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Licensing & Network Errors

Both Shardian Aero and Atmos solvers validate your API key when initiating a simulation (on the first iteration or time step) by sending a secure HTTPS ping to api.shardian.com. If the license is invalid or connectivity issues exist, the simulation will abort immediately to prevent incorrect computing.

1. Common License Error Symptoms

A. Error: Missing Environment Variable

If you have not configured the key in your current shell session, the simulation will fail at startup:

  • In Shardian Aero (OpenFOAM): 
    Error Fatal: The environment variable SHARDIAN_API_KEY is not set.
Please configure your license and contact [email protected] if you need assistance.
--> FOAM FATAL ERROR: (openfoam-2406)
Shardian license invalid or expired. Please contact [email protected]
FOAM exiting
  • In Shardian Atmos (WRF): 
    -------------- FATAL CALLED ---------------
FATAL CALLED FROM FILE:  module_bl_eml_sr.F  LINE:    76
Error: The environment variable SHARDIAN_API_KEY is not defined in the system.
-------------------------------------------

B. Error: Invalid or Expired Key (HTTP 401/403)

If the provided key has expired or is incorrect, the simulation will fail with:

Error Fatal: Shardian license invalid or expired (HTTP 401).
Please contact [email protected] to acquire a valid license.

2. Troubleshooting Steps

Step 1: Check the Environment Variable

Verify that the key is defined in your current environment:

echo $SHARDIAN_API_KEY

If the output is empty, define the variable:

export SHARDIAN_API_KEY="your_actual_key_here"

To make this change permanent, append the line above to the end of your ~/.bashrc file and reload it using source ~/.bashrc.

3. Network Connectivity & Proxy Servers

To validate the license key, the compute node running the simulation must be able to establish an outbound connection to https://api.shardian.com over port 443 (HTTPS).

A. Verifying External Access

Test external connectivity directly from the compute node by running:

curl -I https://api.shardian.com/v1/verify

You should receive an HTTP 401 Unauthorized response (this is normal as no key is provided, but it confirms that the server is reachable) rather than a hostname resolution error or timeout.

B. Configuration Behind Corporate Firewalls (Proxy)

If your compute nodes reside on a private network or an institutional HPC cluster protected by a firewall without direct internet routing, you must configure network proxy variables in your submission scripts to allow curl (used internally by the solvers) to route validation requests:

Add the following environment variables to your batch launch scripts (SLURM or Bash) before running the solver:

# Configure the network proxy variables for your institution
export http_proxy="http://user:[email protected]:port"
export https_proxy="http://user:[email protected]:port"

The Shardian licensing client will automatically detect these variables and route the verification traffic securely through the specified proxy gateway.