OpenLM Maintenance Release Version 1.8.1.12

OpenLM Server version 1.8.1.12

OpenLM Server version 1.8.1.12 is a maintenance release to version 1.8. It contains some bug fixes to problems found in previous versions and enhancements. We  recommend that users of previous 1.8 versions to whom these problems may be relevant upgrade their system to this version.

Upgrading the OpenLM Server

From version 1.8 beta:

In order to upgrade to version 1.8.1.12:

1. Uninstall the OpenLM 1.8 beta version

2. Delete the OpenLM Server folder, Typically located in:

C:\Program Files\OpenLM\OpenLM Server\

3. Install the OpenLM server 1.8.1.12 version.

4. If prompted to do so, contact OpenLM to obtain an up-to-date license file. Please provide your MAC address and Hostname (case sensitive) for that. Copy this file to the

C:\Program Files\OpenLM\OpenLM Server\License   folder, and restart the OpenLM Server service.

From versions 1.7 and 1.8:

In order to upgrade to version 1.8.1.12:

1. Stop the OpenLM Server service

2. Backup your DB file (Typically located in: C:\Program Files\OpenLM\OpenLM Server\db)

3. Make sure ALL windows are closed; especially the services window.

4. Install the new version on top of the existing one.

5. If prompted to do so, contact OpenLM to obtain an up-to-date license file. Please provide your MAC address and Hostname (case sensitive) for that. Copy this file to the

C:\Program Files\OpenLM\OpenLM Server\License   folder, and restart the OpenLM Server service.

What was fixed in OpenLM Server version 1.8.1.12 (June 19, 2013)

  1. - 0000920: [EasyAdmin] License denials window exports only the 1st page.

  2. - 0000892: [OpenLM Server] Updating products/packages from xml does not work for smt products

  3. - 0000911: [OpenLM Server] LM-X license output not parsed correctly: 0 usage reported.

  4. - 0000895: [OpenLM Server] Audit report causes ‘Server error’ message.

  5. - 0000919: [OpenLM Server] RLM licenses not showing correctly after refresh.

  6. - 0000917: [EasyAdmin] Total number of licenses on the window ‘currently consumed licenses’ appear as ‘-99′ instead of ‘unlimited’

  7. - 0000799: [EasyAdmin] Wrong values shown in “Projects” window.

  8. - 0000915: [OpenLM Agent] Can not close unsaved Autodesk sessions

  9. - 0000894: [OpenLM Server] Feature version not recognized

  10. - 0000914: [OpenLM Broker] Add support for start / stop of RMS license server.

  11. - 0000910: [OpenLM Server] Set server default logging level to ERROR.

  12. - 0000897: [OpenLM Server] Export/Import buttons missing.

  13. - 0000885: [EasyAdmin] “All features” menu under option files does not show in easyadmin.

  14. - 0000804: [OpenLM Server] Exception when configuring passwords with special characters.

  15. - 0000864: [OpenLM Server] License utilization window does not work.

  16. - 0000836: [OpenLM Server] RMS Kingdom smt entries missing in license usage report.

OpenLM Agent version 1.8.1.4 (June 19, 2013)

  1. - 0000916: [OpenLM Agent] Can not resume suspended Autodesk sessions.

  2. - 0000900: [OpenLM Agent] OpenLM extension are not installed in Autocad 2014 and 2013.

  3. - 0000913: [OpenLM Agent] OpenLM Agent windows are not saving their location on the desktop.

Application Note 2031: OpenLM EasyAdmin using Microsoft IIS 7 and the setup of SSL v1.8

Application Note 2031: OpenLM EasyAdmin using Microsoft IIS 7 and the setup of SSL. v1.8

OpenLM Software is delivered with LightTPD: a built-in web server that starts as a service. Users can continue and use the built-in web server or use a standard web server such as Microsoft IIS 7. This guide explains how to configure OpenLM EasyAdmin to work with Microsoft IIS 7 and how to setup SSL on IIS7.

