How to install a License File using NILicensingCmd.exe

[bienieck]

I would like to know how to install a license file using command line interface. I tried to use NILicensingCmd.exe but I don't see appropriate command:

C:\Program Files (x86)\National Instruments\Shared\License Manager>NILicensingCmd.exe /help
Options:
 /silent                Suppresses standard output. Must be first command passed. Incompatible with /locale.
 /locale                Specifies the locale by language tag. Must be first command passed. Incompatible with /silent.
                        Arguments:
                        (en|de|fr|ja|ko|zh-CN)
 /activate              Enables product features for the license file based on the arguments passed. You must log in to your NI User Account before executing this command successfully. The version is optional for the family type activation. In case of the silent activation, the activation fails without any indication if you are not logged into your NI User Account or if the License Manager finds multiple licenses for the product. The License Manager records failures in the log file if activation fails with logging enabled.
                        Arguments:
                        /type (package|family) /name <package or family name> [/version <package version>] [/serialnumber <serial number>] [(package|family) /name <package or family name> [/version <package version>] [/serialnumber <serial number>]...]
 /activateall           Allows all activatable licenses (unactivated or expiring) to be activated using the same serial number.
                        Arguments:
                        [/serialnumber <serial number>]
 /addservers            Adds a valid server name to the list of servers to perform network checkout from. If the server name is invalid, the command returns failure.
                        Arguments:
                        <server name 1> [, <server name 2> [, ...]]
 /removeservers         Removes the server from the list of servers to perform network checkout from.
                        Arguments:
                        <server name 1> [, <server name 2> [, ...]]
 /clearallservers       Removes all the servers from the server list.
 /enablelogging         Enables logging. There will be a default duration of 7 days if the duration is not passed as an argument.
                        Arguments:
                        [<duration>]
 /disablelogging        Disables logging.
 /exportcomputerid      Prints the Computer ID to the command prompt.
 /addblockedpackage     Specifies a license package that will be blocked from use.
                        Arguments:
                        <server name> <package>
 /removeblockedpackage  Specifies a license package that will be unblocked from use.
                        Arguments:
                        <server name> <package>
 /help                  Displays the help in the command line.

[bienieck]

Or maybe I should use nivlmImportUtility.exe ?

[bienieck · Accepted solution]

I did my research and I must admit that the topic requires clarification. Anyway, I found a simple solution.

First of all, when I wrote about installing the license file, I meant installing the disconnected license file. One way to do this is to use nivlmImportUtility.exe. However, this tool is not very feature-rich because it looks like it only creates an XML form and copies the *.lic file to C:\ProgramData\National Instruments\License Manager\Licenses.

This means that automating the installation of such a license is as simple as placing the *.lic file in the folder mentioned above. Uninstalling is as simple as deleting this file.

[bienieck]

BTW If anyone wonders what is the difference between the package and the family in NILicensingCmd.exe (/activate switch), I explain.

The family is like the whole tool without distinguishing between the license subtype and the package is a specific license type, e.g. base, debug, full/professional. Yes, I know that my description is not very precise, so I suggest checking the content of C:\ProgramData\National Instruments\License Manager\ProductInfo to see possible families and C:\ProgramData\National Instruments\License Manager\Licenses to see possible packages.

LabVIEW packages BDS, FDS, PDS, and PDSD are most probably LabVIEW Base, LabVIEW Full, LabVIEW Professional and LabVIEW debug and deployment (?).