Keysight EDA licensing is the licensing scheme for the EEsof family of electronic design automation products. The ADS 2024 licensing guide for administrators names the scheme “Keysight EEsof Licensing” and says it supports only counted licences that are either node-locked or floating.[1] Products configured through per-product licence-file environment variables include ADS, IC-CAP, EMPro, Genesys, SystemVue, GoldenGate, AMA, MBP, MQA and WaferPro.[1] The rules differ from those of instrument software in Keysight license types and terms because EDA licences are bundles of features checked out in real time from a FlexNet server, even for node-locked use.
Node-locked and floating licences
A node-locked EEsof licence permits the software to run on one machine; both the licence server manager (lmgrd) and the vendor daemon (agileesofd) run on the local machine for which the licence is issued.[1] It allows a product to be used on a single computer with a single display by a single user, and the user, licence and computer must physically co-locate.[1] The licence is secured by a codeword tied either to the CPU ID (the computer’s physical address) or to a USB dongle’s FlexNet ID.[1]
A floating (network) licence can be shared among users across a network. The guide states support for single and multiple servers, including distributed product servers, peak servers and redundant servers, and notes that with a floating licence an individual feature within a bundle or element can be run locally or remotely by a single user.[1] In a licence file the difference is visible in the INCREMENT line: a line with a HOSTID entry is node-locked, while a line without one is floating.[1]
Counting: User-Display-Host
All EEsof licences are counted, with the User-Display-Host (UDH) as the base of the checkout identity, and each unique UDH consumes one count of a licence.[1] The guide gives three situations that consume an additional count:
- a second user logs on to the same host;
- the same user moves to another terminal and starts another session, because the display has changed; and
- the same user starts a second session from a different host, for example through Remote Desktop to another machine.[1]
The count recorded on a licence is the maximum concurrent use of that licence, and when the limit is reached the licence is not available for additional use.[1]
Remote access
Keysight licensing supports remote access through Windows Remote Desktop, VNC, Citrix and Exceed on a best-effort basis. A floating licence is required for remote access, and the function is not supported with a node-locked licence.[1] The EULA adds a contractual layer for single-site floating licences: remote access for users outside the fifty mile Use Area is not allowed.[4]
Bundles, elements and job control
Each EEsof licence is supplied as a bundle or an element, and each contains one or more features.[1] Some features are job controlled, meaning that job control limits their concurrent use. Simulators and models are typically job controlled, usually with a limit of one (Harmonic Balance, Momentum and the LTE wireless library are named examples), and some have a higher limit to support parallel computing (Momentum turbo, 8-pack transient and convolution, and quad-pack GoldenGate simulation are named examples).[1] Features that are not job controlled, such as the environment graphical interface, entitle one UDH to share one count of the licence an unlimited number of times.[1]
The sample licence summary header in the guide shows how a licence is identified for the reader: a line such as “W2200BP-1FP Node-locked license ADS Core” lists the product-number-style identifier, licence type, product and codeword name (for example b_core).[1] The guide presents this as an example of the file format rather than as a price-list entry.
Which licence is checked out
When a session starts and only one bundle type is available on the server, it is checked out and the session starts. If several bundle types are available, a Product Selector window lets the user choose, and the choice can be saved as the default for future sessions.[1] Administrators can assign a start-up bundle and suppress the selector with the environment variables <PRODUCT>_PRODSEL_AUTOSTART and <PRODUCT>_PRODSEL_PREVIOUS.[1]
During a session, the start-up licence is attempted first; if that fails, elements, primitives and bundles are tried in that order, and within each group the least capable licence is tried before more capable ones.[1] This ordering decides which licences are consumed when a customer owns a mix of bundles and elements. FlexNet controls such as EXCLUDE and MAXIMUM, set in an options file, let a CAD administrator limit usage by user, host or display name; hot swapping of licences is not supported.[1]
Remote and distributed simulation licences
Remote simulation of the circuit and Momentum simulators requires a floating licence from the licensing pool, where the product supports it; distributed simulations, usually run remotely, require special distributed licences.[1] Two distributed licence types are offered.
