Introduction and Overview

Chapter 1

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This chapter explains the basics of floating (network) licensing and gives a quick overview of the FLEXnet Licensing components. It explains where license administrators have control and where end users have control. "Getting Started Checklist" tells both license administrators and end users how to start managing FLEXnet Licensing.

Introduction to FLEXnet Licensing

FLEXnet Licensing is a member of the FLEXnet Publisher family of products. It is the most popular licensing system used in the software industry. FLEXnet Licensing is best known for its ability to allow software licenses to be available (or float) anywhere on a network, instead of being tied to specific machines. Floating licensing benefits both users and license administrators. Users make more efficient use of fewer licenses by sharing them on the network. License administrators control who uses the FLEXenabled application and the machine(s) where the licenses are available. See "Types of License Files" for details about the different licensing models supported by FLEXnet Licensing.

How to Use This Manual

This manual is written for two different audiences:

Administrators of FLEXnet licenses and license server systems
End users of FLEXenabled applications

License Administrator

If you are a license administrator, read these chapters:

Chapter:	Explains:
Preface	Overview of this manual.
Chapter 1, "Introduction and Overview"	FLEXnet Licensing basics: license server manager and vendor daemons; the license file; configuring FLEXnet Licensing; the license request process.
Chapter 2, "License File Basics"	License file basics; setting the path at start-up; different types of licensing policies.
Chapter 3, "Managing Licenses from Multiple Vendors"	Using license files from multiple software vendors.
Chapter 4, "Selecting License Server Machines"	Resources required by the servers; multiple servers; quorums; redundant license server systems.
Chapter 5, "The Options File"	Creating and editing the options file.
Chapter 6, "The License Server Manager"	Using the license server manager, lmgrd.
Chapter 7, "License Administration Tools"	Managing FLEXnet Licensing using Macrovision-supplied utilities.
Chapter 8, "Mobile Licensing"	Licensing to allow working on a computer disconnected from the license server system.

In addition, refer to:

Appendix B, "License File Format"
Appendix C, "Troubleshooting Guide"

End User

If you are an end user, read these chapters:

Chapter:	Explains:
Preface	Overview of this manual.
Chapter 1, "Introduction and Overview"	FLEXnet Licensing basics: license and vendor daemons; the license file; the license request process.
Chapter 2, "License File Basics"	License file basics; setting the path at start-up; different types of licensing policies.
Chapter 8, "Mobile Licensing"	Licensing to allow working on a computer disconnected from the license server system.

In addition, refer to:

Appendix C, "Troubleshooting Guide"

FLEXnet Licensing Components

FLEXnet Licensing components are organized based on the license model used by your software vendor. License models are classified according to their requirement for a license server system:

Licenses are served by a license server system. This is commonly referred to as a served license model. License files supplied by your software vendor that include SERVER, VENDOR, and optionally, USER_SERVER lines require a license server system. See "Served Licenses" for details.
Licenses are not served by a license server system but are available directly to the application. This is commonly referred to as an uncounted, or unserved license model. See "Unserved Licenses" for details.

Served Licenses

For served licenses, there are four required FLEXnet Licensing components:

The FLEXenabled Application , with the FLEXnet Licensing static client library linked into it.
The License Server Manager (lmgrd) .
The Vendor Daemon , which, along with the license server manager, lmgrd, comprises the license server system.
The License File .

In addition to these four FLEXnet Licensing components, there are three optional components:

Debug Log File - created and written by lmgrd.
Report Log File - created and written by the vendor daemon for use by FLEXnet Manager.
End-User Administration Options File - file created and maintained by the end user.

Figure 1-1 shows the relationship these FLEXnet Licensing components have to one another. See "Component Overview" for a description of each component.

Figure 1-1: FLEXnet Served License Component Model

Typically, the license server system components reside on a machine in the network but can optionally reside on the same machine as the FLEXenabled application.

The three optional files: Debug Log, Administration Options, and Usage Log files are configured by the end user.

Unserved Licenses

License models that do not need a license server system have two FLEXnet Licensing components:

The FLEXenabled Application , with the FLEXnet Licensing static client library linked into it.
The License File .

Figure 1-2 shows this model. See "Component Overview" for a description of each component.

Figure 1-2: FLEXnet Unserved License Component Model

The FLEXenabled application and license certificate reside on the same machine.

Component Overview

The License Server Manager (lmgrd)

The license server manager (lmgrd) handles the initial contact with the FLEXenabled applications, passing the connection on to the appropriate vendor daemon. It also starts and restarts the vendor daemons.

Chapter 6, "The License Server Manager," contains information for configuring and starting the license server manager in your environment.

The Vendor Daemon

In FLEXnet Licensing, counted (floating) licenses are granted by processes running on the system. There is one process for each vendor who has a FLEXenabled product on the network. This process is called the vendor daemon. The vendor daemon keeps track of how many licenses are checked out, and who has them.

