Dear Valued Customers, Partners, Resellers, OpenLM Users, Administrators, Deployers, 

We have been hard at work for many months to bring you the brand new OpenLM Version 21, with new features, multi-platform support, industry standard security support, a version that brings OpenLM to a whole new level.

In order to continue delivering the highest quality product and support to go along with it, we need to make sure that our resources are tightly focused. As such we would like to announce to all of you our plan on which OpenLM versions will remain supported.

Starting from 1st of April 2022 the oldest OpenLM version that will remain supported by OpenLM’s support team, will be: OpenLM Version 5 Update 6 running with MariaDB, MySQL or MS SQL.  

OpenLM versions below 5 update 6 and OpenLM Version 5 running with Firebird will no longer be supported.  

 

Starting from 1st of April 2022 the OpenLM Version 5 Update 6 will stop receiving updates, bug fixes and hotfixes, only the newer versions will keep being updated.

We do understand that this is a significant step, which is precisely the reason we are announcing this decision 9 months ahead. We would like to give all of our customers currently running older OpenLM versions or running OpenLM with Firebird as the embedded database, enough time to proceed with the upgrade.

We would also like to thank you all for your continuous support and faith in our product. We are working hard to move OpenLM further with each release.

Upgrade to v21

 

We at OpenLM are proud to announce the latest news from our engineering division!

You asked – we delivered! 

The OpenLM Directory Synchronization is now available in the Cloud, with the servers located within the European Union area.

This release is of the utmost significance for customers who wish to store their data in a European environment. The cloud version of the  OpenLM Directory Synchronization includes all the latest improvements like:

Security amendments;

Azure Active Directory support synchronization;

Processes optimization;

Resources usage improvements;

User interaction improvements;

Check out the release notes page for more insights.

Stay tuned!

 

OpenLM supports the “Save & Close” feature for a wide range of engineering software systems, including ESRI desktop products such as ArcMap and ArcGIS Pro. ArcGIS Pro is the new  version of ArcMap that ESRI will retire in 2022. We expect our customers to continue and use  their ArcMap software since an endless list of applications have been developed for this platform and it will take some time for everything to be ported to ArcGIS Pro. 

ArcMap and ArcGIS pro support network licensing, demonstrating ESRI’s commitment to organizations that require this type of license. Through OpenLM Save & Close, many OpenLM customers are able to better utilize their valuable ESRI licenses. Once implemented, OpenLM will monitor the demand for licenses and if necessary close licenses that are not in use so that they can be used by other users. By enabling this functionality, engineers are able to more effectively utilize licenses and improve their productivity.

We sometimes need to update OpenLM Agent when ESRI releases a new version of their software. As an ESRI partner, OpenLM follows up on change and updates its software constantly. Currently, OpenLM Agent version 5.0.1.50 or higher supports ArcGIS pro 2.8, and Agent version 5.1.2 supports ArcMap 10.8.1.

 

The Q2 of 2021 brings to you a new major release of OpenLM Server. This new version of OpenLM brings very significant changes as a response to feedback and requests from our customers. 

This document highlights the major changes, many others were done and will be listed in our release notes and OpenLM Manuals. Our team is looking forward to communicating with you about your requirements, please use our contact form in order to set a meeting with our technical team.

Why are we jumping from version 5 to version 21?

OpenLM is switching from our on-going release numbering to a new system based on the month and year. New releases will be numbered according to <year>.<month> so the next release will be 21.6. 

Read more here.

 

OpenLM Server Security

OpenLM Server deprecates its internal and in house implementation of user authentication. Instead OpenLM Server can be configured to delegate these functions to an external identity service that implements the leading standard: OAuth 2.0. This change brings OpenLM server security level to comply with the requirements of the top leading organizations worldwide.

As part of this change and since the security is now an external component to the server OpenLM will not be able to provide minimal security as a login capability by default. Before installing and configuring OpenLM Identity the system will work without security. Also, the ability to configure a guest user will not be supported in version 21, because of the same reason. 

 

MariaDB – New default database engine for OpenLM Server 

Firebird database engine served us well for many years as it came pre-installed with OpenLM Server. Unfortunately this database engine has its share of performance and security issues and OpenLM discontinues its support. 

We choose MariaDB as the default database engine for OpenLM Server. This database is almost fully compatible with MySQL that is also supported by OpenLM. MariaDB provides performance and security to our users. We continue to support MS SQL Server and MySQL as before.

