FlexNet Publisher

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FlexNet Publisher

Original author(s)	GLOBEtrotter and Highland
Developer(s)	Flexera Software
Initial release	1988; 37 years ago (1988)
Stable release	2024 R2 SP1 (11.19.7.1) / January 30, 2025; 3 months ago (2025-01-30)[1]
Written in	C/C++, Java
Operating system	Windows, macOS, Linux, and various UNIXes
Platform	Cross-platform
Available in	English
Type	Software license management
License	Proprietary
Website	www.flexera.com/producer/products/software-monetization/flexnet-licensing/flexnet-publisher/

FlexNet Publisher (formerly known as FLEXlm) is a software license manager from Flexera Software which implements license management and is intended to be used in corporate environments to provide floating licenses to multiple end users of computer software.^{[citation needed]}

Computer software can be licensed in a variety of ways. A license to use a piece of software may be associated with a specific machine (node-locked), permitting it to only run on that machine (node in a network); alternatively, a company may buy a pool of floating licenses and these licenses may be allocated dynamically to machines, a license being checked-out when a user begins using the software on any given machine and checked-in when the user finishes using the software. In this way, for example, a company might buy a pool of 50 licenses but support a user community of hundreds of occasional users of the software (so long as no more than 50 users ever want to use the software simultaneously).^{[original research?]}