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Johan Dalenius

How to interpret license usage 

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Navigating to the license usage view 

  1. Browse to the web interface of the license server. Using a web browser enter protocol http:// the address/name of the license host and port :5054 to access the web interface. 
  1. Click on Status 
  1. Click on the button for License Usage of the idesglobal isv server. 
  1. Click on Get License Usage. 

Looking at license usage – rlm tracks usage per user 

Regardless of the number of reasons each user consumes only one license. [1]

The overview license usage is a list of reasons. The view can be used to investigate resource allocation by providing information on which users have checked out licenses. Out time and what rows show up can be of use when evaluating to what extent they use their license. 

Below is a screenshot of the license usage view with filter for only one specific user. 

The license server lists two reasons to why this user is consuming a license. The count of licenses that user is consuming is still one (see license status) but as long as any of the reasons remain the user will be consuming that license. 

Note that the PID column is short for process identifier and is the same PID that can be found on the machine consuming the license using task manager. In this case two separate processes of acad.exe that have checked out the license elmaster_design.  

Both processes owned by the same user have the license available and can load the Design application. The user consumes one license from the license pool. 

Licenses that allow multiple applications, such as the Enterprise license, can be checked out for many reasons from different processes such as acad.exe and masterexplorer.exe simultaneously. 

Note that the same process can register multiple reasons. This is common when certain dialogues from masterexplorer.exe handle work in parallel and open multiple sessions to the database. 

Summary

In short it is worth notice that reasons differ from consumption. 

Notes

1 – Simplified for clarity. Can be configured by the license issuer. Our licenses are issued counting consumtion per user and per machine. If the same credentials are used on another host those reasons are going to consume one license per combination of user and host.

Johan Dalenius

Looking at the license status

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The license server has a web interface in which it presents the license status. To determine how many of your licenses have been loaded into the server and how many licenses have been checked out by users you can visit the web interface using a web browser.

Reaching the web interface

Using the address field in your browser navigate to the address of your license server. Per default the web interface will be hosted at port 5054 and the address should be constructed as the following.

http://   hostname   :5054

Where hostname is replaced with the name of the machine hosting your license server.

If you are unable to reach the web interface
First make sure you use an address field in the browser and not a search field. If the problem persists, contact your system administrator or IT helpdesk. Possible reasons include the interface is set up using a custom port, license server not running, firewall blocking you from accessing the interface and so on. The reasons mentioned have in common it is best investigated by someone with access to the host.

Navigating the web interface

The license server administration web interface has a menu on the left.

In the menu, click on Status.

On the Status page additional information such as the file names of found/loaded license files is shown.

For reaching the license status of your Master concept licenses locate the idesglobal-row and the Server Status-column and click on the button in the cell where they cross.

As you click on the button the isv server status of idesglobal will be loaded.

How to read the license status table

The vendor license server status overview is presented as a table. Similar licenses are gathered and handled as a pool. Further reading on how rlm performs pooling of licenses can be read in the manual. Often the result is one pool per product. That is the case we are going to focus on in this context.

How to determine if there are licenses available in the license pool or are they all in use?

Find the row which corresponds to the product you want to check status for. On that row locate the columns named count and inuse. The values of those columns are the cap of that pool and the current usage of that pool.

Out of a count 15 allowed simultaneously, 0 licenses are currently in use.

For licenses to be available for a new user to check out the amount in the inuse-column must be lower than the amount in count-column.

For referense and further reading: 
https://www.reprisesoftware.com/RLM_License_Administration.pdf

Johan Dalenius

Managing Service Interruptions

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This article outlines procedures for intentionally restricting user access during system downtime such as an upgrade.
Please note that the instructions provided are relevant specifically when using network licenses.

Initiating a Service Interruption 

To lock users out during a service interruption, follow these steps:

Open any web browser.

In the address bar, type the name of the machine where the license server is running, followed by port number 5054.

The web interface for the Reprise License Server Administration will appear.

Click on “Shutdown.”

On the displayed page, you have the option to shut down ISV processes, which manage the licenses themselves.

If RLM is used for multiple licenses, select “vendor license idesglobal” from the ISV list.

Next, click “SHUT DOWN SERVER” to deactivate the server. This action affects the ISV. For your information: RLM remains operational, and you can use the same web interface to restart license management later.

Ending the Service Interruption 

When you’re ready to end the service interruption and allow users back in, perform the following steps:

Open any web browser.

In the address bar, type the name of the machine where the license server is running, followed by port number 5054.

The web interface for the Reprise License Server Administration will appear.

Click on “Reread/Restart Servers.”

On the “Reread/Restart Servers” page, you can also choose “idesglobal” from the dropdown list.

Then click “REREAD/RESTART” to read the license file and start the ISV server. For your information: The same button is used to load the new license file during license extension.