Useful information and best practices

Included here are items of useful information and helpful hints regarding configuring License Manager for use with ArcGIS Pro or Premium App named user licenses and Portal for ArcGIS.

Options Files with Named User Licenses

Currently, options files are not supported with named user licenses. Control of user access to named user licenses is performed in the portal. Concurrent use licenses continue to support the options file, please see the Using the Options File topic for more information on options file usage for concurrent use licenses.

Deauthorizing named user licenses from License Manager

Unlike concurrent use licenses, named user licenses cannot be deauthorized from the License manager using the License Server Administrator program. Instead, licenses will expire and be unavailable for use at the expiry date; typically this is thirty days following the ArcGIS Desktop maintenance expiry date. In the extreme case of a lost or destroyed license server, please contact Esri Customer Service or your distributor regarding replacement licenses. ArcGIS Desktop maintenance end dates do not impact the end date of Premium Apps.

Applying a new named user license file to License Manager

Re-applying the same named user authorization file to License Manager will not increment or add more named users. Applying or re-applying any Esri named user *.lic or *.json authorization file will always overwrite the existing named user licenses on the License Manager. The exception to this rule is if the named user *.lic or *.json authorization file contains more than one ArcGIS Product or Premium App. For example, a *.lic file for Drone2Map can be applied to the ArcGIS License Manager at a later stage than a *.lic file for ArcGIS Pro.

If changes to, or additional ArcGIS Pro or Premium App named user licenses need to be applied to the ArcGIS License Manager, a new authorization file must be created in My Esri and the configuration steps repeated. This will update the ArcGIS Pro or Premium App named user features, named user quantities, and expiry dates to match your current entitlements. For Portal for ArcGIS 10.6, please be aware that the export of the file from License Manager to the portal must also be repeated for the new configuration to become actively in use.

All named user licenses have a thirty day grace period applied to the subscription expiry date at the time of creating the named user authorization file in My Esri. ArcGIS Pro will display a reminder for licenses which are about to expire. The expiry dates of your named user licenses are tied to your maintenance agreement for the applicable product and are updated when it is renewed through Esri Customer Service or your local distributor. Once updated licenses are available, a new ArcGIS Pro or Premium App named user authorization file must be created in My Esri, applied to the License Manager, and a new portal configuration file exported to Portal for ArcGIS.

Understanding named user counts in the License Manager Availability

Total named user licenses and sessions in use are shown in the License Server Administrator Availability view, selected by using the dropdown in the top right corner of the License Server Administrator and selecting the Named User option.

Quantities shown in the Total column follow the format xx/xx which represents users/sessions, or number of ArcGIS Pro or Premium App named users/number of sessions allowed. Number of sessions shown will always be three times (3x) the actual named user count. This is because each named user is allowed up to three simultaneous sessions. Total remaining sessions are represented by the Available column of the Named User Availability view.

License Manager ports

With ArcGIS 10.3-10.6 and 2018.0-2021.1 License Managers, a specific port in the range 27000-27009, must be specified for the lmgrd daemon as a requirement for configuring it for use with a portal. The service.txt file found in the install directory (C:\Program Files\ArcGIS\LicenseManager\bin by default for a 2021.0 and newer installation) includes the port 27000 by default after installing ArcGIS License Manager. If ArcGIS License Manager 2021.1 was installed as an upgrade from an earlier version, for example over ArcGIS 10.2.2 License Manager and a port such as 27004 was already specified in the earlier install, this port may not be carried over into the new install. In this case, the port will need to be manually re-entered into the service.txt file. If upgrading from ArcGIS 10.3-10.6 License Manager, or ArcGIS License Manager 2018.0-2021.0 to ArcGIS License Manager 2021.1, then the port information in the Service.txt file will be retained. The lmgrd daemon port is communicated to the portal as part of the portal configuration *.json file.

For information on configuring your License Manager to work through a firewall, please also see the Configure the ArcGIS License Manager to work through a firewall topic. For details on configuring the Portal for ArcGIS to work through a firewall, please also refer to the Portal for ArcGIS help documentation.

Transferring Named User licenses between License Managers

Transfer of named user licenses from one ArcGIS License Manager to a different ArcGIS License Manager is not supported; concurrent use license transfers continue to be supported. If setting up a replacement or secondary License Manager, Esri customer service must be notified that the existing License Manager is being retired and that a new License Manager will be commissioned. This allows the named user entitlement counts to be updated correctly in My Esri and the new License Manager to be configured. Please see also the following section regarding Backup License Managers for Portal.

Backup License Managers for Portal

A backup License Manager can be configured for use with Portal for ArcGIS. This will allow the portal to continue providing named user licenses to ArcGIS Pro or Premium App sessions in the event the primary License Manager fails. For instructions on configuring the backup License Manager, please see the Portal for ArcGIS help documentation. To obtain licenses for backup License Managers, contact Esri Customer Service or your local distributor.

Using ArcGIS License Manager in the cloud

If licensing ArcGIS products in the cloud or in virtualized environments using ArcGIS License Manager, please refer to the Esri whitepaper on cloud licensing for more information.