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Expert Series FAQ

Floating licenses

How does the floating license system work ?
What Windows versions are supported by the floating license system ?
How can I get the system ID of the license server machine ?
How is the floating license installed ?
What parts of the license file can be edited without invalidating the license ?
Are there any tools available for testing the connection to the license server ?
The license server cannot get the system ID for the server machine. Why ?

1. Question: How does the floating license system work ?
Answer: In the floating license system the client programs are not tied to any specific machine, only the number of concurrently running programs is controlled. There is a separate license server program running on one machine in the network, controlling the use of the licenses. At their startup the client programs contact the server and ask for a license to run. If the maximum number of concurrently running programs, defined in the license file, would be exceeded, the server denies the license from the client. Otherwise the license is permitted and the number of the running programs is incremented by one. When the client programs exit, they inform the server so that it can decrement the number of the running programs accordingly. Because the license control is centralized to one license server machine in the floating license system, all the machines where the program is run, must be connected to the same network. For the FLEXlm floating license system, used by the DeskArtes Expert Series, there has to be TCP/IP connection between the machines where the license server and the client programs run.

1. Question: How does the floating license system work ?

Answer:
In the floating license system the client programs are not tied to any specific machine, only the number of concurrently running programs is controlled. There is a separate license server program running on one machine in the network, controlling the use of the licenses.

At their startup the client programs contact the server and ask for a license to run. If the maximum number of concurrently running programs, defined in the license file, would be exceeded, the server denies the license from the client. Otherwise the license is permitted and the number of the running programs is incremented by one. When the client programs exit, they inform the server so that it can decrement the number of the running programs accordingly.

Because the license control is centralized to one license server machine in the floating license system, all the machines where the program is run, must be connected to the same network. For the FLEXlm floating license system, used by the DeskArtes Expert Series, there has to be TCP/IP connection between the machines where the license server and the client programs run.

2. Question: What Windows versions are supported by the floating license system ?
Answer: The client programs can be run on all the Windows versions supported by the Expert Series (95/98/ME/NT4/2000/XP). The license server has to be however run on a machine with Windows NT4, 2000 or XP.

3. Question: How can I get the system ID of the license server machine ?
Answer: To get the system ID number of the license server machine, you have to first install one of the Expert Series program packages with the "FLEXlm floating license server" option on that machine. This option can be selected in the "Custom" installation mode of the Expert Series program package installations. When the "FLEXlm floating license server" option is selected in Expert Series program installations, a new tool program "lmtools.exe" appears in the installation directory of that program package. (For example for the version 7.1 of 3Data Expert the default installation directory is "C:\Program Files\DeskArtes 3Data Expert 7.1"). You can get the system ID number for the machine by starting the "lmtools.exe" and selecting the "System Settings" page. There are actually three different types of system hostid numbers shown in this page. The one normally used is found in the "Ethernet Address" field. The other two, "IP address" and "Disk Volume Serial Number", are only used in special cases. They can be found in "IP Address" and "Disk Volume Serial Number" fields. You can also get all the system ID information saved into a text file by pressing the "Save HOSTID Info to a File" button on the "System Settings" page. If the "FLEXlm floating license server" option is not yet installed on the server machine, it is still possible to find out the same three system ID numbers, using Windows Command Prompt commands. The hardware "Ethernet Address" and the "IP Address" can be shown with command "ipconfig /all". In the command output these numbers are shown in lines: "Physical address" and "IP-address". The "Disk Volume Serial Number" is shown with command "dir c:". The number is found in the beginning of the command output in the line that starts with text "Volume serial number is".

3. Question: How can I get the system ID of the license server machine ?

Answer:
To get the system ID number of the license server machine, you have to first install one of the Expert Series program packages with the "FLEXlm floating license server" option on that machine. This option can be selected in the "Custom" installation mode of the Expert Series program package installations.

