Clients Unable to Acquire Cloud License (Applicable for HyDraw CAD, MDTools Series for SolidWorks and Inventor)

Clients Unable to Acquire Cloud License (Applicable for HyDraw CAD, MDTools Series for SolidWorks and Inventor)

When clients are unable to acquire a cloud license for HyDraw CAD or MDTools (SolidWorks/Inventor), the issue is usually caused by restricted network communication between the application and the FlexNet Operations Cloud server. The program may freeze, display a server response error, or show other connection-related errors.

This article explains how to verify connectivity and resolve the issue.

Cloud License Communication
Cloud license communication for VEST products happens through the following domain: flex1360.flexnetoperations.com

If the client is unable to obtain a cloud license, please follow the steps below.
1.  Verify Domain Access
Ensure that you can access the following website from the client machine: https://flex1360.flexnetoperations.com/flexnet/operations/ 
If the page is not accessible, proceed to the next step.

Firewall and Network Configuration
  1. Whitelist the Domain
    Ensure that your firewall allows communication with the domain: flex1360.flexnetoperations.com  

  2. Whitelist the IP Address
    You can find the current IP address of the domain using this link: https://www.nslookup.io/domains/flex1360.flexnetoperations.com/webservers/ 

    Alternatively, whitelist the following IP ranges in your firewall:
    IPv4 Block: 185.146.155.64/27 (Range: 185.146.155.64 to 185.146.155.94)
    IPv6 Block: 2620:122:f005::/56
      For more details, refer to the official FlexNet documentation:

 2.  Add Exclusion in Windows Security and Antivirus
 Ensure that the application (HyDraw CAD or MDTools) is excluded from Windows Security or your antivirus program.
 
 To add an exclusion:
  1. Open Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Manage settings.
  2. Scroll down and click Add or remove exclusions.
  3. Add the installation folder of your VEST product (for example,
    C:\Program Files\VEST\HyDraw CAD <Version>\ or
    C:\Program Files\VEST\MDTools <Version>\).
 Similarly, exclude the same VEST folders in your antivirus settings.