Intel® FPGA Software Installation and Licensing

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ID 683472
Date 12/04/2023
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Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
Answers to Top FAQs 1. Introduction to Intel® FPGA Software Installation and Licensing 2. Determining System Requirements 3. Downloading Intel® FPGA Software 4. Installing Intel FPGA Software 5. Licensing Intel® FPGA Software 6. Next Steps After Installing and Licensing the Software A. Intel FPGA Software Installation and Licensing Archives B. Document Revision History for Intel® FPGA Software Installation and Licensing
1. Introduction to Intel® FPGA Software Installation and Licensing x
1.1. Intel® Quartus® Prime Design Suite Overview 1.2. Intel® FPGA Software Download Center 1.3. Intel® FPGA Self-Service Licensing Center 1.4. Before You Begin
1.4. Before You Begin x
1.4.1. Navigate Content Through Tasks 1.4.2. Prerequisites 1.4.3. Acronyms
2. Determining System Requirements x
2.1. Reviewing the Intel® Quartus® Prime Software Release Notes 2.2. Determining Hardware Requirements 2.3. Determining Software Requirements
2.2. Determining Hardware Requirements x
2.2.1. Disk Space Requirements 2.2.2. Cable and Port Requirements
2.3. Determining Software Requirements x
2.3.1. Operating System Requirements 2.3.2. Windows* Subsystem for Linux* (WSL 1) on Windows Requirements for Nios® II EDS 2.3.3. Intel® High Level Synthesis Compiler Software Requirements 2.3.4. Questa*-Intel® FPGA Edition Software Requirements 2.3.5. Other Intel FPGA Software Requirements 2.3.6. Third-Party Software Requirements
3. Downloading Intel® FPGA Software x
3.1. Software Available in the FPGA Software Download Center 3.2. Downloading Design-Specific Software Components 3.3. Determining the Download Type 3.4. Downloading Other Intel® FPGA Software
3.3. Determining the Download Type x
3.3.1. Downloading Software Using the Intel® Quartus® Prime Installer 3.3.2. Downloading Software Packages Manually
3.3.1. Downloading Software Using the Intel® Quartus® Prime Installer x
3.3.1.1. Accessing the Intel® Quartus® Prime Installer 3.3.1.2. Getting Started With the Intel® Quartus® Prime Installer GUI 3.3.1.3. Modifying the Installer Settings 3.3.1.4. Using CLI Commands
3.3.2. Downloading Software Packages Manually x
3.3.2.1. Downloading Individual Executable Files 3.3.2.2. Downloading .tar Files 3.3.2.3. Downloading Device Support 3.3.2.4. Downloading Additional Software 3.3.2.5. Downloading Copyleft Licensed Software
4. Installing Intel FPGA Software x
4.1. Installing Intel® FPGA Software Through Intel® Quartus® Prime Installer 4.2. Installing the Intel® FPGA Software Manually 4.3. Using the Same Installation Files on Multiple Systems 4.4. Managing Multiple Versions and Copies of Intel FPGA Software 4.5. Setting Intel® Quartus® Prime Environment Variables 4.6. Starting the Intel® Quartus® Prime Software 4.7. Updating Intel FPGA Software 4.8. Installing and Uninstalling a Software Patch 4.9. Uninstalling Intel FPGA Software 4.10. Troubleshooting Installation Issues
4.2. Installing the Intel® FPGA Software Manually x
4.2.1. Selecting the Installation Path 4.2.2. Installing Intel FPGA Software at the Command Prompt 4.2.3. Installing from .tar Files 4.2.4. Installing Device Support to Existing Installation 4.2.5. Installing Programming Cable Drivers 4.2.6. Installing and Configuring a JTAG Server
4.2.2. Installing Intel FPGA Software at the Command Prompt x
4.2.2.1. Command-Line Options
4.2.5. Installing Programming Cable Drivers x
4.2.5.1. Installing Drivers on RHEL 8 and Above and Ubuntu Versions 18 and 20 OS
4.2.6. Installing and Configuring a JTAG Server x
4.2.6.1. Installing and Configuring jtagserver on Windows 4.2.6.2. Installing and Configuring a Local JTAG Server (jtagd) on Linux
4.9. Uninstalling Intel FPGA Software x
4.9.1. Uninstalling on Windows* 4.9.2. Uninstalling on Linux
5. Licensing Intel® FPGA Software x
5.1. Summary of Intel FPGA Software Licenses Required 5.2. Evaluating the Intel® Quartus® Prime Software 5.3. Licensing Intel® FPGA Software Walkthrough 5.4. Getting Hardware Information for License 5.5. Using the Intel FPGA Self-Service Licensing Center 5.6. About Intel® FPGA Software License Files 5.7. Checking the IP License Status 5.8. Configuring the License Manager Server 5.9. Troubleshooting License File Issues