When the "FLEXlm floating license server" option is selected in Expert Series program installations, a new tool program "lmtools.exe" appears in the installation directory of that program package. (For example for the version 7.1 of 3Data Expert the default installation directory is "C:\Program Files\DeskArtes 3Data Expert 7.1"). You can get the system ID number for the machine by starting the "lmtools.exe" and selecting the "System Settings" page. There are actually three different types of system hostid numbers shown in this page. The one normally used is found in the "Ethernet Address" field. The other two, "IP address" and "Disk Volume Serial Number", are only used in special cases. They can be found in "IP Address" and "Disk Volume Serial Number" fields. You can also get all the system ID information saved into a text file by pressing the "Save HOSTID Info to a File" button on the "System Settings" page.

If the "FLEXlm floating license server" option is not yet installed on the server machine, it is still possible to find out the same three system ID numbers, using Windows Command Prompt commands. The hardware "Ethernet Address" and the "IP Address" can be shown with command "ipconfig /all". In the command output these numbers are shown in lines: "Physical address" and "IP-address". The "Disk Volume Serial Number" is shown with command "dir c:". The number is found in the beginning of the command output in the line that starts with text "Volume serial number is".

4. Question: How is the floating license installed ?
Answer: When you receive a FLEXlm license for Expert Series programs from DeskArtes, you can install it in the license server machine as follows: Start Windows Notepad editor and copy the license lines (SERVER, DAEMON, FEATURE) from the email message there. Check that the hostname in the SERVER line is correct, and change it if needed. Check that the dalicd path in the DAEMON line leads to the dalicd.exe at the installation directory of the Expert Series program package, and change it if needed. (For example for the version 7.1 of 3Data Expert the default installation directory is "C:\Program Files\DeskArtes 3Data Expert 7.1") Save the license into a file, for example with name "flexlic.txt" in the installation directory of the Expert Series program package, using the "File->SaveAs"-command in the Notepad. Start the "lmtools.exe" program and open the "Config Services" page. In the "Config Services" page set the correct paths for the lmgrd.exe in the installation directory of the Expert Series program package, the license file in the directory where you saved it in step 4 and the log file for example as FLEXLOG.txt in the installation directory of the Expert Series program package. After that you can try to start the license server in the "Start/Stop/Reread" page of the "lmtools.exe" program. For more information about the floating license installation for Expert Series programs, see a separate document: "Floating license system installation for DeskArtes Expert Series 7.1 programs".

4. Question: How is the floating license installed ?

Answer:
When you receive a FLEXlm license for Expert Series programs from DeskArtes, you can install it in the license server machine as follows:

Start Windows Notepad editor and copy the license lines (SERVER, DAEMON, FEATURE) from the email message there.
Check that the hostname in the SERVER line is correct, and change it if needed.
Check that the dalicd path in the DAEMON line leads to the dalicd.exe at the installation directory of the Expert Series program package, and change it if needed. (For example for the version 7.1 of 3Data Expert the default installation directory is "C:\Program Files\DeskArtes 3Data Expert 7.1")
Save the license into a file, for example with name "flexlic.txt" in the installation directory of the Expert Series program package, using the "File->SaveAs"-command in the Notepad.
Start the "lmtools.exe" program and open the "Config Services" page.
In the "Config Services" page set the correct paths for the lmgrd.exe in the installation directory of the Expert Series program package, the license file in the directory where you saved it in step 4 and the log file for example as FLEXLOG.txt in the installation directory of the Expert Series program package.

After that you can try to start the license server in the "Start/Stop/Reread" page of the "lmtools.exe" program.

For more information about the floating license installation for Expert Series programs, see a separate document: "Floating license system installation for DeskArtes Expert Series 7.1 programs".

5. Question: What parts of the license file can be edited without invalidating the license ?
Answer: In the FLEXlm license file for the Expert Series programs you can edit the hostname and the IP port number on the SERVER line and the path of the dalicd program on the DAEMON line. The hostname and IP port number are the second and fourth fields on the SERVER line. The dalicd path is the third field on the DAEMON line. Editing those fields doesn't make the license invalid.

