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[ARCHIVE] Install and Administer the Flexera License Server Service on Linux

MariM Thursday, September 12, 2019

Install and Administer the Flexera License Server Service on Linux

Last Updated: January 11, 2019

These instructions describe how to install and configure the Flexera FlexNet license server 2017.08 for use with Harris Geospatial Solutions products.

See the following:

Uninstall the License Server 2016.03 Service (for users migrating from version 2016.03 to 2017.08)
Install the License Server Service
Activate License Server Licenses from the License Administrator Tool
Activate License Server Licenses from the Command Line
Additional License Server Administration Tasks from the Command Line

System Requirements

Minimum hardware requirements:

Disk: 500 MB
RAM: 4 GB
CPU: 2 GHz - 2 Cores

Supported FlexNet License Server platforms:

Operating System	CPU Architecture	Tested with Operating System Versions
Linux	x86-64	CentOS 6.x and 7.x Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6.x and 7.x Ubuntu 16

Operating System

CPU Architecture

Tested with Operating System Versions

Linux

x86-64

CentOS 6.x and 7.x

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6.x and 7.x

Ubuntu 16

Root or Sudo Privileges

You need root or sudo privileges to perform the steps in this document.

Firewall Configuration

By default, the license server is configured to communicate on local TCP/IP port 7070. If a firewall is deployed on the license server, it will be necessary to configure the firewall to allow external listening connections by the license server computer on TCP port 7070. If needed, consult your local system or network administrator for assistance in configuring your server's firewall.

Correct System Time and Date

To allow proper communication, the system time and date of both the license server and the license client computer should be configured to accurately reflect the current time and date.

Contact Us

If you need assistance, visit our website at http://www.harrisgeospatial.com/Company/ContactUs.aspx to find worldwide contact information for technical support.

Uninstall the License Server 2016.03 Service

If the Flexera FlexNet license server 2016.03 is installed on the license server computer, you must do the following before installing the new version.

Open a terminal window.
Navigate to the license server installation directory (INSTALL_DIR/flexnetls-x64_linux-xxxx.xx.x/enterprise). For example:

cd /usr/local/harris/flexnetls_xxxx.xx.x/enterprise
Stop the license server service:
- CentOS/Red Hat: /sbin/service flexnetls-idl_lmgrd stop
- Ubuntu: service flexnetls-idl_lmgrd stop
Uninstall the license server service:

cd /usr/local/harris/flexnetls_xxxx.xx.x/server

./flexnetls uninstall
Delete the following folder:

INSTALL_DIR/flexnetls_xxxx.xx.x
Delete the following files:

rm /etc/default/flexnetls-idl_lmgrd
Install the new license server service, described next.

Install the License Server Service

Unpack and uncompress the files:
- Web download: Uncompress the flexnetserverxxxx.xx-linux.tar.gz archive file that was downloaded to your computer, then unpack the file:
  
  gunzip filename.tar.gz
  tar -xf filename.tar
  
  Note: The License Server installer is a separate product download file. It is not included as part of other Harris Geospatial product downloads.
- DVD: Insert the DVD. The DVD auto-mounts. Linux systems may auto-mount the installer DVD with incorrect permissions. If this happens, use the following commands:
  
  umount /dev/hdc
  mount -o ro -t udf /dev/hdc /media
  
  Note: Be sure to specify the correct directory for your system, for example: /dev/dvd instead of /dev/hdc.
Start the installer with one of these commands:
- Web download: ./install.sh
- DVD: ./install-flexnetls-linux.sh
Follow the prompts to install the software.
The installer creates a no-login user account named flexnetls under the group name flexnetls. It installs a service named flexnetls-idl_lmgrd, which is configured to start automatically at boot time and run under the no-login user account flexnetls.
Activate the licenses on the license server, described next.

If you are migrating from Flexera FlexNet license server 2016.03 to 2017.08, check the flexnetls.log for the following. The log is located in the /var/opt/flexnetls/idl_lmgrd/logs directory.

15:32:08,357 INFO Starting FlexNet License Server 2017.08 (build 211230)

15:32:08,359 INFO Running as a service

15:32:14,560 INFO Upgrading to schema version Schema_21

15:32:14,608 INFO Upgrading to schema version Schema_22

15:32:14,610 INFO Upgrading to schema version Schema_23

15:32:14,628 INFO Upgrading to schema version Schema_24

15:32:24,972 INFO Registering beans for JMX exposure on startup

15:32:25,732 INFO Updated license server instance 0DF40EX2RZ82 is ready

Administer License Server Licenses from the License Administrator Tool

Activating a license transfers the license rights from the Harris Download and Licensing Center to a node-locked (local) computer or license server. It also creates the features and quantities of licenses that enable the software to run. When you purchase Harris Geospatial products, you will receive an email with an activation code to use to activate your software license. The license is a concurrent process license for each product that was purchased.

