Network License and Reporting Manager (NLRM)

NLRM Troubleshooting Guide

Here are solutions to common problems you may find while working with NLRM.

NLRM doesn't have permission to read/write

NLRM requires read/write access on these folders:

  • %PROGRAMDATA%\Autodesk\NLRM
  • %APPDATA%\Autodesk\NLRM

NLRM may not have this access if you haven’t granted permissions, or if any antivirus software is preventing it. Here are solutions to these two problems.

The NLRM user account lacks read/write permission

You can grant the permission to the account running adskflex/lmgrd on either the parent directory or only the required folders or files. Note that it’s simpler to set permissions on the parent directory. The steps for each of these solutions follows.

To grant permissions on the parent directory:

  1. Right-click the %PROGRAMDATA%\Autodesk\NLRM\ folder.
  2. Open the properties window.
  3. Select the Security tab and click Advanced.
  4. In Advanced Security Settings for NLRM, click Add.
  5. Add a permission with these values (see illustration below):
    • Principal: <User account name>
    • Type: Allow
    • Applies to: This folder, subfolders and files
    • Basic permissions: Modify
    • NLRM Permission
  6. Repeat steps 1 to 5 for the %APPDATA%\Autodesk\NLRM\folder.

To grant permissions to only the required folder/file(s), use the settings in the following table.

Note: Logs are rotated with the file name suffix -{n}. Default behavior is to retain not more than 12 rotations of each log file.

Folder Access Requirements Since Version
%APPDATA%\Autodesk\NLRM\.auth Modify v3.4
%PROGRAMDATA%\Autodesk\NLRM\.auth Modify v3.4
%PROGRAMDATA%\Autodesk\NLRM\car.park Modify v3.4
%PROGRAMDATA%\Autodesk\NLRM\car.lock Modify v3.4
%PROGRAMDATA%\Autodesk\NLRM\re.park Modify v3.4
%PROGRAMDATA%\Autodesk\NLRM\re.lock Modify v3.4
%PROGRAMDATA%\Autodesk\NLRM\crash.dect Modify v3.4
%PROGRAMDATA%\Autodesk\NLRM\4.15\logs\adskflex_plugin.log Modify v4.4
%PROGRAMDATA%\Autodesk\NLRM\4.15\logs\adskflex_plugin-{1...12}.log Modify v4.4
%PROGRAMDATA%\Autodesk\NLRM\4.15\logs\collection_dispatcher_car-park.log Modify v4.4
%PROGRAMDATA%\Autodesk\NLRM\4.15\logs\collection_dispatcher_car-park-{1...12}.log Modify v4.4
%PROGRAMDATA%\Autodesk\NLRM\4.15\logs\collection_dispatcher_re-park.log Modify v4.4
%PROGRAMDATA%\Autodesk\NLRM\4.15\logs\collection_dispatcher_re-park-{1...12}.log Modify v4.4

Antivirus software like Windows Defender is restricting read/write access

When your antivirus software interferes with access, you need to exclude the NLRM folders from antivirus scanning.

Note: These instructions correspond to use of Windows Defender on Windows Server version 2019. If you’re running different antivirus software or a different version of Windows Server, use this steps as a general guideline.

Configure Windows Defender as follows:

  • Go to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Security > Virus & threat protection.
  • Under Virus & threat protection settings, select Manage settings.
  • Under Exclusions, select Add or remove exclusions.
  • Select Add an exclusion, and then select from folders.

NLRM connectivity to Autodesk Servers

Test your NLRM connectivity with Autodesk by running nlrm_config, which is included in the NLRM installation folder.

Windows

  • Open a command prompt as administrator
  • Go to the location where NLRM is installed. The default location is C:\Autodesk\NLRM
  • Run this command to test your connection

      nlrm_config.exe verify-connection
  • If the command runs successfully, you will see this message: Connection verified successfully.

