Application Note 2008a: OpenLM database migration, from Firebird to MS-SQL

General

OpenLM is a license management tool that provides application usage monitoring for a variety of Concurrent license servers. These include FlexLM / Flexnet, Sentinel RMS (Aspentech SLM), DSLS, IBM LUM, Sentinel HASP, LM-X (Altair), Reprise RLM, Beta-LM, Mathematica LM (MathLM), and Easycopy.

Scope

OpenLM provides an embedded Firebird database as part of the software installation. It also supports different types of external databases, such as MS-SQL, Oracle and MySQL. This document is intended for system administrators who wish to perform an OpenLM database migration from the default Firebird to MS-SQL. It elaborates the process and tools required for such a migration. This document is closely related to the “Guide to OpenLM Data Migration Tool”, “OpenLM Database Configuration Form” and “Backing Up Your OpenLM DB” documents, which are recommended for further reading.

Backup the current OpenLM database

It is good practice to begin with backing up the OpenLM database prior to migrating its content. In order to do so:

1. Navigate to the windows services (you can do that by searching for services.msc in the start menu’s search line).

2. Select the “OpenLM Server” service, and Click the Stop icon.

3. Backup the OpenLM database. Please refer to the “Backing Up Your OpenLM DB” document for a more detailed explanation.

Important note: Planning the workflow: Firebird 1.7 to MS-SQL 1.8

There are two routes for migrating Firebird 1.7 to MS-SQL 1.8:

Workflow 1: Migrate Firebird 1.7 to MS-SQL 1.7, and then upgrade MS-SQL 1.7 to MS-SQL 1.8

Workflow 2: Upgrade Firebird 1.7 to Firebird 1.8, and then migrate Firebird 1.8 to MS-SQL 1.8.

We will relate to these two routes throughout this document.

At the time of writing this revision (Rev 1.0), only Workflow 1 is supported, but both are described in this document. Please follow through the steps required according to your selected workflow.

Workflow 2: Upgrade Firebird 1.7 to Firebird 1.8

Upgrading of the Firebird database OpenLM Server version 1.7 to Firebird database OpenLM Server version 1.8 is done by simply installing the later OpenLM Server version over the old one. It is important to keep a copy of the database prior to this upgrade. For more information, please refer to this document:

Application Note 1101: Upgrade guide of OpenLM Version 1.7 to Version 1.8

Workflows 1 & 2: Creating a new MS-SQL Database (Building the tables)

Create a new empty database with OpenLM tables in MS-SQL. In order to do so, OpenLM supplies dedicated DDL scripts (*.SQL files) to be applied in the MS-SQL Database control application.

1. For Workflow 1: The DDL scripts for MS-SQL 1.7 databases are available for download here. The Downloaded file contains two files for MS-SQL servers.

For Workflow 2: The DDL scripts for MS-SQL 1.8 databases are available for download on the OpenLM site. After filling in your name and email, you would be directed to the download section. Select the OpenLM Version 1.8 section, and choose the DDL scripts. The Downloaded file contains two files for MS-SQL servers.

2. Open the Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio

(Start → All Programs → Microsoft SQL Server → SQL Server Management Studio).

3. Create a new DB: Right click the “Databases” icon. select “New Database” from the pop-up menu, as shown below.

4. Enter a new name for the database (e.g.: db_name) and click OK.

5. For workflow 1: Drag the “OpenLM_SQLServer.SQL” file from the downloaded directory over to the Microsoft SQL Management Studio window. The Contents of “OpenLM_SQLServer.SQL” is displayed. (The file can also be opened by clicking “File → Open → File…” and selecting “OpenLM_SQLServer.SQL” from the unzipped folder).

For workflow 2: Drag the “OpenLM_SQLServer_1.8.0.SQL” file from the downloaded directory over to the Microsoft SQL Management Studio window. The Contents of “OpenLM_SQLServer_1.8.0.SQL” is displayed. (The file can also be opened by clicking “File → Open → File…” and selecting “OpenLM_SQLServer_1.8.0.SQL” from the unzipped folder).

6. Enter the new database name after the word “use” as shown below (e.g.: db_name) and click “Execute”

7. Wait until you see the message “Query executed successfully” as shown below:

Workflows 1 & 2: Data Migration

Now we get to the actual migration of data from Firebird to MS-SQL:

1. Make sure that the original Firebird DB is backed up, according to this document.

2. Open the “OpenLM Data Migration” tool.

For workflow 1: Data migration is done from Firebird 1.7 → MS-SQL 1.7. Use the data migration 1.7 version.

For workflow 2: Data migration is done from Firebird 1.8 → MS-SQL 1.8. Use the data migration 1.8 version.

3. On the Source frame:

3a. Select “Firebird”. The “Database Credentials” window appears:

3b. Enter the Firebird database path in the appropriate text box.

3c. Select your database(*.FDB) and enter the username and password. By default, the username is set to ‘sysdba’ and the password is ‘masterkey’

4. Target frame actions:

4a. Type in the MS-SQL Server name.

4b. Select the ‘MS-SQL’ radio button. The “Database Credentials” window appears.

4c. In the “MS-SQL Service” text box type in the MS-SQL instance name.

4d. The MS-SQL default port is set to 1521

4e. Set the Username and Password, and click OK.

5. After configuring the Source and Target databases, click the ‘Transfer’ button to begin the migration process. At the end of the migration, a notifier window appears.

Please refer to the “Guide to OpenLM Data Migration Tool” document for further information.

