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Is there a way to view which PDM licenses are installed on other users' machines?

Question asked by Austin Broeker on May 15, 2018
Latest reply on May 16, 2018 by Austin Broeker

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We have a fairly small user group so it's been pretty easy for me to mentally keep track of which PDM licenses (Editor / Contributor / Viewer) have been installed on each user's machine, but our group continues to expand. Is there a way to view what PDM licenses are installed on machines tied to our vault? I want to keep track of this so I can make sure that we have an appropriate amount of licenses when we renew each year.

I'm not opposed to keeping track of this information on my own in a separate location, but I was just wondering if there's an easy way already built in.

Ken Maren May 16, 2018 10:18 AM

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Austin,

Google scripts to read registry keys on computers in a domain. Then have the script look for the keys that coincide with Editor, Contributor and Viewer licenses.

How to determine which client type is installed on a EPDM machine? | InFlow

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Prasad Bhonsule May 16, 2018 3:32 AM
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The easiest way to view (not necessarily keep a record of) is using the SolidNetwork License Manager. Assuming you're using PDM Pro version 2015 or newer, or PDM Standard, your PDM licenses will be managed by the License Manager. When someone logs into the vault, they will pull the appropriate PDM license, depending on what client is installed on their machine (Editor, Contributor, Viewer)

The License Manager will tell you what user is logged in as well as what computer, and you can obviously filter out the licenses.

This can be a good snapshot, and you can record these in an Excel spreadsheet etc.

Hope this helps.

Prasad
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- Austin Broeker @ Prasad Bhonsule on May 16, 2018 8:36 AM
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  Thanks for your reply. I was hoping there was a way to view all machines with a particular vault view or something, but I suppose there isn't. The only problem with the SNL manager is that it only shows the licenses being used at the current moment - I want to know how many are installed so that I can keep track of how many potential users we may have trying to vie for a particular license type at once.
  
  For instance, we have 2 PDM Contributor licenses, but we have 6 (soon to be 7) users with this license type installed. The only reason I know this is because I keep track in a separate notebook. If I check the SNL manager, no one is currently using a license:
  
  I wonder if maybe there's a way to log how often users get the "no available licenses" message? That could be a useful way to help determine when it's time to purchase another one.
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  - Dan Pihlaja @ Austin Broeker on May 16, 2018 10:14 AM
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    I Could be wrong (and maybe I don't understand) but doesn't this show how many total licenses there are?
    And you can change the drop down menu for different types.
    
    Am I totally off base here?
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    - Austin Broeker @ Dan Pihlaja on May 16, 2018 10:29 AM
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      No, you are correct - the SNL manager displays how many licenses of each type are attributed to our network license, and how many are currently being used. My issue is that it doesn't display how many machines have been tied to a particular PDM license type, which is specified during the installation process.
      
      This shows the correct amount of Contributor license types that we've purchased (2), and since no one is currently using any we have 2 free licenses. However, since I've assisted in the installation process for all of our users, I know that there are 6 different machines/users out there that can access one of these Contributor licenses at any time. It's not hard to keep track of for right now, but it's getting more difficult as our group continues to grow.
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    - Jim Sculley @ Dan Pihlaja on May 16, 2018 10:33 AM
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      This doesn't work if you use the 25 seat processor license packs for EPDM. The processor license lets you pick and choose who gets what type of EPDM license (Editor, Contributor, Viewer) and they are all lumped together in the license manager:
      
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Jim Sculley May 16, 2018 10:08 AM
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If you use an administrative image to perform all your installs (which is a good idea) you can group machines based on what get's installed:

You can quickly see how many seats are installed by counting the number of machines in a group.
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- Austin Broeker @ Jim Sculley on May 16, 2018 10:14 AM
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  I've been really wanting to start using Admin images, but haven't had the time to look into how to properly set them up. I guess I will just have to make time. Thanks, Jim.
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  - Jim Sculley @ Austin Broeker on May 16, 2018 10:50 AM
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    Austin Broeker wrote:
    
    I've been really wanting to start using Admin images, but haven't had the time to look into how to properly set them up. I guess I will just have to make time. Thanks, Jim.
    It is a lot easier than you might expect. Especially if you don't need to deploy automatically. And it's only tedious the first time. After that every new image can use the setup from the previous so you only have to tweak it if you add new users or want to change what gets installed.
    
    Each release I download the software, update the image and send an email to the users with a link to the image location. They run it and if all goes well, they are off and running.
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    - Dan Pihlaja @ Jim Sculley on May 16, 2018 10:55 AM
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      Jim Sculley wrote:
      
      Austin Broeker wrote:
      
      I've been really wanting to start using Admin images, but haven't had the time to look into how to properly set them up. I guess I will just have to make time. Thanks, Jim.
      It is a lot easier than you might expect. Especially if you don't need to deploy automatically. And it's only tedious the first time. After that every new image can use the setup from the previous so you only have to tweak it if you add new users or want to change what gets installed.
      
      Each release I download the software, update the image and send an email to the users with a link to the image location. They run it and if all goes well, they are off and running.
      
      Wow! I need to get you in touch with our IT department!
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    - Austin Broeker @ Jim Sculley on May 16, 2018 11:11 AM
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      Jim Sculley wrote:
      
      Each release I download the software, update the image and send an email to the users with a link to the image location. They run it and if all goes well, they are off and running.
      This is exactly what I hoped it would be.
      
      At one point I wrote a 20+ page procedure that I could send to people so they could install on their own, but I finished it shortly before Solidworks changed the Installation Manager in 2016 so it became outdated pretty quickly. Rather than trying to rewrite the whole thing, I've just been doing the installs myself. I was hoping to have the admin images thing figured out by the time we upgrade to 2018 though because our group has grown considerably since the last time we upgraded.
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Ken Maren May 16, 2018 10:18 AM
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Austin,

Google scripts to read registry keys on computers in a domain. Then have the script look for the keys that coincide with Editor, Contributor and Viewer licenses.

How to determine which client type is installed on a EPDM machine? | InFlow
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- Austin Broeker @ Ken Maren on May 16, 2018 10:35 AM
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  Awesome! Thanks, Ken.
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Is there a way to view which PDM licenses are installed on other users' machines?

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