Distributed Computing N-pack Simulation License. An N-pack (or Turbo) licence supports N concurrent parallel jobs, with N typically 8, for sweeps over parameters such as frequency, power, temperature, a variable, Monte Carlo or corner analysis on one circuit. A standard simulation licence is checked out first and acts as the controller. The N-pack is reserved up front when the distributed simulation starts and released only when the sweep completes. N-packs can be stacked for more parallelism, are limited to one simulation type and cannot be shared between users or circuits.[1] If no N-pack is available, Momentum runs the sweep sequentially on the standard licence, while transient, convolution and channel simulations launch multiple jobs that each pull a standard simulation licence.[1]
Quad-pack Simulation License (GoldenGate only). A quad-pack supports four simultaneous simulation jobs of multiple types and does not need a standard simulation licence first. It is first-come, first-served: with 20 jobs and two quad-packs available, all 20 launch, eight are granted licences and the others wait.[1]
For remotely launched simulations the licence auto-retry time defaults to one hour, retrying a failed checkout every two minutes until granted or the period ends.[1]
Licence files, codewords and versions
A licence file has a summary header and a codeword section made of SERVER, VENDOR and INCREMENT lines in FlexNet format. An INCREMENT line carries the feature name, vendor daemon, licence version, expiry date, count, vendor string and an optional HOSTID.[1] The SERVER line may name one server or three redundant servers; redundant servers must run the same operating system, and if no port is given a default port in the range 27000 to 27009 is used.[1]
Two version rules apply. First, FlexNet compatibility: lmgrd must be at the same version as or newer than the vendor daemon, and the vendor daemon at the same version as or newer than the application; since October 2013 new EEsof releases do not start if this is violated.[1] The Quick Start Guide repeats the practical consequence: a floating licence server must run licensing software the same as or newer than any requesting client, so it may need updating even when no new licence is installed.[2]
Second, codeword versions: each software release requires a base codeword version, and some releases also enforce an upper limit two versions beyond it, above which the software cannot run.[1] Mixing codeword versions on one server can pull extra licences and cause “Licensed number of users already reached” errors, and mixing compatible and over-limit versions slows licence acquisition. Keysight advises updating all licences to the latest codeword version where possible or separating them onto different servers.[1] The guide tabulates the compatible minimum codeword versions per product release, for example ADS 2024 at 2023.02 or later.[1]
Licence server platforms and virtualization
The guide lists supported 64-bit licence server platforms by licence version, covering Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 10 and 11, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 to 8 and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 and 12.[1] Its troubleshooting FAQ states that virtual machines, for example VMware and Windows virtual machines, and Linux distributions other than Red Hat Enterprise Linux or SUSE are not supported licence server platforms.[1] That statement dates from the 2024 documentation set and may not reflect later Keysight License Server releases, so the current Keysight License Server download page and release notes should be consulted before a licence server is virtualized.[2]
Firewalls and client configuration
Floating licences can be reached through a firewall when TCP ports are fixed for lmgrd (on the SERVER line) and agileesofd (on the VENDOR line), opened on the firewall and set on the client in the product’s licence-file variable, for example <PRODUCT>_LICENSE_FILE=27000@myserver.myDomain. The guide notes that clients on Windows may time out before connecting through a firewall, and that the FLEXLM_TIMEOUT variable can raise the default.[1] The Windows License Setup Wizard sets the licence variable automatically; the guide recommends it over manual setup, and says not to combine the two methods.[1]
Compliance checkpoints
- Count licences by unique user, display and host, not by named person or by machine alone.[1]
- Confirm that remote-desktop use of ADS is covered by floating, not node-locked, licences.[1]
- For distributed simulation, count the standard licence plus the N-pack, not the N-pack alone.[1]
- Record the area designation of each floating licence and compare it with where users sit.[4]
- Align licence server, vendor daemon and application versions before upgrading ADS releases.[1]
Out of scope
This article reflects the ADS 2024 administrator guide and the June 2025 Quick Start Guide. It does not cover price lists, edition and bundle composition, which are product-specific, or the support terms that apply to EDA software updates (see KeysightCare and software support). The Keysight EDA documentation at docs.keysight.com returned a bot challenge to a generic client and was not used; newer releases than 2024 may change the platform and version tables.