Solidworks License Server

[theuser]

Hello,

I recently installed the new Proxmox 6 on one of my servers with the intention to move an old physical windows server to virtualization.
Windows server migration went all smooth but I'm experiencing the following problem:

Whenever I try to start the Solidworks license server I get an error, "Activation license mode is not supported in this virtual environment"
It tried to switch the CPU to host mode and also disabled the "KVM hardware virtualization". Neither of this made a difference.

According to Solidworks: KVM is not supported only VMWare, MS Hyper-V and XenServer.
I would appreciate some advice on how I can run my Solidworks license server on Proxmox.

Thanks

 

[oguz]

hi,

there's no surefire way to bypass restrictions like this, because it depends completely on the virtualization checks that the program performs.

one thing you can try is adding:

cpu: <TYPE>,hidden=1

into your vm config. for example if you use cputype kvm64, then change the cpu: line in your config to

cpu: kvm64,hidden=1

and restart your vm from proxmox.

if the vm is still detected, you can try changing the network interface and scsi controller.

 

[WORK-Microwave]

Did trick with "hidden=1" worked?

 

[DerDanilo]

Hello,

I recently installed the new Proxmox 6 on one of my servers with the intention to move an old physical windows server to virtualization.
Windows server migration went all smooth but I'm experiencing the following problem:

Whenever I try to start the Solidworks license server I get an error, "Activation license mode is not supported in this virtual environment"
It tried to switch the CPU to host mode and also disabled the "KVM hardware virtualization". Neither of this made a difference.

According to Solidworks: KVM is not supported only VMWare, MS Hyper-V and XenServer.
I would appreciate some advice on how I can run my Solidworks license server on Proxmox.

Thanks

Solidworks should update their supported platforms. Only supporting proprietary software seems to be a business decision.
What does the solidwork development department say to the request of allowing to override the supported underlaying platform? They surely have possibilities to support other hypervisors if they wanted.

I know the above doesn't really help much. But maybe a quick search on the web does:

https://serverfault.com/questions/7...-is-not-supported-in-this-virtual-environment

 

[janssensm]

Solidworks should update their supported platforms. Only supporting proprietary software seems more to be a deal with those vendors than a necessary restriction.

I second your advice. These days it should not be necessary to circumvent or bypass a paid license.
Server virtualization is widely used. KVM is widely used. So indeed it's best to get into contact with the supplier.

@theuser
The support you are mentioning is probably directed at the main application.
The license server component is just FlexLM, also widely used.
The funny thing is, in the FlexLM admin manual [1] from the Solidworks website, Qemu-kvm is specifically mentioned as supported (By UUID):
Table 12-17 • List of VM_family and VM_name and hypervisor supported:
Hyper-V, VMware Workstation, VMware ESXi, Oracle VirtualBox, Citrix XenServer, Amazon EC2, Parallels, QEMU-KVM

So technically it should be possible in FlexLM, seems that Solidworks should just enable it (for the license server).

One other thing:

I recently installed the new Proxmox 6 on one of my servers with the intention to move an old physical windows server to virtualization.
Windows server migration went all smooth but I'm experiencing the following problem:

Regardless of the virtualization platform check, that won't work so easy.
The hardware specs from the VM should match the physical specs on which the license server checks, which are??
I recommend reading the FlexNet admin manual for determining how your license is managed. If you have a lic file in use, you could read it and find out the check.

Perhaps a new fresh vm install with a recent license manager is recommended and the old license should be transferred from the physical server to the vm. Your supplier could help you with that.

[1] https://files.solidworks.com/Supportfiles/FlexLM_Enduser/licensingenduserguide.pdf

 

[theuser]

Thanks for all the reply.
I couldn't solve the problem in time so we let the physical machine running and papered a switch to a different software solution.

 

[sarathi]

I am also facing the same problem in installting Solidworks license manager
cpu: kvm64,hidden=1 -- did not help.

 

[WORK-Microwave]

We didnt have any problem installing Version 2020.

