Docker support for FNE

[joakim_zenk]

Hello,

We have been looking into bundling a software of ours in Docker containers, however the developers are struggling to use the MAC address of a container as the hostid.

As far as I understand, FlexNet Publisher does not support it but how is it with FlexNet Embedded? As far as I understand, using UUID would not make the ID unique (https://stackoverflow.com/questions/44675255/docker-container-uuid) so that might not be an option.

[ejohnson1]

Hi @joakim_zenk 

The FNE XT kits support the host type of container technologies. Please see a screen grab from the "FlexNet Embedded Client
2020 R3 SP2 Hotfix / C XT User Guide" below.

Thanks,

Eric

[wmarek1]

Regarding FlexNet Embedded:

The CONTAINER_ID host/device ID type is not meant for nodelocking since it is easily changeable.

But it is great for a license server to distinguish between one running container and another. Use the license server to enforce the total number of containerized clients that can be run at one time. i.e. license server can not serve licenses from a VM and don't use CONTAINER_ID for a license server. Best choice is to use a Cloud License Server if you have that option available to you.

You may need to adjust the borrow-renew interval to get the right balance of quickly freeing up a license if the client goes away vs having the client frequently check with the license server.

Revenera has plans to include CONTAINER_ID host id type to FlexNet Publisher in a future release.

Regards,

Walt

[joakim_zenk]

Hello @ejohnson1 and @wmarek1,

Thanks for the quick support on this.

We will look into using the CONTAINER_ID and take the limitations into consideration as you are mentioning.

I am not sure if a cloud license server would be viable but it for sure is worth looking into as well.

One again, thanks!