Note that other license choices may be made available for some sites, whereby single unrestricted licenses are made available for use on any machine. These do not require installation of FLEXnet on a license server and are considered to be Individual Licenses.
If you are upgrading from an earlier version of GenStat and currently use a FLEXlm license please read here before continuing.
This document is intended as a simple introduction for sites that use Microsoft Windows on their network servers and client workstations. It assumes you do not currently use FLEXnet for other software products. No previous knowledge of FLEXnet is required. Many other configurations are possible: for example a Unix-based license server with client PCs running Windows. Larger networks may already operate FLEXnet for other software products and will need merely to add additional information to their license file in order to run applications from VSN. You should refer to the FLEXnet documentation or contact VSN support ([email protected]) for further information.
Full documentation for FLEXnet is provided on your application CD-ROM. It is located in the platform-specific
folder under
FLEXnet\License\
A brief guide to installing FLEXnet on Unix license servers can be found in the file
FLEXnet\unix.txt
and an up to date list of platforms that we currently support for installation of the
FLEXnet license server can be obtained from VSN support.
The FLEXnet license management software will need to be installed on the license server. This will run constantly in background mode; on Windows NT and later systems it will operate as a system service. You will separately apply for a license key which will contain details of the software application (e.g. GenStat), version control, and number of licenses, as well as details of the license server it can run on. Once this key is installed, the application can be run on any PC on the network. When it starts up it will communicate with FLEXnet and request a license. FLEXnet keeps a record of how many licenses are in use at any time and will refuse requests once the specified limit is reached. When the system is busy, users will have to wait until someone terminates their use of the program, thus releasing a license.
For sites that license a number of applications from VSN International, the license file can contain keys for each application. The one license process will manage licenses for all the applications.
The application itself can be installed on any machine on the network. It can be installed in a public folder on the license server or other file server, on individual users PCs, or any combination of these options. Whichever machine it is run from, it will always contact the specified license server to check out a license.
Each step is numbered in the instructions that follow. Please keep to this sequence; if things go wrong please stop and ask for help from [email protected], quoting the step number and any other information you think is relevant.
The following files will be copied to the server:
lmgrd.exe | The FLEXnet license manager |
lmtools.exe | A Windows interface to FLEXnet configuration |
lmutil.exe | A command-line interface to FLEXnet |
VSN.exe | The Vendor daemon, controls licenses for VSN products |
VSNLicenseSetup.exe | A program that generates a license request and completes FLEXnet installation |
VSNLicenseSetup.chm | Help for the VSNLicenseSetup program |
LicenseAdministration.pdf | FLEXnet end-user documentation |
If you encounter problems running InstallShield you can copy the above files manually from the CD-ROM or download, from the folder "FLEXnet\License\Bin\i86_n3". A 64-bit version of these files can be found in "FLEXnet\License\Bin\x64_n6"
The InstallShield package will launch the program VSNLicenseSetup.exe before terminating. This will appear on the screen as follows:
If this Setup dialog does not appear on your screen you can start the program yourself
by double-clicking on C:\FLEXnet\VSNLicenseSetup.exe.
You should now proceed to the second part of the Setup dialog. This will install the FLEXnet service using a dummy license file. Please check the locations of the files are correct, and specify a named log file if you wish to keep a record of any messages generated by FLEXnet. Click "Install Service" to complete this step.
Note that if a FLEXnet service is already running the Install Service button will be disabled and you will need to configure the service manually (using lmtools.exe).
The license information is repeated within the body of the message in case you are not able to access the attachments, in which case the two files can be produced using Notepad. Each file may contain comment lines prefixed by the # character. In addition, vsn.lic should contain three lines, as follows:
SERVER
VENDOR
FEATURE
The SERVER line will contain the hostname and hostid information you supplied in the license request. It also specifies the TCP/IP port number that FLEXnet will use, as specified in the request (default 6983). Normally, you should not modify this line, although you can change the port number if required. Note that appname.lic also specifies the port number and the two files must use the same value.
The VENDOR line specifies the name and location of the VSN license daemon, VSN.exe. If you have used the default location specified above the license file will already contain the correct information in this line, but if you have chosen another location for the files you must change this line to specify the folder you specified in Step 1. Edit the VENDOR line to read as follows:
VENDOR VSN local-directory-path\VSN.exe
Take care to ensure that the daemon-name, VSN, is specified as well as the full pathname for VSN.exe.
The FEATURE line specifies the application name (e.g. GenStat), version control, number of licenses, etc. This line may have been split or reformatted by email software, so please check it is complete, ensuring that any new-lines are immediately preceded by "\". There should be no spaces following the "\" at the end of each line. It should look something like this:
FEATURE GenStat VSN 0606 permanent 4 PLATFORMS="i86_n" \
SIGN="124C 6B43 0110 89BA B348 0658 8061 26B6 F238 \
B1DB FD17 6529 D8CC C63E FA0A 18A9 1598 5F7B F915 20D2 1A05"
The important points to note in the FEATURE line are the product name (GenStat), version code (0606), expiry date (permanent) and number of concurrent users (in this case 4). This key is valid for any version of GenStat with a version code less than or equal to 0606. See License Details for a list of codes required for different software versions.
Appname.lic should not require modification. Its contents are discussed below, in Step 6.
Check that the license file has been read successfully by switching to "Server Status" and pressing "Perform Status Enquiry". The log output produced by this command should indicate that the VSN daemon is running and the appropriate number of application licenses are available.
Copy appname.lic to the chosen location. The file should contain just two lines:
SERVER hostname hostid port
USE_SERVER
where the server hostname and hostid details relate to your license server, and the port
number specifies a TCP/IP port to be used for communication between the application and
license manager. This line should be identical to that in VSN.lic.
Now try running the application, either from Start/Programs or by double-clicking the executable file.
This should launch the software and go straight into the program. You should try running a small example to ensure that it is operating correctly. The presence of any messages about licenses or demo keys will indicate some kind of error which you should report to [email protected].
Alternatively, if you do not want to install the software on individual desktops you can run it from a networked file server. When installing on the server you just need to copy appname.lic into the Bin folder, as above. On the client PC you can create a desktop shortcut that points at N:\...\appdir\Bin\appname.exe.
This error can also occur if there are multiple FEATURE lines for the same software product in the license file. Only the first FEATURE line for a product is used so you should ensure that any old FEATUREs are deleted or made into comments by prefixing with the "#" character.
The current list of product date codes is given in License Details. The minimum support date required for future updates or service packs will be indicated on the relevant download pages.
When you renew support you will get a replacement VSN.lic with new support expiry code, thus providing access to future upgrades.
Some older software versions, e.g. GenStat 7.1 or earlier, ASReml 1.x, SAMM 1.x, used different license systems and will require a new key. See Updating FLEXlm for details of updating old GenStat FLEXlm licenses.
When you receive the new key you will have to update the license file on the server as described in Step 3. You will also need to update the appname.lic files on the client PCs to include the new server details.
If you have changed your server you will also need to re-install FLEXnet as outlined in Step 1.
Older versions (1.x) of ASReml and SAMM cannot be patched for the new style license keys. If you wish to install a network license you will have to upgrade to version 2.0 or higher.
IMPORTANT NOTE: VSN applications are configured to use FLEXnet in the following way. On startup they will look for a license file in the following locations, in order: