Introduction

The Thoroughbred License Manager is available on Linux and some UNIX distribution starting with version 8.8.3. It allows for the physical separation between the Basic executable and the security file. Simply put, this allows for the Basic executable and what was stored in the tbredbas.88 file to reside on different physical systems. This provides flexibility with your configuration especially when deploying your application on Virtual Machines or using Containers. When using the License Manager, Basic is no longer installed or branded. Basic can be moved or copied to a new virtual instance and/or Container image without disrupting the security file. The only new caveat is that the License Manager Basic will only start when it can successfully connect to a License Manger.

Installation

The License Manager install consists of just a cpio file – TSI_LIC. It includes everything you need to install a Basic License. The License Manager does not need to be installed on the same server where you plan on running your Basic application. The License Manager should be installed on a static stand-alone server that is accessible to the Basic application server. Login as root and follow these steps:

# cd /usr/lib/basic
# cpio -ivdumB <TSI_LIC

The cpio file includes:
install, tslicmgr.uni, tslicact, tslicadm, service files and a default LICENSE.INI file.
# ./install

This will prompt for the software serial number (license).
If this server can access the Thoroughbred Activation Server, you will be prompted:

Internet Activation is available. Have you read and do you accept the License Agreement? Enter Y if Yes, or ‘S’ to skip Internet Activation

If your server does not display the above prompt, or you enter S to skip the activation, you can complete it later using the ‘tslicact’ executable. Just note: unlike Basic, you will not be able to start the License Manager without a valid activation.

Installing the License Manager Service

To install the License Manager service, the loadservice.sh script will copy the service file from the TSLICMGR directory to the appropriate system directory or the service files can be loaded manually.

To install the License Manager service via the script, run the following as root:

./loadservice.sh

# cd /usr/lib/basic/TSLICMGR

To manually install the License Manager service:

# cp /usr/lib/basic/TSLICMGR/tslicmgr.systemd /etc/systemd/system/ tslicmgr.service
# systemctl daemon-reload

The service file defaults to running the License Manager from the /usr/lib/basic directory, listening on port 5621. If the License Manager has been installed into a different directory or needs to listen on a different port, change the tslicmgr.systemd file before installing the service.

These service files are available starting with release level 8.9.0.

Starting the License Manager

If you did not activate the license during the install, you will need to run:

./tslicact.

You can have an Activation key emailed to you by visiting www.tbred.com/activate.html .

Once the License Manager is installed and activated, it can be started as a service or it can be started manually by:

./tslicmgr

By default, the License Manager will listen for Basic connections on port 5621. You need to ensure all systems running Basic have access to this server and port. It may require a firewall setting.

You can also start the License Manager on a different port if necessary.

./tslicmgr -p5400 (notice no space between -p and the port numbers)

When the manager successfully starts, you will see the following message in the LICENSE.LOG file:

06/26 13:30:00 (B) Starting UC=0 UL=64 GC=0 GL=62 226000002

The values for above:

UC – current number of users connected to this manager

UL – total user count for this license

GC – current number of ghost tasks connection to this manager

GL – total number of ghosts allowed with this license

Thoroughbred also recommends creating a LICENSE.LOG file to help reconcile which users (and servers) are starting and releasing Basic. More details on the LICENSE.LOG contents can be found below. To create a LICENSE.LOG file:

umask 0; touch /usr/lib/basic/LICENSE.LOG

Setting up the Application Server

Note: Basic and the License Manager are meant to be run on different servers, but they can also run on the same server.

Follow the standard Basic installation by unbundling the cpio file (either TSI_ENV or TSI_OW). You do not have to install Basic (so don’t execute ./install). Your cpio file will include 2 new files: basic.lic and tslicuhb.

basic.lic is a License Manager Basic. It can be copied/renamed to Basic. It can be copied to other Virtual machines (make sure you have the correct Linux kernel compile).

This Basic executable will not start without a /usr/lib/basic/LICENSE.INI file. If you try to start Basic without that file, you’ll get a simple error message preventing you from starting Basic.

The BASIC section of the LICENSE.INI will tell Basic where to find a License Manager. The entry can be either an IP address or host name. If the License Manager startup is using a different port than the default (5621), you need to include that in LICENSE.INI. This file must be in /usr/lib/basic.

[BASIC]
192.168.24.29
192.168.25.41:5400
tally

These are all valid entries assuming ‘tally’ is a valid host name on your network.

To confirm that the Basic will be able to connect to a License Manager, perform a reverse name lookup of the system running the License Manager from the system running Basic:

$ nslookup 192.168.24.29

$ nslookup 192.168.24.41

$ nslookup tally

If the nslookup command returns a “** server can’t find” message, the system running the License Manager will need to be added to the DNS or the /etc/hosts file on the system running Basic.

Basic does not require a persistent connection to the License Manager. Basic will communicate with the License Manager when it starts and when it releases.

Multiple Application Servers

You can configure multiple application servers to share the same License Manager. Follow the steps
above to setup a second, third, etc. application server.
Note: each Basic server will get its SSN from the License Manager. Everything else is done local including determining task ids. So, it is possible (and likely) that if you have more than 1 application server, both systems could have a T0 task. If you have multiple application servers sharing one License Manager, they will share the user count. If the License Manager is 64-users, that is 64 Basic tasks shared between the application servers.

Multiple License Managers

You can also define more than one License Manager. This is useful when the License Manager is not accessible or if user-count is maxed out.

The BASIC section of the LICENSE.INI can have multiple entries. Basic will always attempt to connect to the License Manager defined by the first entry. If it is not responding or if it returns too many users already running, Basic will then use the next entry in LICENSE.INI.

[BASIC]
192.168.24.29
192.168.25.47

If the BASIC section of the LICENSE.INI had these two entries, Basic will first try to connect to 192.168.24.29. If that failed for any reason, it would then try to connect o 192.168.25.47.

These two License Managers would likely have different licenses (i.e. one could be 64-users and the other 32-users). So, it is possible that different Basic processes on the same server could have different SSN.

From the License Manager, version 8.9.1. Open this page in the PDF