Installing a FlexNet License Server
Installing a FlexNet Publisher (FNP) License Server
A TotalView FNP license server must be hosted on a platform that TotalView supports. (For platform support specifics, see the FlexNet Publisher License Administration Guide PDF included in the distribution under <installdir>/toolworks/flexlm-<version>/doc.).
Installation Procedure:
FNP License Server Prerequisites
To install an FNP license server:
1. The license server must be installed on a platform supported by TotalView.
2. A dedicated unprivileged user account is recommended on the system that hosts the license server.
Installing the FNP License Server
1. Install the FNP Software
The FlexNet Publisher license server tar bundle flexlm-<version>.tar is available for download on the TotalView website at https://totalview.io/success/downloads.
NOTE: For served license renewal, skip this section and see FlexNet License Updates or Renewal.
1. Unpack your TotalView FlexNet Publisher distribution on the license server system
To install the FNP license server software, unpack the FlexNet Publisher tar bundle onto the machine that will host the license server, then run the Install script from the resulting directory:
tar xvf flexlm-<version>.tar -C ~
cd ~/flexlm-<version>
2. Run the Install script using sudo (optional but recommended)
sudo ./Install
This runs Install in interactive mode in which you are prompted with options or to provide information.
Choose an installation directory, e.g., /opt.At the prompt, select the components to install. Choose to install the license common files and the relevant license platform files for your license server. (The tar ball includes license server software for multiple platforms.)
Once the Install script completes, you should have a flexlm-<version> directory under <installdir>/toolworks.
2. Generate a Host ID for the FNP License Server
To obtain host information, run the toolworks_hostid script, as follows:
<installdir>/toolworks/flexlm-<version>/bin/toolworks_hostid
NOTE: Do not use the UNIX hostid command, as it will not return the proper host ID for FNP.
This script writes the host name and one or more FlexNet Publisher host ID values to standard output, for example:
The host name for this machine is: fast-server
The FlexNet Publisher host ID for this machine is: 08122b2cf32d
Be aware that a host ID is returned for just FNP when invoking toolworks_hostid from the flexlm-<version> directory. Running toolworks_hostid under the <installdir>/toolworks/totalview.<version> directory generates a host ID for both FNP and FNE on platforms running FNP.
Note: Depending on the TotalView version, an RLM host ID might also be generated.
If toolworks_hostid returns multiple FlexNet host IDs, select a persistent host ID, i.e., one for a device that is always part of the system when the license server software is running. The license server host ID is derived from the physical MAC address of a network interface card, and the host ID chosen must be a persistent address.
Send the host ID to the TotalView license team, license@perforce.com, who will then send you a permanent/subscription license.
3. Verify Your FNP License Type and Product
After receiving your license, you can verify your license type and product by running the utility toolworks_licensetype and provide as input the license file:
<installdir>/toolworks/totalview.<version>/bin/toolworks_licensetype <licensefile>
The script returns the license type (either RLM, FNP, or FNE), the product, and whether a license server is required. For example:
FlexNet Publisher (FNP) TotalView for HPC license(s) detected
These licenses are counted. A license server is required.
For license setup help refer to TotalView for HPC > FlexNet Publisher (FNP)
in the TotalView Installation and Licensing Guide.
4. Configure the FNP License Server
1. Create a file named license.src in your <installdir>/toolworks/flexlm‑<version> directory
Change to the flexlm-<version> directory on the license servercd <installdir>/toolworks/flexlm-<version>
Copy and paste the new license keys — this is the information that you received through email — into a file named license.src in the <installdir>/toolworks/flexlm‑<version> directory.The text in your license.src file is derived from your host information, number of license keys, and license configurations.
2. Create a dedicated unprivileged user account
NOTE: Skip this step if you already created the user as a prerequisite to installing and running the license server as discussed in FNP License Server Prerequisites.
While not required, it’s recommended to have a dedicated, unprivileged user account to run the license server. Note that the login shell should be /bin/sh.
3. Run the <installdir>/toolworks/flexlm‑<version>/bin/Configure_License script on the license server, to create the following files:
<installdir>/toolworks/flexlm‑<version>/license.dat <installdir>/toolworks/flexlm‑<version>/license.optNOTE: If you already have a license.opt file, the script prompts whether you want to overwrite it. Answer “n” to preserve your existing file. If you answer “y”, a new file is created, but your existing file is saved as license.opt.old.
<installdir>/toolworks/flexlm‑<version>/license.client <installdir>/toolworks/flexlm‑<version>/bin/toolworks_init 5. Point TotalView Client Installations to the FNP License Server
Each client machine that will run TotalView needs access to a license. If you are running TotalView and the license server in the installation directory on the same machine, you can skip this step.
If TotalView and the license server are not running on the same machine, you need to ensure that TotalView can find the license, using one of two ways:
Using the license file: Copy the <installdir>/toolworks/flexlm-<version>/license.client file from the license server into the <installdir>/toolworks/tv_license directory on each client machine and rename that file license.dat.or
Using the environment variable LM_LICENSE_FILE Add the license server’s port@host specification to environment variable LM_LICENSE_FILE to direct TotalView to the license server.