OpenLM Server 5.6 includes a data transfer utility (fb2mariadb) designed to assist transferring and switching from Firebird database engine to Maria DB.

 

Kestrel – OpenLM Server new default HTTP Server

OpenLM version 21 will use the advanced Kestrel HTTP server as the default for the system. Kestrel is well maintained and provides high performance and security to our users.

On earlier releases, OpenLM Server’s Web interface EasyAdmin required PHP libraries and the LightTPD Web Server in order to work. This major release drops these dependencies and their services. 

When upgrading to the new release, the installer will remove PHP and LightTPD libraries, executables and configuration from upgraded setups. 

 

Back to MSI installers on Microsoft Windows

OpenLM version 5.* used an EXE installer that required .NET framework version 4 for the installer to execute. The EXE based installer allowed us to provide you a guided installation but forced us to install frameworks that were only used for the setup and proved to be problematic with some security systems.

The new release is now using a standard MSI installer which is better suited for organizations. The post installation steps are implemented by dedicated scripts that were developed for this purpose. This allows us to provide an easy installation while being more security friendly.

 

OpenLM Server Configuration moves to the browser (EasyAdmin) 

OpenLM Server historically had Server configuration tool for some settings like – license servers configuration, SMTP settings and others. With the new version all these settings will be moved to EasyAdmin which will make things much more convenient allowing for new manual license servers addition remotely.

 

OpenLM Identity Service

OpenLM Identity Service is a new offering that facilitates user management and authentication of OpenLM products’ users. OpenLM Identity Service uses an industry standard OAuth 2.0 implementation to offer its identity management and authentication services. OpenLM Identity Service has federation capabilities built in and in the long term this will enable it to proxy identity management and authentication services to existing customer solutions that implement OAuth  2.0 standard. 

Customers that are currently using the OpenLM Roles and Permissions functionality must install and configure OpenLM Identity when upgrading to version 21.

OpenLM Server Windows automatic login with Identity Service

In the current version of OpenLM and when using Windows Authentication (NTLM) the user is required to click a button in order to login to the system. Customers requested automatic login which is now supported by version 21 of OpenLM.

OpenLM Agent 

Stay tuned to the release of Agent version 21 that we are planning to release soon. This new agent version brings a huge amount of improvements including the ability to run on multiple operating systems and an amazing new interface. The new Agent will support new security standards of version 21.

We have preserved backwards compatibility with OpenLM Agent 5.x. Existing OpenLM Agent 5.x installations will work with the 21 major release of OpenLM Server. 

OpenLM Broker

OpenLM Broker 21 delivers integration of the Broker with OpenLM Server 21 and the Identity Service. Any customer upgrading OpenLM Server to version 21 must also upgrade all brokers. 

Our OpenLM Broker team made efforts to keep the Broker backwards compatible so we recommend customers to upgrade to the latest version 21 even if they don’t plan to upgrade the server. Upgrading will bring you the latest bug fixes and support for new license managers. Upgrading the brokers in advance will reduce downtime during the future OpenLM Server upgrade.

 

OpenLM Directory Synchronization 

The second release (21) of OpenLM Directory Synchronization (DSS) brings major improvements to the product based on the many implementations that are working successfully.

The changes includes:

1. Supporting the new OpenLM Identity service and by that highly upgrading the security of the system.
2. Removing Firebird as the default database engine for DSS. Customers can now choose between MariaDB, MySQL and MS SQL Server and the system database and gain performance and security.
3. An improved migration process of old LDAP configuration settings when upgrading OpenLM from older versions. The process is now significantly faster.
4. Communication protocol between OpenLM Server and DSS is now REST instead of SOAP as before.
5. Interface improvements mainly allow customers to better manage synchronization and identify issues, if any.

OpenLM Reports Scheduler

OpenLM Reports Scheduler was adjusted to utilize OpenLM Identity. It will now have significantly higher security like all other components. 

Wider coverage of REST API

The new release 21 required a significant investment in APIs. According to our new policy all new APIs are now REST and this allows developers to interact with our system and integrate it as part of organizational IT infrastructure.

We already have multiple developers developing integrations based on OpenLM API and we are planning to further invest effort in supporting their requirements.

 

Infrastructure

Release 21 concludes a huge investment in the development of a modern and better infrastructure for OpenLM. This infrastructure that we are using in version 21 will allow us to address customer requirements more quickly. 

