rendering

Installing Arnold Single License Server Model flexnetserver Systemon an Apple Mac OS Render Farm.

| Paul Greer

As of version 5.0.1 Arnold requires that the license server is using the Autodesk flexnetserver system instead of the RLM system previously used by Arnold.

I have just switched the render farm over to this system and had some trouble getting all the required information I needed in one place as many instructions have a certain amount of assumed knowledge.

So here is various instructions gathered from different parts of the Autodesk support site and placed in ONE list, with a few comments and additions here and there from myself.

1. Download the installer

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya/downloads/caas/downloads/content/autodesk-network-license-manager-for-mac-os-x.html

This will be installed on the server computer.

You will need to be on Apple macOS High Sierra 10.13, Apple macOS Sierra 10.12 or Apple Mac OS X El Capitan 10.11.

 

2. Reveal the hidden folders and documents in your Finder

You will need to do this to be able to see some of these folders where the installation is taken place.

  1. Open Terminal found in Finder > Applications > Utilities.
  2. In Terminal, paste the following: defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES.
  3. Press return.
  4. Hold the ‘Option/alt’ key, then right click on the Finder icon in the dock and click Relaunch.

 

3. Obtain a license from Autodesk

You can do this by logging into your account on Autodesk.com and going to “Manage Products and Downloads” and selecting “Generate A Network License File”from the Arnold drop down menu.

It’ll ask for the MAC address and name of your machine.

You can get the MAC address by going to System Preferences, click on NETWORK, choose WIFI from the list of connections, then click on Advanced and then select Hardware.

The MAC Address is displayed here.

 

4. Install the flexnetserver software on your server

In Finder, go to the Downloads folder and double-click nlm11.14.1.3_ipv4_ipv6_mac_universal.tar.gz

In Finder, double click nlm11.14.1.3_ipv4_ipv6_mac_universal.pkg to run the installer

Copy your license file to /usr/local/flexnetserver

I had trouble with this as my admin did not have permission to look inside the “usr” folder.

So, post intsallation, I moved the flexnetserver folder onto the root of my Hard Drive. Consequently I had to adjust all subsequent addresses from  /usr/local/flexnetserver to /flexnetserver.

 

5. Start the Server

Open a terminal

Start the license server. Copy this line of text and paste it into the terminal window. Then press ENTER

/usr/local/flexnetserver/lmgrd -c /usr/local/flexnetserver

(in my case Where the first address is the location of the flexnetserver file and the second is the location of the license file.)

This is the command that run to start the license server after you restart the computer.

 

6. Test the Status

Type this into a terminal window.

/usr/local/flexnetserver/lmutil lmstat -a -c /var/flexlm/adsk_server.lic

Where the first address is your flexnetserver adress (see above) and the second is the location of your license file.

 

7. Convert any text files you make into PlainText

In TextEditor go to “format” and select Make Plain Text.

 

 

8. Set up the Server so that it automatically restarts.

  • Copy the contents below and save the file on the Desktop and call it: profile.txt
/usr/local/flexnetserver/lmgrd –c /usr/local/flexnetserver/adsk_server.lic  –l /var/flexlm/adsk_server.log
(Note: the above command assumes that your Autodesk software license file name is adsk_server.lic and is located in /var/flexlm/ folder.  If your license file name and location is different, please adjust the command accordingly.  The same assumption is made regarding debut log file, /var/flexlm/adsk_server.log.)
  • Open a Terminal and type: 
cd $HOME
  • Type the following and the file will be moved from your Desktop to your HOME directory and renamed:
mv Desktop/profile.txt .profile
  • Type the following and confirm that there is a .profile file in the folder:
ls -la
  • Go to System Preferences > Users & Groups.
  • Select your user and finally Login Items.
  • Click the + symbol on the bottom. In the dialog window, click on the search bar on top-right and type “Terminal“. Double click on the correspondent result. Eventually, Terminal will be added in the Login Items list as shown below:
  User-added image
  • Reboot your computer and if this shows up in the Terminal, it’s working.  You can also open the Activity Monitor (View > All Processes) and confirm that the adskflex and lmgrd are running.
​ User-added image

9. Creating the Environment Variable for the Client Machines.

Make sure that you correctly set the  ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE variable:

An Environment Variable is needed for Arnold to verify where to pull a license from. This needs to be done on the workstation where MtoA will run.

Use a text editor to create a flexlmrc.txt file. Its content should look like this, except with the name or IP address of your license server:

ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE=@MY_SERVER_HOSTNAME_OR_IP

 

If the license server is on the same machine as Arnold, 
your flexlmrc file will look like this:
ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE=@localhost

Save the txt file anywhere on your machine. Open a Terminal window and type open ~ (Mac) or nautilus ~ (Linux) to open your Home folder, then drag and drop your flexlmrc.txt file there.
Then type  cd ~ to move your terminal to the Home folder.
Finally type mv flexlmrc.txt .flexlmrc (Mac) or mv flexlmrc .flexlmrc (Linux) to make the file a configuration file.

This file can now be copied to the Home folder of the other machines in your farm.

That’s it. Run a simple test and check for watermarks.

Making Mental Ray for Maya 2015 work with Macintosh OS Mavericks (10.9)

Aside | | Paul Greer

As you may be aware if you follow me on Twitter we’ve been having some terrible trouble with rendering on Mental Ray for Maya after upgrading to the Macintosh Mavericks OS.

There seemed to be a conflict with multiple thread renders and the new Macintosh architecture.

We so far seem to have cleared the issue.

We completely uninstalled all parts of Maya, on the problem computers by dragging the Maya folder in the applications to the trash and then finding the Autodesk preferences folder in Library/Preferences(Library appears when you Alt-click the Go menu), and removing that too. Probably best keep a back up of that one.

Then do a fresh install of the new Maya 2015 Sp3.

It’s easier than uninstalling Mavericks anyways.

We had this in place for 3 days now and the constant hangs seem to be over.

Fingers crossed.

Edit: Scrub that. Still having freeze problems. Thinking of now striping the Mavericks machines to take them back to OS 10.8, as we are having no problems with them. If anyone else is making progress on this please let me know.

Edit 2: I tried CGBeige‘s script in the render farm, but it didn’t seem to stop the issue. So I have reverted to enabling “Overtime Kill Ratio” on Smedge (the software we use to managed our render farm). I set this to 3, so that if the work for the chunk goes 3 times over the work unit time it kills the chunk and starts again., which is good enough to kick it into gear and means I can sleep, without looking over the render farm all night.

Oh, and I have raised an official case ID with Autodesk, in case you were wondering.

Edit 3: Just found this post on Inside Mental Ray, there is an SP4, and they claim to have fixed it.

“We are glad to announce that we were able to remove the cause for freezes and crashes on Mac OS X version 10.9”

So we’ll see.