FLEXenabled applications communicate with the vendor daemon, through TCP/IP network communications. The FLEXenabled application and the daemon processes (the license server system) can run on separate machines on your network, across any size wide-area network. Also, the format of the traffic between the FLEXenabled application and the vendor daemon is machine independent, allowing for heterogeneous networks. This means the license server system and the computer running an application can be either different hardware platforms or even different operating systems (Windows and UNIX, for example).

If the vendor daemon terminates for any reason, all users lose their licenses (though this does not mean the applications suddenly stop running). Users normally regain their license automatically when lmgrd restarts the vendor daemon, though they may exit if the vendor daemon remains unavailable. This behavior is defined by the vendor in the FLEXenabled application.

The License File

Licensing data is stored in a text file called the license file. The license file is created by the software vendor, and edited and installed by the license administrator. It contains information about the server machines and vendor daemons, and at least one line of data (called FEATURE or INCREMENT lines) for each FLEXenabled product. Each FEATURE line contains a license key or signature based on the data in that line, the hostids specified in the SERVER line(s), and other vendor-specific data. FLEXenabled applications that are licensed with a node-locked, uncounted license need only read a valid license file to run-they do not need a license server system.

Most applications have an expected location for the license file, documented by that application. Override this location by setting the environment variable LM_LICENSE_FILE to point elsewhere, or by following instructions supplied with the FLEXenabled application. If your site has software from multiple vendors with incompatible license files (due to different sets of servers), keep the data in separate files and set the LM_LICENSE_FILE variable to reference multiple files.

It is recommended that you keep a link (on UNIX), a shortcut (on Windows), or copy of the license file in the vendor's expected license location, so that users do not need to set LM_LICENSE_FILE to run their applications. For license files containing counted (floating) licenses, it is recommended to place a USE_SERVER line directly after the SERVER line. For details, see Appendix B, "License File Format." See also Appendix D, "FLEXnet Licensing Environment Variables."

The FLEXenabled Application

The FLEXenabled application is linked with the program module (called the FLEXnet Licensing client library) that provides the communication with the license server system. During execution, the FLEXenabled application communicates with the vendor daemon to request a license.

Debug Log File

The debug log file contains status and error messages useful for debugging the license server system. Some of the debug log output describes events specific to lmgrd and some of the debug log output describes events specific to each vendor daemon. See Appendix G, "The Debug Log File," for more information about this file.

End-User Administration Options File

The end-user administration options file allows the end-user license administrator to control various operating parameters of FLEXnet Licensing that remain within the license rights granted to them by the vendor. Specifically, the license administrator can:

Allow the use of features
Deny the use of features
Reserve licenses
Restrict the number of licenses available
Control the amount of debugging information logged about license usage
Enable a report log file

See Chapter 5, "The Options File." for details on how to create this file.

Report Log File

The report log file contains feature usage information and is generated by the vendor daemon. Use Macrovision's software license administration solution, FLEXnet Manager, to gain exceptional visibility into license usage data and to create insightful reports on critical information like license availability and usage. See Appendix F, "The Report Log File," details regarding this file.

FLEXnet Licensing Components Shipped by Your Vendor

This section provides a list of FLEXnet Licensing components that may be supplied to you by your software vendor along with the FLEXenabled application. Table 1-1 provides a general list and may differ from that actually supplied. Your vendor is the definitive source for the list of FLEXnet Licensing components that are shipped.

Table 1-1: FLEXnet Licensing Components for End-User Distribution

Component	Description
Windows and UNIX Common Components
lmgrd.exe lmgrd (UNIX)	Required for served license models. The license server manager and vendor daemons, where vendor is the name of your vendor.
vendor.exe vendor (UNIX)
lmutil.exe lmutil (UNIX)	Optional component. FLEXnet Licensing utilities program. Used for license server system management and administration. Also available from www.macrovision.com.
FLEXidInstaller.exe	Required if vendor supports FLEXid hostids on Windows platforms
aksusbd-redhat-1.5-1.i386.rpm	Required if vendor supports FLEXid hostids on Red Hat Linux version 8 and 9 platforms.
aksusbd-suse-1.7-2.i386.rpm	Required if vendor supports FLEXid hostids on SuSE Linux platforms.
HDD_Linux.tar.gz	Required if vendor supports FLEXid hostids on Red Hat Linux 7 platforms.
HDD_Unified_Installer_sit.hqx	Required if vendor supports FLEXid hostids on Mac OS X platforms.
Additional Windows Components
lmtools.exe	Optional component. Graphical user interface for FLEXnet Licensing utilities, lmutil.exe. Also available from www.macrovision.com.
lmgr10.dll	Required if the FLEXenabled application is dynamically linked.This library provides the standard FLEXnet Licensing client library routines.