6. Question: Are there any tools available for testing the connection to the license server ?
Answer: When selecting the "FLEXlm floating license client" option in the Expert Series program package installations you can find one additional tool program "lmclient.exe" in the installation directory of the Expert Series program package. This tool program can be used for testing the license server connection. "lmclient.exe" is a simple FLEXlm client program that is run in the Windows Command Prompt. When started it tries to connect to the license server and then lets the user to select one feature to be checked out from the server. After successfully starting up the license server you can run the "lmclient.exe" on client machines to test the connection to the server. If there are problems in the connection, the "lmclient.exe" usually shows an error message with some information about the problem. The feature names for the "lmclient.exe" can be found in the license file, at the second field of each FEATURE line. The "lmtools.exe" program, which is used for configuring and starting the license manager at the license server machine, can also be used for checking the connection between the license client and server. The most useful tools for that are found in the "Server Status" and "Server Diags" pages of the "lmtools.exe". In addition to the tool programs the license server log file is also useful in case there are problems in starting up the server. The license server usually prints some error message describing the problem in the log file. The log file path is defined in the "Config Services" page of the "lmtools.exe" program.

6. Question: Are there any tools available for testing the connection to the license server ?

Answer:
When selecting the "FLEXlm floating license client" option in the Expert Series program package installations you can find one additional tool program "lmclient.exe" in the installation directory of the Expert Series program package. This tool program can be used for testing the license server connection.

"lmclient.exe" is a simple FLEXlm client program that is run in the Windows Command Prompt. When started it tries to connect to the license server and then lets the user to select one feature to be checked out from the server. After successfully starting up the license server you can run the "lmclient.exe" on client machines to test the connection to the server. If there are problems in the connection, the "lmclient.exe" usually shows an error message with some information about the problem. The feature names for the "lmclient.exe" can be found in the license file, at the second field of each FEATURE line.

The "lmtools.exe" program, which is used for configuring and starting the license manager at the license server machine, can also be used for checking the connection between the license client and server. The most useful tools for that are found in the "Server Status" and "Server Diags" pages of the "lmtools.exe".

In addition to the tool programs the license server log file is also useful in case there are problems in starting up the server. The license server usually prints some error message describing the problem in the log file. The log file path is defined in the "Config Services" page of the "lmtools.exe" program.

7. Question: The license server cannot get the system ID for the server machine. Why ?
Answer: There is a known problem, appearing in some of the floating license installations on Windows 2000, where the license server cannot get the correct hardware ethernet address of the machine. Therefore the ID given in the SERVER line of the license file and the license received by the license server don't match and the server fails to start. If this happens there is an error message, like the following, in the license server logfile: "Wrong hostid, exiting (expected 00e08110e6ab, got 00000000)." In these cases the "IP Address" or "Disk Volume Serial Number" hostids can be used as the system ID. The "IP address" is preferable of those two, but it can only be used if the server machine has a static IP address. If the server machine asks dynamically the IP address from a DHCP server for each session, the IP address changes too often and cannot be used as system ID for the floating license server. In that case using the third type of system ID ("Disk Volume Serial Number") has to be used.

7. Question: The license server cannot get the system ID for the server machine. Why ?

Answer:
There is a known problem, appearing in some of the floating license installations on Windows 2000, where the license server cannot get the correct hardware ethernet address of the machine. Therefore the ID given in the SERVER line of the license file and the license received by the license server don't match and the server fails to start.

If this happens there is an error message, like the following, in the license server logfile:
"Wrong hostid, exiting (expected 00e08110e6ab, got 00000000)."

In these cases the "IP Address" or "Disk Volume Serial Number" hostids can be used as the system ID. The "IP address" is preferable of those two, but it can only be used if the server machine has a static IP address. If the server machine asks dynamically the IP address from a DHCP server for each session, the IP address changes too often and cannot be used as system ID for the floating license server. In that case using the third type of system ID ("Disk Volume Serial Number") has to be used.

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