FAQ for Licensing - Femap/NX Nastran - Femto Engineering

FAQ for Licensing

We've selected some questions that are frequently asked about Femap/NX Nastran licensing.

General



What license options are available?

Depending on your needs you can purchase Femap on a monthly subscription base online, or buy a perpetual license through a Siemens Digital Industries Software partner in your area. There are two perpetual license types:

  1. A node locked version (Dongle). An USB-dongle serves as your license key, so you can use the license on multiple computers, but not at the same time.
  2. A Floating version (Network). One or more licenses are made available by a local network through a pool. Authorized users can request available licenses from this pool.


How does Siemens Digital Industries Software licensing work?

Siemens Digital Industries Software Licensing manages licenses in a network and implements the concept of the license server. The license server processes a license request and responds to the client. If a license is available, it is granted and the application is allowed to continue. If not, the application is notified of an error and the application reacts accordingly. The server setting must be set to run any Siemens Digital Industries Software Licensing based application. The server setting identifies the license server port and hostname and is set initially by the installation program when the application is installed. Download the Licensing User Guide here.


What are basic hardware requirements for Femap/NX Nastran?

The current release of Femap has been certified to run on the following:

  • Windows 7 64-bit
  • Windows 8.x and Windows 8.x Pro 64-bit
  • Windows 10.x 64 Bit

Femap stops certifying new releases against an operating system shortly after Microsoft drops mainstream support for it. Microsoft dropped mainstream support for XP in April 2009, and Vista in April 2012. Beyond version 11.1, Femap is 64-bit only and does not install on Windows XP.

Recommended system configuration

  • 64-bit (x64) processor
  • Any of the above operating systems
  • Windows 7 operating system
  • 8 GB of RAM or more
  • Video adapter supporting True Color (32-bit) or 16 million colors (24-bit), Open GL4.2 or higher, and 2 GB of dedicated VRAM
  • Screen resolution: 1280 x 1024 or higher, widescreen format
  • Free disk space for Femap installation (including documentation and license server): 1.4 GB for Femap Standalone; 4.1 GB for Femap with NX Nastran; 5.2 GB for Femap with all options
  • Free continuous disk space for Femap model files, Femap and NX Nastran scratch files: 500 GB


What kind of support does Siemens Digital Industries Software offer?

Support Center is your focal point for post installation software support. Information you can request include:

  • License file retrieval
  • Emergency license file request
  • Downloads of software and patches
  • Certification information for the products
  • Solution Center – a searchable symptom/ solution information query database

Furthermore you can create incidents rapports if you uncover software errors. The website is a source for online documents including release notes, user guides, installation guides, README files, deployment guides, tutorials, other product guides and technical information.


What kind of support does Femto Engineering offer?

Femto engineers are expert Femap/NX Nastran users. Every question you have regarding software functionality or licensing you can ask them. If you’ve encountered software errors we can contact Support Center on your behalf.

 

Support Center



How do I create an account?

To download the software to acquire a license you need an account to enter the Siemens support site. To create an account, you need the following:

  • Your Sold to ID or installation number(s)
  • Your Host ID number(s)

If you are using a dongle, it is the number on the dongle in this order: xH-NT-xxxx

If you are using a floating license, it is the MAC adress.

Now you can visit this Siemens website and choose ‘Register Now’ and follow the instructions.

If you encounter problems with the creation or use of your account, call Support Center and select the option create incident report (option 1) then choose Femap/NX Nastran support (Option 5). You will be prompted to insert your server ID number (Sold-to-ID) . You can also create an incident report online.

Support Center phone numbers:
NETHERLANDS: +31 73 680 25 43
BELGIUM: +32 1 638 46 72
LUXEMBOURG: +32 1 638 46 72


I forgot my Support Center login information

We keep a record of all Sold-to ID and HOST ID numbers. Contact support@femto.eu to call in your information. If you forgot your Webkey credentials go to Webkey Account Management:

  • In case you forgot your password: fill out your Webkey username and follow the instructions
  • In case you forgot your Webkey username: fill out your email address and follow the instructions


How to add another Sold-to ID or server ID to my Webkey account?

Visit the Support Center website – Webkey Account Management. Select add a SoldTo/install. Enter your WebKey username and WebKey Password. You will have to enter the Sold-to or Server ID and the WebKey Access Code of the Sold-to or Server ID you want to add. Press continue to add the new Sold-to ID or server ID.


How do I change billing, contact or other information?

You can update your contact details trough Support Center Webkey Account Management. Choose the option Update Account. Use your Webkey username and Webkey password to login. Please address changes in billing information to info@femto.eu.

 

Installations



How do I get started with a dongle installation?

We always recommend appointing one or more license managers in your organization. They need to keep a record with:

  • Support Center website
  • Sold-to ID (or installation number – can be found in your maintenance contract)
  • LM Host ID (Server ID)/Dongle ID/ serial number
  • Webkey username and email address
  • Webkey password

You need an internet connection for installation. To install the software use the DVD or your account to download the software from the Siemens Support Center. Remove the dongle from your computer when installing Femap!

  1. Go to download & upload files in Support Center, login with your username and password.
  2. Scroll down to find the product to download. When you don’t see this menu option, it is possible Siemens didn’t register your correct IP-address. Is this the case, please send an e-mail to support@femto.nl with the correct IP-address.
  3. Click on Full Products
  4. Select the desired operating system
  5. Select the correct software version, and click on the down arrow icon
  6. Once the file is unzipped, the user is ready to install. Do a right‐mouse click on launch.exe and choose “Run as Administrator”.
  7. Open Femap with the dongle in place
  8. You’ll see a warning appear mentioning – no license. In Femap go to Help -> About -> Security –> fill in the two access codes provided by Support Center or Femto Engineering.


My computer doesn’t recognize the dongle

  1. Check if the dongle works on another computer or in a different USB port – If it works there, the problem is at your workstation and you should request help from your own IT team.
  2. If the dongle doesn’t work, check your sentinel driver. It’s possible the sentinel driver is out-of-date and need be updated to the latest version.
  3. If previous options don’t yield results, your dongle might be malfunctioning. Please send your dongle to Femto Engineering, we’ll replace it.

Femto Engineering
Attn. Sales
Oude Delft 137
2611 BE Delft


How do I get a license to update my dongle?

Login to Support Center with your account. Click on the link for “Passwords and License Files”. Select your product, version and Host/ Dongle ID. Press continue. A screen appears with a link to generate a license. Click the download link and save the license file. Now you can install this license file:

  1. Install as a Node Locked Version
  2. Check all the boxes, except Flex LM
  3. Then open Femap with the dongle in place
  4. In the main menu go to: Help, about and then security and fill out the access codes you can find in the downloaded .dat-file from Support Center.
  5. Press ok and Femap is now updated!

In case of an error message, check that you didn’t copy any spaces (spaties) at the beginning or end of the access codes. Also make sure that for the HOST ID/Dongle ID only the AB-CD-5678 combination is filled out and not the entire 1234-AB-CD-5678-E9FG sequence, which can be found on the dongle.


How do I get started with a network installation?

We always recommend appointing one or more license managers in your organization. They need to keep a record with:

  • Support Center website
  • Sold-to ID (or installation number – can be found in your maintenance contract)
  • LM Host ID or you server MAC address (Server ID)
  • Webkey username and email address
  • Webkey password

You need an internet connection to start installation. To install the software use the DVD or your Webkey to download the software from Support Center.

  1. Go to download & upload files, login with your username and password.
  2. Scroll down to find the product to download. When you don’t see this menu option, it is possible Siemens didn’t register your correct IP-address. Is this the case, please send an e-mail to support@femto.nl with the correct IP-address.
  3. Click on Full Products
  4. Select the desired operating system
  5. Select the correct software version, and click on the down arrow icon
  6. Once the file is unzipped, the user is ready to install. Do a right‐mouse click on launch.exe and choose “Run as Administrator”.
  7. The license file provided should be included in the flexlm installation folder together with the License Manager Deamon (lmgrd) and the Vendor Daemon (ugslmd). See the Flex-lm install guide for its installation (found in the network folder of the Femap install).
  8. A copy of the license file should be included in the femap installation, otherwise the license path should be specified in help=> about => security.


How do I get a license to update my network floating license?

Login to Support Center with your account. Click on the link for “Passwords and License Files”. Select your product, version and Host ID/ MAC address. Press continue. A screen appears with a link to generate a license. Click the link and the contact on file receives the new license file by email. You can now copy the marked fields into a txt file. Rename the server to match your own server and save the file as license.dat (no txt extension). Now you can install this license file:

  1. Install the software as a Network Version
  2. Check all the boxes
  3. When locally installed, go to the C: drive and drop the license.dat file in the femap folder.
  4. When installed on the server, make sure you are using the enclosed LMTOOLS (FLEXLM Manager) and follow the steps in the separate LMTOOLS manual. For the Windows platforms, the LMTOOLS.EXE program is provided under Start -> All Programs -> Siemens Digital Industries Software License Server -> LMTOOLS.
  5. Femap is now updated!

In case you encounter an error:
Check if you filled out Sold-to ID and Host ID correctly: Don’t copy dashes in the mac address! Make sure in the license file the hostname is replaced by the server name, otherwise he can’t read the license file.


Can I change the server that hosts a network floating license?

Yes, you will need to fill out a server change request form. This can be requested from support@femto.eu.


How do I switch between the different license types?

In your installation direction there should reside three batch files:

Run go_demo.bat to switch to a nodelimited license
Run go_network.bat to switch to a floating/ network license configuration
Run go_dongle.bat to switch to the dongle licensing configuration

Trials



Where can I download a Femap/NX Nastran trial version?

Open this link to request a 45-day free trial period.

  • Fill out the form
  • Start Femap and enter the activation code you received by e-mail

Note: you can only use the trial version on the computer you initially installed the software on.


I experience problems running the Femap/NX Nastran trial version

Firewalls can cause problems when you want to run the application. Please check your browser.
The results should return a message similar to this:

<response>
<message>
<version>1.0</version>
<code>OK</code>
<message_text>Hello</message_text>
<system_message_code>000001</system_message_code>
<checksum>b3b9332f95fd8d7cfc274307f06959c9</checksum>
<data>Server Version:3.2013.35</data>
</message>
</response>

If the contact does not get feedback like the above, then the firewall is blocking the interaction.

Can’t find your question? Please contact our support!

Go to support

November 15, 2017
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Do you need more information or want to discuss your project? Reach out to us anytime and we’ll happily answer your questions.

about us

At Femto Engineering we help companies achieve their innovation ambitions with engineering consultancy, software, and R&D.
We are Siemens DISW Expert Partner for Simcenter Femap, Simcenter 3D, Simcenter Amesim, Simcenter STAR-CCM+ and SDC verifier. Get in touch and let us make CAE work for you.

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