We are using a license auditing program KeyServer. Basically it works by seeing what tasks are running on the PC and locks notes it on the license managing server.
Lately I have been seeing a lot of licesnes being tied up on the server saying that SolidWorks is running on some workstations. When I go to the workstations SW is closed, but if I [CTRL]&[ALT]&[DEL] and open the Task Manager I can see that SLDWORKS.EXE is still running in the list of processes. I can end the process on the workstation and free the license, but that is an annoyance.
Yes & no. I see this mainly when SW crashes and leaves itself running as a process. The only way I know of to help your situation is to get your users into the habit of watching the list and killing the process, especially after a crash.
In my opinion, it is not a "problem" isolated to SolidWorks 2004, SP2.1
I have used the program over many years and the possible presence of a ghost image of SolidWorks is not just a recent characteristic. SolidWorks is apt to leave a process orphaned when it crashes or is otherwise improperly shut down.
Its grip upon system resources can sometimes be like that of a Pit Bull dog on a victim's leg. At least the Task Manager makes mercy killings possible...
If you're using Solidworks Network Licensing, you will have hung licenses if solidworks crashes. This is because the license server considers the license checked out until the flexlm client checks it back in. When solidworks is closed successfully, the client does this. When SWX crashes, the license client does not check the license back in -- and will then have to be either manually released at the FlexLM command line OR will eventually drop when the timeout period is reached.
The fact that you have hung lics and the client's box still shows SWX running is purely coincident. I've recently noticed that when SWX 2004 crashes it often orphans the process, as others have described. Even if the process stops when you have a crash, the license will still hang -- that's just the breaks with FlexLM licensing.
Usually when this happens, you can't get SWX to restart unless you kill the old process -- because the SWX journal file is still locked by the session that crashed. But, I've seen it work both ways....
The solution to hung lics is really to figure out what's making SWX crash. If it's happening often, then something's not right.
If you want to have less IT involvement when this happens, there are ways to do so. An easy method is to create an options file for the license server, where you can set the timeout to a lower number of seconds -- this way, if someone crashes and hangs a license, they only have to wait a few minutes.
Another thing to do is to create a batch file that contains the commands needed to kill a license. Normally, this has to be done by username, so in the past I've created a .bat file for each problem user. Then, when a user has a hung lic, they only need to double-click the .bat file and it's fixed. For this to work properly though, you need to copy the flexlm tools exe to the client's machine.
I don't have all the information of the particulars on me, but if you're a bit savvy and read the flexlm guide that comes with SWX SNL, you'll figure it out.
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