Linux

  • Go to the location where NLRM is installed. The default location is opt/Autodesk/NLRM/
  • Open a terminal at this location
  • Run this command to test your connection

      sudo ./nlrm_config verify-connection
  • If the command runs successfully, you will see this message: Connection verified successfully.

Note: If the connection test fails, check proxy setup and firewall settings

Proxy Setup

On Linux, NLRM supports non-authenticated proxy.\ On Windows, NLRM supports Basic, Digest, and NTLM proxy authentication, configured manually or through Proxy Auto-Configuration(PAC) file.

Authenticated Proxy Troubleshooting

For Authenticated Proxy troubleshooting, please refer: Authenticated Proxy Windows Configuration Guide

Non-authenticated proxy server can be configured using the steps given below. NLRM will report license usage data to Autodesk through the configured proxy server.

Non-Authenticated Proxy Troubleshooting

Windows

  • Open a command prompt as administrator
  • Go to the location where NLRM is installed. The default location is C:\Autodesk\NLRM
  • Run this command:

      nlrm_config.exe set proxy-server {proxy server url}

    For example proxy server url: http://proxy-server:8080

  • If the command ran successfully, you'll see this message: proxy-server has been configured successfully.

Linux

  • Go to the location where NLRM is installed. The default location is /opt/Autodesk/NLRM/
  • Open a terminal at this location
  • Run this command:

      sudo ./nlrm_config set proxy-server {proxy server url}

    For example proxy server url: http://proxy-server:8080

  • If the command ran successfully, you'll see this message: proxy-server has been configured successfully.

Firewall Settings

Allowed URLs

The table below lists the URLs / protocols that should be made accessible from the license server for NLRM to work correctly.

Protocol URL Purpose
https https://www.autodesk.com
https://car2.autodesk.com
Connect and send usage data to the Autodesk servers

Allowed ports

The following ports must be open for NLRM to function correctly:

  • 443 for transmitting usage data to Autodesk
  • 2080 for adskflex (Autodesk vendor daemon)
  • 27000 to 27009 for lmgrd (master daemon)

If firewall http requests to Autodesk fail, make these changes in the firewall settings (see illustrations below): :

  1. Open Windows Defender Firewall (Control Panel\System and Security\Windows Firewall) –-> Advanced settings

  2. Select Inbound Rules

  3. Under Actions, click New Rule…

    IP Rules
  4. Select Port and click Next

    IP Rules
  5. Select TCP.

  6. Type "443, 2080, 27000-27009" for Specific Local Ports, then click Next.

    IP Rules
  7. Select Allow The Connection and click Next

    IP Rules
  8. Select Domain, Private and Public, then click Next.

    IP Rules
  9. Enter a name of your choice, for example, Autodesk lmgrd inbound.

    IP Rules
  10. Click Finish.

  11. Repeat steps 3 to 10 for Outbound Rules.

Reinstall authorization certificate after OS upgrade

If you upgraded the operating system of the license server, authorization certificate (.auth) will need to be reinstalled. Please reuse the authorization certificate that was in use prior to the OS upgrade, or if unavailable, contact Autodesk team for a new one.

Follow Install or update the NLRM authorization certificate to reinstall the certificate (.auth) file.

Verify if online server is transmitting data

If you need to verify if the online configuration is successful and reflected in server side, inspect the collection dispatcher logs (usually located at: %PROGRAMDATA%\Autodesk\NLRM) You will see this log:

INFO    collection_dispatcher::event_processor    Starting to transmit data ...

And subsequently a 200 response:

INFO    common_web::web_client      response_code => 200 

FailedPIIMaskingUndefined error in logs

If you observe FailedPIIMaskingUndefined error in payloads in NLRM logs, there is a missing PII Masking setting in your NLRM configuration. Please follow the steps given to configure NLRM, and restart NLRM on your license server to resume correct operation.

Windows NLRM setup

Linux NLRM setup


Parent page: About Network License and Reporting Manager (NLRM)