APPX License Server

NOTE

Most of this information is redundant. In current versions, if a license server is not detected it will be started automatically by the first user to log in. This will result in a slight delay during the log in process, but after that no further action is required.

Features

Starting with release 3.2, APPX requires a license server. A license server is a copy of APPX invoked with the "-l=log file name" or "/l=log file name" option. A license server "services" a set of System Administration files.

1. Simple installation - most license servers require a considerable amount of effort to install. With the APPX license server, you just point a copy of appx to your System Administration files (by setting $APPXPATH) and invoke APPX. All of the interaction between the license servers and license clients is carried out through normal APPX files.
2. Multi-CPU licensing - prior to release 3.2, you had to obtain a separate, node-locked registration for each host you wanted to run APPX on. With release 3.2, the serial number contained within a registration controls which host can function as a license server, not which host can run APPX. This means that any host can run APPX as long as it can communicate with a license server through the System Administration files.
3. Elimination of NetHASPs - the APPX license server now performs the functions previously provided by the NetHASP server. We still require a HASP to provide a serial number, but the counting of license usages is handled by APPX .
4. License Usage Reporting - release 3.2 now allows any System Administrator to view a list of the users currently consuming license rights. You can access this input process from within the System Administration Registration entry process. The report includes User ID, User Name, Startup Date/Time, process ID, and Workstation.
5. Optional Multi-login capability - if you obtain a multi-login feature license, you can log in multiple times from the same workstation and still count as a single user.
6. Immediate fail-over - clients who abort without cleaning up after themselves are ignored by other clients. The license server trims the usage log every two minutes.

Setup

An APPX license server can only service one REGISTER file at a time. A REGISTER file can only be serviced by a single license server.

If you have a single-user registration, a license server is not required.

You must enter your registration information prior to starting a license server. The CPU information contained in the registration controls which host can act as a license server. Any restrictions in the registration (such as serial number, type, and model) apply to the license server, not the license clients.

Any host can run APPX as long as the registration is being serviced. (Note that all of the clients must use the same byte-ordering).

If you try to run a multi-user copy of APPX against a registration which is not being serviced, you will receive the following error:

Error - A License Server was not detected, please run "appx -l=logfile"

To start a license server, point a copy of APPX to your System Administration files in the usual way (by setting the APPXPATH environment variable if needed) and start APPX with the following syntax:

appx -l=<log file pathname>

or

appx /l=<log file pathname>

Where <log file pathname> is the name of a file (which must be writable by APPX) to which the license server should log error messages (don't include the angle brackets in the command). The log file does not have to exist before starting the license server, although the license server will append to the log file if it does exist (rather than overwriting it).

Under Unix operating systems, the license server will run as a daemon process; immediately after starting the license server, you will receive a message similar to the following:

License server started as process 25281, logging to /tmp/appx.log

Under VMS and Windows, the license server runs as a normal process and you will not receive the message above.

You should arrange for the license server to be invoked at boot time.

• Under Unix, this means modifying the appropriate 'rc' files for your operating system.
• Under VMS, you modify the SYS$MANAGER:SYSTARTUP*.COM procedures.
• Under Windows, define a program item in the Startup folder to start the license server

Debugging

By default, the license server only logs error message to the log file. You can increase the amount of information written to the log file by setting the following environment variable prior to starting the server:

APPX_LS_DBG=0xFFFFFFFF

This should only be used for debugging - the log file will grow rapidly and continue to grow as long as the license server is running.

You can also gather debugging information from a license client by setting the following environment variables prior to starting a client:

APPX_LS_DBG=0xFFFFFFFF

APPX_LS_LOG=<log file pathname>

If you experience difficulty with the license server mechanism, please gather log files for both the license server and a license client before contacting APPX Technical Support.

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