How Do I Use License Sets to Save Time and Disk Space?

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Do you have two groups of users, each of which need to install a specific combination of software from the LabVIEW Platform DVDs with a different set of license permissions? With License Sets in NI Volume License Manager 2.1.1's Volume License Installers, you can create individual installer executables that request the required permissions from NI Volume License Manager for each of these groups with only one cycle through the Create Volume License Installer wizard. The Volume License Installer creates a separate setup.exe for each License Set you create, but the setup.exe refers to the original LabVIEW Platform DVD installer, saving you copy time and disk space. License Sets refers to an assignment of permissions to a group of users with the same license requirements, while referring to the same installer.

Note: License Sets do not control which products end users install, only what licenses end users can use. End users will always be able to launch a Volume License Installer and install any products included in the original source software. However, if you do not add these products to the License Set, they will be installed in evaluation mode.

The following example illustrates how License Sets improve efficiency.

A group of Engineers on the fourth floor require LabVIEW Full Development System and a group of computers in a test lab require LabVIEW Professional Development System and LabVIEW FPGA Module. You could create two License Sets, one named Fourth Floor Engineering and one named Test Lab and associate the permissions for the products accordingly. After you create the Volume License Installer, the License Set names become the directories that hold the separate installers for each group of users.

Note: You could also name the License Sets to describe the same set of permissions or licenses for which the Volume License Installer requests permissions, such as LabVIEW Full or LabVIEW Pro with FPGA.

The following tutorial steps through creating multiple License Sets in a single Volume License Installer for the scenario above:

1. Launch the Create Volume License Installer Wizard.
2. Continue through the wizard until you reach the Add a License Set dialog box.
3. Click Add to add a License Set and name it Fourth Floor Engineering.
4. Add the product LabVIEW (Base/Full/Professional).
   
   
5. Add the serial number for LabVIEW Full and select the LabVIEW Full license from the list of licenses.
   
   
6. Click the Add button next to the License Set and name it Test Lab.
   
7. Add the product LabVIEW (Base/Full/Professional) to the Test Lab License Set, as in Step 3.
8. Add the serial number for LabVIEW Professional and place a checkmark next to the LabVIEW Professional license.
9. Add the second product, LabVIEW FPGA, to the Test Lab License Set. Click Add next to Product and select LabVIEW FPGA.
10. Enter your serial number for LabVIEW FPGA and place a checkmark next to the LabVIEW FPGA license.
    
    You can now select the Product drop-down box to see that both products, LabVIEW FPGA and LabVIEW (Base/Full/Professional), are in your Test Lab License Set.
    
11. Click Next and complete the Volume License Installer Wizard.
12. End users should navigate in the resulting Volume License Installer to the directory named for the License Set they need and then launch setup.exe.