Configure OpenLM EasyAdmin to work with Microsoft IIS 7:

1. Install IIS:

Make sure that IIS is Installed. Browse to the local host URL (http://localhost/) and see the IIS page. If it is not installed, follow the instructions on this post to install it.

2. Enable CGI in IIS:

Open the Windows’ control panel and select “Programs”

Select “Turn Windows features on or off”

Wait for the window to load (may take a while). Select “World Wide Web Services → Application Development Features → CGI”, and click ‘OK’

3. Create the EasyAdmin site in IIS:

Open Windows’ “Control Panel” →  System and Security → Administrative Tools → Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager”

Right-Click “Default Web Site” and select “Add Virtual Directory”:

Set Alias to “easyadmin” and physical path to the EasyAdmin location typically: “C:\Program Files\OpenLM\OpenLM Server\WebApps\EasyAdmin2″:

Right-click on the “easyadmin” site and select “Convert to Application”:

4. Enable EasyAdmin CGI

At easyadmin home double-click ”Handler Mappings”:

In the “Executable” test box, type in the “cgi-bin\proxy.exe” path. This is typically

“C:\Program Files\OpenLM\OpenLM Server\WebApps\EasyAdmin2\cgi-bin\proxy.exe”

Press the “Request Restrictions…” button and select “File or Folder”:

Click “OK” twice, and answer “Yes” to this question:

Enable the CGI-exe. Select “Edit Feature Permission”:

Select “Execute” and press “OK”:

5. Configure easy admin to use proxy.exe

Navigate to easyadmin directory, typically:

“C:\Program Files\OpenLM\OpenLM Server\WebApps\EasyAdmin2″

Edit file “Params.js” file; change “proxy.cgi” to “proxy.exe” as seen here:

6. Delete old log files

located in %ALLUSERSPROFILES%\OpenLM\openlm_proxy.log

(typically “C:\ProgramData\OpenLM\openlm_proxy.log”)

7. Check that easyadmin is working

Open a web browser and browse to http://<web server>/easyadmin/

Setup SSL on Microsoft IIS 7

Obtain a certificate

Select the server node in the treeview and double-click the Server Certificates feature in the listview:

Click Create Self-Signed Certificate… in the Actions pane.

Enter a friendly name for the new certificate and click OK.

Now you have a self-signed certificate. The certificate is marked for “Server Authentication” use; that is, it is used as a server-side certificate for HTTP SSL encryption and for authenticating the identity of the server.

Create an SSL binding

Select a site in the tree view and click ‘Bindings…’ in the Actions pane. This brings up the bindings editor that lets you create, edit, and delete bindings for your Web site. Click Add… to add your new SSL binding to the site.

The default settings for a new binding are set to HTTP on port 80. Select https in the Type drop-down list. Select the self-signed certificate you created in the previous section from the SSL Certificate drop-down list and then click OK.

Now you have a new SSL binding on your site and all that remains is to verify that it works.

Verify the SSL Binding

In the ‘Actions’ pane, under “Browse Web Site”, click the link associated with the binding you have just created.

Configure SSL Settings

Configure SSL settings if you want your site to require SSL, or to interact in a specific way with client certificates. Click the site node in the treeview to go back to the site’s home page. Double-click the SSL Settings feature in the middle pane, and click apply.

Application Note 2008a: OpenLM database migration, from Firebird to MS-SQL

General

OpenLM is a license management tool that provides application usage monitoring for a variety of Concurrent license servers. These include FlexLM / Flexnet, Sentinel RMS (Aspentech SLM), DSLS, IBM LUM, Sentinel HASP, LM-X (Altair), Reprise RLM, Beta-LM, Mathematica LM (MathLM), and Easycopy.

