FLEXlm Nodelocked and Floating License Guide

Nodelocked vs. Floating License Usage

There are two basic types of license types: nodelocked and floating. These license types define whether one or more users may use the specific software application at a time.

Nodelocked License Usage

When an application is NODELOCKED, it can run only on the machine that the application is installed on. Nodelocked applications are most appropriate for:

  • Non-networked system environments

  • Users who require constant software availability

Floating License Usage

When a FLOATING license is loaded onto a network server, it can be made available to anyone on the same network. The number of concurrent users is limited by the licensing software to a negotiable predetermined number of users. Floating license applications are most appropriate for:

  • Customers who want to make the application available to as many people as possible without buying the application for everyone

  • Infrequently used applications where the amount of time spent using an application is usually short and irregular

It is also important to understand that installing floating licenses require system administration level training and should be performed by someone who is familiar with the network structure. Also, please note that not all SGI® products are available as floating licenses.

Site Licenses

Using client-server-based floating licenses makes it possible to offer a site license on a negotiated basis. The terms should be determined by the product manager. Site licenses also offer an opportunity to reduce support costs by specifying a single point of contact for software distribution, thereby limiting the number of authorized callers and consolidating the software source to a single point: the server.


Installing and Using FLEXlm Licenses on IRIX

FLEXlm is a network licensing system that allows you to use particular software products licensed by SGI.

There are nodelocked licenses and floating licenses, and they're both FLEXlm. A nodelocked license lets you use protected software on the workstation where the license is installed. A floating license lets you use protected software on any workstation on the same network. For example, if there are five licenses available, then five workstations or users on the network can run the licensed product at any one time.

This document tells you how to install FLEXlm licenses on systems running IRIX 5.3 or later. To check what IRIX version you are running, open a UNIX® shell and, at the prompt, type uname -r.

For more information about FLEXlm, see the FLEXlm End User Manual (subsystem license_eoe.books.FLEXlm_EUM), which is available online in IRIS InSight. To add the administration guide to your InSight Library, install the subsystem license_eoe.books.FLEXlm_EUM from the IRIX CD. For more information on installing SGI software, refer to theIRIS® Software Installation Guide.


Installing a Nodelocked License on IRIX

Installing a FLEXlm Nodelocked License Using License Manager

  1. Under the Find Toolchest, select Desktop Tools.

  2. Double-click on the License Manager icon to launch the application.

  3. Click the Install... button at the bottom of the License Manager window.

  4. Click the FLEXlm Nodelocked button.

  5. Copy all requested fields from the license information sheet into the License Manager: Install License window.

  6. Click the Apply... button.

  7. Repeat the above steps until all licenses are installed.

  8. We recommend that you delete all temporary and evaluation nodelocked licenses for the same product.

  9. Click the Close button at the bottom of the main License Manager window.

You are finished installing the license(s). Save the license information sheet; you may need it again later if you need to reinstall your license(s).

Installing a FLEXlm Nodelocked License Manually (without License Manager)

If you do not have License Manager installed, then install it from the IRIX 6.5 CD or the software application's CD and follow the aforementioned steps. Or perform the following procedure to install your FLEXlm nodelocked license without using License Manager:

  1. Log into the root account. In a UNIX shell type: su

  2. Type: ls -d /var/flexlm

    • If the message "No such file or directory" appears, then type: mkdir /var/flexlm

  3. Edit or create the nodelock file using jot or your preferred editor.
    Type: jot /var/flexlm/license.dat

  4. Copy and paste the license(s) into the license file.

    For example, if you are installing the ProDev™ WorkShop product, the license might look like:

    FEATURE WorkShop sgifd 2.000 1-jan-0 0 \
    9B8E70319DBC0DFB1B93 HOSTID=690CB213 \
    vendor_info="Developer Magic/ProDev WorkShop"\
    ISSUER="Silicon Graphics, Inc."