Infrastructure improvements as introduced in this version includes:

• Support for cross platform operating systems. 
• Browser based interfaces.
• New browser UI infrastructure.
• Support for on-premises and cloud implementations.
• REST API infrastructure
• Cross platform post installation configuration for services
• MariaDB database support 
• Embedded HTTP services
• Terminal based installation and configuration
• MSI installers on Windows OS
• Linux/UNIX installations – coming soon
• More

In the next releases we plan to continue improving our infrastructure but to dedicate more time to addressing your requests. 

Summary

Version 21 brings a huge amount of new features based on significant investment in infrastructure. OpenLM Engineering department is larger than it ever has been before, and we are looking forward to accepting your requests and implementing them. 

OpenLM traditionally used sequence release numbers to mark new versions of the software (currently the latest is 5.6). As the number of our software components is constantly growing the ability to follow up with the current version of the software becomes complex and requires customer attention. 

Today we announce a change of policy that unifies the release number of our different software products. 

New unified version number

The new release number will be composed of the year, month, date, and build number as follows:

<year>.<month>.<date>.<hours minutes>

So the new release of OpenLM published on May 30 2021 at 10:30 will get the number: 21.05.30.1030

As explained above we are aiming for the unification of all components to get the same release number.  All release components such as OpenLM Server, OpenLM Broker, OpenLM App Manager will have the same release number format.

Software updates

Each software update will get the version number according to the month it was released. For example, if we release an update in June the release number will be 21.06.xx.xx.

Compatibility between releases

OpenLM is making an effort to assure compatibility between releases of software but in some cases, we have to break compatibility, i.e. the new version can’t work with an older version of another component. 

For example, our new server version 21.05.xx.xxxx is able to support OpenLM Agent version 5 but it does not support broker version 5 and requires broker version 21.X.

Compatibility between our software releases will be documented here.

Summary

OpenLM unification enables our customers to easily know how updated their current software version is. Compatibility between software components will be also available on our website.

OpenLM already supports customers on the cloud for the last four years, however we have recently completed an almost complete upgrade and are currently running on a completely new infrastructure.

Our efforts are based on the fact that many of our customers prefer OpenLM as a cloud-based solution instead of an on-premise solution.

What is new in OpenLM Cloud?

Our cloud solution is based on OpenLM version 6.0. This new code base runs on any platform. Our cloud is running on Linux, which allows us to provide a reasonable pricing and performance. 

The system also features a new identity system that uses Open Identity and OAuth 2.0 standards. A full list of new features is available in this article (link).

What are the limitation of OpenLM Cloud platforms

OpenLM Cloud currently has some limitations compared to our on-premises platform. Our team is presently working to bridge these gaps as follows:

• OpenLM Report Scheduler – Q2 2021

• OpenLM Agent – Q2 2021

• OpenLM Role based security – Q2 2021

As you can see, we plan to close all the gaps within the next three months.

Manual vs. Automatic operational mode

Based on customer requests we have added support for manual upload for FLEXlm license servers. This request was made in order to avoid the requirement to install software during the first stage of implementation. 

Although real-time usage data is not provided in this mode, customers can upload their data and get ongoing usage charts and all other OpenLM reports. 

After installing OpenLM Brokers on the organization license servers, the system switches to automatic mode, providing real time usage information and other advanced features.

OpenLM Cloud operational costs

OpenLM Cloud offers customers an advanced enterprise system, while removing most of the burdens of keeping it updated. As part of the cloud service, the OpenLM team is fully responsible for maintaining all the components of the system including the servers and databases. The only components that our clients need to maintain are the agents. Some of the agents are complementary and may not be implemented.

This is the list of our Agents:

OpenLM Broker is OpenLM’s license server agent. It is a cross-platform application that can be installed on any operating system and that sends usage data from the license server to OpenLM Server. It is optional for some license servers, but highly recommended in most cases.

OpenLM end user agent is available as an option, and the organization may choose to install it on end user agents to enhance license utilization. The OpenLM End User agent is not currently available on the cloud, but we plan to support it on the cloud in the current quarter, the Q2 2021. 

Directory Synchronization Agent – Most of our medium and large customers synchronize OpenLM with their directory in order to get users and groups into OpenLM Server. This enables a number of features, such as cost center billing, license allocation, role-based security. The Directory Synchronization agent should be installed on an on-premises computer that has access to the domain controller and it relays information to OpenLM server. 

Typical configuration

The following figure illustrates a typical system configuration for OpenLM Cloud and an on-premises OpenLM implementation. As an example we used a company with three locations in three continents, as is typical of OpenLM customers.

