Automate license activation with nilmUtil.exe?

[jesse08]

OK, that's definitely the piece I was missing-- it mentions there that "You must ensure that the disk volume serial number set during the imaging process always remains the same otherwise licenses will no longer remain activated."  Right now that that isn't the case, so I'll need a way to enforce the same volume serial number across the computers.

I can't find anything too terribly official looking for it, but there's this VolumeID tool:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897436.aspx

Do you think that looks like the right idea?  I could run that as part of the last script for the deployment process to keep the same ID across them all, and then it should remain activated, I think.

Thanks!!

[ianidas300]

National Instrument would supply you with the disk volume serial number after making sure that you have the proper licensing to activate multiple licenses in your computer lab.

[jesse08]

How would I set that disk volume serial number across all the computers, though?  (They're all different at first, since they really are different drives.)

[Anjelica-W]

Since you are replicating the entire hard disk drive of the computer, it will also set the disk volume serial number of the target machine when you deploy the image. After deploying an image to another machine you can confirm this by using the vol command in the cmd prompt window. Therefore, if you activate the software using a computer ID based off of the disk volume serial number, the software will remain activated because the computer has the same disk volume serial number as the computer on which you created the image.

[jesse08]

Thanks for joining in, Anjelica-- what you mentioned explains why the documentation we've talked about just seemed to assume it would all work, and why I was confused-- I've already verified using vol that I have a whole range of volume serial numbers.  Just for the heck of it, here they are, listing the relevant line from vol's output on each computer:

Volume Serial Number is CCE6-7AE0
Volume Serial Number is 46C2-3806
Volume Serial Number is B4E6-194C
Volume Serial Number is CC12-FD04
Volume Serial Number is B236-AA8E
Volume Serial Number is 4E82-AE0E
Volume Serial Number is 72FD-6FB6
Volume Serial Number is E4CF-602F
Volume Serial Number is 44D0-12D1
Volume Serial Number is CAF4-FBE3
Volume Serial Number is 5C96-DDDE
Volume Serial Number is 5097-07E0
Volume Serial Number is A262-31BC
Volume Serial Number is 3EE8-B635
Volume Serial Number is 8AEA-9CB9
Volume Serial Number is 66EB-EE6E

I had just assumed that it normally generated new numbers after deploying the image, but from what you said, I'm now wondering if that's unexpected behavior.

Anyway, with all the trouble this approach has been giving me, I wonder if an automated installation might not be the way to go instead.  If I follow these instructions, including having the serial number specified and and saying /q /AcceptLicenses yes, would that make sure everything was activated without needing any user intervention?

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/AA2371E815A418DD86257169005F2D99

If so, that could be way to do it, I think.  And either way thanks to both of you for your help.

[Anjelica-W]

I believe the documents you were referring to will allow you to perform a silent installation, but will not activate the software, which was the source of your original problem. Did you have any luck using the VolumeID tool?

[jesse08]

Well, I've tested it by duplicating the ID from one computer to another, with no problems so far.  I just sent a request to agreements@ni.com to see if I can get a matching Computer ID.  With that I think I can just activate once before capturing the image, and then set the same disk volume serial number on all of the computers when deploying it to keep the software activated.  Does that all sound right?

[Anjelica-W]

I am glad you were able to duplicate the ID across multiple computers. Yes that sounds right. As long as the disk volume serial numbers are the same, the software should remain activated.

[jesse08]

I haven't heard back from the agreements people.  Anything else I can do?

On another note, I've had trouble with the software deployed inside a Windows image anyway, and tried using an install script instead.  But, I'm having similar problems where it will only run in a full console session where a user is logged in, which defeats the purpose.  This is the same behavior I saw when trying to script the activation steps.  (Possibly I should start a new thread if I'm going to pursue all that, though.)

[Anjelica-W]

To be honest, I am not as familiar with installation scripts. I am not sure why you have not received anything from agreements, but you can call into technical support and one of the Applications Engineers can generate the computer ID you need for you.