Installation & Licensing Center
Ansys Troubleshooting Guide
Authored by Caleb Scharf
April 12th, 2023
14544 views
3 likes
KB965031
Description
Troubleshooting Ansys problems can be tricky! Our comprehensive troubleshooting guide will help you narrow down the cause of any Ansys problem and walk you through how to resolve it.
Note: This guide is not directly applicable to: Ansys Cloud, Rocky, Remote Solver Manager (RSM), Granta, SCADE, Minerva or Twin Builder at this time.
Solution
- First, search your exact error message in our Knowledge Base, which contains 100+ searchable articles, error messages & solutions.
- Next, determine what changed, and begin to narrow down your problem using the list of common problems below.
Most Common Problems:
A) Problems After Installing Ansys or a New License
Skip this step if you're NOT dealing with a new/upgraded installation and the software was recently working.
- Is the License Manager software up to date? Using an outdated version is a common cause of problems.
- Verify you specified the correct License Server on the client computer.
- Did you add the necessary Firewall rules on your License Server?
- Did you right click the setup file and select "Run As Administrator" when installing?
- If you downloaded the software as a zip file package - did you extract the files before installing?
B) Problematic Client Settings or Preferences
The following quick solutions reset basic Ansys settings back to default and resolve many common issues, particularly after installing a new license or software version along side other older versions.- Reset Ansys Profile Folder (2 min)
- Reset Ansys License Preferences (2 min)
- Run Product & CAD Configuration Manager (5 min)
C) Connecting to the License Server (Local or VPN)
DeleteD) Checking Out or Returning a License
Related Articles
- HOW TO - Release a Stuck License - Problems with licenses not checking back in or getting stuck.
- HOW TO - Borrow an Ansys License
- ERROR - Cannot return a borrowed license
Additional Common Problems:
E) Antivirus Blocking Ansys
Does Ansys crash or hang up? Does Ansys not open at all when you launch it? Are you getting unexpected error messages? These symptoms can be caused by your antivirus software actively blocking Ansys while it's running or it could have blocked certain files from being installed that are now preventing the software from running properly.
Follow - HOW TO - Troubleshoot Antivirus Software with Ansys
F) Corrupt Ansys Installation
Uninstalling and reinstalling the software can often resolve odd or persistent issues with the software. This can solve problems caused multiple possible things: subtle, but important installation steps being missed; bad settings not easily reset by other methods; broken dll registrations caused during windows or other software updates; corrupt files, etc.
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Uninstall and then Reinstall the Ansys client and or license serversoftware.
- Follow all optional "comprehensive" steps if necessary.
G) Remote Desktop Software
Are you running the software over Windows Remote Desktop, TeamViewer, GoToMyPC, etc.?- Can you repeat the problem when working from the computer locally?
- If not, please contact SimuTech Support
- If so, the problem is not related to remote desktop software.
Note - connecting to a Linux machine via xrdp is not supported.
DeleteH) Outdated System Drivers
Updating your bios firmware, chipset drivers and specifically the graphics/GPU drivers, have been known to solve both graphical and non-graphical problems with Ansys. These steps are generally considered beneficial even if they don't resolve the issue at hand as these updates insure optimal system performance, security and reliability.
- Dell System Owners - We recommend using Dell Command Update which will automatically check for and update all bios, chipset and system drivers for you, without having to download individual files.
- Graphics Drivers - Because Dell, HP and other system manufactures often lag behind on graphics driver updates, we recommend downloading these drivers directly from nVIDIA's or AMD's driver website whenever possible.
i) Problem Unique to a Specific Model/Project File
Is the issue isolated to a single model, software version, or computer? Please follow these steps sequentially.
- Can you repeat the problem using a different model on the same computer with the same software version?
- NO - this often indicates a problem with the model. Please continue with the next step if possible.
- YES - this often indicates a problem with the software installation (or possibly, but less likely a bug in the software). Please continue with the next step if possible.
- Can you repeat the problem with the same model on a different computer, running the same version?
- NO - this often indicates a problematic Ansys install or settings on the original computer. Please uninstall and then reinstall the software
- YES - this often indicates a problem with the model or possibly, but less likely, a bug in the software. Please contact SimuTech Support for further help from an engineer.
- Can you repeat the problem with the same model using a newer version of Ansys on the same computer?**
- NO - this often indicates a problematic Ansys install or a bug in the software. If using the newer version is not a permanent solution and you have already uninstalled and then reinstalled the problematic version of the software, please contact SimuTech Support for further assistance.
- YES - This often indicates a problem with the model. Please contact SimuTech Support for further assistance from an engineer.
J) Ansys Software Bug
Ansys is complex software and we do see bugs occur. If you suspect the the problem you are seeing is a result of a bug, there are several things you can do to narrow down the problem.
- Try repeating the problem in a different version of Ansys client software.
- If the problem persists, it's less likely there is a bug in the client software, however, if it's license checkout related issue, it may be a bug in the license server software.
- Try repeating the problem in a different version of the Ansys License Manager Software
- Gather Ansys Diagnostic Logs
- Contact and send the Diagnostic Logs to SimuTech Support.
Other Problems & Considerations:
K) Other Problems & Considerations
Here are several other items that to verify and consider:
- Check if Ansys client software is being blocked by the Client Windows Firewall (not server firewall)
- Verify your Windows Installation isn't corrupted - HOW TO - Check & Repair Windows Installation
- Verify Ansys prerequisite Microsoft software isn't corrupted - HOW TO - Manually Reinstall Prerequisite Microsoft Software
- Were any Windows or security updates recently installed the may be causing the issue?
- VPN software can sometimes cause issues, specifically we've seen issues with Cisco AnyConnect and Fluent as it relies on network settings.
- If experiencing issues with Fluent, disable your WiFi adapter, if present, and try again.
Less common but other possible things to consider:
- Does your IT Department have any security or group policies that may be causing the issue?
- Does your IT Department having roaming profiles configured that may interfere with default installation locations? Contact SimuTech Support.
- Is there any windows file permission issues or warnings that indicate certain folders that Ansys installs to writes to may be restricted?