You are here: Appendix B - Cartridges and Floating Licenses > Floating Licenses

Floating Licenses

Floating licenses enable a user on a networked computer to lease or “check out” a GeoExpress license for the period of time they are working. When the user exits the program, the license is returned to the License Server and available for another user.

The LizardTech License Server runs as a service named LizardTech License Server.

Server Installation, Setup and Options

Installing the LizardTech License Server

The License Server is installed from the GeoExpress installation DVD. You must have administrator rights to install the License Server.

To install the LizardTech License Server:

  1. Insert the GeoExpress DVD in the DVD drive. The DVD browser screen appears. (Note: If the DVD browser does not appear, double-click the AUTORUN.HTA file found on the DVD).
  2. Select License Server w/Tools and Documentation, then follow instructions until finished. By default, the product is installed in C:\Program Files\LizardTech\License Server.
  3. The installation creates the LizardTech License Server service.

On Windows, the License Server Utility will start, allowing you to request and add floating licenses.

Setup

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.

Adding Floating Licenses under Windows

To add a floating license on Windows, use the License Server Utility. This utility is launched upon installation of the License Server. You can also start it from the Windows Start menu; choose Start > LizardTech > Add Floating License.

To request a floating license:

  1. Start the License Server Utility.
  2. Choose Start > LizardTech > Add Floating License.

  3. Click Request a License.
  4. This will open your web browser to the LizardTech Product Activation page.

  5. Enter the requested information and click Submit.

You will receive an email with a license file from LizardTech, usually within one business day. Save the license file on the system where the License Server is running, then follow the steps below to add your license to the License Server.

To add a license file to the License Server:

  1. Start the License Server Utility.
  2. Click Import.
  3. Navigate to and select the downloaded license file (*.lic), then click Open.
  4. The License Server Utility will validate the license and display what type of license you imported.

  5. Click Add License to add the new license to your License Server’s pool of available licenses.
  6. Click Done to exit the License Server Utility.

Adding Floating Licenses under Linux

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 Linux:

  1. Run the echoid.exe file to display your locking code. On Linux this file is located by default in /usr/local/LizardTech/LicenseServer/. Record this value.
  2. Copy your locking code, then use a Web browser to navigate to the following URL:
  3. https://www.lizardtech.com/support/product-activation/.

  4. Enter the requested information and click Submit.
  5. You will receive a response from LizardTech within one business day..

  6. When you receive your license code, run the lslic.exe file in the same Tools directory:
  7. Open a command line interface and enter lslic.exe -A "license code" (where license code is the code given to you by LizardTech; note that the quotes are required).

Alternatively, you can manually add the locking code to following file:

/usr/local/LizardTech/LicenseServer/licenseserver/lservrc

To manually start the License Server, run the ./lserv utility.

While using LizardTech License Server on a UNIX platform, 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.

Setting License Server Options

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:

  1. Choose Options > Licensing.
  2. This opens the License and Cartridge Management dialog.

  3. Enter the IP address or machine name of the license server.
  4. To specify a preference for a NITF-enabled license, check NITF.
  5. Click OK.

Server Administration

Configuring Floating and Commuter Licenses

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).

Utilities

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 be prompted to specify the name of the computer you wish to connect to for a floating license in the GeoExpress Licensing dialog box.

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.

License Server Utilities
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 the SentinelLM 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.

Using Floating Licenses

Using Floating Licenses on a Network

In most cases, you will not be aware of the license check-out 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.

Using Commuter Licenses

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 commuter 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.

Commuter License Checkout Utilities
On this platform... Use this utililty...
win32 LizardTech's Commuter Licensing utility or ltcommute.exe
win64 LizardTech's Commuter Licensing utility or ltcommute.exe
Linux lcommute

LizardTech's Commuter Licensing Utility

Use the Commuter Licensing utility for win32 and w64 platforms as an alternative to lcommute or ltcommute. The Commuter Licensing utility uses the executable wcommute.exe.

To check out a license using LizardTech's Commuter Licensing utility:

  1. On the Start menu select Programs > LizardTech > GeoExpress > Commuter Licensing.

    Alternatively, run the executable wcommute.exe. The Commuter Licensing dialog appears.

  1. Click Single Server... and specify a server name, then click OK. Alternatively, click Search Subnet. Available licenses are displayed.
  2. Select a license and click Check Out. The license is now marked with a red check.

To check a license back in using the Commuter Licensing utility:

  1. On the Start menu select Programs > LizardTech > GeoExpress > Commuter Licensing. The Commuter Licensing dialog appears.
  2. Click Single Server... and specify a server name, then click OK. Alternatively, click Search Subnet. Available licenses are displayed.
  3. Select the license (it will be marked with a red check when it is checked out) and click Check In. The license becomes unmarked and is now available for another user.

ltcommute (or ltcommute.exe)

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>

lcommute (or lcommute.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>