Hello!

I'm a hobbyist using Houdini and am considering buying 1 indie license, but have a question about how license server works.

I have 2 computers at my house, my big workstation and a laptop that I occasionally use. My understanding after reading the license management FAQ is that I can install the license server on 1 computer and then I will be able to ‘check out’ the license from either of my computers on my network (of course, using Houdini only on 1 computer at a time) and release the license back to the license server automatically when the Houdini application closes.

I see in the FAQ that there is a question ‘How do I move licenses to a different License Server?’ that says I can only ‘return’ a license 2 times. What does ‘return’ here mean? Is this only referring to the case where I want to re-install license server, or will this block me from using Houdini interchangeably between my laptop and workstation?

The FAQ I'm reading: https://www.sidefx.com/faq/license-management/#how-do-i-return-my-licenses [sidefx.com]

I was unsure whether the indie license can use a license server at all, but this document says I can:
https://www.sidefx.com/faq/apprentice-local-licensing/ [sidefx.com]

“For Commercial licenses, the sesinetd licensing mode is mandatory, but it can also be used for Apprentice and Indie.”

Thanks a lot!

It´s one license per machine and it´s non-floating. So you cannot share it between several computers afaik.
Returning licenses is intended for the case that you got yourself a new computer, I think. But is not meant to be done more than twice.

Not clear that with returning license to open in another pc.
I have similar situation: Close to buy license but building also new computer. + traveling back home quite often where I have another pc.

Is it possible to share the licese in several pcs?
Could somebody clarify it?

Thanks a lot

I believe they change things and that you can have Houdini Indie on two different computers under one license BUT you can only run Houdini on ONE computer at a time meaning two Houdini Indie versions running under same license concurrently.