Monitoring the Zoo License Manager with OpenLM

This document describes the steps required to interface OpenLM with McNeel’s Zoo License Manager in order to monitor license usage and obtain license statistics.

Requirements

To query the Zoo License Manager the following components must be installed:

1. OpenLM Server v2.x or higher installed on a machine in your organization or a Cloud Account
2. OpenLM Broker v4.8.8 or higher installed on the same machine as the Zoo License Manager

Monitoring capabilities and features

For Zoo LM, OpenLM collects license totals and license usage data. Denials are monitored but they are all currently classified as “Limit Reached” and only those that have a readable Feature Name are recorded in the system.

Since querying the license manager is done through OpenLM Broker, administrators get additional benefits such as:

• Buffered communication with OpenLM Server in order to overcome temporary network failures
• Remotely start / stop the license manager service
• 1-second resolution for license usage reports

OpenLM Broker configuration

Diagram of how OpenLM interfaces with the Zoo License Manager

The OpenLM Broker component should be installed on the same machine where the Zoo License Manager resides (guide) and connected to an OpenLM Server (guide).

Automatic OpenLM Broker configuration

To automatically configure OpenLM Broker with Zoo License Manager, click Detect in the bottom right corner of the Broker configuration tool window:

If the Zoo License Manager service (e.g. “McNeelZoo6”) is started, Broker will detect and configure all the required settings automatically.

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 Zoo LM port number (e.g. 80).
3. Select Zoo from the “License Manager Type” drop-down menu. Click Apply.
4. In case the OpenLM Server displays an invalid date or language for Zoo usage, click Advanced on the License Manager Port screen and take the following actions:
   • Zoo Output Language – Change the system local language to reflect the System OS language settings;
   • Zoo Date Time Format – Change the date format to reflect the Zoo output date format (if you cannot see a date format that matches your Zoo output in the list, this field can be edited manually to support a custom format);
5. Click Apply to commit the changes.
6. Select “Vendor Name to Be Filled” under Vendors. Enter McNeel in the “Vendor Name”. field then click Apply.
7. Select the Log Files node and click on Add Log File.
8. Select the “log” node that has just been created. Click […] and browse to the path where the CSV Zoo log file is located. (typically “C:ProgramDataMcNeelZoo#.#Usage” where #.# is the Zoo version number, e.g. “6.0”)
9. Click Advanced then check the “Watch Files by Pattern” box.
10. Click Apply.
11. Click Restart Broker.
12. Follow the steps in section 4 (“Configuring OpenLM Server”), below.

OpenLM Server configuration

Automatic OpenLM Server configuration through EasyAdmin

If you have followed the steps in the section above, OpenLM Broker should now be transmitting data to OpenLM Server. The final step is to approve the configuration in EasyAdmin:

1. Open the EasyAdmin interface either by accessing http://<OpenLM Server IP>:5015 in your browser or through Windows Start → OpenLM → OpenLM EasyAdmin User Interface
2. In the License Manager – Servers window, click on pending approval link, double click on newly added Zoo LM server entry and click Approve.

At this point, the Zoo License Manager has been automatically added to OpenLM Server and configuration is complete.

Manual OpenLM Server configuration

If the automatic configuration has failed, you can manually configure OpenLM Server to connect to the OpenLM Broker installation located on the Zoo License Manager machine.

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

1. Select the License Manager – Servers tab.
2. Click Add.
3. From the Type drop-down menu, select Zoo.
4. Insert a description in the Description text box (e.g. “Zoo License Manager”)
5. Set the Time Zone to where the License Server physically resides.
6. Enter the Hostname and Port number of the machine where the Zoo License Manager is installed. The Zoo LM default port is 80.
7. Use Broker box: checked.
8. Click Save and close the OpenLM Server configuration tool.

OpenLM Server is now configured to monitor the incoming data from OpenLM Broker.

How to verify your Zoo License Manager configuration

To check if the Zoo License Server is being monitored correctly:

1. Open the EasyAdmin web application (access http://<OpenLM Server hostname>:5015 in your browser)
2. Click EasyAdmin Start → Widgets → License Manager – Servers. Verify that the configured license manager(s) appears in the server 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 if this is a newly added connection.