For example (bash):
LM_LICENSE_FILE=7127@licserver.mycompany.com
export LM_LICENSE_FILE
Starting and Stopping an FNP License Server
Starting the FNP License Server
Run the following command to start the license server.
<installdir>/toolworks/flexlm‑<version>/bin/toolworks_init start
NOTE: Note that toolworks_init was generated by the Configure_License script in 4. Configure the FNP License Server.
You can check that the license server started by viewing its log, created after running toolworks_init start at:
<installdir>/toolworks/flexlm‑<version>/license.log
As an alternative, you can run the commands within this section as an argument to the sudo command.
If you configured your license server to run as a non-privileged user, the initialization script ensures that the license management daemons are started and run under the non-privileged user even if you run the script as root.
Stopping the FNP License Server
To stop the license server:
<installdir>/toolworks/flexlm‑<version>/bin/toolworks_init stop
Autostarting the License Server
If you would like the license server to automatically start when the system is booted, run the following script as root:
<installdir>/toolworks/flexlm‑<version>/bin/Configure_Autostart
Configure_Autostart prompts you for some configuration questions and then makes changes to the specified startup files.
FNP License Three-Server Redundant Triad
If you require FNP license failover support, you can set it up in one of two ways: one method implements a three-server redundant setup; the other requires two or more license servers or uncounted licenses to be available in a search list. For detail, see the “Ensuring License Availability” chapter in the FlexNet Publisher License Administration Guide located in the directory <installdir>/toolworks/flexlm-<version>/doc.
NOTE: In most (if not all) cases, the three-server redundant setup is recommended over the search list because using the search list requires that your purchased license tokens be split between the servers in the list, limiting the number of processes you can run on a given server.
Three-Server redundant configuration
A three-server redundant setup includes three servers: one acts as the master, which serves the licenses. If it fails, one of the two secondary servers takes over as master. At any given time, two of the three machines (a quorum) must be up and available.
When creating this configuration, send the output of toolworks_hostid for each of the three servers to the licensing department. Licensing will create and send you a key that encrypts the host IDs of all three servers in the triad. Add these three server lines to your license.dat file, then install the license.dat file on each of the three license servers.
Installing a FlexNet Embedded (FNE) License Server
FNE License Server Types
The TotalView FNE license server is hosted on a single Linux x86 64-bit host machine. (For platform support specifics, see “Requirements for the Local License Server” in the FNE License Server Administration Guide PDF included in the distribution).
However, there is a provision for failover protection using a backup host, which ensures that users are not interrupted in the event of server failure. (See Installing an FNE Failover Server.) The procedure for installing either type is basically the same.
Installation Procedure
FNE License Server Prerequisites
To install an FNE license server:
1. The user/administrator must have sudo or root privileges.
2. The license server must be installed on a Linux-x86-64 system. (For platform support specifics, see “Requirements for the Local License Server” in the FNE License Server Administration Guide PDF included in the distribution).
The host running TotalView will use TCP/IP to contact and check out licenses from the FNE license server running as a Linux service on the chosen x86 64-bit machine.
3. Java requirements:
Oracle JRE 1.8 or OpenJDK 1.8The JAVA_HOME (or JRE_HOME) environment variable on your system set to the path for your default JDK (or JRE) installation. Ensure that this path does not include a trailing character, such as a slash or space.Be sure to set this variable two levels up from the java executable, i.e., just above the bin directory. For example, for a java executable in /path/to/bin/java, set JAVA_HOME or JRE_HOME to the directory /path/to.
4. A dedicated unprivileged user account is recommended for the Linux-x86-64 system that hosts the license server. See Create a dedicated unprivileged user account.
Installing an FNE License Server
1. Install the FNE License Server
The FlexNet Embedded server is available as a separate installation tar bundle, available for download on the TotalView website at https://totalview.io/success/downloads.
NOTE: For served license renewal, skip this section and see FlexNet License Updates or Renewal.
1. Unpack your TotalView FlexNet Embedded distribution on the Linux license server system
To install the FNE license server software, unpack the FlexNet Embedded tar bundle onto the Linux x86 64-bit machine that will host the license server, then run the Install script from the resulting directory:
tar xvf flexnetls-<version>.tar -C ~
cd ~/flexnetls-<version>
2. Run the Install script using sudo (required)
sudo ./Install
Choose an installation directory, e.g., /opt.At the prompt, select the components to install: just the FNE server files (flexnetls-server.tar.Z).Once the Install script completes, you should have a flexnetls-<version> directory under <installdir>/toolworks.
2. Generate a Host ID for Each FNE License Server
Generate a host ID for the license server and failover server, if relevant.
To obtain host information, run the toolworks_hostid script, as follows:
<installdir>/toolworks/flexnetls-<version>/bin/toolworks_hostid
NOTE: Do not use the UNIX hostid command, as it will not return the proper host ID for FNE.
