Name: Shadow Licensing Uncovered: Smart Control for Unmanaged Software
Start: 2026-02-04T10:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-02-04T17:00:00+00:00
Location: OpenLM

LS-DYNA license management with OpenLM

LS-DYNA is the premier general-purpose finite element program capable of simulating complex real-world problems, from crashworthiness to metal forming. These simulations are notoriously computationally intensive and license-heavy, making efficient governance of LS-DYNA cores a critical project element.

OpenLM is your trusted partner, offering granular control to master your LS-DYNA licenses, ensuring your specialized safety-critical teams maintain compliance.

What is LS-DYNA Licence Manager | LS-DYNA license management: An introduction

LS-DYNA generally uses one of two license managers depending on the version and licensing agreement:

LSTC License Manager: This is the traditional, native system developed by Livermore Software Technology Corporation (LSTC). It uses a lightweight server executable (often lstc_server on Linux or a Windows service) to manage floating network licenses via a server_data file.
Ansys License Manager: Following the acquisition of LSTC by Ansys, newer versions of LS-DYNA can be licensed through the standard Ansys system, which is based on FlexNet Publisher (formerly FlexLM).

Licensing schemas of LS-DYNA

LS-DYNA licensing is often tied to the number of cores used for a simulation job. A single crash test can consume hundreds of tokens, making efficient scheduling vital.

HPC job concurrency: Licenses are floating based on core count. Competition for these licenses can lead to job scheduler bottlenecks that delay safety validation.
Simulation cost control: The expense of running massive parallel simulations requires near-perfect utilization of the available license pool.
Job queue optimization: OpenLM’s integration supports monitoring usage by the minute, crucial for optimizing the queuing of high-core-count jobs.

OpenLM’s solution for LS-DYNA license optimization

OpenLM provides a clear solution tailored for managing high-cost simulation licenses like LS-DYNA.

OpenLM capability	Value for LS-DYNA licenses
Real-time core tracking	Get by-the-second visibility into usage. Identify which simulation job is holding licenses to proactively prevent denial situations.
Stuck job reclamation	Automatically detect and reclaim licenses from inactive sessions (e.g., hung jobs). Reclaiming these licenses provides an immediate, high-value return.
Token expiration reporting	Track expiration dates for all your LS-DYNA features. This ensures teams are never surprised by an expiring license.
Core consumption metrics	Track usage with a focus on duration and core consumption. This detailed data is crucial for auditing and justifying expenses during renewals.

OpenLM advantages for LS-DYNA usage monitoring

OpenLM Platform is built for the challenges of engineering software. We offer continuous monitoring for over 90 unique license managers.

Capacity planning insight: OpenLM Broker monitors denials. This generates the evidence of demand needed to inform HPC capacity decisions.
Immediate resource recovery: Our automated system recovers licenses from inactive jobs. For high-cost LS-DYNA tools, this ensures seats are not tied up.
Unified IT asset view: OpenLM centralizes your LS-DYNA management with all other license managers, providing a single platform for governance.