Using Mac OS X, the hostname of the workstation is changing depending on the network connection status. When disconnected from the network such a workstation will report the hostname as mac1.local, instead of the actual hostname.
This behavior is causing problems when such a workstation is also the FLEXlm server. When disconnected from the network the server the name is changing, causing a FLEXlm error. The license can not be used on the local workstation running FLEXlm.
This problem and a simple solution is reported on Deelip Menezes interesting Blog.
The most simple solution is to use 127.0.0.1 as a hostname. If the license is only used on that workstation, it is a good solution.
If the license is also used by other users then we recommend to install the license on another machine on the network. In that case, the MAC OS machine can borrow the license when it needs to disconnect from the network.
Autodesk announced few month ago on the support of Autodesk on Mac. Autodesk is joining other companies such as Siemens that already supports this operating system. As the use of FLEXlm licensed systems on Mac OS extends the need to solve this problem becomes more important.
