What is new in OpenLM 3.0

As part of OpenLM commitment for constant development and innovation to advance its clients abilities to monitor and manage licenses, We release the OpenLM 3.0 milestone version.

The new version adds adding exciting new features and capabilities,as well as fixes some issues previously reported by our customers. The following document is an overview of the highlights of this version.

Main new functionalities and functions:

New OpenLM 3.0 presents new capabilities and components that upgrades license monitoring and management abilities:

Support for Multiple Pool Licenses and Network Named Users Licenses

• License usage may be attributed to specific license pools.
• It is possible to distinguish between Network named licenses, Node locked licenses and Floating licenses.

Additional license server capabilities

OpenLM now supports direct license usage querying of 20 license servers, and counting. In version 3.0 we have added

• LS-Dyna
• Slickedit
• and additional features for DSLS and FlexLM

New EasyAdmin Dashboard

• Quick overview of your licensing environment, allowing you to easily distinguish the top 10 items for license denial, license usage and idle licenses.

Enhanced EasyAdmin Web Interface

• An upgraded EasyAdmin was added, as part of OpenLM constant desire to improve your user experience, enhancing its simplicity and intuitive feel.

Improved Database administration

• The OpenLM 3.0 implements a fully automated database upgrade tool, that resolves that inconvenience process of upgrading external databases. Now, you have no need to run SQL scripts in order to make changes in the database. The new OpenLM 3.0 takes care of the process for you.

Improved Server Data Processing

• OpenLM 3.0 displays better abilities in the stability of the system, its accuracy and its data presentation.

Following is an elaborated description of the fixes and enhancements included in the new OpenLM Version 3.0:

OpenLM Server

Query According to License Type

OpenLM can query information according to license type. Supported License types are:

• Floating
• User Based (Network named user license)
• Host Based (Network named host license)
• Node locked (license server based)
• Single use (Local license, implemented by a software or hardware key)
• User Based Casual (DSLS)

Query According to License Asset Info

OpenLM now provides the capability to query and report FlexLM licenses according to their asset_info. In the ‘Licenses’ window, the Asset info reference number is presented in the “Additional Key” column. In the “License procurement” window, this information is presented in the “Asset info” column.

Advanced Support for Network Named Licenses

OpenLM fully supports monitoring of combined Floating, Network Named Licenses (NNU) and Host based licenses. Monitoring license usage for such combinations is exceptionally difficult, since standard FLEXlm reports do not include information regarding the consumed license type. OpenLM has developed a unique method to bypass this obstacle and provide usage information per license pool.

Fully Automated Database Update Process

A fully automated OpenLM Database upgrade mechanism has been added. Until now this functionality was only available for the Firebird embedded database. This capability greatly simplifies and streamlines the upgrade process of the OpenLM Server on external databases (MS-SQL, Oracle and MySQL).

Keywords Support Added to Options File Editing Form

The OpenLM options file editing form has been enhanced to supports additional keywords. Feature names can be adjoint an optional keyword-value pair to fully qualify it. This notation is used for distinguishing a particular group of licenses when there are multiple FEATURE lines for a single feature.

The following syntax is used: feature:keyword=value

For example: f1:VERSION=2.0 specifies the version 2.0 pool of licenses for feature f1.

The following Options file keywords are used as feature name modifiers to denote a specific group of licenses: VERSION, HOSTID, EXPDATE, KEY, SIGN, ISSUER, NOTICE,  VENDOR_STRING (if configured by the publisher as a pooling component), dist_info, user_info and asset_info.

This enhancement enables advanced operations, such as:

• Including or excluding users and groups to features of specific packages, according to the keywords. For example – the SIGN attribute will differentiates between similar features that reside in different packages.

• Allocating specific Network Named Users’ (NNU) licenses:

GROUP NNU_MATLAB_USERS User1 User2 User3 User4 User5

INCLUDE MATLAB:asset_info=123 GROUP NNU_MATLAB_USERS

License managers

OpenLM has added support to the following license manager types:

• LS-Dyna is LSTC’s (Livermore Software Technology Corporation) proprietary license manager. LSTC originated in the automotive industry, and now incorporates a variety of physics simulation tools.
• SlickEdit is a source code and text editor. It also employs its proprietary license manager, now supported through OpenLM v3.0.
• FlexLM support in OpenlM has been enhanced to support multiple pool license monitoring.
• DSLS support in OpenlM has been enhanced and now includes reporting of offline (borrowed) licenses, and license denials.

EasyAdmin

Improved Interface

We have enhanced the look and the feel of the OpenLM EasyAdmin web interface. It is now clearer and faster.

New Start Menu

The start menu has been simplified and divided to different logical units

Set Filter Location

You can now change the location of EasyAdmin windows’ filters. Right click on the ‘Utilities’ icon, and select the prefered location from the drop-down list.

