Creating Volume License Installers
- Updated2025-01-24
- 3 minute(s) read
Creating Volume License Installers
Use the Volume License Installer Wizard to create a Volume License Installer for your NI products.
Benefits
The Volume License Installer Wizard modifies the installer to offer the following benefits:
- Automatically configures client machines to connect to NI Volume License Manager (NI VLM) for licensing
- Takes media management responsibilities out of the hands of clients
- Collects custom field information from clients that you can access through reporting
- Allows clients to request permission to join groups
- Installs the correct software in multiple-product suites for each client, based on the client's permissions
- Provides administrator contact information to
clients for licensing supportNote The first page of the Volume License Installer Wizard displays your current administrator information. Refer to Setting Administrator Information for information about changing this information.
When a client runs a Volume License Installer, the installer automatically contacts NI VLM to retrieve updated versions of the following information:
- Group information
- Administrator information
- Serial numbers
- Client information and permissions
Using the Volume License Installer Wizard
Complete the following general steps to create and distribute Volume License Installers:
- Select the menu item to start the wizard.
- Specify software source and destination paths and give your Volume License Installer a name.
- Specify the distribution method for the Volume License Installer.
- Specify how client machines should be configured when running the Volume License Installer.
- Specify the permission request behavior for the Volume License Installer.
- Specify which products to include in the Volume License Installer.
- Review your selections for the Volume License Installer.
- Build your Volume License Installer.
- Review the Frequently Asked Questions and then distribute your new Volume License Installer.
Distribute the modified installer within your organization either by using a shared network drive or copying this new product installer to a CD, DVD, or USB drive. Because the use of this software is always governed by NI VLM, you can freely distribute the installer.
Best Practices
Consider using these NI VLM best practices for more efficient use of your time spent administering volume-licensed software from NI.
Using Groups to Obtain Permissions
Use Groups instead of explicitly granting licenses to clients to increase proficiency. Using groups allows clients to easily request permission to access their NI software products. Additionally, groups allow you to easily and quickly assign multiple permissions to clients. Refer to Managing Groups for more information on groups.
Creating One Volume License Installer per
Media
Because the software within a Volume License Installer is installed based on the client's current permissions plus any permissions they are requesting, typically you need to create only one Volume License Installer per source. This feature works with multiple-product suites released in August 2010 or later.
For example, the following screenshot shows an installation by a client with permissions to LabVIEW Professional Development System, Vision Development Module, and NI SoftMotion Module in NI VLM. The client can select other packages to install in evaluation mode.