Workflow 1: Upgrade MS-SQL 1.7 to MS-SQL 1.8

Upgrading the MS-SQL 1.7 database to 1.8 is done by applying the 2nd SQL script (‘OpenLM_SQLServer_1.8.0_Upgrade.sql’) downloaded as part of the “Workflows 1 & 2: Creating a new MS-SQL Database (Building the tables)” section above. Drag it over to the Microsoft SQL Management Studio, and run it. The OpenLM MS-SQL schema is upgraded to version 1.8.

Configuring Openlm to work with the SQL server

Now the OpenLM server must be made to reference the new SQL Server.

1. Open the “OpenLM Database Configuration” tool:

(Start → All Programs → OpenLM → Server → OpenLM Database configuration)

2. Click the DB provider drop-down menu. Choose one of the options: “SQL Server Authentication” or “Windows Authentication mode”. The “OpenLM Database Configuration” window changes accordingly:

3. Fill in the information in the blank text boxes.

4. Click “Check” to check the OpenLM server’s connection to SQL Server.

5. Click “Apply” to finish the configuration.

Please refer to “OpenLM Database Configuration Form” for further information.

Revision

Rev 1.0, May 30 2013.

Application Note 2008b: OpenLM database migration, from Firebird 1.7 to Oracle 1.8

General

Scope

OpenLM provides an embedded Firebird database as part of the software installation. It also supports different types of external databases, such as MS-SQL, Oracle and MySQL. This document is intended for system administrators who wish to perform an OpenLM database migration from the default Firebird to Oracle. It elaborates the process and tools required for such a migration. This document is closely related to the “Guide to OpenLM Data Migration Tool”, “OpenLM Database Configuration Form” and “Backing Up Your OpenLM DB” documents, which are recommended for further reading.

Backup the current OpenLM database

It is good practice to begin with backing up the OpenLM database prior to migrating its content. In order to do so:

1. Navigate to the windows services (you can do that by searching for services.msc in the start menu’s search line).

2. Select the “OpenLM Server” service, and Click the Stop icon.

3. Backup the OpenLM database. Please refer to the “Backing Up Your OpenLM DB” document for a more detailed explanation.

Prerequisites

1. Download “ODAC 11.2 Release 5 (11.2.0.3.20) with Xcopy Deployment” for 64 or 32 bit from oracle.com.

32b: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/windows/downloads/index-101290.html

64b: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/windows/downloads/index-090165.html)

2. Unzip the file downloaded in Step 1. The ODAC1120320Xcopy_x64\32 folder is created.

3. Copy the following Dll’s to two locations:

3a. The Openlm server installation folder \bin directory

(usually located in: “C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenLM\OpenLM Server\bin”), and

3b. The data migration folder:

(usually located in: “C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenLM\OpenLM Data Migration”).

ODAC1120320Xcopy_x64\instantclient_11_2\oci.dll
ODAC1120320Xcopy_x64\instantclient_11_2\ociw32.dll
ODAC1120320Xcopy_x64\instantclient_11_2\orannzsbb11.dll
ODAC1120320Xcopy_x64\instantclient_11_2\oraocci11.dll
ODAC1120320Xcopy_x64\instantclient_11_2\oraociei11.dll
ODAC1120320Xcopy_x64\instantclient_11_2\orasql11.dll
ODAC1120320Xcopy_x64\odp.net4\bin\OraOps11w.dll

Important note: Planning the workflow: Firebird 1.7 to Oracle 1.8

There are two routes for migrating Firebird 1.7 to Oracle 1.8:

Workflow 1: Migrate Firebird 1.7 to Oracle 1.7, and then upgrade Oracle 1.7 to Oracle 1.8

Workflow 2: Upgrade Firebird 1.7 to Firebird 1.8, and then migrate Firebird 1.8 to Oracle 1.8.

We will relate to these two routes throughout this document.

Workflow 2: Upgrade Firebird 1.7 to Firebird 1.8

Application Note 1101: Upgrade guide of OpenLM Version 1.7 to Version 1.8

Workflows 1 & 2: Creating a new Oracle Database (Building the tables)

Create a new empty database with OpenLM tables in Oracle. In order to do so, OpenLM supplies dedicated DDL scripts (*.SQL files) to be applied in the Oracle Database control application.

1. For Workflow 1: The DDL scripts for Oracle 1.7 databases are available for download here. The Downloaded file contains two files for Oracle servers.

For Workflow 2: The DDL scripts for Oracle 1.8 databases are available for download on the OpenLM site. After filling in your name and email, you would be directed to the download section. Select the OpenLM Version 1.8 section, and choose the DDL scripts. The Downloaded file contains two files for Oracle servers.

2. Open the Oracle Database control application from the Windows start button. Use only Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

3. Create a new OpenLM Schema in the Oracle database

3a. Create a new User:

Open “DB Control” on IE (https://localhost:1158/em).
Enter the admin credentials (User Name =system).

3b. Select the Server tab, and click the “Users” link (see below).

3c. Create a new user. Add the following Roles and System Privileges to the user:

Roles: CONNECT
RESOURCE
System Privileges: add all System Privileges.

4. Open the Oracle SQL developer, and create a new connection. Log in to that connection with the previously defined Username and Password.

For workflow 1: Drag the “OpenLM_Oracle.sql” file from the downloaded directory over onto the Oracle SQL developer window. The Contents of “OpenLM_Oracle.sql” is displayed.

Run the SQL script. The OpenLM 1.7 schema is created in Oracle.

For workflow 2: Drag the “OpenLM_Oracle_1.8.0.sql” file from the downloaded directory over to the Oracle SQL developer window. The Contents of “OpenLM_Oracle_1.8.0.sql” is displayed. Run the SQL script. The OpenLM 1.8 schema is created in Oracle.

