to each new feature release. Some organizations require extensive evaluations of each new release, and trying to keep up with several FlexSim feature releases per year is not feasible.

For these cases we have a "Long Term Support" release. This LTS version continues to receive bug fixes throughout the year, but no new features. As such, it does not require a new license. If you look in your FlexSim Account's downloads section, you will see a "More Versions" button. Press this to see the latest list of all the available versions of FlexSim.

In this list you will see the latest releases. One of them is the last yearly release (currently FlexSim 2016) which has continued to receive bugfixes all year (currently on version 16.0.5). Bugfix releases never require an upgraded license, whether for the LTS or for any Update releases. We have tried to keep the LTS releases in sync with other releases, so you can see that it has the same release date as our recent 2016 Update 2 release (but that might not always be the case).

This year is the first time that FlexSim has tried having an LTS release, so it is still pretty new to us. We're exploring the right way to advertise this. So far we've kept it fairly quiet - we want people to default to the latest release with all the latest features. The LTS release really should be reserved for special cases where frequent upgrades are a hardship for a user.

I guess this answer serves as an advertisement for the LTS release. We really prefer that people use the latest feature release, because it is represents the current best that FlexSim has to offer - each new feature is added to address a problem or a case that real users are having, or to make something faster, easier, or more compatible. But for those with special upgrading circumstances, there is the LTS.

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