License File Eligibility Dates

Note: You may not need a new license file for this release.
Beginning in 2002, you will not necessarily need a new license file every time you receive a new release. Platte River now issues license files based on an "eligibility date" - meaning the date through which you are eligible to receive new releases. This date will generally be the renewal date for your support & maintenance contract, or the expiration date for an evaluation or loan.

If you are currently running a previous version of the PRA products, and the eligibility date in your existing license file is after the "build date" for the release you have received, you should not need a new license file to run the new release.

If the eligibility date is earlier than the build date for the release, or if you still have a license file which uses product version numbers (e.g. 7.8) for licensing, you will need a new file - even if the license file has not expired.

Note that even if you do not need a new license file for this release, you should still install the newest PRA licensing files, so that your licensing is up-to-date. You may have other licensing-related problems if you do not.

How do I determine whether I need a new license file?

Beginning with the July 2002 Release:
When you run setup.exe to install the Petroleum Systems Suite software, setup will check for a license.dat file in the directory where you are installing the products. If it finds one, it will check the dates in the license file, and warn you if you need a new file to run the new release.
If you do not receive a warning during setup, the easiest way to verify that your license file is ok is to attempt to launch the new products you have installed.
If you have installed the new release in a different location than the previous version, make sure you copy the existing licensing to the new location:

If you are running a stand alone version, simply copy the license.dat file to the new location.
If you are running a network version, and wish to keep the license manager in its existing location, simply copy the client.lic file from the old PRA program location to the new one.
If you are running a network version and wish to move the license manager to the new location, uninstall it from its previous location, and reinstall it in the new one.

Make sure you are launching a program that you are licensed to use.

If the program starts without FLEXlm errors, your license file is fine. You do not need to continue with the license installation process.

If you get an error like either of the ones below, you will need a new license file. See the instructions for Windows Network, Novell Netware or Stand Alone license installation for information on receiving and installing your new license file.

If you wish to check the dates in the license file itself, see Checking the Eligibility Date below for more information.

Checking the Eligibility Date

Beginning with the July 2002 Release:
To check the dates in your license file automatically using praflexdate:
Make sure you have installed the new licensing files as mentioned above. This is important to ensure that you have the correct version of the praflexdate utility.
From a Windows machine, run Start | Programs | Platte River Associates, Inc | License File Date Utility. From a UNIX server, run the praflexcode utility in the /praflex/bin subdirectory where the new PRA license manager is installed.The utility will ask you if you wish to check the license file in the default location. If you do, simply enter Yes.
If you wish to check a license file in a different location, enter No, and you will be prompted for the path to the license file.The utility will then report the status of the license file, based on the eligibility and expiration date(s) found in the license file. If you need a new license file, it will tell you so.

To check the dates manually:

Open your license file (license.dat) in a text editor. You will see FEATURE lines in the file, which look something like this:
FEATURE BMOD praflexlmd 2003.1101 14-dec-2003 uncounted 958C58E8E905 \ HOSTID=DISK_SERIAL_NUM=3c9e5e79
If you still have an old file, the number after "praflexlmd" will be a version number, such as "7.8". If this is the case, you will need a new license file to run any release issued after January 2002.
If you have a new file, the number directly after "praflexlmd" is the eligibility date. It is formatted "year.monthday" - so the eligibility date in the example line above is November 1, 2003.
Note that in some cases the eligibility date could be different for each product you own - so be sure to check all of the feature lines in the file to see what you are eligible for.