I come to Houdini because of testimonials in the Lightwave Forums. I downloaded Houdini, but am not able to run it in Apprentice Mode, because of an error obtaining a license. Here is the error:

"ERROR: Could not generate server key. The license generator is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.

If possible, please fix any problems and try again.
If that doesn't work, you can manually get licenses from
http://license.sidefx.com/get_nc_license.php [license.sidefx.com]“

But going to that link doesn't work either, because apparently the license server has to be operational before it can give me the required ”Server name“ and ”Server code." LOL

So far, this is one entertaining run-around. :-)

I was finally able to find my “server name” and “server number” in the Houdini License Administrator under the “Server Information” tab. So I went back to that link for getting licenses manually, but I get the following error:

“ERROR: Could not generate server key. The license generator is temporarily unavailable, please try again later.”

So getting licenses manually isn't possible either, while the license server is “unavailable.” Make me wonder why I was sent there to begin with … LOL :-D

Are there any other tricks to try, before giving up? :-)

Thanks

Well, I poked around a little more, and found the license help page at
http://license.sidefx.com/help.php [license.sidefx.com]

But under “Quick Instructions” my OS isn't on the drop-down list! <wow> (No help for you, Mr. Mac user!) Is the Mac a new addition to the houdini roundup? It might be good to extend the same help in getting a license to Mac users as to everyone else … just sayin' …

Unfortunately, this is also true on the Troubleshooting page.

And to top it all off, I am “NOT AUTHORIZED” to view the Installation FAQ! LOLOLOL Now why in the world would THAT be?

I sure do hope the Houdini app itself is put together a whole lot better than the licensing and “help” mechanics are. :wink:

I was finally able to get to the licensing help page from the local help menu when attempting to run Houdini (just not from the “Online Licensing Help” page, which is seriously out-of-date and needs permissions to be massaged). But frankly, it was no help at all.

Guess the only thing left to do is WAIT … my favorite thing!

Hello,

yeah, we had some problems with the license generator that signs the license keys. Without it the licensing site was not able to issue any licenses. It should be fixed now. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Rafal

It's OK! Stuff has to be maintained, so no problem here with that.

Still not working here…

If getting an Apprentice License isn't working for you:

In another thread I learned that what I had to do (once the license generator was back up and running) was to un-install Houdini, and re-run the installer, being careful to choose the Apprentice license during the installation process. Once I did this (and the license generator was back up and running) everything worked smoothly, as one would expect.

Hope this works for you also.

I know their offices are closed today but I thought I would chime in here and report that I can't get to the license server either.

ERROR: Could not generate server key. The license generator is temporarily unavailable, please try again later.

Same here, no love from the license administrator or the web form for 2 days. Just need to be patient I think.

Btw I use Houdini at work (as a VFX TD)and despite being tricky to learn at first, I have found it to be an extraordinarily powerful and inspiring piece of software!

Well worth the wait I reckon!

dan

Thanks Drstrik9,

At last the license server is working again.