Automate license activation with nilmUtil.exe?

[jesse08]

I have a Windows 7 installation that I've captured with Sysprep and then deployed across a lab using Windows Deployment Services.  As documented elsewhere, this is problematic for my NI software installations since it detects that the Computer ID has changed, and everything comes up not activated after deployment.  (This is with a serial number for a site-license, and not using the NI VLM.) I can manually activate things afterward on a given computer with the NI License Manager, and I also made a simple script that makes calls to nilmUtil.exe to accomplish the same thing, and that's all fine.

My problem:  The script runs fine when a normal user starts it up after logging, but any other automated usage -- in a Windows startup script, in the Windows SetupComplete.cmd, executed remotely, whatever -- causes the calls to nilmUtil to fail silently.  I can log the results and I see each command run as expected; they just fail to actually activate anything.  I simplified the entire thing down to a single line, completely hardcoded, just to make sure I'm not crazy.  Here it is:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\National Instruments\Shared\License Manager\Bin\nilmUtil.exe" -s -activate "LabVIEW_PDS_PKG 12.0000" -serialnumber XXXXXXXXX

If I log in and then call that script manually, it works.  If I reboot and have it run as a startup script as I'd prefer, it runs, but fails to do anything.  Any ideas?  (I'm assuming there's some key difference in the environment between these two cases, but I can't for the life of me figure out what it is!)

[ianidas300]

Hello Jesse08

Have you considered changing the hardware that NI License Manager looks at to determine the computer ID to keep it from changing? I believe if you redirect it to reference the hard drive serial number then it won't continue to change. Steps for this can be found here:

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/CEF3043068981186862578090074BF31?OpenDocument

[jesse08]

Thanks!  I had seen that page before, but figured it wouldn't help with my problem, since each computer has different hardware identifiers (MAC address, disk volume serial number, etc.)  But if this is OK, and I can keep the software activated with the same Computer ID even after deployment across the lab, that's be perfect.

In that case, I'd obtain a custom Computer ID from NI, and then activate just once using the License Manager / NI website when setting up my Windows image.  Since activation would be done this way, it would remain activated even when the hardware itself changes during deployment.  Does that sound right?

[ianidas300]

That does sound about right. As long as the hard drive remains the same you shouldn't have further issues with the Computer ID changing after the initial activation.

[jesse08]

But since each workstation does have a different drive with a different serial number (verified with the "vol" command on two of them), will this cause problems?  (Both MAC address and disk volume serial number vary across the computers in the lab.)

[ianidas300]

Each computer ID would have to be generated and activated specifically for the individual computer and hard drive serial number.

[jesse08]

OK, I see now.  I think it means I'm still stuck, though-- even if I have a list of new computer IDs that match each hard drive, I don't have a convenient way of activating them all after installation.  I'd still have to run around to each workstation and run the License Manager GUI manually, right?

[ianidas300]

The biggest reason why this would be advantageous would be that you would only have to do it once and then you shouldn't continue to see the problem.

[jesse08]

OK, I'm getting close!  One last thing-- once I have a set of new Computer IDs, how can I make sure they're entered on each installation when deploying the software image?  If I need to enter them into the License Manager on each computer each time, then I'm no better off than hitting "Activate" like right now.  But if I can make sure they get the right Computer ID from the start, I think that would fix it.

[ianidas300]

I've been looking into the issue and the best way to do so would be to use a disk volume serial number which would allow you to create an image with the software already activated. You go through the same steps for getting a serial number based on the hard drive serial number (which you would need to get from National Instruments). Here is a good document for this:

http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/epd/p/id/6283

Not much more information than what I've given you already. However, this process is for activating software for an image and then deploying it. The reason you need to go through NI is to ensure that you have the proper available seats for deploying to multiple machines.