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Licensing - A General Overview
The FlexNet Licensing System
IBM Rational uses FlexNet Publisher (formerly FLEXlm) for licensing. FlexNet is a third party licensing system marketed by Flexera Software. FlexNet licenses are available as node-locked (standalone) licenses, which are tied to a specific machine, and as floating (server) licenses, which are available anywhere on a network.
FlexNet main components
The four main components of FlexNet are:
- The License Manager Daemon, lmgrd
- The Vendor Daemon. For formerly Telelogic products, the vendor daemon is called telelogic. For the IBM Rational License Key Server the vendor daemon is ibmratl, which is acommon vendor daemon also incorporating the telelogic daemon.
- The client application program, in this case any formerly Telelogic application
- The license file, license.dat
If you would like more information about FlexNet or Flexera, see www.flexera.com
Licensing terminology
The licensing terminology is described in the following table:
Types of FlexNet license keys
There are two types of FlexNet license keys:
- Floating license keys contain the hostname and hostID of the license server. The license manager daemon and vendor daemon must be running on the license server whose hostname and hostID are specified in the license key.
- A node-locked license key is for use on one computer, and is tied to that computer or to a dongle. You do not need to run a license server if you are using a node-locked license.
The license key information you receive may not be identical to the information contained in the following examples.
Floating FlexNet license file
An example of a floating license key is given below. The content of the file is explained in the table.
Node-locked FlexNet license file
A node-locked license file contains a list of FEATURE lines that describe the products or features for which the local computer is licensed. A node-locked license can contain feature lines for all of the IBM Rational products, or for a selection of them.
To make sure that you cannot use the license file on any other computer, the FEATURE line includes a HOSTID value that uniquely identifies the computer. It contains an encryption of the ethernet address of its network interface card or the disk serial number of the local disk on which the operating system is installed.
An example of a node-locked license key is given below.
How do FlexNet floating licenses work
This is what happens when you start up an IBM Rational product if you are using floating licenses. IBM Rational DOORS is used in this example, but the same events occur for all the formerly Telelogic, now IBM Rational products.
- Your IBM Rational program uses the TELELOGIC_LICENSE_FILE system variable to find out the name of the computer that's running the FlexNet license server and the port that it's using.
- The IBM Rational program contacts the license manager on the FlexNet license server, using the specified port.
- On the FlexNet license server, the license manager sends the request to the telelogic vendor daemon.
- The telelogic vendor daemon checks to see if any licenses are available.
- If there are free licenses, the telelogic vendor daemon grants a license and the IBM Rational program runs.
If there aren't any licenses available, the telelogic vendor daemon refuses the request, and the IBM Rational program fails to start and displays a message saying that it couldn't obtain a license.
What is the TELELOGIC_ LICENSE_FILE variable?
IBM Rational products store the location of the license file in the TELELOGIC_LICENSE_FILE system variable.
The value of TELELOGIC_LICENSE_FILE depends on whether your computer is using floating or node-locked licenses.
The FlexNet license server from which your computer is requesting server licenses and the port number the server is using.
If your computer is using several node-locked and/or floating licenses, the values in TELELOGIC_LICENSE_FILE are separated by semicolons (;) on Windows, or colons (:) on UNIX. The list can consist of the following components:
- The full path to the license file
- A directory containing one or more license files with a .lic extension
- A port@host setting, where port and host are the TCP/IP port number and host name from the SERVER line in the license file. Alternatively, use the shortcut specification @host if the license file SERVER line uses a default TCP/IP port, or specifies a port in the default port range (27000-27009).
- A comma separated list of three port@host specifiers denoting a three-server redundant configuration. For example, port1@host1,port2@host2,port3@host3 specifies the three-server redundant configuration composed of host1, host2, and host3.
IBM Rational applications that use FlexNet rely on the environment settings that FlexNet uses to find licenses. The applications search for license servers and license files in the following order:
- The environment variable for TELELOGIC_LICENSE_FILE.
- The registry/.flexlmrc for TELELOGIC_LICENSE_FILE.
- The environment variable for LM_LICENSE_FILE.
- The registry/.flexlmrc for LM_LICENSE_FILE.
- The application dependent path or specific license file relative to the installation directory.
- Any .lic file located in the same directory as the application.
- The backup location /usr/local/flexlm/licenses/license.dat or c:\flexlm\license.dat. Using the backup location is not recommended by Flexera.
On Windows, the registry key is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\FLEXlm License Manager. For Windows Vista/2008 Server/7 the cached key is HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\FLEXlm License Manager. On UNIX, the equivalent information is stored in $HOME/.flexlmrc. In this file, the syntax is variable=value.
The registry value on Windows or the .flexlmrc file on UNIX is automatically updated with the license file or license server for which a successful checkout was made. The license file location used for the checkout is stored and remembered for all future checkouts for products using the same vendor daemon. This may lead to checkouts from an unexpected license or license server. To avoid this behavior set the environment variable FLEXLM_NO_CKOUT_INSTALL_LIC to 1. This can be set in the environment, or on Windows in the FLEXlm registry, or on Unix in $HOME/.flexlmrc.
To avoid performance degradation due to licensing, make sure you use valid license files and license servers. If it takes an exceptionally long time to start up a licensed application the following points can be useful.
