Chapter 4

Licensing Communique!

Overview

Once you have installed Communique! on your workstation as outlined in Chapter 3 you are ready to install your license keys. Installing your license keys activates Communique!. The following topics are discussed:

FLEXlm Licensing

MDL’s OpenDVE architecture employs a licensing system, either node-locked or floating, to track usage of Communique!. This system helps control the use of Communique! on your network.

Introduction to FLEXlm

MDL's Communique! uses version 3.0 of Globetrotter's FLEXlm network license management package. FLEXlm is the industry standard for license management and provides you with the highest level of compatibility when working with software licensed from other vendors.

Normally each workstation (or node) on which you want to run Communique! requires its own node-locked license key which is specific to that machine. However, FLEXlm also offers another type of software license that is available anywhere on your network. These floating licenses allow any workstation on your network to obtain a license to run Communique!. Floating licenses allow you to make more efficient use of fewer licenses by sharing them among several machines. When you purchased Communique!, you selected either node-locked keys or floating keys with a fixed number of floating user licenses.

More information on FLEXlm can be found in Appendix B, "Technical Issues."

The License Server

If you purchased floating licenses for Communique!, you need to designate one workstation (or host) to act as your site's License Server. This workstation issues licenses when available and tracks the number of licenses currently in use. It must be able to communicate with all workstations on which you plan to run Communique! and should be active at all times. Many sites may already have a centralized workstation designated as the License Server for all software products at that location. If so, you may wish to use that machine to manage your Communique! licenses as well. If your site uses the FLEXlm License Manager for other software products, you may want to combine the license files. See Appendix B, "Technical Issues," for information on working with licenses for multiple products. A machine may act as License Server for the software without actually using the software itself.

If you purchased a node-locked license for your Communique! software, then each workstation has its own unique license and acts as its own License Server.

The License Manager

Under the FLEXlm license management system, a License Manager process called lmgrd runs in the background and handles license requests. Your License Server starts a License Manager at boot time. When a user attempts to run Communique! it queries the License Manager requesting a license. If there are no licenses available (perhaps all of the available licenses are currently in use), then the request is denied. Otherwise, the License Manager allows Communique! to run and checks out the appropriate licenses to the user, reducing the number of available licenses. When the user quits Communique!, the License Manager reclaims the licenses and increases the number of available licenses.

The License File

Licensing information is stored in a license file, normally called license.dat. The license.dat file is used by both the License Manager and Communique!.

When your License Manager starts at boot time, it reads the license.dat file to determine the number and types of licenses available. When Communique! is started, it reads the license.dat file to determine which machine will be its License Server. Every workstation running Communique! must have access to the license.dat file.

If you purchased floating licenses, every workstation that will be running Communique! will need access to the license file. You can either place a copy of the license file on each machine that will run Communique!, or place it on an NFS partition accessible by all the workstations. The License Manager itself runs only on the License Server.

Obtaining Your Licenses

You need to obtain a set of licenses from MDL to activate Communique!. Each set of licenses is unique to your installation and is generated based on the software you have purchased and the workstation(s) you are using. You need to fax a copy of the completed MDL Product Registration Form to MDL to obtain your licenses.

The MDL Product Registration Form

You need to complete the MDL Product Registration Form, included with Communique!, for each workstation acting as a License Server. If you are using node-locked licenses you need to complete a copy of the form for each workstation to be licensed.

The information returned with the MDL Product Registration Form is entered into our customer database which allows us to provide you information regarding program updates and other offerings as they become available.

Be sure that you accurately specify the Serial Number of your Communique! software. This Serial Number is located on the inside front cover of the Communique! Administrator's Guide and also on the outside spine of the software packaging. Keep a record of the Serial Number. It is required for support and maintenance contacts.

We need to know the hostid of your License Server to generate your licenses. A hostid is a unique alphanumeric string used to identify a particular workstation.

The hostid is not the workstation's hostname.

Run the program lmhostid, which is located in the bin subdirectory in the OpenDVE installation directory, to determine the hostid for a particular workstation. For example if you installed OpenDVE in /opt/insoft/opendve you would issue the following command:

# /opt/insoft/opendve/bin/lmhostid

The lmhostid command returns a string of letters and numbers. This is the workstation’s hostid. Enter this value in the System Hostid blank of the MDL Product Registration Form. If you purchased floating keys, don’t forget to specify the number of licenses purchased.

Hostids are composed of the letters A-F and the digits 0-9 only. Be sure not to mistake the numbers 0 and 1 as letters. The upper case letter O and the lower case letter l do not appear in any hostid.

Fax the completed MDL Product Registration Form to MDL Technical Support, at (425) 861-6700. Your request is verified against the original Purchase Order and a unique set of licenses is created. You will receive your licenses by return fax, usually within an hour, provided that it is received during normal business hours—8 AM to 5 PM PST Monday through Friday. If you have any questions about how to complete your MDL Product Registration Form, contact MDL Technical Support directly by calling (425) 861-6700 ext. 3.

