How to identify the HostID

pravarth
pravarth
Altair Employee

A HostID is a unique identification string that is required to generate a license file. HostIDs can be based on network MAC addresses, Hardisk ID or a USB dongle. Typically network MAC addresses are used. This article goes through multiple methods of obtaining the HostID from the workstation or server which will host the license server or standalone license.

Obtaining HostID using ALMUTIL GUI:

This is the easiest method that will work for either Windows or Linux. Download the attached almutil_gui.exe (Windows) or almutil_gui (Linux) and execute the file. The HostID will be listed in the first tab. Click "Copy" to copy the selected hostID to the clipboard and send it to the Altair Account Manager or Sales admin to generate the license.

There could be multiple options for HostIDs. It is recommended to use the hostID of a physical network device such as Ethernet or WiFi which won't be removed from the server. This is because the license server requires the selected device to be present for it to work without interruptions.

Virtual network adapters are not recommended unless they will not removed or modified throughout the duration of the license file validity. The same applies to Harddisk ID.

Obtaining HostID using ALMUTIL in Linux:

This method can be used in case the linux server is a headless node without a GUI. Download the attached almutil file and execute the following commands after navigating to the folder containing almutil in a terminal:

chmod +x almutil ./almutil -hostid

This command should yield a similar output:

AltairLM End-user Utility v14.5.2 build 210107 (Jul 20 2020) Copyright (C) 2020 Altair Engineering, Inc. All rights reserved.  ETHERNET: virbr0-nic Hostid: 52540038A7DE  ETHERNET: virbr0 Hostid: 52540038A7DE  ETHERNET: ens33 Hostid: 000C29D57B4B