Scope

OpenLM provides an embedded Firebird database  as part of the software installation. It also supports different types of external databases, such as MS-SQL, Oracle and MySQL. This document is intended for system administrators who wish to perform an OpenLM database migration from the default Firebird to MS-SQL. It elaborates the process and tools required for such a migration. This document is closely related to the “Guide to OpenLM Data Migration Tool”, “OpenLM Database Configuration Form”  and “Backing Up Your OpenLM DB” documents, which are recommended for further reading.

Backup the current OpenLM database

It is good practice to begin with backing up the OpenLM database prior to migrating its content. In order to do so:

1. Navigate to the windows services (you can do that by searching for services.msc in the start menu’s search line).

2. Select the “OpenLM Server” service, and Click the Stop icon.

3. Backup the OpenLM database. Please refer to the “Backing Up Your OpenLM DB” document for a more detailed explanation.

Important note: Planning the workflow: Firebird 1.7 to MS-SQL 1.8

There are two routes for migrating Firebird 1.7 to MS-SQL 1.8:

Workflow 1: Migrate Firebird 1.7 to MS-SQL 1.7, and then upgrade MS-SQL 1.7 to MS-SQL 1.8

Workflow 2: Upgrade Firebird 1.7 to Firebird 1.8, and then migrate Firebird 1.8 to MS-SQL 1.8.

We will relate to these two routes throughout this document.

At the time of writing this revision (Rev 1.0), only Workflow 1 is supported, but both are described in this document. Please follow through the steps required according to your selected workflow.

Workflow 2: Upgrade Firebird 1.7 to Firebird 1.8

Upgrading of the Firebird database OpenLM Server version 1.7 to Firebird database OpenLM Server version 1.8 is done by simply installing the later OpenLM Server version over the old one. It is important to keep a copy of the database prior to this upgrade. For more information, please refer to this document:

Application Note 1101: Upgrade guide of OpenLM Version 1.7 to Version 1.8

Workflows 1 & 2: Creating a new MS-SQL Database (Building the tables)

Create a new empty database with OpenLM tables in MS-SQL. In order to do so, OpenLM supplies dedicated DDL scripts (*.SQL files) to be applied in the MS-SQL Database control application.

1. For Workflow 1: The DDL scripts for MS-SQL 1.7 databases are available for download here. The Downloaded file contains two files for MS-SQL servers.

For Workflow 2: The DDL scripts for MS-SQL 1.8 databases are available for download on the OpenLM site. After filling in your name and email, you would be directed to the download section. Select the OpenLM Version 1.8 section, and choose the DDL scripts. The Downloaded file contains two files for MS-SQL servers.

2. Open the Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio

(Start → All Programs →  Microsoft SQL Server → SQL Server Management Studio).

3. Create a new DB: Right click the  “Databases” icon. select  “New Database” from the pop-up menu, as shown below.

4. Enter a new name for the database (e.g.: db_name) and click OK.

5. For workflow 1: Drag the “OpenLM_SQLServer.SQL” file from the downloaded directory over to the Microsoft SQL Management Studio window. The Contents of “OpenLM_SQLServer.SQL” is displayed. (The file can also be opened by clicking “File → Open → File…” and selecting “OpenLM_SQLServer.SQL” from the unzipped folder).

For workflow 2: Drag the “OpenLM_SQLServer_1.8.0.SQL” file from the downloaded directory over to the Microsoft SQL Management Studio window. The Contents of “OpenLM_SQLServer_1.8.0.SQL” is displayed. (The file can also be opened by clicking “File → Open → File…” and selecting “OpenLM_SQLServer_1.8.0.SQL” from the unzipped folder).

6. Enter the new database name after the word “use” as shown below (e.g.: db_name) and click “Execute”

7. Wait until you see the message  “Query executed successfully” as shown below:

Workflows 1 & 2: Data Migration

Now we get to the actual migration of data from Firebird to MS-SQL:

1. Make sure that the original Firebird DB is backed up, according to this document.

2. Open the “OpenLM Data Migration” tool.

For workflow 1: Data migration is done from Firebird 1.7 → MS-SQL 1.7. Use the data migration 1.7 version.

