Configuring OpenLM to monitor the Sentinel RMS license manager – KB4001e

This document describes the steps required to configure OpenLM with the Sentinel RMS license manager in order to monitor license usage and obtain license statistics.

Requirements

To query the Sentinel RMS license manager:

1. OpenLM Server v4.3 or higher must be installed on a machine in your organization. Or a Cloud account.
2. (Optional) OpenLM Broker v4.x or higher must be installed on the Sentinel RMS machine in order to take advantage of additional monitoring capabilities and features.

Monitoring capabilities and features

Monitoring capabilities will depend on which method you choose for interfacing with the Sentinel RMS license server.

Cells in yellow indicate features available when using the OpenLM Server.

Cells in blue indicate additional features available when using OpenLM Server together with OpenLM Broker.

Additionally, using the Broker component allows for buffered communication and the ability to remotely start/stop the license manager service.

Monitoring Sentinel RMS using OpenLM Server only

Diagram of how OpenLM interfaces with Sentinel RMS using OpenLM Server only

The first option for interfacing Sentinel RMS is to have the OpenLM Server query the license manager server directly. This is done remotely with the RMS command-line tools. Using this option, however, limits the available data to only license totals and license usage.

LM Tools configuration

In order to get OpenLM Server to query the Sentinel RMS license server, OpenLM needs access to the RMS command-line tools to query the server. Since these are usually located on a different machine than the OpenLM Server, they must first be copied:

1. Copy lsmon.exe, lservnt.exe, and lsapiw32.dll from the Sentinel RMS machine where the license manager is installed (e.g. C:Program Files (x86)\Common Files\SafeNet Sentinel\Sentinel RMS License Manager\WinNT) to the OpenLM Server machine in the installation folder (e.g. C:Program Files\OpenLM\OpenLM Server\LM).
2. Open the EasyAdmin -> Start -> Administration -> License Manager Servers.
3. Select LM type RMS.
4. Select the full path to the RMS executable C:\Program Files\OpenLM\OpenLM Server\lm\lsmon.exe.
5. Click SAVE.

Adding a new Sentinel RMS server

After setting up the OpenLM Server configuration tool to work with the Sentinel RMS command-line utility as described above, add a new Sentinel RMS server under the License Servers tab:

1. Select the License Servers tab.
2. Click Add LM.
3. Enter Display Name to help you recognize the license manager.
4. Select RMS as LM Type
5. Enter Server Host Name and Port (ex 5093)
6. Set the Time Zone to where the License Server physically resides.
7. Use Broker toggle off
8. Click SAVE

OpenLM Server should now be ready to query your Sentinel RMS license manager remotely and present the relevant license information via the EasyAdmin interface.

Monitoring Sentinel RMS using OpenLM Server + OpenLM Broker

Diagram of how OpenLM interfaces with Sentinel RMS using OpenLM Broker

The second option for interfacing Sentinel RMS is to have OpenLM Broker query the license manager server locally. This is done through the RMS command-line utilities (lsmon and lservnt) and any available RMS usage log files. Once this data is queried by Broker, it is sent to OpenLM Server for processing. Using this option gives you full monitoring capabilities over Sentinel RMS.

Please note that OpenLM Broker must already be installed and configured to report to OpenLM Server before proceeding further.

Enabling Sentinel RMS usage log functionality

By default, RMS does not record usage log files. This setting may vary from vendor to vendor, however it must be enabled in order for OpenLM to monitor denials.

The -l <usage-log-filename> argument must be added to either the lservnt / lserv start-up command or to the LSERVOPTS environment variable.

Instructions on how to do so can be found in the Sentinel RMS documentation.

Once usage log functionality has been enabled, note the location of the usage file as you will have to provide it below in step 11 of section 4.2.

In case RMS has already been configured to create a usage log and you want to confirm that the file is the correct one, the first lines of a typical RMS usage log file look like this:

# Startup Sentinel RMS License Manager v8.5.5.0015 Thu Feb 27 06:18:53 2014 1393503533 d55syinf02 4 1984

2 1 MTcyMzY= Thu Feb 27 06:18:54 2014 1393503534 FT-Unified v1.0 0 1 0 e3007110 BLR-SGH123T84M_1 8.5.5.0015 1 – – – – – – 0 – – – MA== 275766 MTM5Mzc3OTMwMA==

2 1 MTcyMzY= Thu Feb 27 06:18:54 2014 1393503534 FTAddins v1.0 0 1 0 e3007110 BLR-SGH123T84M_1 8.5.5.0015 1 – – – – – – 0 – – – MQ== 442468 NzE4MjM0

2 1 MTcyMzY= Thu Feb 27 06:18:54 2014 1393503534 FT-Unified v1.0 0 2 0 e3008699 BLR-2QHZ2BS_1 8.5.5.0015 1 – – – – – – 0 – – – Mg== 570497 MTAxMjk2NQ==

2 1 MTcyMzY= Thu Feb 27 06:18:54 2014 1393503534 FTAddins v1.0 0 2 0 e3008699 BLR-2QHZ2BS_1 8.5.5.0015 1 – – – – – – 0 – – – Mw== 1178556 MTc0OTA1Mw==

OpenLM Broker configuration

Automatic OpenLM Broker configuration

To have OpenLM Broker automatically detect part of the settings required to monitor Sentinel RMS, click Detect in the bottom right corner of the Broker configuration tool window:

If the Sentinel RMS service (e.g. “Sentinel RMS License Manager”) is started, Broker will detect and configure the port and utility path settings automatically. Please note that this only auto-detects some settings and does not guarantee that the configuration is valid. To verify and configure the remaining settings, please continue with step 7 in the “Manual” section below.

