Install your first Schrödinger licenses and configure the system service

If you already have Schrödinger License Manager running and need to install licenses, see Install new licenses on an existing SLM server

Follow the steps below:

1. Download and Install licenses
2. Set up a system service
3. Test license access on the server itself
  • Windows
  • Mac
  • Linux

Open a Command Prompt or Power Shell via “Run as Administrator”

1. Download and install licenses

Use the license key (quickest)

The license file can be generated, retrieved, and installed using the key code in the licensing email sent by Schrödinger.

If the license server machine can communicate directly with Schrodinger’s license-generating server via HTTPS, run the command below to retrieve a license file for this server and install it into C:\ProgramData\Schrodinger\licserver\licenses\

C:\ProgramData\Schrodinger\licserver\bin\lictool.exe install -k <key>

TLS files also will be installed into the C:\ProgramData\Schrodinger\licserver\certs\ directory.

 

If you expect to configure client machines to connect to the license server using a server name that is not in the list of default TLS Hostnames (e.g., a public/DNS name of the server), the desired TLS hostnames can be specified with one or more --hostname options when installing the licenses.

C:\ProgramData\Schrodinger\licserver\bin\lictool.exe install -k <key> --hostname <tls_hostname1> [--hostname <tls_hostname2>...]
NOTE: Only the names specified via --hostname will be used as TLS hostnames, so if you want to use any of the default TLS hostnames to connect to the license server, those also must be specified explicitly with --hostname.

 

The license file can be generated using the License Generator form linked in the licensing email sent by Schrödinger. While installing with the license key is more straight-forward, you may need to install a license file when downloading a license for a server other than the local machine or installing licenses remotely.

Once you have downloaded the license file, install with:

C:\ProgramData\Schrodinger\licserver\bin\lictool.exe install -f <license_file>

NOTE: If you’ve chosen a different location for your Schrödinger License Manager files (i.e., other than C:\ProgramData\Schrodinger\licserver), that directory can be specified via the ‘--dir’ option in the above commands.

 

2. Set up a system service

a. First, test that the installed licenses can be read by the license server process

NOTE: This step is not captured in the video above

Temporarily start up the license server process:

C:\ProgramData\Schrodinger\licserver\bin\licserverd.exe --dir C:\ProgramData\Schrodinger\licserver --port 53001 --log-to-stdout

The output will be in json format with many lines of details. There should be “Activating license” messages for each of your license types, and the output should end with an indication that the license server process is listening for incoming connections from clients. There shouldn’t be "level":"info" messages. For example:, 

INFO: Starting licserverd...
...
{"level":"info","ConcurrentLicense":{"id":824638391632,"feature":"MAESTRO_MAIN","version":0,"count":1000,"available":1000},"time":"2024-10-01T14:31:02-07:00","message":"Activating license"}
...
INFO: Listening for connections on [::]:53001
If you’ve been issued licenses with a future start date, there won’t be “Activating license” messages; the system service can be set up now, but the licenses won’t be available until the start date.

Ctrl-C to terminate the process.

 

b. Set up a system service

Since the license server process needs to run continuously, managing it via a system service is very strongly recommended.

Configure and start the Windows service with:

C:\ProgramData\Schrodinger\licserver\bin\lictool.exe install-service --licserverd-path C:\ProgramData\Schrodinger\licserver\bin\licserverd --dir C:\ProgramData\Schrodinger\licserver --port 53001

This installs a Windows Service and starts it. You can check its status with:

sc.exe query schrodinger_licserverd

In the Services panel, this service has the name “Schrodinger License Server”.

 

 

3. Test that the licenses are accessible via the system service

Query the license server process on the specified port:

C:\ProgramData\Schrodinger\licserver\bin\lictool.exe status --licsrv-hostport localhost:53001

The <servername> should be a resolvable TLS hostname. For license checkouts, a valid TLS hostname should be used. The TLS certificate hostnames and start/end dates for currently-installed licenses can be listed with:

C:\ProgramData\Schrodinger\licserver\bin\lictool.exe tlsinfo --licsrv-hostport localhost:53001

Do a test license checkout with <servername> being on of the resolvable TLS hostnames above:

C:\ProgramData\Schrodinger\licserver\bin\lictool.exe test-server -f MMLIBS <servername>:53001

 

 

License installation and configuration is complete.

 

NOTE: Once you've set up the license server and installed the licenses, you will need to share the resolvable TLS hostname and the server port to anyone configuring a client machine of the server - see Client Machine Set-up for more information.