Workflows 1 & 2: Data Migration

Now we get to the actual migration of data from Firebird to Oracle:

1. Make sure that the original Firebird DB is backed up, according to this document.

2. Open the “OpenLM Data Migration” tool.

For workflow 1: Data migration is done from Firebird 1.7 → Oracle 1.7. Use the data migration 1.7 version.

For workflow 2: Data migration is done from Firebird 1.8 → Oracle 1.8. Use the data migration 1.8 version.

3. On the Source frame:

3a. Select “Firebird”. The “Database Credentials” window appears:

3b. Enter the Firebird database path in the appropriate text box.

3c. Select your database(*.FDB) and enter the username and password. By default, the username is set to ‘sysdba’ and the password is ‘masterkey’

4. Target frame actions:

4a. Type in the Oracle Server name.

4b. Select the ‘Oracle’ radio button. The “Database Credentials” window appears.

4c. In the “Oracle Service” text box type in the Oracle instance name.

4d. The Oracle default port is set to 1521

4e. Set the Username and Password, and click OK.

5. After configuring the Source and Target databases, click the ‘Transfer’ button to begin the migration process. At the end of the migration, a notifier window appears.

Please refer to the “Guide to OpenLM Data Migration Tool” document for further information.

Workflow 1: Upgrade Oracle 1.7 to Oracle 1.8

Upgrading the Oracle 1.7 database to 1.8 is done by applying the 2nd SQL script (‘OpenLM_Oracle_1.8.0_Upgrade.sql’) downloaded as part of the “Workflows 1 & 2: Creating a new Oracle Database (Building the tables)” section above. Drag it to the Oracle SQL developer window, and run it. The OpenLM Oracle schema is upgraded to version 1.8.

Configuring Openlm to work with the Oracle database

Now the OpenLM server must be made to refer to the new Oracle database.

1. Open the “OpenLM Database Configuration” tool:

(Start → All Programs → OpenLM → Server → OpenLM Database configuration).

2. Click the DB provider drop-down menu, and select ‘Oracle’.

3. Fill in the information in the blank text boxes. See example below.

4. Click “Check” to check the OpenLM server’s connection to the Oracle DB

5. Click “Apply” to finish the configuration.

Please refer to “OpenLM Database Configuration Form” for further information.

Revision

Rev 1.1, September 11 2013.

Application Note 2011: Quick Installation guide for the OpenLM license management system v1.8

The OpenLM Floating license monitoring and Usage optimization tool interfaces an ever growing variety of license managers, such as Flexera FlexLM (Flexnet publisher), Beta LM, IBM LUM, DSLS, Sentinel HASP, Sentinel RMS, Reprise RLM, MathLM, LM-X and Easycopy.

Step 1: Installation

The OpenLM System components are available for download on the OpenLM site. After filling in your name and email, you would be directed to the download section. Select the OpenLM Version 1.8 section:

And start by downloading the server:

When downloading is complete, double click the downloaded *.msi file and follow the standard installation instructions.

Step 2: Configuring License Servers

When the installation is complete, click:

Windows’ Start → All Programs → OpenLM → Server → OpenLM Server Configuration

The OpenLM Server configuration window opens.

1. Add in your license servers:

Click the ‘Add’ button,
Type in the License server’s host name or IP (e.g. lm10) and Port number (e.g. 27000)
Select the new License server’s type (e.g. FlexLM)
Type in an informative name (e.g. “lm10 – ArcGis server”)
Select the license server’s time zone (e.g. UTC+1)

The image below demonstrates this configuration:

2. Select a license server and click the check button in order to ensure that OpenLM can retrieve information from that license server. This information is the input received from the License manager.

3. Repeat steps 1 & 2 for all license servers.

4. Click ‘Apply’, and “Restart now”.

Step 3: The OpenLM EasyAdmin Interface

The EasyAdmin web application is the main OpenLM Administrative and user interface.

You can find it on:

Windows’ Start → All Programs → OpenLM → OpenLM EasyAdmin2.

The OpenLM EasyAdmin opens. Click the EasyAdmin start button to explore this application’s features.

The image above is an example of an EasyAdmin workspace. It features Administrative tools, License data, License usage data, Graphic usage representation, Roles and permissions’ assignment, and Active Agent capabilities.

For more information on the OpenLM EasyAdmin web interface, please refer to this document.

Congratulations!

You now have an up and running OpenLM system.

For further information regarding the installation and preliminary configuration of the OpenLM system components, please refer to the “Application Note 2010: OpenLM license management system Complete Installation guide v1.8” document.

Revision table

Revision	Author	Date	Remarks
0.1	Orik	Apr 23, 2013	Preliminary

OpenLM Version 1.8 Screenshots

OpenLM floating license monitoring tool

The OpenLM system consists of a number of modules. An overview of these modules’ function is found here. This document presents a screenshot appearance of the main OpenLM modules.

EasyAdmin

The EasyAdmin user interface is accessible from any standard internet browser, e.g.:

Mozilla FireFox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Opera, Apple Safari & Google Chrome.

EasyAdmin Control Panel

The control panel allows users to get system status information in a single glance:

License server status.
OpenLM Broker status on each license server.
General statistics on license on daily and weekly license usage.
One-glance status of critical feature over multiple license servers.
Alerts system messages.

The control panel features a Windows-like interface that allows easy access and management of Windows on a standard browser interface.

