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No more environment variables! You can use the Arnold License Manager to configure licensing for Arnold:

• Just sign in to activate a single-user Arnold license
• Connect to one or more network license servers
• Switch between different licensing systems (single user, NLM, RLM)

Whatever you set up in the Arnold License Manager is used by Arnold when you render. 

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Opening the Arnold License Manager

The Arnold License Manager is available from the Arnold > Licensing menu in Maya, 3ds Max, Houdini, and CINEMA 4D, and from the Arnold shelf in Katana

If you're not running a 3d application (for example, you're setting up a render node), then you can run the ArnoldLicenseManager executable.

• MtoA: Look in the bin folder of the MtoA installation. For example, C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Arnold\maya2019-4.0.1\bin\ArnoldLicenseManager.exe
• C4DtoA: Look in the arnold/bin folder
  • C:\Program Files\MAXON\Cinema 4D R20\plugins\C4DtoA\arnold\bin\ArnoldLicenseManager.exe
  • /Applications/MAXON/Cinema 4D R20/arnold/bin/ArnoldLicenseManager
• HtoA: Look in the scripts/bin folder
• KtoA: Look in the bin folder of the KtoA installation
• MAXtoA: Look in the MAXtoA install folder. For example:
  • C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\MAXtoA_2020\ArnoldLicenseManager.exe

How does it work?

If you really want to know how it works, here's how:

• The Arnold License Manager saves a a plain-text config file on your system. 
• This config file is specific to your user account.
• When you render, Arnold reads this config file and uses that information to get a license.

The config file

The Arnold License Manager is a user interface for setting up this config file.

{
    "license": {
        "clm": {
            "servers": [
                "@localhost"
            ]
        },
        "order": [
            "network"
        ],
        "rlm": {
            "servers": [
                "5053@localhost"
            ]
        }
    },
    "version": "1.0"
}

The config file is a per-user setting:

• Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Autodesk\Arnold\

• Mac: $HOME/Library/Preferences/Autodesk/Arnold/

• Linux: $HOME/.config/Autodesk/Arnold/

When Arnold renders a frame, Arnold reads the config file to get the license server connection information.