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General
The VRay licensing system is an independent licensing routine (the
VRay floating license server, tied to a hardware
locking device) and the VRay renderer itself. The communication between the
two is based on the HTTP protocol, even if the license server and the VRay renderer are on the same computer. This means that in order for the
licensing to work, the computer must have TCP/IP
installed properly.
In order to run, the VRay license server requires that a USB hardware
lock (dongle) is attached to the computer where it is running. The dongle
contains information about the number of available licenses for VRay. You
can attach more than one dongle to the same machine to increase the number
of available licenses. Before using the dongle, you must install a driver for
accessing it.
Installation
Installing the VRay license server
The VRay floating license server consists of a single executable file
that has to be run prior to launching the VRay renderer. The VRay
installer creates a shortcut to the license server in the Start menu. The
installer can also optionally register the VRay license server as a Windows
service that is started automatically by Windows. Note that the license
server requires that a dongle is attached to the machine in order to run, as
well as installed WIBU-key dongle driver. By default, the VRay installer
automatically installs the required WIBU-key drivers (at present the
installation only includes the 32-bit version of the drivers; if you are
installing on a 64-bit operating system you need to download and install the
64-bit drivers from http://wibu.com).
All of the settings for the license server are saved in an .xml file
vrlservice.xml which is placed in a
ChaosGroup directory located in the
Common files directory provided by Windows, which
is typically found in the Program Files
directory. Thus usually the full name of the settings file is
C:\Program Files\Common Files\ChaosGroup\vrlservice.xml.
In case of any problems the user can edit the file directly, but we strongly
recommend that, unless the user is experienced, they should not do so.
Securing the VRay license server
Please keep in mind that it is up to you and/or your system administrator
to keep the machine running the VRay license server secure from
unauthorized access and usage of your VRay licenses, especially if the
VRay license server is running on a machine that can be accessed from the
Internet.
Configuring the VRay renderer on a workstation
When you open the Render Scene dialog inside 3dsmax and choose the VRay
renderer, press the Edit/set license server information
button in the Authorization rollout. It will prompt you for the license
server name or IP where the VRay license server is running. Leave the User
and Password fields blank. You need to close and re-open the render scene
dialog to see the changes. Note that if you are running the VRay license
server on a different machine, you do not need to install the WIBU-key
dongle drivers on your workstation.
All of the VRay client settings are saved in the
vrlclient.xml file in the Common Files\ChaosGroup
directory which is usually located in the Program files
directory. Thus the full file name of the settings file usually is
C:\Program Files\Common Files\ChaosGroup\vrlclient.xml.
It can be edited by hand but we strongly advise you not to do so, unless you
are certain of what you are doing.
Configuring the VRay renderer on render slaves for backburner and
distributed rendering
Although VRay does not require a separate license to render through
backburner, it does require access to the VRay license server. The same is
true for distributed rendering. After you install VRay on the render slave,
you must tell it where to look for the VRay license server. If 3dsmax is
also licensed for that machine, you can use the Render Scene dialog as
described above. If a 3dsmax license is not installed on the render slave,
you can use a small external program which is accessible from the start menu
if you used the VRay installer (Start menu > Programs >
Chaos Group > VRay for 3dsmax > Licensing > Administration > Change
VRay
client license settings) or from the
<maxroot>\VRay folder if you installed manually from a .zip file.
This program can also be run from the command line (use
-help option to see usage notice).
Examples
Typical single-computer licensing
After installing VRay, plug your VRay dongle into a free USB port on
your computer, if you have not done so. Start the VRay license server (Start
Menu > Programs > Chaos Group > VRay for 3dsmax > Licensing > Launch
VRay
license server). It may take a few seconds for the license server to
start completely. Afterwards run 3dsmax and open the Render scene dialog.
Press the Edit/set license server information
button. Enter the "127.0.0.1" IP address as your license server. Close and
re-open 3dsmax. Now VRay should be running fine, provided that no other
VRay copy is connected to your computer. If you wish to start the license
server automatically, use the shortcut from the start menu to register the
VRay license service (Start Menu > Programs > Chaos
Group > VRay for 3dsmax > Licensing > Administration > Register
VRay
license service).
Sharing a license across your network of computers
Install the VRay license server and the WIBU-key driver on a suitable
machine in your network (typically this would be a server machine). Plug the
dongle into a free USB port on that machine and start the VRay license
server. Afterwards run 3dsmax on any computer in your network and open the
Render Scene dialog. Press the Edit/set license server
information button. Enter the IP address or the name of the computer
where you have the license serer installed. Close and re-open 3dsmax. Now
VRay should be running fine, provided that the total number of running
VRay copies does not exceed the number of granted licenses for the
licensing server.
Using the VRay license server
When the VRay license server starts, it appears as an icon in the tray
area of the Windows taskbar. Double-click that icon to bring up a window
that allows you to close the VRay license server (simply close the window
if you do not wish to terminate the license server):
VRay license server icon in the Windows
taskbar
Clicking the icon opens a window to terminate
the license server
Additionally, you can monitor the work of the VRay license server
(number of available licenses, currently connected machines etc) via a
Web-based interface. For this purpose, you access the VRay license server
via the HTTP protocol on the port that you have specified for it (the
default is 30304). For example, if you are
running the VRay license server on your local machine, open your web
browser and in the Address field enter
http://localhost:30304
Clicking on the first link opens a page with the VRay license server
information:
Troubleshooting
Send an email to vray@chaosgroup.com
if you need assistance.
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