Arm Compiler Licensing Configuration

This page presents the different usage scenarios for Arm Compiler toolchains, describing which license is used in each case and any required configuration steps. Throughout this page, "Arm Compiler toolchain" refers to the following products:

  • Arm Compiler 6 (armclang)
  • Arm Compiler 5 (armcc)
  • Arm Compiler 4.1 (armcc)
  • Arm Compiler for Armv8 Beta 4.9 (armcc)
  • RealView Compilation Tools (RVCT) 4 or earlier (armcc)

This page assumes you know already which version of Arm Compiler to use and focuses on licensing and IDE integration aspects. You can download Arm Compiler packages from the Arm Compiler downloads page.

I want to use my chosen Arm Compiler toolchain...

... completely standalone

In this use case, your Arm Compiler toolchain runs without any of the IDEs listed below installed alongside it.
Typical scenarios include:

  • You need to compile or modify the source code for RTL testbenches
  • You need a specific version of the Arm Compiler toolchain to work within a third-party build environment, for example to build code for a particular chipset

Because the Arm Compiler toolchain runs standalone, you need to supply additional information - normally supplied by the IDE - so that Arm Compiler can find the appropriate product license. The configuration item common to all use cases is to set the ARMLMD_LICENSE_FILE environment variable to point at your license file(s) and/or license server(s). The next configuration steps to take depend on the license you have or want your Arm Compiler toolchain to use.

Note: all environment variables listed in this section apply to the machine and environment where Arm Compiler runs. These are unrelated to the configuration of your license server, if you have one.

  • I have an Arm DS-5 license

    This scenario requires an Arm DS-5 Ultimate Edition or Professional Edition license. The configuration steps to take depend on the version of your Arm Compiler toolchain.

    • No additional configuration required, beyond setting ARMLMD_LICENSE_FILE.

    • In addition to ARMLMD_LICENSE_FILE, you must set the following two environment variables:

      • ARM_PRODUCT_PATH, set to the fully qualified path to the sub-directory sw/mappings in the Arm Compiler installation directory
      • ARM_TOOL_VARIANT, set to either ult for an DS-5 Ultimate Edition license or nothing for a DS-5 Professional Edition license

      For example, a complete environment could contain:

      • ARMLMD_LICENSE_FILE=7010@licserv.mycompany.com
      • ARM_PRODUCT_PATH=C:\Program Files\Arm Compiler 6.11\sw\mappings
      • ARM_TOOL_VARIANT=ult
  • I have an Arm Development Studio license

    The configuration steps to take depend on the version of your Arm Compiler toolchain.

    • Arm Compiler 5.04u2 and earlier, including Arm Compiler 4.1 and RVCT releases, require the installation of an additional license.

      To install this additional license, take the following steps:

      1. Download the additional license file. This license file combines with an Arm Development Studio Silver, Gold or Platinum Edition license to enable earlier releases of Arm Compiler. Arm Development Studio Evaluation or Bronze Edition licenses do not enable these earlier releases of Arm Compiler.
      2. Add the content of the downloaded license to the end of your Arm Development Studio license file. To do this, you can use a simple text editor to copy all lines from the additional license into your original license file. We always recommend to make a backup copy of your original license file.
      3. In the case of a floating license, you will need to restart your FlexNet Publisher server. See Starting/restarting the license server(s) in Software Licensing Frequently Asked Questions.

      Once the additional license is installed and ARMLMD_LICENSE_FILE is set, there are no further configuration steps to take.

    • From Arm Compiler 5.04u3 onwards, including Arm Compiler 6, you must download Arm Development Studio product definition files (~205KB). These files enable Arm Compiler to use licenses for Arm Development Studio.

      Once downloaded, these files must be located on the same filesystem as the Arm Compiler toolchain, given they will be accessed at runtime. Then, in addition to ARMLMD_LICENSE_FILE, you must set the environment variable ARM_PRODUCT_DEF to the fully qualified path to the product definition file corresponding to your Arm Development Studio license.

