If there is no firewall up open the 'license.dat' file, in a plain text editor, and change the hostname to the IP addressof the computer. For example, if the SERVER line in the license data file reads: SERVER mylaptop 0000123abcd 1700 ... change the line to read: SERVER 127.0.0.1 0000123abcd 1700 ... you will then have to restart the license manager service so that it recognizes the changes. The two links below should help with that process. Windows License Manager: http://www.exelisvis.com/...cleID/4358/4358.aspx Linux/Unix/Mac License Manager: http://www.exelisvis.com/...cleID/4409/4409.aspx

This does not solve the problem for me. I get an error that says: Cannot connect to license to license server system. The license server manager (lmgrd) has not been started yet, the wrong port@host or license file is being used, or the port or hostname in the license file has been changed. FlexNet Licensing error:-15,570. System Error: 36 "Operation now in progress" I'm not trying to do anything fancy, just want to run my freshly purchased IDL. Shouldn't this be a simple and trouble-free process? I don't quite understand how I've resorted to posting on a forum to get this solved??

There are actually a couple of different reasons that errors similar to -96,7 might happen: 1. The license manager is in fact not running. 2. There is a firewall blocking communication. Depending on the operating system, the installation of the license manager is going to be a little bit different. David posted links to manage the license manager itself, but here is a brief breakdown: Windows: Open LMTools, ensure that there is a service for Exelis products on the Config Services tab, and then select "Start Server" on the Start/Stop/Reread tab. If there is no service listed, try using the "Install a license you have received" option in the license wizard once again, or see the help article above for instructions on how to configure the service manually. Macintosh: Browse to the /Applications/exelis/idl84/bin directory and issue the command "sudo ./lmgrd_install". If any error messages are encountered, they will be listed in the Apple Console application. Linux: Browse to /usr/local/exelis/idl84/bin, run the command: "sudo ./lmgrd_install", then "./lmgrd -c /usr/local/exelis/license/license.dat". That should either provide you with text regarding what errors are encountered when starting, or start the license manager (and allow you to open the software once done). What also might come in handy is how to configure the license file to run a specific port for the vendor daemon so that it can be opened for TCP communication through any firewalls present on the system: http://www.exelisvis.com/.../ArticleId/1210.aspx Once that has been assigned, you'll want to restart the license manager and ensure ports 1700 and 1701 (or whichever you've defined) are open for TCP communication.