Floating licenses enable users on networked computers to lease or “check out” a floating GeoExpress license for the period of time they are working. When they exit the program, the license is returned to the License Server and available for another user.
On Windows, the LizardTech License Server runs as a service named LizardTech License Server.
On
Linux, the license server runs as a daemon named lserv.
The License Server is installed from the GeoExpress installation DVD. You must have admin rights to install the License Server.
To install the LizardTech License Server:
autorun.HTA file found on the DVD)Select License Server w/Tools and Documentation, then follow instructions until finished. By default, the product is installed in "C:\Program Files\LizardTech\ LizardTech License Server".
The installation creates the LizardTech License Server service or lserv daemon.
For additional information on the setup and usage of LizardTech License Server, see the SentinelLM System Administrator’s Online Guide installed with your License Server.
Once you have installed the License Server you must acquire a license code from LizardTech. A license code is required for each License Server you add to your network.
To add a license for a License Server on Windows or Linux:
echoid.exe file (located by default in "C:\Program Files\ LizardTech\LizardTech License Server\bin") to display your locking code. Record this value.lslic.exe file in the same Tools directory by one of the following methods:
- Open a command line interface and enter
lslic.exe -A "license code"(where "license code" is the code given to you by LizardTech; you must include the quotes)- Select Run from your Start menu. In the Open field of the Run dialog box, enter
lslic.exe -A "license code"(where "license code" is the code given to you by LizardTech; you must include the quotes).
You are now ready to set License Server options and begin using GeoExpress.
While using the license server on Linux, you must be logged in as root to:
Only the user who started the license server can stop the license server. It is strongly recommended that only the root user administer the license server.
In most cases, you will not be aware of the floating license leasing process because it will occur invisibly and automatically. In these cases, the user need only install the LizardTech License Server. However, there are situations where the end-user will have to adjust their settings to ensure that they are using the correct license, as for example when a client machine has access to both a standalone and a NITF-enabled network version of the same license, or if there are two different versions of a license on the license server and the user would prefer one over the other (i.e. NITF-enabled versus non-NITF-enabled). In these cases, GeoExpress by default prefers the non-NITF version if one is available. To change this you must set your licensing options so that preference is given to the NITF-enabled license.
To specify a preferred License Server, use the -useserver switch as follows:
-useserver <licenseserver>
To specify preference for a NITF-enabled License, use the -usenitflicense switch without any parameter.
As the license server administrator, you may control the percentage of available floating license seats that can be used as commuter licenses. That is, the number that can be checked out and used without a connection to the network.
To configure licenses:
Set your LSERVOPTS system environment variable with the following:
-com <percentage>
where <percentage> is an integer between 0 and 100. Do not include a percent sign. This percentage value determines the number of licenses that can be checked out as commuter licenses.
For example, specifying "-com 0" ensures that no floating licenses can be checked out as commuter licenses, while specifying "-com 100" ensures that all floating licenses may be checked out as commuter licenses.
NOTE: The percentage value rounds down so that, for example, specifying "-com 50" on a server that has 3 licenses allows only 1 license to be checked out as a commuter license.
This environment variable affects all application licenses your license server is serving out, whether for GeoExpress or other applications. This means users of other software applications whose licenses you are administrating through your license server can be affected. For example, suppose you have 4 licenses for GeoExpress and you want to make 2 of them available for commuting. Suppose also that you have 1 license for Acme Supersoft. Specifying "-com 50" will make half of your GeoExpress licenses available as you planned but will have the additional side effect of restricting your Acme Supersoft license from being checked out (50% rounded down of one license is 0).
Several utilities are available to help server administrators manage the LizardTech License Server on their network. By default these tools and their documentation are installed from the GeoExpress DVD when you install the License Server.
The License Server should be installed on the same subnet as any clients who wish to access it. If your License Server is not installed on your local subnet, you will need to specify a server at the command line using the -useserver switch, as described above.
Following are descriptions of other utilities included in GeoExpress that administrators are likely to need to access and use. For more information on these utilities and on others not listed below, see the SentinelLM System Administrator’s Online Guide installed with your License Server.
| Utility | Platform | Description |
|---|---|---|
| echoid | All | Generates a locking code |
| lserv | Unix only | Starts the server (must have admin rights) |
| lservnt | NT only | Starts/stops the server (see Sentinel LM System Administrator’s Online Guide for parameters) |
| loadls | NT only | Loads the License Server service into NT services |
| WlmAdmin.exe | Windows only | Displays a list of servers/licenses |
| lsrvdown | All | Stops the server (must have admin rights) |
| lslic | All | Adds a license to your license file. |
| lsmon | All |
Monitors license server transactions. |
| lswhere | All | Displays a list of license servers. |
In most cases, you will not be aware of the floating license leasing process because it will occur invisibly and automatically (see Setting License Server Options above).
When using floating licenses a constant connection to the license server is required to perform encodes. If network connectivity is lost, encodes will fail.
A commuter license is a floating license that has been disconnected from the network. If you are using a portable (laptop) computer, as for traveling purposes, you can check out a license from a license server on your network and then disconnect from the network. You can then use GeoExpress to encode images, no matter where you go, even out of the country.
NOTE: You must have purchased the Floating License option for GeoExpress in order to use commuter licenses. For more information, contact your LizardTech representative.
To check out a commuter license, run the appropriate commuter utility as shown in the table below. These utilities ship with GeoExpress. Instructions for using them are given below.
You must check in a license when you are through using it (see instructions for each utility below). If you leave a license checked out after you are finished using it, it remains unavailable for other users.
| On this platform... | Use this utililty... |
|---|---|
| Linux | lcommute |
| win64 | ltcommute.exe |
| win32 | ltcommute.exe |
Use the lcommute utility for Linux platforms.
The lcommute utility can be used either with parameters or interactively. To operate interactively, specify no arguments at the command line (for more information see the System Administrator's Online Help, distributed on your GeoExpress DVD ROM).
To check out a license using lcommute use the following command:
-c o -o n -s <server> -f <feature> -v <version> -d 0
Zero (0) must be used with the -d argument.
To check a license back in using lcommute use the following command:
-c i -0 n -s <server> -f <feature> -v <version>
Use the ltcommute utility for the win32 and win64 platforms.
To check out a license using ltcommute use the following command:
-co -s <server> -fn <feature name> -fv <feature version>
To check a license back in using ltcommute use the following command:
-ci -s <server> -fn <feature name> -fv <feature version>
If you wish to use GeoExpress in a Terminal Services environment, you must have GeoExpress Remote Edition, which must be served from a valid License Server (see above). For more information contact your LizardTech representative.