With people getting ArcGIS 9.2, this issue has come up again. You cannot check out a license of ArcGIS Desktop 9.2 from the license manager and take it into the field.
Question
Does the ArcGIS or ESRI License Manager support the ability to check out or borrow concurrent use licenses, such as to a laptop?Answer
No, neither the ArcGIS nor the ESRI License Manager support the ability to ‘borrow’ licenses, such that computers could check out a concurrent use license from a license manager and then disconnect from the network.
Yea that sucks because you either have to have a stand along license of ArcGIS Desktop (Viewer or Editor) or install your own license manager on your laptop. Either way you lose flexibility that the license manager should be giving you. Yes Autodesk and others have had this capability for quite some time, but it would appear ESRI has no plans whatsoever to offer such an opportunity. I’ve asked this question at every User Conference and the answer is always the same.
“No Plans”
I’ve been offered excuses from protecting their licensing revenue to later versions of FlexLM are buggy. Frankly this has been the biggest hindrance to our little company as we cannot afford to have stand alone copies of ArcView or Editor on laptops (let alone the cost of extensions). Thus ArcView 3.2a (with 3D Analyst and Spatial Analyst) continues to be installed on my laptop for just such emergencies. If you don’t have an old copy of ArcView 3.x (like who doesn’t have tons of those CDs at the bottom of your drawer?), QGIS can step in and help. Of course FWTools helps convert datasets to formats ArcView 3.x can read.
Spatially Adjusted 