Installing Individual Licenses

The software license is supplied in a file called appname.lic. It usually arrives by email, as an attachment which can be extracted or saved to the appropriate location. In some cases (for example at a site which has purchased multiple node-locked licenses) the individual license file will have been supplied by your network support or administrator. The file should still be saved in the same fashion.

Some applications, e.g. GenStat, include an option to install the license file at startup. This allows you to specify the file name, or cut/paste the license text from the mail message, and stores the information in the correct location.

Next time you start the software it will automatically locate the license file and use that.

License File Location

When searching for a license key the software will check the following locations, either of which can be used for storing the file:
  1. C:\Program Files\Common Files\VSN International\Licenses
  2. C:\Program Files\appdir\Bin
The first location is preferred as it will simplify installation of software updates in the future. When you install a new version it will find the key in "Common Files" and run immediately, if still valid. It means that multiple installations of the software can exist in separate locations, without needing multiple copies of the license file, for example:

If you are unable to access "Common Files" you can instead put the license file in the application Bin folder, e.g. C:\Program Files\Gen11ed\Bin, as selected during installation.

Note that non-English versions of Windows may use alternative names for the Program Files or Common Files folders and you should substitute these as appropriate in the above examples.

Finally, in case you cannot access the attachment in your mail the license text is also repeated at the end of this message.

Environment Names

If the license software does not find a valid license key in either of the locations listed above it will also check some environment names to see if they have been set. These are principally intended for network installations and their use is not recommended for individual copies of the software. However, for reference purposes, they are listed here:
  1. appname_LICENSE_FILE, where appname is set appropriately, e.g. GENSTAT_LICENSE_FILE, ASREML_LICENSE_FILE.
  2. VSN_LICENSE_FILE
    3. can be used where licenses for a number of products are held in one license file.
  3. LM_LICENSE_FILE is a legacy setting that is still recognized, for compatibility with older versions, but is not recommended for new installations.
Usually the license file will be stored at a convenient location and the chosen variable set to the appropriate pathname.