 

If you want to use Schrödinger software on the license server machine itself, that machine must also be configured as a client.

Next Step: Server Identifier Client Configuration Instructions

Open a Terminal

1. Download and install licenses

Use the license key (quickest)

The license file can be generated, retrieved, and installed using the key code in the licensing email sent by Schrödinger.

If the license server machine can communicate directly with Schrodinger’s license-generating server via HTTPS, run the command below to retrieve a license file for this server and install it into ‘/Library/Application Support/Schrodinger/licserver/licenses/’

Run: 

sudo /Library/Application\ Support/Schrodinger/licserver/bin/lictool install -k <key>

TLS files also will be installed into the /Library/Application\ Support/Schrodinger/licserver/certs/ directory.

 

If you expect to configure client machines to connect to the license server using a server name that is not in the list of default TLS Hostnames (e.g., a public/DNS name of the server), the desired TLS hostnames can be specified with one or more --hostname options when installing the licenses.

sudo /Library/Application\ Support/Schrodinger/licserver/bin/lictool install -k <key> --hostname <tls_hostname1> [--hostname <tls_hostname2>...]
NOTE: Only the names specified via --hostname will be used as TLS hostnames, so if you want to use any of the default TLS hostnames to connect to the license server, those also must be specified explicitly with --hostname.

 

The license file can be generated using the License Generator form linked in the licensing email sent by Schrödinger. While installing with the license key is more straight-forward, you may need to install a license file when downloading a license for a server other than the local machine or installing licenses remotely.

Once you have downloaded the license file, install with:

sudo /Library/Application\ Support/Schrodinger/licserver/bin/lictool install -f <license_file>

NOTE: If you’ve chosen a different location for your Schrödinger License Manager files (i.e., other than /Library/Application\ Support/Schrodinger/licserver), that directory can be specified via the ‘--dir’ option in the above commands.

 

2. Set up a system service

a. First, test that the installed licenses can be read by the license server process

NOTE: This step is not captured in the video above

Temporarily start up the license server process:

sudo /Library/Application\ Support/Schrodinger/licserver/bin/licserverd --dir /Library/Application\ Support/Schrodinger/licserver --port 53001 --log-to-stdout

The output will be in json format with many lines of details. There should be “Activating license” messages for each of your license types, and the output should end with an indication that the license server process is listening for incoming connections from clients. There shouldn’t be "level":"info" messages. For example:, 

INFO: Starting licserverd...
...
{"level":"info","ConcurrentLicense":{"id":824638391632,"feature":"MAESTRO_MAIN","version":0,"count":1000,"available":1000},"time":"2024-10-01T14:31:02-07:00","message":"Activating license"}
...
INFO: Listening for connections on [::]:53001
If you’ve been issued licenses with a future start date, there won’t be “Activating license” messages; the system service can be set up now, but the licenses won’t be available until the start date.

Ctrl-C to terminate the process.

 

b. Set up a system service

Since the license server process needs to run continuously, managing it via a system service is very strongly recommended.

Configure and start the launchd service with:

sudo /Library/Application\ Support/Schrodinger/licserver/bin/lictool install-service --dir /Library/Application\ Support/Schrodinger/licserver --licserverd-path /Library/Application\ Support/Schrodinger/licserver/bin/licserverd --port 53001

This creates the service file, installs it, and starts the service. You can check its status with:

launchctl print system/com.schrodinger.licserverd

 

 

3. Test that the licenses are accessible via the system service

Query the license server process on the specified port:

sudo /Library/Application\ Support/Schrodinger/licserver/bin/lictool status --licsrv-hostport localhost:53001

The <servername> should be a resolvable TLS hostname. For license checkouts, a valid TLS hostname should be used. The TLS certificate hostnames and start/end dates for currently-installed licenses can be listed with:

sudo /Library/Application\ Support/Schrodinger/licserver/bin/lictool tlsinfo --licsrv-hostport localhost:53001

Do a test license checkout with <servername> being on of the resolvable TLS hostnames above:

sudo /Library/Application\ Support/Schrodinger/licserver/bin/lictool test-server -f MMLIBS <servername>:53001

 

 

License installation and configuration is complete.

 

NOTE: Once you've set up the license server and installed the licenses, you will need to share the resolvable TLS hostname and the server port to anyone configuring a client machine of the server - see Client Machine Set-up for more information.

 

If you want to use Schrödinger software on the license server machine itself, that machine must also be configured as a client.