  5. If you have previously installed a temporary or evaluation license for the product(s) you are adding, comment them out by putting a "#" character at the beginning of that feature line. Therefore, the above license would look like this:

    #FEATURE WorkShop sgifd 2.000 1-jan-0 0 \
    9B8E70319DBC0DFB1B93 HOSTID=690CB213 \
    vendor_info="Developer Magic/ProDev WorkShop"\
    ISSUER="Silicon Graphics, Inc."

  6. Save the file and exit the editor.

  7. Exit the root account. Type: exit

You are finished installing the license. Save the license information sheet: you may need it again later if you need to reinstall this license.


Installing Floating Licenses on IRIX

Floating licenses require that a system on the network be set up as a FLEXlm license server. On that system, the subsystem license_eoe.sw.flexlm_server must be installed. To check that it is installed, open a UNIX shell and type: showprods license_eoe.sw | grep flexlm_server | wc -w

If the result is greater than 0 (for example, 7), the subsystem is installed; if the result is 0, you must install license_eoe.sw.flexlm_server from the IRIX 6.5 CD or the product CD. For information on installing software, refer to the IRIS Software Installation Guide.



Installing a FLEXlm Floating License Using License Manager

To install FLEXlm floating licenses into the default license file /var/flexlm/license_<server_name.dat and set up the machine as a license server, you must:

  • Invoke License Manager

  • Install the license

  • Start the license daemons
To invoke License Manager, follow these steps:

  1. Log into the root account. In a UNIX shell type: su

  2. Install the subsystem license_eoe.sw.flexlm_server from the IRIX operating system if it is not already installed. For more information on installing subsystems, refer to the Software Installation Administrator's Guide.

  3. Set the environment variable. Type:

    setenv LM_LICENSE_FILE /var/flexlm/license_<server_name.dat

    where <server_name is the name of the license server machine.

  4. Type: /usr/etc/License Manager

  5. Click the Install... button at the bottom of the License Manager window.

  6. Click the FLEXlm Floating button.

  7. Enter the server hostname in the corresponding field. To find the name, enter the UNIX shell command uname -n on the server.

  8. Copy all requested fields from the license information sheet into the License Manager: Install License window.

  9. Click the Apply... button.

  10. Repeat the above steps until all licenses are installed.

  11. Remove any old evaluation or temporary licenses for the same product.

  12. Click the Close button at the bottom of the main License Manager window.
In the UNIX shell, check that config flexlm is on. Type:

chkconfig flexlm on

Edit the /etc/config/lmgrd.options file with jot or your preferred editor. Type:

jot /etc/config/lmgrd.options

Change -c /var/flexlm/license.dat to
-c /var/flexlm/license_<server_name.dat

where <server_name> is the name of the license server machine.

Save the -c /var/flexlm/license<server_name.dat file.

Stop and start the lmgrd daemon. Type:

/etc/init.d/flexlm stop

/etc/init.d/flexlm start

Copy the license file /var/flexlm/license_<server_name.dat to all client machines.

Exit the root account. Type: exit

You are finished installing the license. Save the license information sheet: you may need it again later if you need to reinstall this license.

Installing a FLEXlm Floating License Manually (without License Manager)

To install a FLEXlm floating license on the server without License Manager, perform these steps:

  1. Log into the root account. In a UNIX shell type: su

  2. Install the subsystem license_eoe.sw.flexlm_server from the IRIX operating system if it is not already installed. For more information on installing subsystems, refer to the IRIS Software Installation Guide.

  3. Edit the license file using jot or your preferred editor. Type:

    jot /var/flexlm/license_<server_name.dat

    where <server_name is the name of the license server machine.

  4. Enter the SERVER, DAEMON, and FEATURE lines from the license information sheet into the license file.

  5. Save the file and exit the editor.

  6. Set the config flexlm to on. Type:

    chkconfig flexlm on

  7. Edit the /etc/config/lmgrd.options file using jot or your preferred editor. Type:

    jot /etc/config/lmgrd.options

  8. Change -c /var/flexlm/license.dat to -c /var/flexlm/license_<server_name.dat

    where <server_name is the name of the license server machine.