For workflow 2: Data migration is done from Firebird 1.8 → MS-SQL 1.8. Use the data migration 1.8 version.

3. On the Source frame:

3a. Select “Firebird”. The “Database Credentials” window appears:

3b. Enter the Firebird database path in the appropriate text box.

3c. Select your database(*.FDB) and enter the username and password. By default, the username is set to ‘sysdba’ and the password is ‘masterkey’

4. Target frame actions:

4a. Type in the MS-SQL Server name.

4b. Select the ‘MS-SQL’ radio button. The “Database Credentials” window appears.

4c. In the “MS-SQL Service” text box type in the MS-SQL instance name.

4d. The MS-SQL default port is set to 1521

4e. Set the Username and Password, and click OK.

5. After configuring the Source and Target databases, click the ‘Transfer’ button to begin the migration process. At the end of the migration, a notifier window appears.

Please refer to the “Guide to OpenLM Data Migration Tool” document for further information.

Workflow 1: Upgrade MS-SQL 1.7 to MS-SQL 1.8

Upgrading the MS-SQL 1.7 database to 1.8 is done by applying the 2nd SQL script (‘OpenLM_SQLServer_1.8.0_Upgrade.sql’) downloaded as part of the “Workflows 1 & 2: Creating a new MS-SQL Database (Building the tables)” section above. Drag it over to the Microsoft SQL Management Studio, and run it. The OpenLM MS-SQL schema is upgraded to version 1.8.

Configuring Openlm to work with the SQL server

Now the OpenLM server must be made to reference the new SQL Server.

1. Open the “OpenLM Database Configuration” tool:

(Start → All Programs → OpenLM → Server → OpenLM Database configuration)

.

2. Click the DB provider drop-down menu. Choose one of the options: “SQL Server Authentication” or “Windows Authentication mode”. The “OpenLM Database Configuration” window changes accordingly:

3. Fill in the information in the blank text boxes.

4. Click “Check” to check the OpenLM server’s connection to SQL Server.

5. Click “Apply” to finish the configuration.

Please refer to “OpenLM Database Configuration Form” for further information.

Revision

Rev 1.0, May 30 2013.

 

Application Note 2008b: OpenLM database migration, from Firebird 1.7 to Oracle 1.8

General

OpenLM is a license management tool that provides application usage monitoring for a variety of Concurrent license servers. These include FlexLM / Flexnet, Sentinel RMS (Aspentech SLM), DSLS, IBM LUM, Sentinel HASP, LM-X (Altair), Reprise RLM, Beta-LM, Mathematica LM (MathLM), and Easycopy.

Scope

OpenLM provides an embedded Firebird database  as part of the software installation. It also supports different types of external databases, such as MS-SQL, Oracle and MySQL. This document is intended for system administrators who wish to perform an OpenLM database migration from the default Firebird to Oracle. It elaborates the process and tools required for such a migration. This document is closely related to the “Guide to OpenLM Data Migration Tool”, “OpenLM Database Configuration Form”  and “Backing Up Your OpenLM DB” documents, which are recommended for further reading.

Backup the current OpenLM database

It is good practice to begin with backing up the OpenLM database prior to migrating its content. In order to do so:

1. Navigate to the windows services (you can do that by searching for services.msc in the start menu’s search line).

2. Select the “OpenLM Server” service, and Click the Stop icon.

3. Backup the OpenLM database. Please refer to the “Backing Up Your OpenLM DB” document for a more detailed explanation.

Prerequisites

1. Download “ODAC 11.2 Release 5 (11.2.0.3.20) with Xcopy Deployment” for 64 or 32 bit from oracle.com.

32b: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/windows/downloads/index-101290.html

64b: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/windows/downloads/index-090165.html)