These instructions describe how to use the License Administrator Tool to activate your licenses on a license server. The License Administrator Tool is available if you have a full version of IDL or ENVI installed on the license server. If the license server will not have IDL or ENVI installed on it, you can perform these same functions from the command line, described in Activate License Server Licenses from the Command Line. This document also intended for you to activate licenses over the Internet. If you do not have Internet access, contact Technical Support to receive separate instructions to activate your licenses offline.

You will use the activation codes provided in your product order email to activate the licenses. Clients will then create a connection to the license server to acquire those licenses when they launch their application. If a client attempts to launch the application before licenses are activated on the license server, or before the client has a connection to the license server, they will receive an error message.

The steps that follow describe how to use the License Administrator Tool to:

Activate licenses on a license server.
Deactivate licenses on a license server.
Connect a client to a license server.
Disconnect from a license server.
Borrow licenses from a license server for a limited time.
Return borrowed licenses to a license server.
View licenses and feature details.

The License Administrator Tool

The steps that follow use the License Administrator Tool. If the tool is not already open, access it from a terminal window by launching the harrislicense command from one of the following installation directories:

IDL Installation: INSTALL_DIR/idlxx/bin
ENVI Installation: INSTALL_DIR/envixx/idlxx/bin

Sudo or root permissions are required.

Activate Licenses

To activate licenses on the license server:

In the License Administrator Tool, click Activate License on this Server. The Server and Port fields populate with the information for the license server.
Enter (or copy and paste) the activation codes from your product order email into the text box provided. The text box allows one activation code per line; press the Enter key after entering each code to start a new line.
Enter the Quantity of licenses you are entitled to.
Click Activate. A message appears when the codes are successfully activated. To view details on the activated licenses for the license server, click View Licenses. See View Licenses and Feature Details for more information.
Click Close to exit the tool.

Deactivate Licenses

Licenses remain activated on a license server until you deactivate them. Deactivating a license returns it to the Harris Download and Licensing Center. Deactivated licenses can then be used on another license server. For example, if you receive a new computer and you want to install the license server service on it, first deactivate the licenses from the old license server. If you do not deactivate the licenses (and the old computer is no longer accessible to you), you will be unable to activate them on the new license server. If that occurs, Technical Support will need to deactivate the licenses for you.

To deactivate licenses on the server:

In the License Administrator Tool, click Deactivate License on this Server. The Server and Port fields populate with the information for the license server.
Use the check boxes to select the individual activation codes to deactivate, or enable the Select all check box to deactivate all activation codes.
Click Deactivate.
Click Close to exit the tool.

Connect a Client to a License Server

A client computer can connect to only one license server at a time; however, a client can use a combination of node-locked licenses activated locally on the computer and served licenses from a connected license server.

The steps to install and set up a license server are described in the Install and Administer the Flexera License Server Service documentation for Windows (flexnetserver-windows-install.html) or Linux (flexnetserver-linux-install.html), included with the software download or installation DVD.

To connect a client to a license server:

On the client, open the License Administrator Tool.
In the License Administrator Tool, click Use License Server.
In the Server field, enter the server name or IP address.
In the Port field, enter the TCP/IP port number being used by the license server for communication with license clients. The default port is 7070.
Click Connect. A message appears when the client successfully connects. To view details on served licenses for the computer, click View Licenses. See View Licenses and Feature Details for more information.
Click Close to exit the tool.

Disconnect from a License Server

To disconnect a client computer from a license server:

In the License Administrator Tool, click Use License Server. The Server and Port number fields populate with the information for the connected license server.
Click Disconnect, then click Yes to confirm the request to disconnect. A message appears when the client successfully disconnects.
Click Close to exit the tool.

Borrow Licenses from a License Server

Client computers can optionally borrow licenses from a license server. Borrowing licenses activates them locally to the client computer for a limited time. One example of borrowing is when you need to work in a remote region for one week and will be unable to connect to the license server to acquire licenses. In this case, you borrow the needed licenses for 7 days; then when the specified time has expired, the licenses will be automatically returned to the license server.

License borrowing is enabled by default. To disable (or re-enable) some or all license borrowing, the license server administrator should contact Technical Support, or their regional sales office or distributor. When borrowing licenses is enabled, only the licenses that are borrowable will be visible to you as you use the steps below.

