Does animBot need a constant connection to the floating license server?
Yes and no.
By default, animBot needs a fairly reliable connection to the license server. When user launches animBot, it will try to check out a license from the server, if the server is not available, it will error out and the app won’t launch. If animBot successfully checked out a license at launch, it will still need to communicate to the license server, roughly every two minutes. That constant connection is to allow the full power of using floating licenses, so that once a user is done with using license, it can be used by someone else.
If the user has a spotty network connection that might fail to communicate to the server for periods longer than 2 minutes, roam licenses can be a good solution. In a nutshell, when roaming is enabled, the server will checkout and reserve that license to the user for up to 7 days. That means, after the initial successful check out, the user can stay offline for up to 7 days. During that period, every time a connection to the server is reestablished, the roaming license period will be renewed for another period up to 7 days. It’s good to note that, because the license will be reserved to the user, it will only return to the license server pool when either the 7 days without connection has passed or if user returns the license earlier (more on that below). A license admin will not be able to remove a roaming license from the user earlier.
How to setup Roam Licenses
You will need animBot version 2.0.0 or above.
Set a variable enableRoamLicenses to true in your config.json file, like so:
"enableRoamLicenses": true
Optionally, set a maxRoamCount variable to the amount of days you wish licenses to roam (default and max is 7). You can also set it to "today" and the license will return at midnight. Examples:
"maxRoamCount": 3
"maxRoamCount": "today"
Installing animBot locally
Generally we use Roam Licenses when user is not constantly connected to the internal network where the license server is running. Many times that also mean that users won't be constantly connected to the location where animBot is installed in the internal network. For those cases, it's recommended that users install animBot locally, following this guide Artists Working from Home.
How do I know if it worked?
Roaming licenses will be displayed in the shell/terminal where RLM is running:
You can also check this information in RLM server’s web interface. From the server machine go to http://localhost:5054 or from another machine use http://servername:5054 replacing servername as appropriate. Click on "animbot" under Server Status then "usage...", the license will be displayed as "hold".
Returning a license earlier
Sometimes it is desirable to return the license earlier than it was reserved for. Only the end user is able to return a roam license earlier. The user needs to be connected to the server, then go to animBot menu/System/Unload and Return Roam License:
* This option will only show up if user has checked out a roam license.