2. Unzip the file downloaded in Step 1. The ODAC1120320Xcopy_x64\32 folder is created.

3. Copy the following Dll’s into the Openlm server installation folder \bin directory

(usually located in: “C:\Program Files \OpenLM\OpenLM Server\bin”):

  • ODAC1120320Xcopy_x64\instantclient_11_2\oci.dll

  • ODAC1120320Xcopy_x64\instantclient_11_2\ociw32.dll

  • ODAC1120320Xcopy_x64\instantclient_11_2\orannzsbb11.dll

  • ODAC1120320Xcopy_x64\instantclient_11_2\oraocci11.dll

  • ODAC1120320Xcopy_x64\instantclient_11_2\oraociei11.dll

  • ODAC1120320Xcopy_x64\instantclient_11_2\orasql11.dll

  • ODAC1120320Xcopy_x64\odp.net4\bin\OraOps11w.dll

Important note: Planning the workflow: Firebird 1.7 to Oracle 1.8

There are two routes for migrating Firebird 1.7 to Oracle 1.8:

Workflow 1: Migrate Firebird 1.7 to Oracle 1.7, and then upgrade Oracle 1.7 to Oracle 1.8

Workflow 2: Upgrade Firebird 1.7 to Firebird 1.8, and then migrate Firebird 1.8 to Oracle 1.8.

We will relate to these two routes throughout this document.

At the time of writing this revision (Rev 1.0), only Workflow 1 is supported, but both are described in this document. Please follow through the steps required according to your selected workflow.

Workflow 2: Upgrade Firebird 1.7 to Firebird 1.8

Upgrading of the Firebird database OpenLM Server version 1.7 to Firebird database OpenLM Server version 1.8 is done by simply installing the later OpenLM Server version over the old one. It is important to keep a copy of the database prior to this upgrade. For more information, please refer to this document:

Application Note 1101: Upgrade guide of OpenLM Version 1.7 to Version 1.8

Workflows 1 & 2: Creating a new Oracle Database (Building the tables)

Create a new empty database with OpenLM tables in Oracle. In order to do so, OpenLM supplies dedicated DDL scripts (*.SQL files) to be applied in the Oracle Database control application.

1. For Workflow 1: The DDL scripts for Oracle 1.7 databases are available for download here. The Downloaded file contains two files for Oracle servers.

For Workflow 2: The DDL scripts for Oracle 1.8 databases are available for download on the OpenLM site. After filling in your name and email, you would be directed to the download section. Select the OpenLM Version 1.8 section, and choose the DDL scripts. The Downloaded file contains two files for Oracle servers.

2. Open the Oracle Database control application from the Windows start button. Use only Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

3. Create a new OpenLM Schema in the Oracle database

3a. Create a new User:

3b. Select the Server tab, and click the “Users” link (see below).

3c. Create a new user. Add the following Roles and System Privileges to the user:

  • Roles: CONNECT

  • RESOURCE

  • System Privileges: add all System Privileges.

4. Open the Oracle SQL developer, and create a new connection. Log in to that connection with the previously defined Username and Password.

For workflow 1: Drag the “OpenLM_Oracle.sql” file from the downloaded directory over onto the Oracle SQL developer window. The Contents of “OpenLM_Oracle.sql” is displayed.

Run the SQL script. The OpenLM 1.7 schema is created in Oracle.

For workflow 2: Drag the “OpenLM_Oracle_1.8.0.sql” file from the downloaded directory over to the Oracle SQL developer window. The Contents of “OpenLM_Oracle_1.8.0.sql” is displayed. Run the SQL script. The OpenLM 1.8 schema is created in Oracle.

Workflows 1 & 2: Data Migration

Now we get to the actual migration of data from Firebird to Oracle:

1. Make sure that the original Firebird DB is backed up, according to this document.

2. Open the “OpenLM Data Migration” tool.

For workflow 1: Data migration is done from Firebird 1.7 → Oracle 1.7. Use the data migration 1.7 version.