To borrow licenses from a license server:

In the License Administrator Tool, click Borrow Licenses from a Server.
The Server and Port fields populate with values if there is a current license server connection. Enter or change the values if needed.
Use the check boxes to select the licenses to borrow, or enable the Select all check box to select all licenses.
Enter the Borrow time in days. The default is 7. The maximum number of days allowed is 60.
Enter the Quantity of licenses to activate. The default is 1.
Click Borrow from Server. A message appears when the licenses are successfully borrowed. To view details on borrowed licenses for the computer, click View Licenses. See View Licenses and Feature Details for more information.
Click Close to exit the tool.

Return Borrowed Licenses to a License Server

Borrowed licenses are automatically returned to the license server at the end of the specified period, but you can return all of the licenses earlier.

To return licenses on a server:

In the License Administrator Tool, click Borrow Licenses from a Server.
The Server and Port fields populate with values if there is a current license server connection. Enter or change the values if needed.
Click Return all Borrowed Licenses to Server. All borrowed licenses are returned to the server.
Click Close to exit the tool.

View Licenses and Feature Details

Click View Licenses in the License Administrator Tool to view license details and features for the license server. License names, activation codes, and maintenance IDs available to the license server will be listed in a table. To refresh the data in the table, click the refresh icon.

To view feature details for the licenses, select one or more table rows and enable the Show feature details check box. Select all table rows to show all licenses. To filter the details further to show only in-use features, enable the Show in-use counts check box.

In the feature details Expiration column:

The expiration date is listed for licenses that have a termination date.
Permanent indicates the license does not have a termination date.

You can copy the details of all features to the clipboard, or save them to a .json file.

To view the license activity log for the computer, or to view device information for the computer, click View Log.

Activate License Server Licenses from the Command Line

The steps that follow describe how to:

Activate licenses on a license server using commands.
Deactivate licenses on a license server using commands.
Connect a client to a license server to use served licenses.
Remove a client connection to a license server.
Borrow licenses from a license server using commands.
Return borrowed licenses to a license server using commands.

These steps have you activate licenses over the Internet. If you do not have Internet access, contact Technical Support for separate instructions to activate your license offline.

Activate Licenses

You can also activate the licenses from the command line:

Go to the INSTALL_DIR/flexnetls-xxxx.xx.x/enterprise directory, for example:

cd /usr/local/harris/flexnetls-xxxx.xx.x/enterprise
Activate the licensing capabilities on the server with the following:

./flexnetlsadmin.sh -server http://server:port -activate -id xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx -count quantity

Example:

./flexnetlsadmin.sh -server http://localhost:7070 -activate -id AAAA-BBBB-CCCC-DDDD -count 3

Where:
- -server specifies the communication URL and port number of the license server, and localhost indicates the computer issuing the command.
- -activate indicates to activate the id that will follow.
- -id specifies the activation code provided in your product order email.
- -count specifies the quantity of license feature counts to enable on the license server, up to the total that was purchased. If not specified, the default is 1.
To view details on the activated licenses for the license server, see View Licenses and Feature Details for commands.

Deactivate Licenses

Specifying a -count of 0 deactivates the specified licenses on the license server. For example:

./flexnetlsadmin.sh -server http://localhost:7070 -activate -id AAAA-BBBB-CCCC-DDDD -count 0

Connect a Client to a License Server

Create a plain text file on the client computer to reference the license server. Perform the following steps:

Create a plain text file that contains a reference to the license server URL. Format the text as follows:

http://[license-server-hostname-or-IP-address]:7070/fne/bin/capability

For example:

http://myserver.mycompany.com:7070/fne/bin/capability
Save the file with the name o_licenseserverurl.txt.
Copy the file to the license subdirectory located under your Harris installation directory. The file should have read privileges for all product users.

Examples using the default locations:

Windows client: C:\Program Files\Harris\license\o_licenseserverurl.txt

Linux client: /usr/local/harris/license/o_licenseserverurl.txt

Mac client: /Applications/harris/license/o_licenseserverurl.txt

To view details on served licenses for the computer, see View Licenses and Feature Details for commands.

Remove a Client Connection to a License Server

To remove the client computer's connection to the license server, delete the o_licenseserverurl.txt from the license subdirectory located under your Harris installation directory.

