Obtaining a HostID for Licensing

Problem Description

How do I obtain a HostID for my license file?

Solution

For many license types in the COMSOL product family, your COMSOL sales representative will ask you for some information in order to create installation codes. COMSOL uses the FlexNet Publisher licensing system to create installation codes using the HostID and server name and possibly more information about your system. The server name is the network name of the computer, which can be just a name, (e.g., bart), a fully qualified ip-name (bart.simpson.com) or an ip-number (130.243.43.3). The HostID is the physical hardware number of the Ethernet Network Interface Card (NIC). The HostID is sometimes called Ethernet address or MAC-address (Media Access Control address).

Obtaining the HostID on Windows
Obtaining the HostiD on Mac OS X
Obtaining the HostID on Linux

Obtaining the HostID on Windows

• First open the command window: Press keyboard shortcut Window button+R, (or, if you have no window button: Put the insertion point in the search field.). Type in cmd and press Return.
• Type in ipconfig /all at the command prompt and press Return.
• The FlexNet HostID is the same as the "Physical Address". This must be reported to your COMSOL representative in order to sign a license file.
• The server name is the same as the "Host Name". The host name can also be reported to your COMSOL representative for easy handling, but it is not necessary to create the license file.

To place the number in the clipboard: Highlight the text with the left mouse button, then press return. You can also type the command getmac /FO LIST /V | clip, where /FO contains the letter O as in Oscar. Then press CTRL+V to paste the output in an editor.

HostID for PCs with wireless adapters

If you plan to install on a PC with a wireless network adapter, you should report the physical address of both the wireless and the Ethernet adapter.

Obtaining the HostID on macOS

• Open System Preferences from the Apple Menu.
• Go to System Preferences and select Network.
• Select the correct Ethernet adapter and click Advanced
• Select the Hardware tab where you will find the MAC address listed.
• Report the MAC address for both Ethernet 1 and also Ethernet 0 if it exists. These numbers should each consist of 12 characters. Do not select Firewire.

To find the server name, open the Terminal application found in the /Applications/Utilities folder and type in hostname.

Obtaining the HostID on Linux

• Open an xterm window.
• Type in hostname at the command prompt and press Return. The output is the server name.

• Type in /sbin/ifconfig eth0 at the command prompt and press Return. The HostID is the 12-digit number after "ether". For older Linux versions the 12-digit number will be listed after "HWaddr".

  For newer versions of Linux distributions, consistent network device naming has been deployed. This means that the Ethernet adapter can have a different name than eth0. Run the command without parameters, /sbin/ifconfig , to get all adapters on your machine. Select the one for the Ethernet card.

Browse by Category