--- title: "Installation and Licensing" canonical: "https://rmanwiki-26.pixar.com/space/REN26/19660947/Installation%20and%20Licensing" format: markdown --- ## System Requirements #### Hardware RenderMan RIS requires CPUs capable of running the AVX instruction set or better. A minimum of 8GB of RAM is recommended for RIS.  RenderMan XPU requires CPUs capable of running the AVX instruction set.  RenderMan XPU supports the Linux and Windows systems. GPU acceleration is supported on NVIDIA graphics cards from the Quadro, Tesla or Data Center GPU ranges, with the Pascal architecture or later. A minimum of 11 GB of VRAM is recommended and 24 GB of VRAM is suggested for best performance. A minimum of 16GB of system RAM is recommended for hybrid (CPU + GPU) processing. For more information on driver requirements, please consult the [XPU Technical Specifications](https://renderman.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/REN26/pages/19661989). For utilizing the NVIDIA Optix AI Denoiser in "it", Optix 7 supported hardware, NVIDIA "Pascal" architecture and newer is required. #### Operating System Linux: CentOS/RHEL (7.2 - 7.9), EL9 (RHEL 9.x, AlmaLinux 9.x, Rocky Linux 9.x) Windows: Windows 10 and 11 macOS: Monterey (12.x), Ventura (13.x), Sonoma (14.x) > ℹ️ Please visit the installation pages for your bridge product to ensure you have the correct setup before running RenderMan. Note some, like Houdini and Katana, may require manual configuration of environment files. #### Bridge Products Katana: 7.0, 7.5, and 8.0 Maya: 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. EL9 only supports 2024, and 2025 Blender: 3.0+ and 4.1+ Houdini: 19.5, 20.0, and 20.5 > ℹ️ RenderMan for Houdini (RfH) only provides support for the following production Houdini versions: > ℹ️ > ℹ️ - RenderMan for Houdini 26.3 supports: 20.0.724, 20.0.751, 20.0.896, 20.5.278, 20.5.410, 20.5.445, 19.5.805 (RHEL7 only) > ℹ️ - RenderMan for Houdini 26.2 supports: 20.5.278, 20.0.751, 20.0.724, 20.0.653, 19.5.805 (RHEL7 only) > ℹ️ - RenderMan for Houdini 26.0 supports: 20.0.653, 19.5.805, 19.0.720 > ℹ️ > ℹ️ Other important information: > ℹ️ > ℹ️ - Minimum USD version is 22.05 so RenderMan in Solaris operates in >= 19.5. > ℹ️ - RenderMan for Houdini on Linux will only operate with the gcc9.3 houdini build. > ℹ️ - RenderMan for Houdini will not operate with a mismatched python version. Be careful to install the same python version for Houdini and RfH. > ℹ️ - Rendering with RenderMan will not operate on Houdini Apprentice editions, see Side FX's website for options that allow Third Party Rendering > ℹ️ - RenderMan for Houdini for 19.0 requires macOS 12.x Monterey and higher or CentOS 7.7 - 7.9. #### Building Plugins and Tools Plugins for RenderMan: Custom RenderMan plugins need to be built with the same version of the compiler that is specified in the [VFX Reference Platform](http://www.vfxplatform.com/) that RenderMan supports.  See the [RenderMan Release Notes](https://renderman.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/REN26/pages/19662087) for the version of the VFX Reference Platform we support in this release. ![downloads-page.jpg](media://c8e8b338-9e68-4201-a43e-b4df830de0fd) The Download Menu. Choose the main installer highlighted here at the top. Versions below are useful for sys admins creating deployments. > ℹ️ On Linux, the RtxSVG.so plugin requires the compat-expat1 package be installed. ## Installing RenderMan With a Floating License Pixar's RenderMan is best installed with our integrated installer. Using your forum login and password and the serial number from your purchase, you can use the installer to automatically download the license and install both the license server software and the applications, plugins, and examples. ![image](media://42c4c39e-7d6f-487f-b211-da9ee3ed0a40) Only one machine on your network needs to have the Pixar License Server installed, and that machine can be the same machine you install the applications and plugins on. However the machine that runs the license server does not need to have the RenderMan application itself installed. It is recommended that you **first** run the installer on the machine you want to designate as your license server, before running the installer on other workstations. For further details, visit each section for the operating system you're installing on: ** ****[Linux](https://renderman.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/REN26/pages/19660949)**** ** ** ****[Windows](https://renderman.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/REN26/pages/19660945)**** ** ** ****[macOS](https://renderman.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/REN26/pages/19660951)**** ** ## Installing RenderMan With Node-Locked Licenses Pixar's RenderMan is delivered as a single installer. The steps to install a Node-locked licenses are the same as the floating-license however there will be no need to install or run the floating license server. Using your forum login you can use the installer to automatically download the license and install your node-locked licensed copies of the RenderMan Software. ** ** ## [Installing for Large Sites](https://renderman.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/REN26/pages/19661131) RenderMan installation is automated and installs to your system drive by default. Other system variables are automatically set to allow: - Plugin discovery by your DCC Application such as Autodesk Maya - Command line rendering using the RenderMan executable **If you choose a non-standard installation location you may be required to customize these environment variables yourself to complete the installation.** > ❌ While it may be possible to install and use RenderMan on a different operating system or even a different version of the supported operating systems,* it is not recommended*. It may be unstable and a general headache, therefore it is not supported for the sanity of everyone involved.