For workflow 2: Data migration is done from Firebird 1.8 → Oracle 1.8. Use the data migration 1.8 version.

3. On the Source frame:

3a. Select “Firebird”. The “Database Credentials” window appears:

3b. Enter the Firebird database path in the appropriate text box.

3c. Select your database(*.FDB) and enter the username and password. By default, the username is set to ‘sysdba’ and the password is ‘masterkey’

4. Target frame actions:

4a. Type in the Oracle Server name.

4b. Select the ‘Oracle’ radio button. The “Database Credentials” window appears.

4c. In the “Oracle Service” text box type in the Oracle instance name.

4d. The Oracle default port is set to 1521

4e. Set the Username and Password, and click OK.

5. After configuring the Source and Target databases, click the ‘Transfer’ button to begin the migration process. At the end of the migration, a notifier window appears.

Please refer to the “Guide to OpenLM Data Migration Tool” document for further information.

Workflow 1: Upgrade Oracle 1.7 to Oracle 1.8

Upgrading the Oracle 1.7 database to 1.8 is done by applying the 2nd SQL script (‘OpenLM_Oracle_1.8.0_Upgrade.sql’) downloaded as part of the “Workflows 1 & 2: Creating a new Oracle Database (Building the tables)” section above. Drag it to the Oracle SQL developer window, and run it. The OpenLM Oracle schema is upgraded to version 1.8.

Configuring Openlm to work with the Oracle database

Now the OpenLM server must be made to refer to the new Oracle database.

1. Open the “OpenLM Database Configuration” tool:

(Start → All Programs → OpenLM → Server → OpenLM Database configuration).

2. Click the DB provider drop-down menu, and select ‘Oracle’.

3. Fill in the information in the blank text boxes.

4. Click “Check” to check the OpenLM server’s connection to the Oracle DB

5. Click “Apply” to finish the configuration.

Please refer to “OpenLM Database Configuration Form” for further information.

Revision

Rev 1.0, May 30 2013.

Application Note 2006 : OpenLM Roles and Permission Groups based security

General

OpenLM provides tools for monitoring a variety of concurrent license servers (e.g.: Flexera FlexLM (Flexnet publisher), Beta LM, IBM LUM, DSLS, Sentinel HASP, Sentinel RMS, Reprise RLM, MathLM, Easycopy, and LM-X) over WAN or LAN.

The OpenLM Server supports a role-based security feature that enables system administrators to implement customized access to OpenLM tools by setting access roles. This feature facilitates the implementation of OpenLM tools for diverse groups like help desk, system administrators, managers and developers. The role based security system secures nearly all the resources of the OpenLM system’s entities, such as listed servers, fields and action buttons.

Permissions and roles

Permitting a Resource is the act of granting a certain accessibility level to that resource. Each permission is attached to a specific Resource, granting it a permission attribute. Permission attributes may hold either one of the following values:

  • Allow: The resource is accessible for a user or a user group.

  • Disable: The resource is visible but not accessible for a user or a user group.

  • Deny: The resource is neither visible nor accessible to a user or a user group.

A set of such Resource permissions is referred to as a role. Roles are attributed to certain groups of users in a company, each group having different accessibility options to OpenLM’s resources.

Roles’ implementation may be set on, enabling the differentiation of users and groups according to permission levels, or turned off altogether, thus granting all users and user groups full accessibility to all the system’s resources.

Handling of roles and permissions is easily done by system administrators on the EasyAdmin administrative interface of the OpenLM system.

Role inheritance

Permission groups possess an inheritance property. This property facilitates the application of similar permission schemes to different groups. Thus new groups may be easily created  with only slight differences between their permission schemes.

Creating a new role

In order to create a new role go through the following steps:

1. Click the ‘Start’ button on the EasyAdmin control panel. Select the “Users & Permissions” → “Roles” tab. The “Roles” dialog window appears.