      If the environment variables ARM_PRODUCT_PATH and ARM_TOOL_VARIANT are already set, these will need to be unset, as this will potentially cause a conflict with the settings in ARM_PRODUCT_DEF.

      For example, a complete environment could be:

      • ARMLMD_LICENSE_FILE=7010@licserv.mycompany.com
      • ARM_PRODUCT_DEF=/projects/my_project/resources/arm_ds/gold.elmap

      Safety-qualified* Arm Compiler toolchains are enabled with an Arm Development Studio license since version 2019.0 for Arm Compiler 6.x and since version 2019.1 for Arm Compiler 5.x. Please ensure you have the latest copy of the Arm Development Studio product definition files.

      Note: because of a known issue, Arm Compiler 6.00 requires both the steps described in this section and the additional license from the previous section titled Arm Compiler 5.04u2 and earlier, including Arm Compiler 4.1 and RVCT releases


  • I have an Arm Compiler standalone license

    In this scenario, you purchased an Arm Compiler standalone license or a safety-qualified* Arm Compiler license. There is no additional configuration steps to take, assuming ARMLMD_LICENSE_FILE is set correctly. You should however check that none of the following environment variables are set:

    • ARM_PRODUCT_DEF
    • ARM_PRODUCT_PATH
    • ARM_TOOL_VARIANT

... within an Arm-supplied IDE

In this use case, the Arm Compiler toolchain is used within the IDE supplied by Arm, as part of one of our tools suites.

  • Within Eclipse for DS-5

    This use case requires Arm DS-5 v5.20 or higher.

    There is no particular requirement for the installation location of your Arm Compiler toolchain. To register the toolchain, see About registering a new compiler toolchain in the Arm DS-5 Getting Started Guide. Once registered, the toolchain will be available to projects in Eclipse for DS-5.

    The registered Arm Compiler toolchain will use the license configured in Eclipse for DS-5. Note safety-qualified* Arm Compiler toolchains require a DS-5 Ultimate Edition license.

    You can also use the registered toolchain on the command line, under the same licensing configuration, using the select_toolchain and suite_exec utilities. See Configuring a compiler toolchain for the DS-5 command prompt in the Arm DS-5 Getting Started Guide to learn more about command-line usage.

    • If you need to use the Arm Compiler toolchain on the command line without running the select_toolchain or suite_exec utilities, Arm recommend the following course of action:

      1. Configure your license in Eclipse for DS-5
      2. Run the command-line utility for your operating system once, in order to capture the values of the following environment variables in the resulting environment:
        • ARMLMD_LICENSE_FILE
        • ARM_PRODUCT_PATH
        • ARM_TOOL_VARIANT
        • ARMCOMPILER6_ASMOPT
        • ARMCOMPILER6_CLANGOPT
        • ARMCOMPILER6_FROMELFOPT
        • ARMCOMPILER6_LINKOPT
        • ARMCC5_ASMOPT
        • ARMCC5_CCOPT
        • ARMCC5_LINKOPT
        • ARMCC5_FROMELFOPT

      Set the above environment variables to the exact same values in your own command-line environment. Note the values for these environment variables are specific to your version of DS-5 and your licensing configuration in Eclipse for DS-5: if either changes, you should re-capture the values.

  • Within Arm Development Studio IDE

    There is no particular requirement for the installation location of your Arm Compiler toolchain. To register the toolchain, see Register a compiler toolchain in the Arm Development Studio User Guide. Once registered, the toolchain will be available to projects in Arm Development Studio IDE.

    The registered Arm Compiler toolchain will use the license configured in Arm Development Studio IDE.

    • Arm Compiler 6.00 and Arm Compiler 5.04u2 and earlier, including Arm Compiler 4.1 and RVCT releases, require the installation of an additional license.