Manual OpenLM Broker configuration

If auto-detect did not work, you can also add and configure the license manager manually. To do so:

1. Click Add Port
2. Enter the Sentinel RMS server port number (e.g. 5093)
3. Select RMS from the “License Manager Type” drop-down menu.
4. Select the Commands node. Click […] to the left of “Update path for commands:” and browse to the folder where the RMS command-line utilities are located (typically C:Program Files (x86)Common FilesSafeNet SentinelSentinel RMS License ManagerWinNT). Click Update.
5. (Windows only) If your RMS install is configured to run using a Windows service, check the Use Service box and type in Sentinel RMS License Manager.
6. Click Apply.
7. Select the data_inquiry node under Commands then click Execute. Make sure that you see a valid output. Note: on some RMS installs, the lsmon utility is placed in a separate folder. In such cases, you would have to manually edit the “data_inquiry” node to point to the correct path and click Apply before clicking Execute.
8. Right-click the Log Files node and then click Add Log File.
9. Select the newly created log node.
10. Select Other from the Type drop-down menu.
11. Click […] right to the Path field and browse to the location of the Sentinel RMS usage log file as you have configured it in section 4.1.
12. Click Apply.
13. Click Restart Broker.

Using Broker UI:

1. Navigate to the Broker UI using a web browser.
2. For Automation detection, Click on the Detect button.
   

Manual OpenLM Broker configuration

If auto-detect did not work, you can also add and configure the license manager manually.

To do so:

1. Click on the License Manager tab.
2. Click Add License Manager.
3. Select LM Type RMS and enter Port Number. Click ADD.
4. You are on the Commands Tab now. Check if the path to the executable is correctly set (typically C: Program Files (x86)Common FilesSafeNet SentinelSentinel RMS License ManagerWinNT). You can either copy and paste the path or use the magnifier to browse to its location.
5. (Windows only) If your RMS install is configured to run using a Windows service, check the Use Service box and type in Sentinel RMS License Manager.
6. Select the data_inquiry then click Execute. Make sure that you see a valid output. Note: on some RMS installs, the lsmon utility is placed in a separate folder. In such cases, you would have to manually edit the “data_inquiry” node to point to the correct path and click SAVE before clicking Execute.
7. Go to the Vendors tab and click Add Vendor. Input the Vendor name and click CONTINUE.
   
8. Click on the Log Files tab and Add Log File.
9. Select Other from the Log Type drop-down menu and input the a log file name (free text).
10. Under Log Path browse to the location of the Sentinel RMS usage log file as you have configured it in section 4.1.
    
11. Click CONTINUE.
12. Click SAVE.

 OpenLM Server configuration

The Sentinel RMS configuration has now been automatically added to OpenLM Server and should also be present in the OpenLM Server configuration tool.

Manual OpenLM Server configuration

If the automatic configuration of OpenLM Server via EasyAdmin has failed, you can manually configure OpenLM Server to connect to the Broker installation located on the Sentinel RMS machine.

The hostname and port settings must match those that have been configured for OpenLM Broker above.

The steps for configuring OpenLM Server are the same as described in section 3.2 of this document, with the following difference(s):

1. The “Use Broker” box must be checked.

Enabling Token Calculator (available from Server v24.6)

When you want to enable this feature, the set of actions must be done:

1. • It’s recommended to back up the appsettings.json file before making any modifications.
   • Ensure you have the necessary permissions to modify the file and restart services.

     1. Locate the appsettings.json File:

        • Navigate to the OpenLM Server installation directory. The default location is:

          C:\Program Files\OpenLM\OpenLM Server\bin
          

     2. Open the appsettings.json File:

        • Right-click on the appsettings.json file and choose “Open with” from the context menu.
        • Select a suitable text editor to view and modify the file content.

     3. Enable Token Calculations:

        • Locate the following code block within the appsettings.json file:
        JSON

        },
        "AspenTokens": {
            "AspenTechTokensFile": "../config/aspen_tokens_breakdown.json",
            "EnableTokenCalculations": false
        }
        
        • Change the value of "EnableTokenCalculations" from false to true. The modified code should look like this:
        JSON

        },
        "AspenTokens": {
            "AspenTechTokensFile": "../config/aspen_tokens_breakdown.json",
            "EnableTokenCalculations": true  // Set to true
        }
        

     4. Save Changes:

        • Save your modifications to the appsettings.json file.

     5. Restart OpenLM Server:

        • To ensure the changes take effect, restart the OpenLM Server service. This can be done through the Windows Services Management Console or by running a command prompt with administrator privileges and issuing the following command:

        net stop OpenLM Server
        net start OpenLM Server
        

     Verification:

     Once you’ve completed these steps, Token Calculations should be enabled for RMS within OpenLM Server.

How to verify your Sentinel RMS configuration

To check if the Sentinel RMS License Server is monitored correctly:

1. Open the EasyAdmin User Interface
2. Click EasyAdmin Start → Widgets → License Servers.

The License Servers window will open. Verify that the configured license manager(s) appears on the list. A green circle node indicates an active connection to the license server.

Please note that sometimes it may take up to 3 minutes for the status indicator to change for new connections.