Aimsun Next / Resources / Installation guide
Table of contents
Warning: Always turn off your computer before you remove the hardware key. If your machine is on, it may damage both the computer and the hardware key.
Microsoft Access is not available on Mac and Linux. SQlite is a good substitute, being just as simple as Access and available on all platforms (including Windows).
This guide uses the following conventions:
The Aimsun Next License Server requires the following:
Additionally, the computer that will use Aimsun Next (the client) requires access to the License Server using the TCP/IP port 1947.
Aimsun Next uses the Sentinel HASP floating license server. The license server monitors the number of active Aimsun Next executions and can guarantee that the number of licenses in use at any time does not exceed the maximum number of permitted sessions.
Aimsun Next may run on any computer in a network as long as the computer is able to contact the license server and use a license.
It is possible to set any of the computers in the network as the license server, even if the computer is never going to use Aimsun Next itself. The PC should have a high availability.
You can read more detailed information about Sentinel HASP at www.aladdin.com
When a user launches Aimsun Next, the software requests a license from the license server. As long as there are available licenses, access is granted.
If, on the other hand, the license server cannot provide any more licenses – whether because all the licenses are in use or because the license server is disconnected or unreachable form the client computer – the program informs the user that the demand cannot be carried out and access to the application is denied.
When an Aimsun Next session ends, the license in use is automatically freed up and becomes available.
The required device drivers are located in the licenses\drivers folder inside the Aimsun Next Home folder. The drivers are usually automatically installed when installing Aimsun Next software, but if this is not the case then proceed manually as follows:
Type the address “http://localhost:1947” in an internet browser such as Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari.
This webpage informs users about the license status and the plugged-in hardware keys and will offer you some configuration settings.
If you received an error message such as “Page not found”, please do the following:
If the above does not work (if you cannot find the service ‘Sentinel LDK License Manager’), this might be because the drivers were not properly installed. In this case, try reinstalling the Sentinel drivers.
Sentinel HASP software has pre-installed settings, which are defined in the Configuration/Access from Remote Clients page.
The Allow Access from Remote Clients setting should be “On” and the Access Restrictions should be set to “Empty” to allow any client to connect and request a license.
Port 1947 needs to be open for the license server to be able to serve the Aimsun Next licenses. Please check the firewall settings and make sure that both the Private and Public columns are ticked.
Sentinel HASP software must also be installed in the computer where Aimsun Next will run. The Aimsun Next installer does this automatically. However, if it fails, carry out the installation manually (see 4.1).
Once Aimsun Next is installed, users can open the web page “http://localhost:1947/_int_/devices.html” to verify if the computer can locate the License Server. This page will list the dongle in the machine set as the License Server. If it is not listed, some settings in the client need to be configured too (see 5.1).
As in the case of the server settings, the client settings are suitable for most users. Check the Configuration/Access to Remote License Managers page and verify that the following settings are activated:
If these settings are not active, tick both options and click Submit.
The license server and the client computers need to be in the same network and physically close to one another.
Distance affects startup times and, in some cases, can make the software unusable. Having the license server several kilometers away from the client computers, for example, is not viable.
When a user has more than one Aimsun Next license, it is possible to choose a specific hardware key:
“[Aimsun Next folder]\Aimsun Next.exe” -dongleid XXX
XXX being the hardware key ID.
Example:
A user has a Classroom license and a Network Pro license for 5 users. She has to follow the above procedure for every computer where Aimsun Next is installed and thus select which hardware key to use for each one. If she does not set the hardware keys and the computer recognizes that there are two of them, Aimsun Next will randomly select one of the two.
When a network license for Aimsun Next modeling software has fewer optional modules than users, the software uses a ‘First Come, First Served’ approach, meaning that the first user to connect gets to use the modules. An example for this would be a 5-user Aimsun Next Expert license with just 2 Micro APIs.
There is, however, a workaround to manage access: to limit the access to a specific license, you can define a file with the name “lim.xml” and save it in the same directory as the executable: Aimsun Next.exe. You’ll need to do this for all the Aimsun Next installations in all the computers that are going to use Aimsun Next and where you want to limit access to any of the features available.
The features available are:
The contents of the lim.xml file indicate to which features the specified users will have access; as a minimum the file must contain the Platform and the Edition, and then you can add any other modules you want the users to be able to access.
You can specify the users by Windows account username or by Windows group name.
If you’d like to limit access to the Aimsun Next modules by username, the XML content would be:
<LIMITS>
<USERS>
<USER NAME="user_name" TYPE=“USER">
<FEATURES>
<FEATURE ID="feature_number_1" />
<FEATURE ID="feature_number_2" />
</FEATURES>
</USER>
</USERS>
</LIMITS>
<LIMITS>
<USERS>
<USER NAME="group_name" TYPE=“GROUP">
<FEATURES>
<FEATURE ID="feature_number_1" />
<FEATURE ID="feature_number_2" />
</FEATURES>
</USERS>
</LIMITS>
You can specify as many users or groups as you like.
<LIMITS>
<USERS>
<USER NAME="">
<FEATURES>
<FEATURE ID="feature_number_1" />
<FEATURE ID="feature_number_1" />
</FEATURES>
</USER>
</USERS>
</LIMITS>
Limiting features for a group: for the group in the image below and if they are allowed to have access to the Aimsun Next Expert edition + API, the contents of the file would be:
<LIMITS>
<USERS>
<USER NAME="Support Desk" TYPE=“GROUP">
<FEATURES>
<FEATURE ID="5" />
<FEATURE ID="39" />
<FEATURE ID="8" />
</FEATURES>
</USER>
</USERS>
</LIMITS>
Example of limiting features for a user: if the user can only have access to the Aimsun Next Expert edition with no extra modules, the contents of the file would be:
<LIMITS>
<USERS>
<USER NAME="aimsun_executor" TYPE=“USER">
<FEATURES>
<FEATURE ID="5" />
<FEATURE ID="39" />
</FEATURES>
</USER>
</USERS>
</LIMITS>
That is the username you will also find in C:/Users/<username>.
HTTPS is not compulsory for running Aimsun Next or for connecting to the license server. We recommend it only if you are running the app on an untrusted network.
Activating HTTPS is your choice – if you choose to activate it, you’ll need to load both certificates on the license server: http://localhost:1947/_int_/config_network.html
Then go to http://localhost:1947/_int_/config.html and change both options to HTTPS:
No action is needed regarding the client computers.
The software license applies to the free Student edition, the Postgrad edition, the Aimsun Next Viewer, and a few other exceptional cases. When you apply for any of these editions, you should automatically receive a special link directly from our Customer Service team to start the installation process. There is no physical key.
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