  9. Stop and start the lmgrd daemon. Type:

    /etc/init.d/flexlm stop

    /etc/init.d/flexlm start

  10. Copy or mount the license file /var/flexlm/license_<server_name.dat to all client machines.

  11. Exit the root account. Type: exit

Troubleshooting IRIX Licenses

If you've installed a license and tried to run the protected software, you may see an error message such as "Unable to find a license" or "Unable to find a license server". Use the methods described in this section to check the installation.

  • Run the UNIX command /usr/sbin/lmdiag. This command analyzes the licenses in the default license file (/var/flexlm/license.dat), which may help debug problems. If you get an error message that says the HOSTID is incorrect, check the HOSTID (type in the UNIX shell: lmhostid).

    • If the license you are having problems with is a nodelocked license, in a UNIX shell run the command lmhostid. If the result does not match the HOSTID string for that product in the license file, this is the problem.

    • If the license you are having problems with is a floating license, on the server system run the UNIX command lmhostid. Compare the results with the second argument on the SERVER line, which corresponds to the product in question. If the two numbers are not identical, this is the problem.

    • A few conditions might cause the /etc/lmhostid results and the HOSTID to be different:

      • The license may be made for a system different from the one you are running it on

      • The HOSTID may have been entered incorrectly

      • The HOSTID on the system may have changed; if the CPU board or I/O board was replaced, this can change the HOSTID

  • If you are having trouble with a FLEXlm floating license, try the following procedure:
    1. You may wish to configure the lmgrd daemon to send its output to a log file rather than sending it to standard output. To do this, edit the file /etc/config/lmgrd.options and add a line that looks like:

      -c /var/flexlm/license_<server_name.dat -l /var/adm/flexlm.log

      where the file after the -l is the log file. Note that -l is a lowercase L, not a number 1.

    2. In a UNIX shell, type:

      /etc/init.d/flexlm stop; /etc/init.d/flexlm start

    3. Look at the log file for error messages.

    4. If the lmgrd daemon is started (check the log file), on the client system run the UNIX command:

      /usr/sbin/lmstat -a

      This tells you whether the lmstat tool has the same trouble contacting the server as the client application.

    5. If the application program on the client system cannot connect to the server to check out a license, one of several things may be wrong:

  • The license server may be down, or there may be a network problem. Check to see if the client system can communicate with the server. To verify the vendor daemon is running, enter in a UNIX shell on the server:

    /usr/bin/lmstat -a

    To check if it can contact the vendor daemon on the server, enter in a UNIX shell on the client system:

    lmstat -a

    Then, from the client system, enter the command:

    telnet

    where hostname and portnumber match the SERVER line in the license file.

  • The vendor daemon may not be running. On the server, check for the SGI vendor daemon by running the UNIX command:

    ps -ef | grep sgifd | grep -v grep

    If nothing is returned, then the vendor daemon is not running.

  • The application may not be looking at the expected license file. The default license file is /var/flexlm/license.dat. By default, SGI applications that are licensed with FLEXlm use this file.
  • If a warning message appears stating that the license expires in an incorrect number of days, see Installing a Nodelocked License on IRIX in this document. Follow the steps to remove or comment out any existing temporary or evaluation license(s) in the /var/flexlm/license.dat file for this product.


  • The license password may have been typed incorrectly. Check that the letters B, l and O were not typed in place of numerals 8, 1 and 0, and vice versa.


  • The license you are entering may not be the correct type. Check the license type on the license information sheet. If you are following the instructions for installing a nodelocked license, be sure that it says nodelocked. See Installing a Nodelocked License on IRIX in this document.


  • The system time may be set incorrectly or the license may have expired. Run the date command by typing "date". Make sure the date is not earlier than the start date or later than the expiration date listed on the license information sheet.


  • For more information on troubleshooting, refer to Appendix B of the FLEXlm End User Manual. This guide is located in the IRIS InSight Library, which you can find by selecting Online Books from the Help toolchest.