While creating a new site from the ArcGIS Server Manager, you may see this error which says that the machine does not have a valid license, you can get this error message because of two possible reasons as described below:
Reason 1:
You used a version 10.0 authorization number during the Software Authorization wizard. This is weird, normally the authorization wizard should report this error that the license is invalid, but it passes with a success message!, even the ArcGIS Server service starts successfully which makes you believe that the license is valid but the new site creation wizard tells you that the machine does not have a valid license!!!
If you are unsure of the the authorization number if it is a V10.0 or V10.1, you can confirm it by navigating to "C:\Program Files\ESRI\License10.1\sysgen" and open the file "keycodes" in notepad. If you used a V10.0 authorization number then you should see lines similar to the following in the keycodes file:
arcgisserver,100,ecp123456789,9-aug-2012,XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
svradvanced,100,ecp123456789,9-aug-2012,XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
arcsdeserver,100,ecp123456789,9-aug-2012,XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
svrenterprise,100,ecp123456789,9-aug-2012,XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
in the lines above, the number "100" means that the authorization number used is for V10.0, otherwise you should see "101" inplace of 100. If this is your case then simply request ESRI or your distributor for new authorization numbers for V10.1.
Reason 2:
If your version number is "101" in keycodes file and still you are getting the error then modify your hosts file, navigate to "C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc" open the hosts file in notepad and place the following line:
127.0.0.1 localhost <your real computer name>
Hope it helps someone, and I hope if ESRI can improve this strange behaviour by releasing a patch.
Let me know your thoughts.
Regards
Adnan Ali