CPU: host
NUMA: Enable

 

[cat_man]

Hello,

I'm curious if anyone was able to find a resolution here. I'm planning on installing SolidWorks 2021 to the current version of ProxMox. PChott's report above seems promising but I have yet to try anything. Thanks!

 

[ric-isg]

Hello,

for us it does not work out with just
CPU: host
NUMA: Enable
Is there anything else we need to adjust?

 

[Lib3]

Hello,

for us it does not work out with just
CPU: host
NUMA: Enable
Is there anything else we need to adjust?

I was have same problem.

Solution is :
CPU : kvm64 ( default ) ( i think this is not required )
NUMA : disabled
HDD bus device : SCSI ( with IDE it not work )

Tested on : Windows Server 2019 Standard

 

[ric-isg]

I can confirm, changing from ide to scsi disk did the trick.
Thank you!

 

[_gabriel]

@ric-isg : what's your license manager ? solidworks ?

 

[_gabriel]

ok here for FLEXnet Licence Manager and SolidWorks 2021
need args : -cpu host,kvm=off to the VM .conf :
need scsi disks and no sata disks even slave disks

 

[mar.svo]

OK, in other words solution is only SCSI disk + Virtio SCSI controller + hidden kvm, in virsh XML:

<disk type='file' device='disk'>
<target dev='sd_' bus='scsi'/>
...
</disk>

<controller type='scsi' model='virtio-scsi'> ... </controller>

<features>
...
<kvm>
<hidden state='on'/>
</kvm>
</features>

It works with Windows Server 2022 - and AutoCAD installation is silent about virtualization

 

[cwt]

I received the statement from a SolidWorks support company that the network license manager doesn’t run on Proxmox.

So I gave it a try and it worked out of the box without further modifications to the VM cfg file on Windows Server 2022 Standard.

PVE version: 8.0.3

Guest Hardware (with EFI & TPM):

agent: 1
balloon: 0
bios: ovmf
cores: 2
cpu: x86-64-v2-AES
machine: pc-q35-8.0
memory: 4096
net0: virtio
numa: 0
onboot: 1
ostype: win11
scsihw: virtio-scsi-single
vga: virtio

 

[lionel67]

I received the statement from a SolidWorks support company that the network license manager doesn’t run on Proxmox.

So I gave it a try and it worked out of the box without further modifications to the VM cfg file on Windows Server 2022 Standard.

PVE version: 8.0.3

Guest Hardware (with EFI & TPM):

agent: 1
balloon: 0
bios: ovmf
cores: 2
cpu: x86-64-v2-AES
machine: pc-q35-8.0
memory: 4096
net0: virtio
numa: 0
onboot: 1
ostype: win11
scsihw: virtio-scsi-single
vga: virtio

Good morning,

I just tried with these parameters on pve version 8.2.2 with solidwork 2019 it does not work

 

[_gabriel]

vdisks must be scsi and no sata disks even slave disks

 

[cwt]

agent: 1
balloon: 0
bios: ovmf
cores: 2
cpu: x86-64-v2-AES
machine: pc-q35-8.0
memory: 4096
net0: virtio
numa: 0
onboot: 1
ostype: win11
scsihw: virtio-scsi-single
vga: virtio

Installed another server with these settings and had no problems (SW2024 license server). It’s advisable to set a „serial“ within the BIOS hardware options to avoid reactivation errors if the VM has to be restored on another or the same node from backups.

 

[_gabriel]

agent: 1
balloon: 0
bios: ovmf
cores: 2
cpu: x86-64-v2-AES
machine: pc-q35-8.0
memory: 4096
net0: virtio
numa: 0
onboot: 1
ostype: win11
scsihw: virtio-scsi-single
vga: virtio

missing your crucial vdisks type !

FYI, cpu: x86-64-v2-AES hide virtualization, cpu option hidden=1 is only required for "host" type cpu.

EDIT: I had noted -cpu host,migratable=no,+invtsc,-hypervisor is faster than hidden=1