This script writes the host name and one or more FlexNet Embedded host ID values to standard output, for example:
The host name for this machine is: fast-server
The FlexNet Embedded host ID for this machine is: 08122b2cf32d
Generate host IDs for each server. If toolworks_hostid returns multiple FlexNet host IDs, select a persistent host ID, i.e., one for a device that is always part of the system when the license server software is running. The license server host ID is derived from the physical MAC address of a network interface card, and the host ID chosen must be a persistent address.
Send the host ID to the TotalView license team, license@perforce.com, who will then send you a permanent/subscription license to use when configuring each host
3. Verify Your FNE License Type and Product
After receiving your license, you can verify your license type and product by running the utility toolworks_licensetype and provide as input the license file:
<installdir>/toolworks/totalview.<version>/bin/toolworks_licensetype <licensefile>
The script returns the license type (either RLM, FNP, or FNE), the product, and whether a license server is required. For example:
FlexNet Embedded (FNE) TotalView for HPC license(s) detected
These licenses are counted. A license server is required.
For license setup help refer to TotalView for HPC > FlexNet Embedded (FNE)
in the TotalView Installation Guide.
4. Configure the FNE License Server
1. Install the license file on the license server system
Place your Perforce-provided FNE license file, license.bin, into the flexnetls-<version> directory.
2. Create a dedicated unprivileged user account
NOTE: Skip this step if you already created the user as a prerequisite to installing and running the license server as discussed in FNE License Server Prerequisites.
While not required, it’s recommended to have a dedicated, unprivileged user account to run the license server.
3. Run the Configure_License script using sudo
cd /opt/toolworks/flexnetls-<version>
sudo bin/Configure_License
This script is interactive and prompts you while it runs. These are the possible options:
Create/provide a username, created as a prerequisite in FNE License Server Prerequisites or during Step 2. Note that this script will create a user account if you don’t already have one.(Optional) Define a program files directory where the license server service will be installed.(Optional) Define a data files directory for trusted storage and log files.Identify an available listening port (e.g., 7137).(Optional) Customize FNE server policy settings.(Optional) View the automatic license server startup script.5. Point TotalView Client Installations to the FNE License Server
Each client machine that will run TotalView needs access to a license.
On each client machine, set the environment variable TV_LICENSE_FILE to point to the FNE license server using the format <port>@<host>.For example:
TV_LICENSE_FILE=7137@licserver
export TV_LICENSE_FILE
Alternatively, to avoid having to set up the TV_LICENSE_FILE environment variable for each user, place the <port>@<host> string in a file in the tv_license directory. To do this, create a file tv_license_file that contains just the <port>@<host> string, such as 7137@licserver. Place this file in <installdir>/toolworks/tv_license/.
Starting and Stopping an FNE License Server
An FNE server is configured by default to autostart when the server reboots. In most scenarios, you won’t need to explicitly stop or start the server. You can, however, manually start or stop the server if you need to, or disable its autostart.
Disabling Autostart for an FNE License Server
To disable an FNE server’s autostart configuration, run the following script as root:
<installdir>/toolworks/flexnetls‑<version>/bin/Deconfigure_Autostart
To re-enable autostart, run:
<installdir>/toolworks/flexnetls‑<version>/bin/Configure_Autostart
Manually Starting or Stopping an FNE License Server
Run the following command to manually start the license server.
<installdir>/toolworks/flexnetls‑<version>/bin/toolworks_init start
NOTE: Note that toolworks_init was generated by the Configure_License script in 4. Configure the FNE License Server.
To stop the license server:
<installdir>/toolworks/flexnetls‑<version>/bin/toolworks_init stop
Installing an FNE Failover Server
TotalView's FNE license technology supports a failover license server configuration to provide a robust license server availability solution. This creates a primary/failover FNE license server pair for a complete FNE failover setup/configuration.
The procedure to install a failover license server is the same as installing a regular license server, with a few small differences:
cd /opt/toolworks/flexnetls-<version>
sudo bin/Configure_Backup_Server
NOTE: The primary and failover servers must have the same assigned port.
For a proper failover setup, you must generate a host ID for both the primary and failover license servers.
3. Configure Hosts to use the FNE failover setup.
In the case of a failover setup, the TV_LICENSE_FILE environment variable points to the failover host pair using the format <port>@<primarylicserver>:<backuplicserver>, for example:
TV_LICENSE_FILE=7137@licserver:failoverserver
export TV_LICENSE_FILE
Uninstalling an FNE License Server
TotalView provides a script to remove an FNE license server, fneuninstall, located in <installdir>/toolworks/flexnetls-<version>/bin. The script first stops and disables the license server, if it is running.
As the root user (or using sudo), run the script as below, assuming the FNE server is installed in its default location under /usr:
cd /usr/toolworks/flexnetls-<version>
./fneuninstall /usr
The script fneuninstall assumes that you have installed FNE using the default location, including the FNE program and data files. If you chose an alternate location when running Configure_License, you’ll need to remove these files manually after running this script.
If you have installed FNE on a backup, or failover, server, run this script on that server as well.