      To install this additional license, take the following steps:

      1. Download the additional license file. This license file combines with an Arm Development Studio Silver or Gold Edition license to enable earlier releases of Arm Compiler. Arm Development Studio Evaluation or Bronze Edition licenses do not enable these earlier releases of Arm Compiler.
      2. Add the content of the downloaded license to the end of your Arm Development Studio license file. To do this, you can use a simple text editor to copy all lines from the additional license into your original license file. Arm always recommend to make a backup copy of your original license file.
      3. In the case of a floating license, you will need to restart your FlexNet Publisher server. See Starting/restarting the license server(s) in Software Licensing Frequently Asked Questions.

    • Note safety-qualified* Arm Compiler toolchains are enabled with an Arm Development Studio Gold or Platinum edition license since version 2019.0 for Arm Compiler 6.x and since version 2019.1 for Arm Compiler 5.x. The following instructions are only required for earlier Arm Development Studio versions or if you have a safety-qualified Arm Compiler license already but not an Arm Development Studio Gold or Platinum edition license.

      In this scenario, you purchased a safety-qualified Arm Compiler license and want to use this license and corresponding toolchain to build projects within Arm DS IDE.

      1. Unless already configured outside of Arm DS IDE, add the license file or license server holding the safety-qualified Arm Compiler license. To do so, use the license wizard in Arm DS IDE, from menu Help → Arm License Manager. See Adding a license in the Arm Development Studio Getting Started Guide for further information.
      2. Then configure the environment for the projects using your safety-qualified Arm Compiler toolchain:
        1. Select a project in the Project Explorer view, then go to menu File → Properties
        2. In the project properties dialog, go to C/C++ Build → Environment
        3. In the Configuration drop-down list, select [ All configurations ]
        4. Press the Select... button and select the environment variable named ARM_PRODUCT_DEF from the list
        5. Going back to the parent dialog window, and with the selection still on ARM_PRODUCT_DEF, press the Edit... button and set the value to the fully qualified path to file /sw/mappings/product.elmap in your safety-qualified Arm Compiler toolchain installation directory. This step instructs your safety-qualified Arm Compiler toolchain to use its own product definition and ignore the one configured for the Arm DS IDE.

      The following screenshots depict the key steps presented above.

      To instead use your safety-qualified Arm Compiler toolchain on the command-line, refer section Completely standalone → I have an Arm Compiler license

    You can also use the registered toolchain on the command line, under the same licensing configuration, using the select_toolchain and suite_exec utilities. See Configure a compiler toolchain for the Arm Development Studio command prompt in the Arm Development Studio User Guide to learn more about command-line usage.

    • If you need to use the Arm Compiler toolchain on the command line without running the select_toolchain and suite_exec utilities, we recommend the following course of action:

      1. Configure your license in Arm DS IDE
      2. Run the command-line utility for your operating system once, in order to capture the values of the following environment variables in the resulting environment:
        • ARMLMD_LICENSE_FILE
        • ARM_PRODUCT_DEF

      Set the above environment variables to the exact same values in your own command-line environment. Note the values for these environment variables are specific to your version of Arm Development Studio and your licensing configuration in Arm DS IDE: if either changes, re-capture the values in case they were different.

  • Within Keil MDK µVision IDE

    This use case requires Keil MDK 5.x.

    Your Arm Compiler toolchain must be installed within the ARM\ subdirectory of the Keil MDK installation directory. For example, if your Keil MDK installation directory is in C:\Keil_v5, the recommended installation path for Arm Compiler 6.10 is C:\Keil_v5\ARM\ARMCompiler6.10

    Note only the 32-bit Windows variant of Arm Compiler can be used with a Keil Single-User License or Keil Floating-User License.

    To register the toolchain with μVision IDE, see Manage ARM Compiler Versions in the μVision User's Guide for Keil MDK version 5.12 and higher. For earlier versions, consult the Keil Application Note 267

    The registered Arm Compiler toolchain will use the license configured in μVision IDE. Note safety-qualified* Arm Compiler toolchains require an MDK Professional license.

Note

*safety-qualified Arm Compiler is also known as certified Arm Compiler