EasyAdmin – Widgets – License Servers

License servers’ information includes the license manager status and the status of the OpenLM broker installed on the license server machine.

EasyAdmin – Widgets – Host availability

Host availability indication diagram provides the full information regarding the server’s activity over time.

OpenLM EasyAdmin – Widgets – Selected features statistics

OpenLM EasyAdmin – Widgets – Feature usage status

This window allows you to easily see the number of licenses used, the number of licenses borrowed, and the license-usage percentage. It’s easy to add features by using the filter.

EasyAdmin – Widgets – Alerts

The alerts window sends notifications if any problems occur with the OpenLM server.

OpenLM EasyAdmin – Management -Licenses window

The licenses window lists available licenses, and allows easy management of the organizational assets. A sophisticated sliding filter enables users to filter long lists easily.

OpenLM EasyAdmin supports advanced features like Flexnet packages (As used by Autodesk that produce Autocad). License Packages appear as boxed items.

OpenLM EasyAdmin – Management -License Procurement table

Shows comprehensive license information, as appears in the license file: Licensed packages and their member features, issuing and expiration dates, Asset info etc. (shown in the picture for Flexnet product)

OpenLM EasyAdmin – Management – Licenses not in use

Single out licenses that have not been used for a predefined period of time.

OpenLM EasyAdmin – Management – License utilization

This bar chart represents a histogram of license usage, i.e. each column ‘x’ answers the question: “what is the percentage of usage time that x licenses have been in use”. This form of presentation ignores momentary usage peaks, and provides a vivid realization of the true license consumption pattern. It clearly depicts the number of licenses that are actually required in the organization.

OpenLM EasyAdmin – Operational – Currently Consumed Licenses window

License managers may sometimes label licenses as occupied, when in fact they are idle and wasting your limited resources.

OpenLM EasyAdmin identifies these conditions, and resolves the problem of idle licenses.

The Active Products window lists all active users. It also serves as an interface for authorized system managers to retrieve a license from any user when necessary.

OpenLM EasyAdmin – Operational – Released Licenses window

The Released Licenses window reports license release (check-ins).

This functionality is only relevant for applications with supported extensions such as ESRI Desktop ArcGIS and Autodesk.

OpenLM EasyAdmin – Reports – License Activity

The License Activity window is a very powerful tool that enables system administrators and managers to produce sophisticated reports, and track license activity of individual users. This window facilitates license statistics report generation according to Workstations, Features, Users, Groups, and Projects.

OpenLM EasyAdmin – Reports – Denials window

OpenLM accumulates reports of license request denials. Thus it provides the comprehensive exact information, which is required for establishing a correct license purchasing policy.

OpenLM EasyAdmin – Recent features denials

This window provides preliminary statistic processing of license denials per feature: It presents the number of denied license requests in long term and short term period.

OpenLM EasyAdmin – Reports – License usage

The license usage reports allows system administrators to compare the actual license usage to the number of available licenses.

The smart Filter enables users to build a customized list of licenses and get the total usage on those licenses.

OpenLM EasyAdmin – Reports – Groups and Projects Usage

OpenLM enables organization to manage users according to groups and projects, and obtain the total usage time for these groups very easily.

This could be done either manually, or by synchronizing the OpenLM database with the organization’s Active directory. This functionality is often applied in order to implement license charge back policy (license usage billing).

Project Report

Project reporting enables project-oriented companies to get license usage time according to the active project, as reported by the end user.

Group Report

Group reporting allows managers and system administrators to obtain license usage statistics according to groups.

EasyAdmin – Administration

The configuration screens allows users to set their preferences. The choice of working hours effects the statistical information which is calculated shown to all system users.

EasyAdmin – User Settings

The configured preferences in the “User settings” window effect the format of information as it is presented to the User.

OpenLM EasyAdmin – Users and Permissions – Workstations window

The Workstations window provides all the information a system administrator needs in order to manage workstations that are accessing licenses.

This information includes:

Hostname
Agent version (if applicable)
Online (Workstation is online or offline)
Idle time (User idle time)
Controlled (for supported systems)

OpenLM Server

The OpenLM Server is the hub component of the OpenLM Utilizer system.

It collects license usage information from various sources and stores it in a relational database.

The OpenLM Server is a Windows service that can manage and monitor multiple license servers such as Flexera FlexLM (Flexnet publisher), Beta LM, IBM LUM, DSLS, Sentinel HASP, Sentinel RMS, Reprise RLM, MathLM, and LM-X, located in different time zones and running on different operating systems (UNIX, Linux, or Windows).

For more information please refer to:

Application Note 2001a: Basic OpenLM Server configuration for FlexLM

OpenLM Server Configuration Form – License Servers Tab

This tab enables system administrators to effectively configure and manage license servers such as Flexera FlexLM (Flexnet publisher), Beta LM, IBM LUM, DSLS, Sentinel HASP, Sentinel RMS, Reprise RLM, MathLM, and LM-X via the OpenLM Server.

The OpenLM server supports world-wide license server monitoring; It is important to specify the timezone of each server.

After introducing new license servers, it is recommended to click the “Check” button to verify that the OpenLM server is able to connect to the license server.

Free text display names are attached to each server for better identification.

Fail safe server (Triad configuration) may also be configured on this tab.

OpenLM Server Configuration Form – Advanced Tab

Advanced OpenLM Server settings include:

Option file management
Translate workstation names to IPs
Enable the OpenLM Role based permissions system
Logging level etc.

OpenLM Server Configuration Form – Port settings Tab

The Openlm Server interfaces all other OpenLM peripheral modules via ports, which numbers are defined in this form.