The on-premises implementation might look as follows:

The On-Premises implementation includes all the elements of the system including the OpenLM Server component and the Directory Synchronization Service. These two server side components have databases that need to be secured and backuped.

 

 

The cloud implementation of the same system is significantly simpler. Agents need to be installed on each license server which reports directly to the cloud. DS Agent can be installed to synchronize directory data from the domain controller. Other optional agents can be implemented on end users workstations, also, reporting directly to the cloud.

Summary

OpenLM Cloud offers the same value to OpenLM customers while significantly reducing the operational costs of OpenLM.

OpenLM is an ideal solution for organizations that are distributed among numerous locations, and when users collaborate from different offices and from home.

Visit our website to learn and register on OpenLM Cloud.

Important note: upgrading to v5.6 requires a new license file. Please contact sales@openlm.com to request one.
OpenLM Server v5.6. represents the cornerstone phase in the development and further upgrade to v6. Here is why:

Announcing MariaDB integration

The spotlight of this release is the support for MariaDB – the replacement solution for the Firebird database engine. Firebird has ceased the maintenance, thus creating serious gaps in security aspects. In fact, v5.6 is the precursor of the OpenLM v6, which will deprecate the Firebird engine. We encourage you to take a step towards MariaDB now and be prepared for the next development stages.
To make the transition smoother, the OpenLM v5.6 installer will be delivered with an integrated migration utility. You can either choose to perform the migration now or at a later stage.

Alternatively, you can contact our support team to help you with the transition.

These changes come as a result of our strive to align to security & performance standards and make things easier for everyone. We envision this transition as the way forward and the right response to all the challenges and novelties.

Download OpenLM Server v5.6.0 from here.

Support for HASP LM via OpenLM Broker

Another implementation coming to the light with this version is Broker support for Sentinel HASP, upon request from our customers. Previously, Sentinel HASP could only be interfaced via OpenLM Server. This feature is useful if you wish to acquire more flexibility: you can connect and read debug logs, denials.
For the rest of the bug fixes and enhancements, check the release notes.

Stay tuned!

On February 10 we released the OpenLM Server v5.5 – Here are the key features we want to put the focus on:

Announcing OpenLM Agent licensed via Reusable Tokens 

Important note!

OpenLM Active Agent users must first get a license file for Version 5.5 before continuing with the upgrade.

To get the license, contact our Sales team at sales@openlm.com or use the chat icon on our website.

OpenLM Reusable Tokens License Manager represents an important milestone in our development path and commitment. This will bring substantial value and flexibility to the OpenLM users, given the fact the same tokens have capabilities to manage any application for any user. 

Furthermore, the management, monitoring and reporting are going to become much easier: all the gathered historical data will help create a clear picture on the amount of Tokens required. Thus, optimizing the expenditures and instead, focusing on what really matters.

For example, if previously the Active Agent functionality used to be a user named licensing model, now the token-based model offers freedom and flexibility to: 

• Track all the data sent by the Agents and create a token pool directly proportional to your traffic
• Actual usage
• Suspend & Resume 
• Save & Close
• Various Agent procedures

Save&Close functionality for oil applications

Petra, Harmony, and Kingdom can now benefit from the Save&Close functionality.

ServiceNow: Authentication via OAuth 2.0

OpenLM is committed to delivering products that align with the most up to date technology and security standards. This way, the OAuth 2.0 protocol has been  implemented to connect to the  ServiceNow (via db/config file).

ServiceNow: Proxy Support 

OpenLM ServiceNow Adapter is now able to connect to a servicenow.com instance via a dedicated port.

Check out the full log of bug fixes and enhancements. Stay tuned!

Our team is delighted to introduce the latest version of the OpenLM for Cloud.

The progressive work and the desire to improve our user friendliness has brought to the light some substantial enhancements:

A big achievement for this release is the support of the Directory Synchronization Service on OpenLM Cloud.

If you are new with OpenLM, our Cloud Tour will guide you through the onboarding process –  here you are with the first monitored license manager!

Do not worry if you are not granted all the permissions – the FlexLM logs and debug files can be manually uploaded to the Cloud. This is at the ready solution for a quick insight on the licenses across your company.

Therewith, the License Server widget comes with a new UI, still to make you cherish the experience with OpenLM.

Stay tuned and check our release note page for upcoming news!

Please feel free to contact OpenLM Support with any questions or requests.