2. Press the “Add” button.

3. Type in the role name and description (e.g. “HelpDesk”). Click the “Save” icon. Note that the new role name will be saved in lower-case format (i.e. “helpdesk”).

Adding resources to a role

Adding resources to the newly created role may be done in either one of two methods. The 1st is by manually selecting Resources and attaching them to the new role:

1. In the “Roles” window, Select the required role, e.g.: “helpdesk”. Click the “Edit” icon. The “Role Details for helpdesk” window appears (Similar to the “Roles” dialog window depicted above).

2. Select the Resources tab, and click the green “Add” button. The “Resources Search” dialog box appears. Note that each line in this table contains a Resource name and description, easing the linkage between a registry in the table and its actual function in the OpenLM system.

3. Select a resource (e.g. the control_panel_menu_policy), and click the green “Select” button. The “Role Details” window’s “Resources” tab now appears with the newly attached “control_panel_menu_policy” resource.

Another option for adding Resource Permissions to the new role is by employing the inheritance property:

1. In the “Role Details for helpdesk” dialog window, select the “Parent Roles” tab and click the green “Add” icon. The roles search dialog window appears.

2. Select the role that would serve as the parent of the newly created “helpdesk” role, e.g. “admin_role” in the image above, and click the green select button. Note that the “admin_role” is the default basic role, and is always apparent for serving as a parent role. The new “helpdesk” role now possesses all the permission attributes of the parent “admin_role”.

In order to add a user to the users list, go through the following steps:

3. Click the ‘Start’ button on the EasyAdmin control panel. Select the “Users & Permissions” → “Users” tab. The Users window appears.

4. Click the “Add User” button. The “User details” form appears. Fill in the appropriate information items, check the “Enabled” box and click “Save“ as depicted below.

The new user’s information is presented attached to the Username on the “Users” window.

Adding a user to a group

In order to add a user to a group, follow this procedure:

1. Click the ‘Start’ button on the EasyAdmin control panel. Select the “Users & Permissions” → “Groups” tab. The “Groups” window appears.

2. Select a group from the “Groups” window (e.g. “GroupName”), and click the “Members” icon in order to view the members of the selected group. The “Users in “GroupName” window appears.

3. Click the green “Add” icon, in order to add further users to GroupName ’s list of users.

Assigning roles to a user or group of users

After establishing a new role of permissions and introducing a new user or group of users, it is now possible to attach this role to the users, in order to assign the role permission set to these users:

1. Click the ‘Start’ button on the EasyAdmin control panel. Select the “Users & Permissions” → “Roles” tab. The “Roles” dialog window appears.

2. Select the new role (e.g. “helpdesk”), and click the “Edit” button. The “Role details for helpdesk” dialog window appears.

3. Click the “Users” or “Groups” icon on the bottom of the window. The appropriate window (i.e. the “Users in helpdesk” or “Groups for Role”) appears.

4. Click the green “Add” icon. The appropriate window (“User search” or “Groups Search”) appears. select the required instance of user or group, and click the green “Select” icon. The added user or Group instance has been added to the role, and may be seen there in the “Users in helpdesk” or “Groups in helpdesk” window.

Changing a Resource’s permission attribute

In order to change a Resource’s permission attribute, e.g. to disable accessibility to this Resource by a certain role, follow this procedure:

Click the ‘Start’ button on the EasyAdmin control panel. Select the “Users & Permissions” tab. Observe the “Workstations” tab. In this example – this would be the affected Resource.

1. Click the ‘Start’ button on the EasyAdmin control panel. Select the “Users & Permissions” → “Roles” tab. The “Roles” dialog window appears.

2. Select a specific role, e.g. “admin_role”. Click the Edit button. The “Role details for admin_role” dialog window appears.

3. Select a resource, e.g. “control_panel_menu_workstations” as depicted. Hover over the permission attribute of that Resource. A drop-down list appears. Click the drop down list, and select the required permission attribute value, e.g.: Disable.

