Floating License Installation on Irix Computers

This document describes the installation and the configuration of a floating license on an SGI computer running Irix. At the end of the document, you will find a detailed step-by-step procedure.

What does a floating license look like?

A floating license contains three components:

• a SERVER line
• a DAEMON line
• one or several FEATURE lines

Example:

DAEMON bitplane /usr/local/imaris3/bin/bitplane

HOSTID=INTERNET=136.142.*.* DUP_GROUP=UH ISSUER="Bitplane AG"

HOSTID=INTERNET=136.142.*.* DUP_GROUP=UH ISSUER="Bitplane AG"

The count (red) indicates how many instances of the program can be started concurrently.

The license server is not part of the default installation of Irix. Therefore it needs to be installed first. We assume that the operator has experience installing software on an SGI computer.

The command versions long | grep flexlm shows whether or not the server subsystem is installed. If it is installed the output should read similar to the following:

sgi 24% versions long | grep flexlm

f 24676 1 license_eoe.sw.flexlm_server c etc/config/flexlm

f 21297 1 license_eoe.sw.flexlm_server c etc/config/lmgrd.options

f 6955 4 license_eoe.sw.flexlm_server etc/init.d/flexlm

l 0 0 license_eoe.sw.flexlm_server etc/rc0.d/K30flexlm

l 0 0 license_eoe.sw.flexlm_server etc/rc2.d/S45flexlm

f 22140 969 license_eoe.sw.flexlm_server usr/etc/lmgrd

f 24318 1445 license_eoe.sw.flexlm_server usr/etc/sgifd

If the software is not installed please load license_eoe.*.flexlm_server from your irix installation CDs (please make sure to first load all the directories by inserting all CDs including overlays).

The vendor daemon is an executable which is shipped by Bitplane. It is called in /usr/local/imaris3/bin/bitplane. Please make sure that this file is executable by root. You can verify this by issueing the command ls -l which should give the following output:

-rwxr-xr-x 1 root sys 620224 Oct 30 20:09 bitplane

If the x are missing in the first string then issue the following command: chmod 755 bitplane to make it executable for the flexlm server.

Start FlexLM Server

Verify if the flexlm server process is running by issuing the command ps -ef | grep lmgrd. If the server runs the output should be something like:

root 1505 1 0 Feb 11 ? 0:01 lmgrd -c /var/flexlm/license.dat -l /var/tmp/lm.log

If you don't see an instance of lmgrd running, start it manually with the Unix command:

lmgrd -c /var/flexlm/license.dat -l /var/flexlm/lmgrd.log

Then you can verify the server using the lmstat command:

lmstat -c /var/flexlm/license.dat

The output should read:

lmstat - Copyright (C) 1989-2001 Globetrotter Software, Inc.

Flexible License Manager status on Tue 2/12/2002 10:53

License server status: 1700@sgi.neurobio.mydomain.edu

License file(s) on sgi.neurobio.mydomain.edu: /var/flexlm/license.dat:

sgi.neurobio.pitt.edu: license server UP (MASTER) v7.2

Vendor daemon status (on sgi.neurobio.mydomain.edu):

bitplane: UP v7.0

If the server is not runnign the log file needs to be consulted for diagnostics information:

cat /var/flexlm/lmgrd.log

Once the server is up and running each of the Irix clients need to be configured to use the licenses. This is a simple process which requires only one step.

Install all the licenses that have been installed on the server except for the DAEMON line into /var/flexlm/license.dat.

The file must contain the following lines:

HOSTID=INTERNET=136.142.*.* DUP_GROUP=UH ISSUER="Bitplane AG"

Please note that the NeuronTracer license has not been included in this example. Using this mechanism you can authorize clients to use Bitplane software on a per-license basis. You would use this mechanism if one of the clients is not capable to run a particular FEATURE to prevent this client from check out the license.

For software or license installation problems, please contact your local Bitplane representative, check our FAQ,or email us at: