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HOW TO - Configure Lumerical Licensing with ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE or License.ini

Set the license server and the Enterprise or Business license type without the Ansys Optics Launcher

Authored by Carlos Rodriguez November 1st, 2026 6 views 0 likes KB4005790

Description

Lumerical products usually get their license settings from the Ansys Optics Launcher or the Ansys Licensing Settings. You can also set them without a graphical tool. This is useful on Linux with no GUI, to apply one license setting to every user on a computer, or to have one Lumerical product use a different license type than the others.

You can use the ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE environment variable (Lumerical 2021 R2 and later read it) or the License.ini preference file, which also sets the license type (Enterprise or Business) and proxy settings.

Solution

Which Setting Lumerical Uses

When more than one setting exists, Lumerical applies them in this order:

License.ini takes precedence over the ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE environment variable.
A user's License.ini takes precedence over the system-wide License.ini.
A license type set in a product's own preference file takes precedence over the license type in License.ini.

In the examples, replace 1055 with your license server port and licserver01 (or server1, server2, server3) with your license server hostnames or IP addresses.

Option 1 - Set the ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE Environment Variable

Lumerical 2021 R2 and later read this variable.

On the computer running Lumerical, create an environment variable named ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE. On Windows, follow HOW TO - Create an Environment Variable.
Set its value to the license server port and hostname or IP address, for example 1055@licserver01.

Note: 1055 is the default port. If your license file uses a different port, use that one.
Close and reopen Lumerical so it reads the new value.

Note: Because License.ini takes precedence, Lumerical ignores this variable when a License.ini file sets a license server. If the variable has no effect, check the License.ini locations in Option 2.

Note: Releases before 2021 R2 use the legacy Lumerical FlexNet license manager and do not read this variable. Use License.ini for those releases.

Option 2 - Edit the License.ini File

Go to the folder for the scope you want:
- One user on Windows: %AppData%\Lumerical\
- One user on Linux: ~/.config/Lumerical
- All users on the computer: the Lumerical installation folder. Lumerical does not create this file, so create it yourself. You need administrator rights on Windows or root on Linux.
Open License.ini in a text editor, or create it, and add or edit the [license] section. This example checks out a Business license from licserver01 on port 1055:
```
[license]
default=user
domain=1
ansysserver\host=1055@licserver01
```
Set each key as shown in the tables below.

Setting	Value
default	`user` in a user's License.ini, or `system` in the License.ini in the installation folder
domain	The license type Lumerical should check out (see the next table)
ansysserver\host	`1055@licserver01`, the port and the license server's hostname or IP address

Setting	Value
domain=0	Enterprise, all releases
domain=1	Business (formerly Standard), 2024 R1 and later
domain=2	Standard, 2023 R2 and earlier

Note: If the license server has both Enterprise and Business licenses and you set no domain, Lumerical checks out Enterprise.

Save the file and restart Lumerical.

Note: On 2023 R2 and earlier, a user's ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE variable makes Lumerical check out the Enterprise license. To check out the Standard license instead, add overrideLicenseFile=true to the [license] section along with domain=2.

Use a Different License Type for One Product

Each Lumerical product has its own preference file named after the product, for example Lumerical FDTD.ini, in the same preference folder.

Open the product's .ini file in a text editor.
Add a [license] section, or edit the existing one, and set only the domain. This example makes FDTD check out a Business license while License.ini keeps the other products on Enterprise:
```
[license]
domain=1
```
Save the file and restart the product.

Note: A product's .ini file sets only the license type. The license server still comes from License.ini, the environment variable, or the Licensing Settings.

Set Triad (Redundant) License Servers

List all three servers in the same setting, in the format for where you set it:

Setting	Value
Environment variable on Windows	`1055@server1;1055@server2;1055@server3` (separate servers with semicolons)
Environment variable on Linux	`1055@server1:1055@server2:1055@server3` (separate servers with colons)
License.ini on Windows	`ansysserver\host="1055@server1,1055@server2,1055@server3"` (separate servers with commas inside quotes)
License.ini on Linux	`ansysserver\host=1055@server1:1055@server2:1055@server3` (separate servers with colons)

Set a Proxy Server (Optional)

If Lumerical connects to the internet through a proxy server, add a [license/http_proxy] section to License.ini. This is the same setting as the "Proxy" button on the "File" tab.

Your Proxy Password Is Stored as Plain Text

Lumerical stores the proxy password unencrypted in License.ini. Leave username and password out unless your proxy requires them.

Open License.ini in a text editor.

Add the [license/http_proxy] section, then set each key as shown in the table below:

[license/http_proxy]
proxy_type=http
host=proxy.example.com
port=3128
username=your_proxy_username
password=your_proxy_password

Setting	Value
proxy_type	`http` (usually `http` or `socks5`)
host	`proxy.example.com`, replaced with your proxy server's address
port	`3128`, replaced with your proxy server's port
username	`your_proxy_username` (optional)
password	`your_proxy_password` (optional)

Save the file and restart Lumerical.

Note: To set the license server with the graphical tool instead, see HOW TO - Specify an Ansys License Server.

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