Unattended activation

[Frank Lee]

We have a number of machines on which to install LabVIEW 8.0. Following the instructions at  http://forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?board.id=170&message.id=162670&requireLogin=False
I can perform an unattended installation. Can anyone suggest a method of performing an unattended activation, please?

[EmmaR]

Hi Frank,

If you have multiple machines which will have National Instruments software installed and do not want to have to activate each one of them you can ghost the computers to have the same software on them.

The method for imaging computers with National Instruments software including a license file as part of the ghosting process is detailed in the following Knowledge Base:

"How Can I Create an Image that Contains National Instruments Software Without Activating on Each Computer?"

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/websearch/4659FBB77396634F862570C2006718C5?OpenDocument

I hope that this helps you

Emma Rogulska
Applications Engineer
NIUK & Ireland

[Frank Lee]

Hi Emma,

Thanks for your suggestion, but it's just not practical to produce entire ghost images for all our machines. We have a disparate collection of machines and each runs a different collection of software. Presumably the activation is done via HTTP to obtain the information - is there a method of reproducing that HTTP transaction in an unattended way to produce the activation file on each machine?

Yours,

Frank

[EmmaR]

Hi Frank,

The activation proceedure has been made as quick and easy as possible, thanks to the activation wizard.
There is no other alternative method of activation that I would advise.

Emma Rogulska
Application Engineer
NIUK & Ireland

[Frank Lee]

 Hi Emma,

I don't think having to find a time when each of our workstations isn't being used by anybody to go and log on then click my way through the activation procedure is as easy as remotely running a command to activate it! Does National Instruments really not provide a command-line option to activate its products? I can quite understand NI wanting to ensure that LabVIEW is used correctly and within the licence conditions and as a network administrator I would like to ensure that all my products are activated. Would you be able to pass this request up the line, please? It's a big problem for us not to be able to install and activate software automatically.

Yours,

Frank

[EmmaR]

Hi Frank,

The only alternative to ghosting or individually activating your licenses is to join the NI Volume License Program.

As part of the Volume License Program, you receive NI Volume License Manager (VLM), a software tool for tracking and managing your software licenses. The program also simplifies software purchasing - both new software purchases and maintenance renewals.

With Volume License Manager you can create installers for our products which include activation. This seems like an option that would benefit you, but not if you have already installed the software on all the machines, activating these with the Volume License Program would still involve a manual aspect.

This is the URL for the NI Volume License Program Page:

http://www.ni.com/license/ni_volume_license_program.htm

I hope that this helps you, If you would like to discuss these options further, please contact National Instruments and speak to an internal sales engineer.

Emma Rogulska
Applications Engineer
NIUK & Ireland

[Frank Lee]

Hi Emma,

That sounds like a good suggestion, thanks. The FAQ suggests that it's necessary to run a Windows machine to serve the licence though - since we don't have a windows machine which is running constantly the VLM route might not be possible.

From http://www.ni.com/license/vlm_faq.htm :
Q: What Are the Minimum Requirements to Run the NI Volume License Manager?
A: You should install NI Volume License Manager on a computer running Microsoft Windows XP/2000.

The activation procedure just sends some data about the host and the LabVIEW serial number to National Instruments through the internet and creates a file based on the response. There's no technological reason that this can't be done from the command line, surely?

Yours,

Frank

[EmmaR]

Hi Frank,

As you noted it is necessary to run a Windows machine to serve the licence though. However, the following KB adresses how to work around not having a windows machine which is running constantly.
Thus making the VLM route possible.

"How are Software Users Affected if the Volume License Server is Inaccessible?"
http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/websearch/9B6FE2A6BFFF588086256DDA00786403?OpenDocument

Regards,

Emma Rogulska
Applications Engineer
NIUK & Ireland

[Frank Lee]

Hi Emma,

Just to summarize for the benefit of anyone else having the same problem:

Under LabVIEW 8 it is not possible to do a completely unattended install on an individual machine unless one also runs a licence server, which must be a windows machine.
There is no method of registering an installation of LabVIEW 8 with NI from the command line: the GUI must be installed.

This makes LabVIEW 8 less attractive than LabVIEW 7 for academic institutions unless they have either a windows server or identical hardware which can be re-ghosted to install LabVIEW.

Please would you pass on this formal request to the development team for a method of registering our LabVIEW 8 installations from the command line non-interactively.

Thank you for your suggestions,

Frank

[hannahW]

Hi Frank,

You can make a product suggestion to our developers at the following location:

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/EDA7C01C684ACB6286256FF0000238D5

Thanks

Hannah
NIUK & Ireland