How to import an offline license file using vrlctl

Licensing General
1

One of our customers would like to borrow licenses for their render node machines and renew them automatically, so that the licenses remain available in the event of an unexpected network disconnection.

Could you please explain how to import the Borrow license file (offline.bin) generated through My Chaos using the vrlctl command line?

2

Does this help? (I’m not in the team that deals with licenses, so I can’t help further)

https://documentation.chaos.com/space/LIC5/125050233/Borrowing+Licenses+for+Offline+Use#Borrowing-the-Licenses

https://documentation.chaos.com/space/LIC5/125050723/License+Server+Controller

3

Thank you for your advice.:grinning_face:

Unfortunately, those web pages only explain how to import the offline.bin file through the web UI.

My customer and I need to complete the entire borrowing process from the command line.

4

Could you please tell us whether this is possible or not?

I believe the support team should at least be able to provide a clear answer to this question. What is your response?

5

Not the definitive answer you’re after, but one concrete thing that might get you there faster than the doc links above: vrlctl -help (or --help, depending on your installed License Server Controller version) should list the exact borrow/import subcommand and flags for the version you actually have — worth checking directly, since CLI flag names have shifted between LSC releases before.

6

Of course, I have already checked vrlctl -help.
That is precisely why I am asking the Chaos team.

Has no one ever needed to borrow a license in a CLI environment before?
Are there really so few users of Chaos products?

7

Hello,

You don’t actually need an offline.bin to handle network issues. The license server caches licenses locally, so if the network is disrupted it automatically falls back to the cached license instead of querying the online server, your work continues uninterrupted.

On your original question: we don’t support a CLI command for loading offline.bin. Instead, generate it from my.chaos and copy it into the directory the license server checks:

cp offline.bin ~/.Chaos/VRLService
8

Thank you for the clear explanation.

I understand now that the offline.bin file simply needs to be placed in the specified location.

Thank you. I will inform my customer.