5.1. Summary of Intel FPGA Software Licenses Required x
5.1.1. Intel® Quartus® Prime Software License 5.1.2. Questa*-Intel® FPGA Edition and Questa*-Intel® FPGA Starter Edition Software License 5.1.3. Nios® II Embedded Design Suite License 5.1.4. Intellectual Property (IP) Cores Licenses 5.1.5. Siemens EDA* AXI Verification IP Suite License (Intel FPGA Edition)
5.3. Licensing Intel® FPGA Software Walkthrough x
5.3.1. Obtaining Necessary Hardware Information 5.3.2. Requesting a License File from the Intel FPGA Self-Service Licensing Center 5.3.3. Setting up a Fixed License 5.3.4. Setting up a License in a Network License Server
5.3.4. Setting up a License in a Network License Server x
5.3.4.1. Setting up a License File in the License Server Setting Up Floating Network Licenses on the License Server 5.3.4.2. Launching the Licensing Server 5.3.4.3. Specifying a Network License Server in the Intel® Quartus® Prime Software
5.4. Getting Hardware Information for License x
5.4.1. Identifying Host's NIC ID 5.4.2. Identifying the UNIX Host ID 5.4.3. Locating Your Hard-Disk Serial Number 5.4.4. Identifying the USB Software Guard ID
5.4.1. Identifying Host's NIC ID x
5.4.1.1. Finding the NIC ID for Windows 5.4.1.2. Finding the NIC ID on Linux 5.4.1.3. Finding the NIC ID in the Intel® Quartus® Prime Software 5.4.1.4. Finding the NIC ID on Windows* Using FLEXlm Utilities
5.4.3. Locating Your Hard-Disk Serial Number x
5.4.3.1. Finding the Hard-disk Serial Number on a Windows* PC 5.4.3.2. Finding the Hard-disk Serial Number if the Intel® Quartus® Prime Software is Installed on Your Computer
5.5. Using the Intel FPGA Self-Service Licensing Center x
5.5.1. Using the License Assistant 5.5.2. Getting a License File with Your New Purchase 5.5.3. Viewing Licenses 5.5.4. Filtering Your Licenses 5.5.5. Viewing and Generating a Legacy License 5.5.6. Viewing Licenses or License Files Associated to a Computer 5.5.7. Regenerating a License File 5.5.8. Generating a Temporary Checkout License 5.5.9. Generating a Companion License 5.5.10. Renewing Your License 5.5.11. Managing a Computer Profile 5.5.12. Rehosting a License on a Different Computer 5.5.13. Rehosting All Licenses from Current Computer to a Different Computer 5.5.14. Rehosting Multiple/Partial Licenses from Current Computer to a Different Computer 5.5.15. Sharing a License with Another User 5.5.16. Adding Delegate Administrators to Your Licenses and Computers 5.5.17. Splitting Seats on Your License and Generating Licenses 5.5.18. Merging or Adding Seats on Your License and Generating License 5.5.19. Adding Floating Seats 5.5.20. Signing Up for an Evaluation or No-Cost License 5.5.21. Signing Up For an Employee License
5.6. About Intel® FPGA Software License Files x
5.6.1. License File Components 5.6.2. Using a FLEXlm Options File 5.6.3. License.dat Example Files 5.6.4. Syntax of license.dat License File
5.6.1. License File Components x
5.6.1.1. License File Header 5.6.1.2. SERVER, VENDOR, and USE_SERVER Lines 5.6.1.3. FEATURE and INCREMENT Lines
5.6.3. License.dat Example Files x
5.6.3.1. Fixed PC Software Guard License Example 5.6.3.2. Floating Network License Example
5.8. Configuring the License Manager Server x
5.8.1. Installing the FLEXlm License Manager Server Software on Another License Server 5.8.2. Upgrading the FLEXlm License Manager Server Software 5.8.3. (Windows Only) Starting and Stopping the License Server 5.8.4. (Windows Only) Starting the License Server Automatically 5.8.5. Rereading an Existing License File on a License Server
6. Next Steps After Installing and Licensing the Software x
6.1. Additional Resources 6.2. Training
Answers to Top FAQs
1. Introduction to Intel® FPGA Software Installation and Licensing
2. Determining System Requirements
3. Downloading Intel® FPGA Software
4. Installing Intel FPGA Software
5. Licensing Intel® FPGA Software
6. Next Steps After Installing and Licensing the Software
A. Intel FPGA Software Installation and Licensing Archives
B. Document Revision History for Intel® FPGA Software Installation and Licensing

