General
In the past couple of years, OpenLM v1.7 has been the selected tool for application usage metering and license usage optimization for an expanding circle of customers. OpenLM has steadily widened the variety of supported network license managers, and enhanced its monitoring capabilities per each license management tool.
OpenLM beta Version 1.8 incorporates many bug fixes, performance improvements and new features that were required by our cooperative and trusted customers. These changes have increased OpenLM’s robustness and made it less prone to errors.
This version also integrates some fundamental architectural changes that have expanded OpenLM’s ability to further develop license usage control and monitoring. Here are some of the main highlights of this new version.
Important note:
As of today the released version is still a beta, and as such it is not yet error free.
DO NOT upgrade production installations of OpenLM 1.7 to 1.8 beta.
The use of version 1.8 beta is recommended for:
- New evaluating customers, who wish to explore the 1.8 beta version functionality, or
- Active OpenLM 1.7 users, installing version 1.8 beta separately and parallel to the 1.7 production installation.
Please read this document prior to installing OpenLM 1.8 beta parallel to production 1.7 installations.
Support of License management tools
The addition of license management tools to the expanding portfolio of OpenLM’s supported license managers is an on-going task. Version 1.8 now supports the following concurrent license servers: FlexLM / Flexnet, Sentinel RMS (Aspentech SLM), DSLS, IBM LUM, Sentinel HASP, LM-X (Altair), Reprise RLM, Beta LM, Mathematica LM (MathLM), and Easycopy. In addition to that, support of some license management tools was enhanced. Here are some of these enhancements:
- FlexLM: Asset Info information, which is unique per license pool is now monitored. Hence, it is now possible to follow user and group license check out per license pool.
- Also on FlexLM: Software packages are automatically recognized, and populated by the respective software products. Single features can be associated with different software packages.
- IBM_LUM license manager monitoring has been added expiration date, Offline Licenses indications, and support for HAL (High Availability Licensing) configuration support.
- DSLS has been fully integrated into the OpenLM 1.8 system. License borrowing is reported.
- RMS: License versions’ reporting was added
EasyAdmin
The EasyAdmin web application has undergone facelift surgery and generally looks nicer. Some graphic presentation windows have been added, and others have been improved in both clarity and robustness.
Personalization:
License usage status windows’ configuration can now be saved between workstations and browsers.
New reports
Some of the new reports are:
- The License denial widget.
- Procurement table: Shows licenses’ procurement path, providing expiration information.
- License usage efficiency report: Histogram per single feature, showing how much of the time have N licenses been used.
- Max usage heat map report.
Enhanced report windows
Report windows have also been enhanced. It is now possible to:
- Export chart images or PDF documents and
- Set report window refresh period
- The “License Usage” graphic presentation was improved.
Database manipulation
Version 1.8 enhances the administrator’s capabilities to manipulate the OpenLM database. It is now possible to
- Archive or delete old data.
- Extract irrelevant users and
- Delete unnecessary groups.
License Servers
Reported license servers’ information has been enhanced to include:
- License server timezone indication
- Host availability indication
- License not in use indication.
Active Directory
The OpenLM Server is capable of synchronizing users and groups with an organization’s LDAP (Active Directory) to combine license management with other company information. LDAP synchronization provides automatic maintenance of Users’ and Groups’ data.
In version 1.8, LDAP synchronization has been profoundly improved, to support versatile and complex Active Directory environments. As a bonus, a preview of the impending synchronization scheme is now available.
Projects
The Project license usage recording capability is available for OpenLM from version 1.6 onward. In the 1.8 version, some major modifications have been made:
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The configuration of Project monitoring was shifted from the OpenLM Server configuration tool to the EasyAdmin web application.
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Administrative capabilities have been added, such as Enabling / Disabling a project, assigning it a priority and expected duration, and marking the project’s completeness percentage.
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Projects can now be assigned to user groups (not just to individual users), and
- Can be introduced by end-users via the OpenLM Agent module.
OpenLM Broker
The OpenLM Broker has overgone important changes, enhancing its robustness and compatibility with a wide array of license managers. One of these changes is the implementation of buffers for Broker messages, providing the ability to overcome network connectivity failure.
Finally
we would like to thank our loyal customers for collaborating as beta sites for this new version. Your ever welcomed feedback has enabled us to publicize this product, and is constantly driving us toward improving our releases.
