In Corona 7 and older, installing the Corona Licensing Server application was optional. It was the user's choice whether to install it or not, and it was useful mostly in very specific cases such as activating Corona on render farms.
Starting with version 8 and newer, Corona is using the same licensing mechanism as V-Ray and other Chaos products, which means that the Chaos License Server is generally a required component. You cannot activate Corona without the Chaos License Server.
If you are upgrading to Corona 8 or newer from Corona 7 or older, you will see a notification in the installer saying that the Chaos License Server is now mandatory, and that you can review what exact items to install.
If you are performing standard installation and activation
This solution applies if you are installing Corona on a single computer, or if you are installing it on multiple computers, but you do not need to use any advanced activation method:
Just continue with the installation process, and if you can see a screen where you can select various components for the installation, be sure to select the License Server option (it is preselected by default). This way, the License Server will be installed on your computer and you will be able to use it to activate Corona and other Chaos products. For more details, see:
If you are performing advanced installation and activation (using one central License Server)
This solution applies if you wish to install the License Server on a single computer on the network so that other computers can connect to it and obtain the license. This is typical in case of large render farms, where activating each computer manually would be too difficult:
Install the License Server on one computer (it will be installed automatically when using the Typical installation option or you can make sure it is enabled when using the Custom installation option). Do not install the License Server on other computers. Make sure that all the computers which require a license are able to connect to the computer running the License Server. Lastly, on each of the computers which require a license, make sure that the license settings correctly point to the computer running the License Server. For more details, see:
- Activating Corona 8 or newer on farms and computers without host software GUI
- Changing your License Settings
- Advanced Installation
- Sharing vrlclient.xml over a network
If you need any additional help, please contact us.