Administration Form

Sort and Filter functionality has been added in the Administration form in order to enable quicker function search;

• Sort: Arrange icon names according to ascending or descending order.
• Filter: Type in a string to search for specific functions

EasyAdmin Dashboard

Based on feedback we have received from our trusted users, we have added a dashboard with a set of useful indicators. The desktop is accessible from the EasyAdmin ‘Start’ menu:

The featured indicators in the dashboard are:

• Top 10 Denied Features: Licensed features that have been frequently denied.
• Top 10 Users: Users with the most recorded usage time.
• Top 10 Current idle sessions: The longest currently open sessions that have been indicated as idle.
• Top 10 Current Longest Sessions: The longest currently active sessions
• Top 10 Used Features: Most popular licenses to check out.
• Top 10 Denied Users: Users who have been denied usage most frequently.
• License server status: Overview of the monitored license servers. This information can also be obtained by the EasyAdmin start → Widgets → License Servers window.

Each indicator can be individually refreshed or minimized, and is individually customizable; Its time range and number of items can be set separately:

Report Sharing

We have added the ability to share a view (report) with a single click;

• Click the “Share” button on any report and get a link.
• Send this link to any other EasyAdmin user to share the same presented information.

The new functionality supports almost any filter in the system and allows different implementations such as periodic email report or a webpage with constant reports.

Improved Interface for the License Usage Report Window

1. Color selection and legend

• Clear chart display: The legend and the color selector were united and are now located on top of the chart area, leaving a lot more space to the chart itself.
• Immediate color change: Color selection was moved from the selection filter to the top of the chart area. This facilitates chart color changes without resubmitting the data query to the server.

2. Chart line highlighting

Temporary or Permanent, highlighting is done in two ways:

• Temporary: Hover the mouse over a monitored feature for instantaneous highlighting.
• Permanent: Clicking the ‘Highlight’ checkbox for permanent highlight of the display.

3. Include current usage

By default, the License Usage window reports combined historical and concurrent usage. In version 3.0 we have added the possibility to exclude the current license usage in the License Usage display; Only sessions that had already ended will be transferred to this display. This option is accessible as part of the Filter selection.

4. Incorporated heatmap in the license usage report

The Heatmap report is now integrated in the License Usage report as an additional tab. This enables users to easily switch between the two displays without the need to configure a filter for the second view.

The Heatmap chart was also enhanced to include

• Hours and Days resolutions – for finer examination of usage in the heatmap.
• Multiple months’ view on the same screen: to obtain a comparative insight on license usage.

Start Full Logging

On previous OpenLM versions, setting the OpenLM Server’s logging level to ALL for debugging purposes required logging into the OpenLM Server machine and restarting the OpenLM Server service. This action has now been integrated into the EasyAdmin ‘Administration’ form. Moreover, logging can now be set for a limited period in order to avoid excessive use of the machine’s resources. When the predefined period has elapsed, logging will resume the ‘ERROR’ level.

Time Zone Selection on the EasyAdmin Interface

Changing the timezone on the EasyAdmin interface will now change the whole EasyAdmin time display to the selected time zone. In previous versions this was set automatically according to the user timezone as set on his machine.

Changing the time zone is beneficial for system administrators whose licensing systems span over multiple time zones. License managers can now set the EasyAdmin time zone to match that of the license consumption site and view usage reports accordingly.

10 Latest ‘Start’ Menu Selections

The 10 latest EasyAdmin ‘Start’ menu options selected are now saved per user. This capability facilitates quicker access to popular EasyAdmin selections.

Close All But This

In order to avoid clutter, EasyAdmin 3.0 now incorporates the capability to close all report windows, apart from the window of interest. In order to do so, right click the required window’s icon on the bottom taskbar, and select “Close All But This”

Reset Layout for Specific Windows

Users may change EasyAdmin report windows’ layouts during work. This layout would include parameters such as: shown and hidden fields, fields’ order, windows’ sizes and locations, etc.

In order to resume the default layout for individual windows, an additional field has been added in the windows’ properties selection: This is the “Reset Layout” selection.

Editing Multi Selection Fields

EasyAdmin enables users to assign multiple values filter parameters. In version 3.0 the capability to edit the content of these parameters was added. It is now possible to add or remove single values, as well as to clear the entire content.

• In order to clear the entire parameter’s contents, click  the marker icon:

• In order to remove a single parameter value, click the ‘X’ icon

Agent

Automatic Configuration Update – No Need to Restart Agent

In previous versions of OpenLM, the OpenLM Agent would be configured by the OpenLM Server upon startup. This mechanism required the Agent to be restarted whenever its configuration was updated, e.g. when adding processes to track using the unmanaged license monitoring functionality. In version 3.0, the OpenLM Agent quickly updates itself following changes in the OpenLM Server configuration.

OpenLM APIs

In OpenLM 3.0 a change has been introduced in OpenLM APIs, following a fundamental change in OpenLM’s relation to message dates. Developers should consult OpenLM support regarding the required changes.