The SOLIDWORKS SolidNetWork License Manager (SNL) is responsible for managing and distributing all of your SOLIDWORKS Licenses. However, if there is an issue with the way your system is configured you may receive the following message: “Could not obtain a license for SOLIDWORKS Standard, server node is down or not responding”.
When you are SolidNetWork License (SNL) Manager Troubleshooting there are a few steps that you have to take in order to investigate the problem. The reasons that may cause this issue to happen, but the main reason is your client machine can’t get a connection to the server.
Check the SNL service is running
First thing first, check whether the server is running or not. The system will not run if the service is not running. The SNL service runs on the server and distributes the licenses to the separate client machines.
To fix the problem, on the server press the windows key, and type “services”. Then open the Services application.
From here you will find the SNL Manager, you can Stop, Start and Restart the service from here.
If other machines are using the SOLIDWORKS on the SNL they may lose connection if you do this.
Check it’s the same version or greater
If SOLIDWORKS has recently been installed , you may check that it is a different year version compared to the server. The SNL is backwards compatible, so can be newer in version than the clients. However, its not forwards compatible.
The following steps are to be done on the server:
To check the version of the SNL, open the start menu and type SolidNetwork. You’ll see the sever application in the list. Click on this one, not the client.
Once the window, Click the ‘About…’ button in the bottom left. You will see a version number. In above example the number is 26.1.
This means the install is 2018 SP1 (the easiest way to work this out is to take 8 from the version number, i.e. 26 – 8 = 18, so… 2018! the .1 is the service pack version).
Once you have upgraded the version, do not forget to activate.
Check the connection
The second possibility is the connection. Check the internet connection and also physical connection to the server. This is how you check the physical connection to the server:
Ping the server: Open the command prompt in windows (type cmd into the start menu). Once open type: Ping <server computer name>
You should receive a response, if not, there is an issue in your network. Try and reconfigure some of your network architecture and try again.
Firewall ports
Firewall could block the communication from clients to server. If you can get a connection to the sever, it may be the port used for SNL communication is blocked. TCP port 25734 is widely used. Some also use 25735 and 25744 for certain applications.
If you’re running a firewall you can allow connection over these ports by putting in exceptions. In this case we will look at how to do this in windows firewall.
On the server, open the start menu and type in Firewall with Advanced security to find the application where this can be set. Open the application and click:
- Inbound Rule > New Rule…
- Select Port on the first screen, click next
- Select TCP and specific ports and enter “25734,25735,25744”, click Next
- Select Allow the connection, click Next
- Select Domain and Private
- Give the item a name you can recognise, like SOLIDWORKS SNL
- Repeat the same process on the client machine, but click Outbound Rule at step a.
Contact your SOLIDWORKS reseller
If you’re still unable to fix the issue and you have an annual subscription contract with us, please call us for assistance.
We hope you found that useful!