Next Step: Server Identifier Client Configuration Instructions

Open a terminal

Strongly recommended: Make a dedicated 'licserver' role account to run the license server process

Creating a dedicated role account for licensing prevents general users from making unintentional changes to licensing system, limiting access to only those who are making intentional changes to the license server.

Create the account: 

sudo useradd licserver --system --no-create-home --shell /sbin/nologin --comment 'Schrodinger License Manager User'

Change the ownership of the Schrödinger License Manager files: 

sudo chown licserver:licserver -R /opt/schrodinger/licserver

 

1. Download and install licenses

Use the license key (quickest)

The license file can be generated, retrieved, and installed using the key code in the licensing email sent by Schrödinger.

If the license server machine can communicate directly with Schrodinger’s license-generating server via HTTPS, run the command below to retrieve a license file for this server and install it into ‘/opt/schrodinger/licserver/licenses/’

Run: 

sudo -u licserver /opt/schrodinger/licserver/bin/lictool install -k <key>

TLS files also will be installed into the ‘/opt/schrodinger/licserver/certs/’ directory.

 

If you expect to configure client machines to connect to the license server using a server name that is not in the list of default TLS Hostnames (e.g., a public/DNS name of the server), the desired TLS hostnames can be specified with one or more --hostname options when installing the licenses.

sudo -u licserver /opt/schrodinger/licserver/bin/lictool install -k <key> --hostname <tls_hostname1> [--hostname <tls_hostname2>...]
NOTE: Only the names specified via --hostname will be used as TLS hostnames, so if you want to use any of the default TLS hostnames to connect to the license server, those also must be specified explicitly with --hostname.

 

The license file can be generated using the License Generator form linked in the licensing email sent by Schrödinger. While installing with the license key is more straight-forward, you may need to install a license file when downloading a license for a server other than the local machine or installing licenses remotely.

Once you have downloaded the license file, install with:

sudo -u licserver /opt/schrodinger/licserver/bin/lictool install -f <license_file>

NOTE: If you’ve chosen a different location for your Schrödinger License Manager files (i.e., other than /opt/schrodinger/licserver), that directory can be specified via the ‘--dir’ option in the above commands.

 

2. Set up a system service

a. First, test that the installed licenses can be read by the license server process

NOTE: This step is not captured in the video above

Temporarily start up the license server process:

sudo -u licserver /opt/schrodinger/licserver/bin/licserverd --dir /opt/schrodinger/licserver --port 53001 --log-to-stdout

The output will be in json format with many lines of details. There should be “Activating license” messages for each of your license types, and the output should end with an indication that the license server process is listening for incoming connections from clients. There shouldn’t be "level":"info" messages. For example:, 

INFO: Starting licserverd...
...
{"level":"info","ConcurrentLicense":{"id":824638391632,"feature":"MAESTRO_MAIN","version":0,"count":1000,"available":1000},"time":"2024-10-01T14:31:02-07:00","message":"Activating license"}
...
INFO: Listening for connections on [::]:53001
If you’ve been issued licenses with a future start date, there won’t be “Activating license” messages; the system service can be set up now, but the licenses won’t be available until the start date.

Ctrl-C to terminate the process.

 

b. Set up a system service

Since the license server process needs to run continuously, managing it via a system service is very strongly recommended.

Configure and start the systemd service with:

sudo /opt/schrodinger/licserver/bin/lictool install-service --dir /opt/schrodinger/licserver --licserverd-path /opt/schrodinger/licserver/bin/licserverd --port 53001 --user licserver

This creates the service file, installs it, enables the service, and starts the service. You can check its status with:

sudo systemctl status schrodinger-licserverd

 

 

3. Test that the licenses are accessible via the system service

Query the license server process on the specified port:

sudo /opt/schrodinger/licserver/bin/lictool status --licsrv-hostport localhost:53001

The <servername> should be a resolvable TLS hostname. For license checkouts, a valid TLS hostname should be used. The TLS certificate hostnames and start/end dates for currently-installed licenses can be listed with:

sudo /opt/schrodinger/licserver/bin/lictool tlsinfo --licsrv-hostport localhost:53001

Do a test license checkout with <servername> being on of the resolvable TLS hostnames above:

sudo /opt/schrodinger/licserver/bin/lictool test-server -f MMLIBS <servername>:53001

 

 

License installation and configuration is complete.

 

NOTE: Once you've set up the license server and installed the licenses, you will need to share the resolvable TLS hostname and the server port to anyone configuring a client machine of the server - see Client Machine Set-up for more information.

 

If you want to use Schrödinger software on the license server machine itself, that machine must also be configured as a client.

Next Step: Server Identifier Client Configuration Instructions