5.3.4.1. Setting up a License File in the License Server

Perform the following steps in the license server:
  1. Save the license.dat file. The preferred location is:
    • Windows*:
      <drive>:\flexlm
    • Linux:
      /usr/local/flexlm/licenses
  2. Identify the hostname of the license server.
  3. If the license server uses Windows*, specify the port number for the licensing manager.
    • Choose a number outside of the 27000-28000 range, and unique on the machine.
    In Linux systems, the FLEXlm license manager automatically chooses a free port between 27000 and 27009.
  4. Modify the SERVER line in the license.dat file to include the hostname and port number of the license server. 
    SERVER <hostname> <8 or 12-character host or NIC ID> <host port number>
  5. Identify the path to the alterad vendor daemon executable. 4
    • Windows*:
      <installation_directory>\bin64\alterad.exe
    • Linux:
      <installation-directory>/linux64/alterad
  6. Optionally, identify the user-defined port numbers for the alterad daemons.

    The FLEXlm software works with Internet firewalls that require you to specify port numbers in the license file on the SERVER line and each VENDOR or DAEMON line. The syntax to specify a port is PORT=<number>. Finally, you must allow firewall access to those port numbers.

  7. Modify the VENDOR line in the license.dat file to include the path to the alterad daemon 5 and the daemon's port number. 
    VENDOR alterad <path/to/alterad> [port=<user-defined port number>]
  8. If you are using a license file for the Questa*-Intel® FPGA Edition software and/or Siemens EDA AXI BFMs, identify the path to the Siemens EDA* (formerly Mentor Graphics) vendor daemon executable mgcld. 4
  9. (Optional) Identify the user-defined port numbers for the mgcld daemon.

    Allow firewall access to those port numbers.

  10. Modify the VENDOR line in the license.dat file to include the path to the mgcld daemon5 and the daemon's port number. 
    VENDOR mgcld <path/to/mgcld> [port=<user-defined port number>]
When you complete all modifications, ensure the license file conditions are met.

Setting Up Floating Network Licenses on the License Server

The following example shows how to specify port numbers in a floating license file, where ports 1800, 1801, and 1802 provide access through a firewall. 
SERVER myServer 0123456789ab 1800
VENDOR alterad ./alterad port=1801
VENDOR mgcld ./mgcld port=1802
With the modified license.dat file, you can set up the FLEXlm license manager on the license server, and finally start the license server.
4 If the license server does not provide the necessary vendor daemon, copy the required daemon from another machine, save the file in a location on the license server, and specify the daemon location on the license server in the license file.
5 If the server path has spaces in it, enclose the full path in quotation marks.
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