License Authorization Process
If the application supports network licensing, when it is started it first tries to identify a license server. This is how it looks for a license server:
If the LSFORCEHOST environment variable is set, the application looks for the specific license server host listed in that variable. If it cannot find that computer, an error message is displayed, and the application cannot run.
If no LSFORCEHOST environment variable is set, the application looks for the LSHOST environment variable. If this variable has been set, then the application looks for any of the license server hosts listed. If LSHOST is not set, then a check is made for a file with the name LSHOST or lshost in the directory where the application is located. If this file is found, then the application looks for any of the license server hosts listed in the first line of the file.
If a license server is not found using one of these methods, then a broadcast message will be sent out on the client computer’s subnet requesting all license servers to identify themselves. The application will then choose one of these license servers. Using the broadcast method of finding the license server allows the server location to be changed without any actions on the part of the client computer. The broadcast is only used when the application starts, so it uses very little network bandwidth.
A protected application that has been built to support both stand-alone and network options can be converted to strictly stand-alone operation by setting LSFORCEHOST to NO_NET. We suggest you to read through Client - Commonly Used Variables for more details.