Installing Your Licenses

After you receive your licenses from MDL, you will need to install them on your License Server. Follow these steps to install the licenses on a License Server:

1. Log in as root.

2. Change to OpenDVE's installation directory. For example, if you installed OpenDVE in /opt/insoft/opendve, enter the following command:

# cd /opt/insoft/opendve

3. Run the program ISLicense from the bin subdirectory of OpenDVE's installation directory:

# ./bin/ISLicense

The licensing script attempts to locate the directory where OpenDVE is installed on its own. If the location that the script chooses is wrong, or the script can’t find OpenDVE, you will need to enter the correct path for OpenDVE’s home directory.

4. The script will ask if the directory it resolved as OpenDVE’s home is correct, if it isn’t, enter the correct directory now.

5. The licensing script will then ask where you would like the license.dat file to be stored. The script will suggest a default location ($OPENDVE_HOME/etc/license.dat). If you wish the license.dat file to be stored somewhere else, you should enter that location now. Note that if you install the license file in the default location, you will not need to set the LM_LICENSE_FILE before running Communique!.

The licensing script will display the hostid of your workstation. You should verify that the hostid displayed on the screen matches the hostid that you sent in with your license request. If the hostids do not match, your license will not function properly.

6. Next, the licensing script will ask you where you would like the license.log file to be located. The license.log file stores information returned by the licensing script. If you wish to put it in the default location, hit enter, otherwise type in the location where you would like it to reside.

After entering this basic information, you will begin the actual licensing of the application. All of the information required for this portion of the installation will be sent to you by the MDL support staff when you request your license keys.

7. You will be prompted to enter the feature you wish to license. Communique! supports the following features:

opendve.engine—This feature allows the use of the ISconferenceEngine process. The ISconferenceEngine is essential for using OpenDVE applications like Communique!. Each user running Communique! must have an opendve.engine license. You must enter the license information for this feature if you have elected to license any of the Communique! packages.

opendve.plugin—This feature allows the user to run Plugins. You are asked to enter the license information for this feature if you have elected to license any of the Communique! packages. Each Plugin loaded requires a specific number of opendve.plugin licenses to run. Thus, if you do not load the TV Tool, you will need fewer licenses to run Communique!.

opendve.share—This feature allows you to run the MDL SHARE Plugin. You are asked to enter the license information for this feature if you have elected to license the optional MDL SHARE Plugin.

opendve.imager—This feature allows you to run the MDL Shared Imager. You are asked to enter the license information for this feature if you have elected to license the optional MDL Imager Plugin.

opendve.remote—This feature allows you to run the Remote Control Camera Tool. If you are prompted to enter the licensing information for this feature, you have elected to license the optional Remote Control Camera Tool.

8. Enter the 20 character license key assigned to your workstation for the listed feature and press Return. You must enter the license key exactly as returned by MDL.

License Keys are composed of the letters A-F and the digits 0-9 only. Be sure not to mistake the numbers 0 and 1 as letters. The upper-case letter O and the lower-case letter l do not appear in any license key.

The licensing program needs to know if you are installing node-locked or floating licenses for the listed feature.

9. Select the appropriate license type, either node-locked or floating, and press Return. Communique! will not function properly if you do not select the correct license type.

You need to specify the number of licenses assigned to the listed feature. For most license features this value controls the number of users who can use the license simultaneously.

10. Enter the number of licenses assigned to the listed feature and press Return.

The licensing program asks if you are installing a permanent license for the listed feature. A permanent license is one which has been purchased and has no expiration date or other usage limitations. Answer "No" if you are installing license keys for a demonstration or evaluation of unpurchased software with an expiration date.

11. Answer "No" if you are not installing a permanent license.

If you are installing a license for a demonstration or for evaluation of unpurchased software assigned an expiration date, you will be asked for the expiration date. After the expiration date has passed you are no longer able to run Communique!. An expiration date of 01-jan-00 indicates that the key is permanent and has no expiration date. You must enter the expiration date exactly as returned to you by MDL. If you do not, your licenses will not work and you will be unable to run Communique!.

After you have entered this information,

12.You are asked to repeat steps 7 through 10 for each feature that you have selected to license. Enter the appropriate values when prompted.

Once you have entered the license information for all selected features, the license script creates a license file named license.dat in the location you specified. The default location is:

$OPENDVE_HOME/etc/license.dat

The licensing program merges licensed features into an existing license.dat file or, if necessary, creates a new license file. If you want, you can edit the file manually but be sure to follow the FLEXlm format exactly as outlined in Appendix B, "Technical Issues."

If your site uses the FLEXlm License Manager for other software products, you may want to combine the license files. See the Using Communique With Other FLEXlm Products section of Appendix B, "Technical Issues," for more information.

Every workstation running Communique! must have a valid license file. For workstations using floating keys, you must provide a copy of the license.dat file from the workstation acting as the License Server. It is often useful to place the license file in a directory available to any machine on the network. The license file’s location must be defined at runtime by the LM_LICENSE_FILE environment variable, unless you installed it in the default location.

The licensing program also adds commands to your system's boot procedure for starting the License Manager at boot time. Either an /etc/init.d/lmgrd or /etc/rc.OpenDVELicense script is created, depending on your platform's operating system and boot-script naming convention. Be sure to modify the appropriate startup scripts if you ever change the location of your license file.

The license.log File

The boot-scripts starting the License Manager specify a log file where the License Manager stores error messages. This log file is named license.log and is located in the etc/insoft directory. You can, however, edit the boot-scripts to change the location of the error log file.

If you encounter licensing problems, look in this log file for information that could help you locate the trouble.

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