The Activate Utility

For the steps in the next section, you will find the activate utility in the following directories:

Windows: INSTALL_DIR\IDLxx\license_utils\bin.x86_64 for IDL installations, or INSTALL_DIR\ENVIxx\IDLxx\license_utils\bin.x86_64 for ENVI installations.
Linux: INSTALL_DIR/idlxx/license_utils/bin.x86_64 for IDL installations, or INSTALL_DIR/envixx/idlxx/license_utils/bin.x86_64 for ENVI installations.
Mac: INSTALL_DIR/idlxx/license_utils/bin.x86_64 for IDL installations, or INSTALL_DIR/envixx/idlxx/license_utils/bin.x86_64 for ENVI installations.

Borrow Licenses from a License Server

Use the activate utility to borrow licenses from a license server for a period of time.

To borrow licenses, open a command or terminal window on the client, change to the directory that contains the activate utility, and type the following at the command line:

Windows client:

activate.exe -a activation-code -s serverName:serverPort -t seconds

Example:

activate.exe -a AAAA-BBBB-CCCC-DDDD -s LicenseServer:7070 -t 86400

Linux and Mac client:

./activate -a activation-code -s serverName:serverPort -t seconds

Example:

./activate -a AAAA-BBBB-CCCC-DDDD -s LicenseServer:7070 -t 86400

Where:

-a specifies the activation ID.
-s specifies a license server.
-t specifies the borrow interval, in seconds. The default is 86400 seconds (one day). The maximum number of days allowed is 60 (5184000 seconds). When this value expires, the features are automatically returned to the license server for use by another process.

The following are also valid command-line arguments for borrowing with activate:

-b specify the name of a buffered license file, to display the features it contains.
-c use this option with -b, to display the C source code for a buffer license.
-g groups features by their license source (i.e., License Portal and borrowed from a license server).

To view details on borrowed licenses for the computer, see View Licenses and Feature Details for commands.

Return Borrowed Licenses to a License Server

Use the activate utility to return borrowed licenses before their expiration date.

To return borrowed licenses, open a command or terminal window, change to the directory that contains the activate utility, and type the following at the command line:

Windows client:

activate -r -s serverName:serverPort

Example:

activate -r -s LicenseServer:7070

Linux and Mac client:

./activate -r -s serverName:serverPort

Example:

./activate -r -s LicenseServer:7070

Where:

-r returns all borrowed licenses to a license server.
-s specifies a license server.

Additional License Server Administration Tasks from the Command Line

This section provides commands to administer and uninstall the license server service. See the following:

View licenses and feature details
Manage the license server service
Uninstall the license server service

View Licenses and Feature Details

To view details on licensed features, open a terminal window and change directories to INSTALL_DIR/flexnetls-x64_linux-xxxx.xx.x/enterprise. From a command line, use the following commands:

Confirm the service is running and listening on the port:

./flexnetlsadmin.sh -server http://localhost:7070 -status
Display a summary of license features/capabilities enabled on the license server running on the local host computer:

./flexnetlsadmin.sh -server http://localhost:7070 -features
Display a listing of license features/capabilities enabled on the specified license server:

./flexnetlsadmin.sh -server http://myserver.mycompany.com:7070 -licenses
Display a verbose listing of license features and capabilities enabled on the specified license server, using an IP address:

./flexnetlsadmin.sh -server http://123.456.789.10:7070 -licenses -verbose

Manage the License Server Service

Start the license server service:

/sbin/service flexnetls-idl_lmgrd start

Upon success, this command returns a result that the service is starting.

Stop the license server service:

/sbin/service flexnetls-idl_lmgrd stop

Check the service status:

/sbin/service flexnetls-idl_lmgrd status

Location of the service log files:

/var/opt/flexnetls/idl_lmgrd/logs/

Uninstall the License Server Service

On the license server, open a terminal window.
Navigate to the license server installation directory
(INSTALL_DIR/flexnetls-x64_linux-xxxx.xx.x/enterprise). For example:

cd /usr/local/harris/flexnetls_xxxx.xx.x/enterprise
Deactivate all licenses that were activated on the license server, for example:

./flexnetlsadmin.sh -server http://localhost:7070 -activate
-id xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx -count 0

where in the example command:
- -server http://localhost:7070 specifies the communication URL and port number of the license server, and localhost indicates the computer issuing the command.
- -id xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx specifies the Activation Code provided in your product order email.
- -count 0 causes the activated licenses to be deactivated on the license server.
Stop the service:

/sbin/service flexnetls-idl_lmgrd stop
Uninstall the license server service:

cd /usr/local/harris/flexnetls_xxxx.xx.x/server
./flexnetls uninstall
Delete the following folder:

rm -R /opt/flexnetls/idl_lmgrd
Delete the following files:

rm /etc/default/flexnetls-idl_lmgrd
Delete the following directory and its contents:

rm -R /var/opt/flexnetls/idl_lmgrd

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