- On Windows, remove the registry key value:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE(and/or HKEY_CURRENT_USER)\SOFTWARE\FLEXlm License Manager\TELELOGIC_LICENSE_FILE- On UNIX, remove the file $HOME/.flexlmrc
- Examine the environment variables TELELOGIC_LICENSE_FILE and LM_LICENSE_FILE. Make sure that they list valid license servers and/or license files. When setting up the environment for FlexNet products it is better to use a vendor specific variable, like TELELOGIC_LICENSE_FILE, instead of LM_LICENSE_FILE. For example, if the user has different servers for different vendors, the IBM Rational application will only check the TELELOGIC_LICENSE_FILE value and not the OTHERVENDOR_LICENSE_FILE value. If LM_LICENSE_FILE is configured to point to both servers, it takes more time as both servers are checked for licenses.
Fore more information about setting up license servers and licenses, see the FlexNet Licensing End User Guide, which is available from the support area of the Flexera website at www.flexera.com.
Obtaining a license
The following table describes how to obtain a license key if you have not used IBM Rational products before.
The following table describes how to obtain a license key if you are an existing user of IBM Rational products.
Locating your license file
Windows users
If you are using a node-locked license, locate your license file by inspecting the TELELOGIC_LICENSE_FILE environment variable.
If you are the administrator for the license server, you can find the license file by inspecting the TELELOGIC_LICENSE_FILE environment variable.
Alternatively, on Windows you can use the LMTOOLS application from Flexera by clicking on the Start menu and clicking IBM Rational > IBM Rational License Server > LMTOOLS. You will find the license file on the Config Services tab.
UNIX users
Locate your license file using LM_LICENSE_FILE variable.
Updating your license
If you already have some IBM Rational products and you then buy additional products, IBM Rational sends you a new license file, which contains all your previous license features and the new license features. You have to replace your existing license file with your new license.
Changing the license server machine
The FlexNet license server is the computer where the license daemons are running. If you change the FlexNet server after you have received your license key information from IBM Rational customer support, the license will not work. You have to request a new license from IBM Rational Customer Support and provide them with the hostname and hostID of the new license server machine.
Setting up your license
If you want to set up a floating license, see Setting up Your License Server.
If you want to set up a client license, see Setting up Your license on a Client Machine.
Fore more information about setting up license servers and licenses, see the FlexNet Licensing End User Guide, which is available from the support area of the Flexera website at www.flexera.com.
Common problems
When you install a new FlexNet license key, you should be aware of the following points.
- FlexNet license keys are text files, and are often sent to customers via email. If the file contains long lines, they may wrap during the transmission of the mail and this text wrapping can affect the validity of the license. Before you install your new license you should make sure that there is no text wrapping in the file. To do this, open the license.dat file and resize the window until no lines are wrapped. Each FEATURE line should begin with the keyword FEATURE or INCREMENT.
- FlexNet license files are case sensitive.
- If your license is for Windows, the VENDOR line in your license contains the default path to the telelogic or ibmrtal vendor daemon. This is
VENDOR telelogic C:\Program Files\IBM\Rational\Tools\Licensing_10\Server\telelogic.exe
- If your license is for UNIX, the VENDOR line in your license does not include a path to the telelogic or ibmratl vendor daemon.
- If you did not install the license server to the default directory on Windows, or if your license server is on UNIX, you have to edit your license file to include the full path to the telelogic or ibmratl vendor daemon. To do this, open your license file, find the line that starts VENDOR ibmratl/telelogic, type the correct path to your telelogic/ibmratl vendor daemon (telelogic.exe/ibmratl.exe), then save and close the file.
- If you move the vendor daemon, or if you use a pre-existing FlexNet license server, you should specify the complete path to it.
- An infrequent problem is a TCP/IP port conflict with another application. If there is a conflict, an error message is logged in the license.log file. You can change the port number in your license file without invalidating the key. Finding a port number that is not in use is a matter of trial and error, but most applications use numbers below 5000, so numbers between 5000 and 20000 are generally not in use. The default port in most of IBM Rational's license keys is 27000.
- By default, the vendor daemon uses random ports. If you want to limit communication through a firewall, you can specify a port number for the vednor daemon to use. To do this, open your license file, and type PORT=<portnumber> at the end of the VENDOR telelogic/ibmratl line. For example,
VENDOR telelogic C:\Program Files\IBM\Rational\Tools\Licensing 10\Server\telelogic.exe PORT=7194- If the FlexNet manager cannot find your dongle ID, check that the sentinel drivers are installed by locating HASP Device Driver in Add/Remove Programs in the Windows Control Panel.
- You can mix normal licenses with token-based FEATUREs by using several license servers, where one server has normal licenses and the other uses token-based licenses. Normal licenses must be used first, so make sure that your settings force a search for normal licenses before token based licenses. If the search order is reversed only token-based licenses are found and the normal licenses cannot be used.
Understanding the license log file
The license log file may contain lines that you do not understand. Some of these lines are explained in the following table.
Additional Information
For more information on IBM Rational Licensing, see the Licensing_guide.pdf available in the IBM Rational License Server TL or from the IBM Rational Information Center.
For more information on FlexNet Publisher visit:
http://www.flexera.com
http://www.ibm.com/rational |
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