Problem

At times, the CAD Administrator may deem it necessary to prohibit any license borrowing from the SolidNetwork License (SNL) Manager. There is no direct way to disable the ability to borrow licenses through the SNL Manager user interface. However, it can be enabled by the use of an Options file. This article describes how to disable the ability to borrow SOLIDWORKS licenses from the SNL Manager. For information on how to load the Options file, review this article: SolidNetWork License Manager Options File for SOLIDWORKS – Hawk Ridge Systems

There are three commands for controlling borrowing in an Options file:

• BORROW_LOWWATER: Sets the number of licenses that cannot be borrowed for all users. So if it is set to 2 and there are 2 licenses available, no user can borrow a license. 
• EXCLUDE_BORROW: Defines a user or group that is not allowed to borrow a feature. All other users are automatically allowed to borrow. This overrides the INCLUDE_BORROW command.
• INCLUDE_BORROW: Defines a user or group that is allowed to borrow a feature. All other users are automatically excluded and are not allowed to borrow.

Solution 1: BORROW_LOWWATER

In the options file, we can use the command BORROW_LOWWATER to set the number of licenses that cannot be borrowed for a specific feature for all users. This can be done by using the following syntax:

BORROW_LOWWATER feature n

In the example below, no SOLIDWORKS Standard licenses can be borrowed.

Solution 2: EXCLUDE_BORROW

In the options file, the EXCLUDE_BORROW command will prohibit a specified user or group of users from borrowing a license. This can be done by using the following syntax:

EXCLUDE_BORROW feature type name

Feature is the SOLIDWORKS product, Type can be User, Host, Group, or Host_Group, and the name would be the user name, host name, name of group defined in the opt file, or the name of the host group.

In the example below, a group of users is excluded from borrowing SOLIDWORKS Standard.    

Solution 3: INCLUDE_BORROW

Another way to do this would be to specify users that are allowed to borrow with the INCLUDE_BORROW command. All other users or groups not listed this way will automatically be excluded from borrowing. Here is the syntax for it:

INCLUDE_BORROW feature type name

Feature is the SOLIDWORKS product, and name is the username. In the example below, a specific user is allowed to borrow, but no other users will be allowed.

SOLIDWORKS Feature names

Below is a list of SOLIDWORKS feature names and their Option File Syntax:

• SOLIDWORKS Standard: solidworks
• SOLIDWORKS Office: swoffice
• SOLIDWORKS Professional: swofficepro
• SOLIDWORKS Premium: swofficepremium
• SOLIDWORKS Premium with Simulation Professional: swofficepremium_cwpro
• SOLIDWORKS Premium with Simulation Premium: swofficepremium_cwadvpro

For additional support, existing customers can submit a ticket or new customers can contact Hawk Ridge Systems.