OpenLM Server Configuration – Active Directory Tab

The OpenLM server can synchronize users and user groups with organizations’ LDAP Database (Microsoft Active Directory). OpenLM provides multiple policies for Group synchronizations.

OpenLM Server Configuration Form – Notifications Tab

These settings allow OpenLM to send error notifications, updates on new releases, and other important messages aimed at improving the license usage.

OpenLM Server Configuration Form – LM tools Tab

The LM tools tab holds the directories in which every license manager commands are located.

OpenLM Agent

The end user tool of OpenLM system improves license availability, empowers the user and provides advanced functionality.

OpenLM Agent functionality:

Query license manager status (and check who is using the license).
Open documents that were closed by OpenLM.
Allows the user to set the active project.
Allows the user to set the license level.
Provides license availability notifications.

OpenLM Agent is shown as an icon on the Windows system tray:

The blue and white icon indicates connectivity to OpenLM Server.

The grey icon indicates no connectivity to OpenLM Server.

OpenLM Agent – License Usage Information

The License Usage Information window is available to the end user.

The ability to query license availability from the end user workstation is a very important step towards improving license usability.

The license usage window displays the total number of used, borrowed, and available licenses.

Click on a row to get the complete list of active users who are currently drawing on that license.

The OpenLM Agent enables users to identify who is currently running a certain floating license on which station. This is an important and useful feature for any system that incorporates floating licenses such as: Autocad, Matlab, ESRI, AVEVA, Cadence, IntelliCAD, MathCAD, Pro-Engineer, Solidworks, and Synopsys.

A click on the any of the users displays the users details as stored in OpenLM Users table. These tables can be synchronized with an organization’s LDAP database: e.g.: Microsoft Active Directory.

OpenLM Agent – License available notification

When a user is denied a specific license, the OpenLM Server sends a notification to the user once the specific license becomes available again:

OpenLM Agent – Project selection

Projects can be introduced by end-users via the OpenLM Agent (once permission is set by the administrator in the EasyAdmin interface). Just click the “Create New Project” menu item in the OpenLM Agent interface:

The “Create new Project” window opens. Users can then create new projects and associate their working hours to these projects.

For more information please refer to this document:

Application Note 2030: OpenLM license usage monitoring according to projects – v1.8.

OpenLM Agent – Set ArcGIS license level

ArcGIS end users can set the licensing level before activating the software. If such a license is available, the software will start.

OpenLM Agent Configuration Form

The OpenLM Agent Configuration form sets and tests the connection to an OpenLM server.

Note – this is the OpenLM server, NOT a license (e.g.: Flexera FLEXnet) server.

The Agent’s logging level may also be set here.

A “Silent Install” option is available for automatic distribution of the OpenLM Agent to all workstations in the network.

OpenLM Active Agent

The OpenLM Active agent boosts organizations’ license usage by actively retrieving idle licenses.

The Active Agent supports many different software products from various vendors.These include: Autodesk software – Autocad, Revit, Electrical, Architecture, Mechanical, Map 3D, MEP, Navisworks and more…

ESRI – ArcGIS Desktop products: ArcView, ArcEditor, ArcInfo, Network Analyst, 3d Analyst, ArcGIS Data Interoperability, ArcGIS Data Reviewer, ArcGIS Spatial Analyst and more…

The Extension provides additional functions, such as:

Closing idle sessions when licenses are no longer in use.
One-click reopening of closed projects.

When OpenLM saves and closes an idle session of ArcGIS, it alerts the user with a notification message. Right clicking the Active Agent icon, and selecting “Recently Closed Documents” displays all recently closed documents:

Click on one of the recently closed documents to reopen it.

What is new in OpenLM version 1.8

OpenLM 1.8 is out !

The release of this milestone version is a big deal for us here in OpenLM, and we are sure you will feel the same when you start working with it.

Note for OpenLM veterans:

At this stage we recommend not to upgrade OpenLM 1.7 production systems to 1.8, but rather to install it at a sandbox, side by side with the 1.7 production server. This is in order to ensure that full functionality has been maintained in your environment, and to familiarize yourself with the new version.

This document goes over the main features that have been added or enhanced in this version, and the list is quite long:

OpenLM Server engine
EasyAdmin: Personalization, New reports, Enhanced report windows,
Moving configuration options to EasyAdmin
Support of License management tools
Active Directory
Named Users support
Packages
Projects
Permissions
License Usage
License Procurement table
License Usage Efficiency report window
Licenses not in use report window
Recent Feature Denials report window
License Servers
Session Idle time measurement
Database manipulation
ArcGIS Borrowed Licenses issue
OpenLM Broker
OpenLM Agent
ArcGIS Set Licensing level tool
Installation Process
Logs uploader

OpenLM Server engine

The OpenLM server integrates information from various sources in order to create accurate and coherent license usage information. All processing algorithms were reviewed and rewritten as needed in order to improve accuracy and processing speed.

EasyAdmin

The EasyAdmin web application has undergone facelift surgery, is more user friendly, and generally looks nicer. Some graphic presentation windows have been added, and others have been improved in both clarity and robustness.

Personalization:

EasyAdmin windows’ configuration and user settings are now maintained by the OpenLM database, not on the browser’s cache memory (as was in version 1.7). This provides the ability to personalize the EasyAdmin appearance, and get the same user’s view on different computers.

New reports

The new reports are hereby listed. Elaboration on each of these windows is provided below:

The License denial widget.
Procurement table: Shows licenses’ procurement path, providing detailed expiration information.
License usage efficiency report: Histogram per single feature, showing how much of the time have N licenses been used.

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

Moving more configuration options to EasyAdmin

Several configuration options were moved from the OpenLM server configuration tool to the EasyAdmin web application, making them accessible from anywhere. One such option is the usage logging according to projects, as depicted below:

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.
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.
IBM_LUM Offline Licenses indications.
IBM_LUM HAL (High Availability Licensing) configuration support.
DSLS has been fully integrated into the OpenLM 1.8 system.
DSLS License borrowing is reported.
BetaLM has been introduced in the 1.8 version.
BetaLM Cluster configuration is supported.
RMS: License versions’ reporting was added.
Easycopy LM has been fully integrated into the OpenLM 1.8 system.
Matematica (MathLM) has been fully integrated into the OpenLM 1.8 system.

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, Active Directory 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. For more information please refer to these documents:

Application Note 2029_a: LDAP (Active Directory) Synchronization. Basic guide v1.8

Application Note 2029_b: LDAP (Active Directory) Synchronization. Comprehensive guide v1.8

Version 1.8 now allows system managers to easily synchronize very complex structures of LDAP. In EasyAdmin the user can now control the execution of the synchronization, exclude groups and users from synchronizing and understand why each synchronized entity was generated.

EasyAdmin incorporates new administrative tools for LDAP synchronization. These provide a better view of the synchronization definitions and the relations between synchronized entities. Group and Users entities are interconnected by hyperlinks, to facilitate the browsing through LDAP synchronized data.

Named licenses support

FlexLM gets its licensing information from the license file, option file and other resources.

The License file contains the asset info information which is unique for every license pool.

The License file also contains asset info associated with groups. OpenLM Version 1.8 can be configured to read Flexnet publisher license files, and hence can report which user takes licenses from which pool.

License Suites and packages

OpenLM 1.8 is capable of integrating more information from FlexLM license files. One of the benefits of that is the capability of arranging licensed features within their respective license packages. The user does no longer need to configure packages’ members manually.

In addition to that, OpenLM 1.8 supports licensing schemes in which single features are associated with two different packages.

Projects

The Project license usage recording capability is available for OpenLM from version 1.6 onwards. In the 1.8 version, some major modifications have been made:

The configuration of Project monitoring was shifted from the OpenLM Server configuration tool to the EasyAdmin web application.
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.
Projects can now be assigned to user groups (not just to individual users).
Projects can also be introduced by end-users via the OpenLM Agent module. Please see the ‘Agent’ section below for more information on that.

For more information on monitoring licenses according to projects in OpenLM 1.8 please refer to this document:

Application Note 2030: OpenLM license usage monitoring according to projects – v1.8.

Permissions

New users are automatically associated to the “Everyone” group. After being synchronized (or associated manually) to a different group – the new group becomes the default group.

License Usage

The central “License Usage” window’s graphic presentation was improved, and now employs a cleaner GUI, with a zoom-in option.

License Procurement table

Shows comprehensive license information, as appears in the license file: Licensed packages and their member features, issuing and expiration dates, Asset info etc.

License Efficiency report

A new window that provides a histogram of usage for a single feature, showing how much of the time have N licenses been used. The image below clearly demonstrates ineffective usage of the pool of licenses:

Licenses not in use report

Single out licenses that have not been used for a predefined period of time.

Recent Feature Denials report

A graphic presentation to show a comparative chart of the number of license denials over predefined periods of time: recent and long term.

License Servers

Reported license servers’ information has been enhanced to include:

License server timezone
Status of the OpenLM broker installed on the license server machine
Host availability indication

Session Idle time measurement

Graphical waveform presentation of the Active / Idle ratio for currently and historical sessions.

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.

ArcGIS Borrowed Licenses issue

We previously reported an issue pertaining to the upgrade of ArcGIS to the newer FlexLM version. This issue manifested in erroneous reporting of license borrowing. OpenLM 1.8 bypasses this issue and shows the actual borrowing user.

OpenLM Broker

The OpenLM Broker has undergone important changes. These include:

Enhanced robustness
Enhanced compatibility with a wide array of license managers
Ability to read FlexLM license files and Audit logs, in addition to Option files.
Implementation of buffers for Broker messages, providing the ability to overcome limited network connectivity failure and continues usage reported even if the OpenLM Server machine crashes for long period of times.

OpenLM Agent

The OpenLM Agent has changed skin and looks much nicer now.

It also integrated the improvements for the following features:

Restoring of closed sessions
Searching and sorting of the license usage list
Selectively hiding or showing specific features
ArcGIS licensing level determination (see below).
As mentioned above, projects can be introduced by end-users via the OpenLM Agent. Just click the “Create New Project” menu item in the OpenLM Agent interface:

The “Create new Project” window opens. Users can then create new projects and associate their working hours to these projects.

For more information please refer to this document:

Application Note 2030: OpenLM license usage monitoring according to projects – v1.8.

ArcGIS Set Licensing level tool

ESRI implementation is unique in the sense that you can activate the ArcMap software in three different licensing levels:

Basic (Previously called viewer or ArcView)
Standard (Previously called ‘ArcEditor’)
Advanced (Previously called ‘ArcInfo’)

ArcGIS end users can set the licensing level before activating the software. If such a license is available, the software will start. OpenLM has provided this capability since version 1.6 of the software. In version 1.8 we have highly enhanced it:

It is now possible to set the licensing level according to available licenses, and
The user can choose whether to save the ArcGIS licensing level to the Registry, to do it on a user level, or on a system level (for all users – requires administrative permissions).

Installation Process

The OpenLM installation process has been standardized, and is more coherent on OpenLM version 1.8.

Logs uploader

The Logs uploader has been rewritten, and its robustness has been improved.

OpenLM beta version 1.8 is publicised

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

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:

The configuration of Project monitoring was shifted from the OpenLM Server configuration tool to the EasyAdmin web application.
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.
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.

Application Note 1035: Configuring OpenLM v1.7 to interface the EasyCopy License Manager

OpenLM supports the monitoring of a wide variety of license managers such as Flexera FlexLM (Flexnet), Beta LM, IBM LUM, DSLS, Sentinel HASP, Sentinel RMS, Reprise RLM, and LM-X.

This application note elaborates the steps required to configure OpenLM to interface the EasyCopy License Manager, and obtain reliable license reports and usage statistics. This capability is available for Easycopy versions 8.7.12 onward.

OpenLM Server configuration

In order to configure OpenLM to monitor an EasyCopy License Manager, The OpenLM Server must be configured as follows:

Click the ‘Add’ button.
Set the LM Type to ‘Other’
Set the License server’s Time zone (e.g.: Central Time)
Type in the Hostname (e.g. easycopy_lm) or IP of the EasyCopy License server.
The port number is insignificant here. Type in any number (e.g.: 123). Note that the same number will need to be used in the OpenLM Broker configuration as well (see below).
Click the ‘Apply’ and “Restart now” buttons.

OpenLM Broker Configuration

After setting the OpenLM server, the Broker needs to be configured as follows:

Please refer to the Application Note 1004: OpenLM Broker quick start guide document for general Broker configuration. In the example below – the OpenLM server hostname was set as openlm_server, the OpenLM Broker port was maintained at its default 7016.
The license server characteristics are set exactly as they were on the OpenLM Server configuration tool: The type is set to ‘Other’, the name to easycopy_lm, and the port to 123.

Type in the EasyCopy command line in the Broker’s “data_inquiry” command text box. The command is “eclic openlm” and it needs to be run from the location of the eclic.exe path.

Click the ‘Apply’ and “Restart Broker” buttons.

Siemens PLM license analysis and license monitoring

OpenLM supports license monitoring of a wide, and ever growing variety of license managers. Among those are Flexera FlexLM (Flexnet publisher), IBM LUM, DSLS, Sentinel HASP, Sentinel RMS, Reprise RLM, and LM-X.

This group of license management utilities encompass a great variety of licensed products. One group of such licensed products is the Siemens PLM (formerly UGS) 3D & 2D Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) group.

The OpenLM tool provides high level of application usage management and optimization for PLM licenses, providing clear and valuable usage information for Managers, License Administrators and End Users.

Siemens PLM Common Licensing

Siemens PLM employs the “Siemens PLM Software Common Licensing” tool in order to deliver a consistent licensing implementation to all PLM products. It is based on the Flexera FlexNet license management tool, and has incorporated some unique characteristics:

The PLM Common Licensing toolkit has adopted the Siemens PLM Software-wide licensing vendor daemon ugslmd. Consequently, all Siemens PLM products gain access to common licenses utilize this same daemon.
The PLM Common Licensing toolkit employs a unified license file for all PLM products.
The default port for the PLM ugslmd vendor daemon is 28000. That was decided in order to avoid conflicts with other applications, using the default FlexLM port 27000.
Composite ID (CID): This is a 12 digit hexadecimal unique machine identifier that is used as part of Siemens PLM Software licensing to lock a license file to a machine. The CID is distinguished from a FLEXnet hostid by the keyword “COMPOSITE=”.
NX bundles and Suite Packages: These are packages that Siemens PLM Software has predefined to meet the general needs of customers at a lower cost than purchasing individual floating licenses.

For more information on Siemens PLM Software Common Licensing, please refer to this PDF.

The OpenLM advantage

The OpenLM license monitoring tool incorporates many advantages in PLM software maintenance for members of all positions in an organization. In a nutshell:

Managers get a clear picture of their Software assets.
System Administrators are freed from managing licenses.
End users enjoy improved PLM license availability.

Additionally, OpenLM v 1.8 Automatically sorts NX suites, to clearly display Siemens PLM application usage measuring in its true context.

License borrowing in FlexNet (FlexLM) and Offline Concurrent licenses in IBM-LUM and DSLS

General

License Borrowing is a method of linking a specific workstation to a single license instance from within the license pool. This procedure marks a license as being perpetually used on the license manager (LM), enables users to borrow a product license for a designated time period, and to operate the licensed application without connecting to the license manager.
OpenLM monitors borrowing of licenses on several LM types. This document presents the borrowing methods on three of these LMs: FlexNet (FlexLM), IBM-LUM and DSLS, and the OpenLM advantages in monitoring borrowed licenses.

Borrowing licenses in FlexLM

In order to enable license borrowing, the software publisher should issue a floating license file with a FEATURE or INCREMENT line that contains the BORROW keyword, for example:
INCREMENT 3d_to_2d_flattener ugslmd 27.0 06-nov-2012 1 SUPERSEDE \
DUP_GROUP=UHD user_info=”NX 2D Exchange” ISSUED=06-sep-2012 \
BORROW=2880 ck=194 SIGN=”code”
In the example above, the BORROW time was restricted tp 2880 hours = 120 days. The maximal value for borrowing licenses in FlexLM is 180 days.

A user specifies the expiration date a borrowed license is to be returned, which should be equal to or smaller than the BORROW parameter above. This expiration date is set by applying a value to the LM_BORROW environment variable. This is done either directly, or by running the lmborrow utility, or by setting it in the application (when available).

The user then runs the application while connected to the network which writes borrowing information on the client computer. The license server keeps the borrowed license checked out. If enabled by the software publisher, borrowed licenses can be returned early, prior to the borrow period expiration.

When the expiration period has elapsed, or after having returned the borrowed license early, the local borrowing data no longer authorizes the license checkout, and the license server returns the borrowed license to the pool of available licenses.

More information on Borrowing Flexnet licenses can be found here.

DSLS Offline licenses

In DSLS, Borrowed licenses are referred to as “offline licenses”. The operation of extracting licenses for offline usage is done by the Application’s “Offline Management” tab on the “Local License Management” dialog box. There, a user needs to select a license for extraction and set the duration period for offline extraction. Maximal license offline extraction is 30 days.
When querying the usage of licenses with the DSLicSrv command’s getLicenseUsage -all , Offline licenses should be reported similarly to the following example:
internal Id: <Workstation> …
granted since: <Time and date> <workstation> <Username> <Application full path> …
targetId: <targetId> licenseId: <licenseId> …
granted since: <Time and date> hold until: <Time and date>

IBM LUM Offline licenses

The IBM License Use Management (LUM) system also refers to borrowed licenses as “Concurrent Offline Licenses”. In order to implement license borrowing in LUM:
1. The user calls the application.
2. The application looks for an offline-nodelocked license in its nodelock directory.
If a license is found and is valid, the application runs.
3. If the application does not find a license in the nodelock directory and the
portable computer can reach a License Use Management network license server,
the application requests a concurrent-offline license from it.
4. The network license server checks if the license has an authorization for the
user, group, or for the target ID of the machine, and validates the password
provided by the user.
5. If the authorization is for a concurrent-offline license, the server creates an
offline-nodelocked license and copies it to the nodelock directory of the
portable computer. The license is marked as in use on the server.
6. The application checks that the nodelock directory contains a valid license and
the application starts. The application can now run without a connection to the
License Use Management network license server (that is, the application can
run on a portable computer).

Management of offline concurrent licenses is done in the IBM LUM windows UI:

The product authorization must be set to “All Allowed” to enable concurrent offline usage
The license offline extraction time is set. It is limited to 120 days.
A password is set for the license instance.

Similar options are available by the lumblt command line.
Further information on IBM LUM concurrent offline licenses is found here.

The OpenLM advantage

Borrowing a license is typically not the preferable method for license deployment. It is both expensive and hard to track:

As borrowed licenses are floating licenses that have been put to work perpetually, they can not be subject for license chargeback, and are more expensive than other concurrent license on the license pool.
Borrowed licenses are also hard to keep track of. They are no longer marked as part of the license pool. License administrators need to manually revoke such licenses as soon as they are not needed.

OpenLM monitors the usage of license managers, providing insight regarding users’ identity and the efficient license allocation. It thus presents several advantages for such license administrators:

Identify users who draw both borrowed and concurrent license from two different workstations, and alert upon such conditions.
Mark specific used licenses as borrowed, clearly presenting the user and workstation it is linked to.
Identify usage patterns, and advise an optimized license allocation policy.

Note: Please contact support at openlm.com for a list of supported license managers’ borrowed license monitoring.

OpenLM: Concurrent license monitoring and optimization tool

What is OpenLM ?

OpenLM is a comprehensive license-management solution, designed to monitor and optimize the usage of concurrent (‘floating’) license software. OpenLM is capable of monitoring a wide variety of license managers, e.g.: FlexNet (FlexLM), Sentinel RMS, and DSLS.

Who was OpenLM Designed For?

Unlike other license management systems that only offer administration and license monitoring statistics, OpenLM also optimizes license usage in a unique manner that provides all personnel with useful license-related functions.

Organization managers:

Know what you have: License inventory.
Plan license maintenance and procurement of expensive licenses.
Charge projects or business units for software usage time.
Cut costs by dropping maintenance for licenses that are no longer in use.

Administrator view:

Real time usage management and troubleshooting.
Extract license usage statistics information and patterns.
Roles and Permissions: Grant licenses according to specific Users’ permissions.

End User View:

End users are not kept in the dark. They are informed about the status of denied licenses, and receive a License availability notification when a license becomes vacant.
Who is using the license I need, and what are this person’s contact details?

Supported features

License managers:

OpenLM interfaces a wide variety of license managers. Here is a list of them.
Concurrent monitoring of multiple license servers on multiple time zones.
Management of Floating, Node-locked and Borrowed licenses.
Detection of idle sessions, and retrieval of idle licenses.

Monitoring capabilities:

Easily review license inventory in real time.
Extract license activity reports (e.g. Flexnet report), with configurable resolution.

Infrastructure

Operational over WAN and LAN networks.
Interface license managers that run on UNIX, Linux, or Windows’ Operating systems.
Web-based user interface, applicable on any major browser.
Mobile interface application enhances monitoring abilities for system administrators.
OpenLM supports both external and embedded databases.

What does “Open” in “OpenLM” stand for?

OpenLM provides a set of open and documented APIs that enable customers and business partners to develop applications that integrate OpenLM software capabilities.

OpenLM Screenshots

Watch the OpenLM EasyAdmin screenshots on the OpenLM site.

Want to evaluate the software ?

You can get the most updated version of OpenLM from our OpenLM downloads area. After filling in your name and email – you’d be directed to the downloads’ section. The Installation process is easy and straightforward, but if you still need any assistance – please send an email to support at openlm.com, and we’ll be glad to help.