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Friday, July 02, 2010

Install & run Unigraphics NX4 (or older) in Windows 7 and Vista

Warning/Disclaimer ityadi: Assuming that you, the person facing this problem, owns a licensed, legitimate copy of the software. You got no business taking my name when the aunty-piracy overlords throw you in ze gulag for using warez – Comprende?

The problem lies not with the Software [Unigraphics NX], but with its license manager that is supposed to run as a service in the computer. It enables you to run Unigraphics NX on workstations that access the license manager before running. However, the license mangers of Unigraphics NX4 and Unigraphics NX3 [and possibly other older versions] fails to run as a service in Windows 7 [and also Windows Vista], thereby terminating the installation. As a result Unigraphics NX will refuse to work even if installed on your workstation.

There is a workaround though. Installation of the License Manager terminates when it tries to start the file – meaning the file has already been transferred to the Hard Disk – and when it fails to start, it informs you so, after which you cancel the installation process.

Install and run Unigraphics NX4 [or older] on Windows 7 and Windows Vista

  • After you receive the message saying that installation failed to start the service, do not click Cancel immediately.
  • Instead, go to the following location [or the path you had selected for installing the license manager – this one is the default location]:

Install and run Unigraphics NX4 [or older] on Windows 7 and Windows Vista

C:\Program Files\UGS\License Servers\UGNXFLEXlm

  • Copy all the files that you find inside the folder UGNXFLEXlm.

Install and run Unigraphics NX4 [or older] on Windows 7 and Windows Vista

  • Create a new folder somewhere else, say the root of your c: drive, and name it suitably – say UGNXlm, and transfer the files you had copied into the newly created folder.
  • Now you may click on the Cancel button, I had asked you not to click on earlier.
  • Open Notepad and copy-paste the following into it [uncheck Word Wrap (Format>Word Wrap) to be safe]:

echo @C:\UGNXlm\lmgrd -c c:\UGNXlm\ugnx3.lic -l C:\UGNXlm\log.txt >c:\UGNXlm\nx3_server.cmd

Install and run Unigraphics NX4 or NX3 in Windows 7 or Windows Vista

where, ugnx3.lic should be replaced by the .lic file name of your license file. You may also replace nx3_server with a name of your choice.

  • Save that notepad file, giving it a name “nx3_server.cmd” including the double-inverted commas as shown. The file name [here, nx3_server.cmd] should be same as the name you had used inside the Notepad file [.cmd].

Install and run Unigraphics NX4 or NX3 in Windows 7 or Windows Vista

  • Once done, it will create a new file nx3_server.cmd [in my case].
  • Before starting Unigraphics, run this .cmd file. After this, Unigraphics NX should run without issues.
  • If, unlike me, you happen to use Unigraphics frequently, then you may copy a shortcut of the .cmd file [nx3_server.cmd] to the startup folder. License manager will start the moment you log into Windows.

If you also happen to own a licensed copy of Unigraphics NX5 or beyond, then you could copy the lmgrd.exe file from there and use it to replace the file having the same name in NX4.

Hat tip NXway

Godspeed