The License Request Process

When you run a counted FLEXenabled application, the following occurs:

The license module in the FLEXenabled application finds the license file, which includes the host name of the license server machine and TCP/IP port number of the license server manager, lmgrd.
The FLEXenabled application establishes a connection with the license server manager (lmgrd) and tells it what vendor daemon it needs to talk to.
lmgrd determines which machine and TCP/IP port correspond to the master vendor daemon and sends that information back to the FLEXenabled application.
The FLEXenabled application establishes a connection with the specified vendor daemon and sends its request for a license.
The vendor daemon checks in its memory to see if any licenses are available and sends a grant or denial back to the FLEXenabled application.
The license module in the application grants or denies use of the feature, as appropriate.

Uncounted features (where the license count is 0) do not require a license server system, and the FLEXnet Licensing client library routines in the application grant or deny usage based solely upon the contents of the license file.

Configuring FLEXnet Licensing

Most of the parameters of FLEXnet Licensing are configurable by the license administrator. The license administrator can set the:

Location of the license file (though it's recommended that a copy or link of the license remains at the location where the application expects it)
Location of all executables
Location of all log files
TCP/IP port number used by the license server manager, lmgrd

In addition, the license administrator can reserve licenses for specific users, machines, or groups, and control other license-related options. Changing parameters is discussed in Chapter 5, "The Options File."

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Note Refer to your vendor's documentation before attempting to change file names, locations, or contents. Refer to your vendor's documentation before attempting to change file names, locations, or contents.

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Getting Started Checklist

The following sections provide a quick overview of how to set up and use licensing for FLEXenabled products.

Installing FLEXenabled Software

As a license administrator you are responsible for setting up licensing on your system or network. This section tells you how to do that. If you are an end user of the application and you are not involved in installing it, then go to "Notes for End Users."

The installation guide for your application software is the final word on installing and configuring FLEXnet Licensing. Generally, however, installing FLEXnet Licensing requires the following steps:

Select your license server machines and get their hostids. See Chapter 4, "Selecting License Server Machines," and Appendix A, "Hostids for FLEXnet Licensing-Supported Platforms."
Give the hostids to your software vendor and get a license file (or the data to enter in the license file) in return.
Consider how to manage license files from multiple vendors. See Chapter 3, "Managing Licenses from Multiple Vendors."
Determine if an options file is desired, and if so, set it up.
Determine where to install the FLEXnet Licensing utility programs such as lmgrd and lmutil (lmstat/lmdown/etc.) and install them, unless your vendor's installation script does so for you.
Start lmgrd (the license server manager) manually; you may also want to set it up to start automatically at boot time. See Chapter 6, "The License Server Manager."

These steps are discussed briefly below.

License Server Machine and Hostids

Before running any FLEXenabled application using floating licenses, you first need to set up your license server machine (or machines). You must select which machine or machines to run your license server systems on and provide the hostids of those machines to your software vendor. For pointers on selecting your server machine, see Chapter 4, "Selecting License Server Machines."

Get the hostid of the server machine by running FLEXnet Licensing's lmhostid utility on that machine. If you don't have lmhostid, get the hostid of your machine by using the appropriate command as described in Appendix A, "Hostids for FLEXnet Licensing-Supported Platforms."

Using the hostid of your server machines, your vendor issues a license file to you that enables the application software.

License Files and lmgrd

Once you have received a license file from your vendor, you must install it on your system and start up the license server manager, lmgrd.

Your software vendor may have selected a default location for your license file. If not, use any location you wish. For more details, see Chapter 2, "License File Basics."
To start lmgrd automatically at boot time, you have to modify your system files (UNIX) or use LMTOOLS (Windows). For details, see "License File Format Overview."

Administration Tools

Macrovision supplies administration tools to your software vendor. The vendor usually includes these utilities with their product. Download the latest version from www.macrovision.com. See Chapter 7, "License Administration Tools," for more information about how to use the FLEXnet Licensing utilities.

Options Files

The options file controls various options such as reservations and timeouts of licenses. Most users run without an options file, but you may decide you want to use some options. For example, many administrators use an option to limit the quantity and content of logged messages. To set up an options file, see Chapter 5, "The Options File."

Notes for End Users

As a user of a FLEXenabled application, you may need to know a few things to use the system effectively. The main things you need to know are:

How to tell an application which license file to use
How to query the system to find out who is using a license

How to Specify a License File Location

The license file determines what features are available to a FLEXenabled application. It also contains information telling the application how to connect to the license server system.

For information about the standard way of specifying the location of a license file for an application, see Chapter 2, "License File Basics."

Getting Information About Licenses

To find out who is using a license run lmstat, described in Chapter 7, "License Administration Tools."