4. Click the save icon, close and reopen the OpenLM EasyAdmin UI.

5. Click the ‘Start’ button on the EasyAdmin control panel. Select the “Users & Permissions” tab. Observe the LACK of the “Workstations” tab. It has been removed from the admin_role view.

Server Resource visibility:

If the permission of a Resource entry which name starts with the word “server_*” is disabled or denied, the respective user groups are now unable to view items on that server. Moreover, that server would become omitted from the OpenLM Agent’s “License usage information” window.

Creating an administrative account with full permissions:

The following is an administrator Frequently Asked Question: “Why is all license usage information on the Agent blocked whenever an admin account is created in the OpenLM Server Configuration window?“ The answer is that when permissions are enabled, users need to be assigned a set of permissions that would allow them to view license servers’ details. In order to achieve this, please follow this action list:

1. Preliminary step: Create the required admin account on the OpenLM Server Configuration window: This can be done by unchecking, and then rechecking the “Enable permissions” highlighted checkbox. A small dialog box subsequently appears, requiring a name & password for the new user.

2. Create a role: Login to EasyAdmin with the “admin” account. follow the steps described in the “Creating a new role” section above.

3. Assign resources to the new role: After you save the new role, the “Resources” tab will become enabled. Navigate to that tab. Note that it is assigned with one default resource. Now you need to add all resources that have this name pattern “server_servername” e.g. server_srv1 (where srv1 is the name of the server that you will grant access to). In order to do so, Follow the description in section “Adding resources to a role” above.

4. Assign the new role to the “admin” user: In order to do so, Follow the description in the section “Assigning roles to a user or group of users” above.

Permission arbitration

Using the permissions tool, it is possible to grant resource permissions to single users independently. Also, as stated above, permissions may be inherited from parent roles. If one method grants permission and the other denies is, a mismatch condition may be present. in this case – an arbitration procedure is executed; The closest entity to a single user, i.e. a permission attribute granted to an individual user, or to the “youngest child” of an inherited attribute is the most “powerful”. If two contradicting attributes of the same strength are applied: an unknown condition may occur.

For example, picture the following constellation:

  • Admin role is parent to two roles: Role1 and Role2.

  • Admin denies permission to a resource.

  • Role1 does not explicitly refer to that resource, hence – it denies it implicitly.

  • Role2 explicitly allows the resource permission.

User attributes:

  • If User is attached to any one single role, its permission attributes will be the same as that of the role.

  • If User is attached to roles Admin and Role1 the permission will be denied.

  • If User is attached to Role1 & Role2, the permission would be allowed, since Role2 is the “youngest child” to infer to that resource.

  • If User is attached to roles Admin and Role2, an unknown condition occurs.

Application Note 2005a: Monitoring Idle Application time, and Closing Licenses manually via the “Currently Consumed Licenses”

License managers may sometimes label licenses as occupied, when in fact they are idle and wasting limited company resources. System administrators can utilize the OpenLM EasyAdmin web interface to identify such conditions and retrieve idle licenses either manually or automatically.

This document describes how to monitor application idle time and harvest idle licenses manually. For information on retrieving licenses automatically – please refer to this document:

Application Note 2005: Configuring OpenLM to close idle Licenses, OpenLM v1.8

User Idle

If the user has not been actively using the license, the idle time period would be shown in the “User Idle” column. This information is sampled by the OpenLM Agent module on each client workstation, and sent to the OpenLM server. The sample period is set by the Agent policy’s “Agent report” period, as in the example below (set to 60 sec).

The “Currently Consumed Licenses” Window:

Open the OpenLM Easyadmin tool and press ‘Start’ → ‘Operational’ → “Currently Consumed Licenses”. The “Currently Consumed Licenses” window opens:

This window lists all currently active sessions. With this window, administrators can monitor individual workstations that run licensed applications. They can detect idle applications, and shut them down with a mouse click. In order to do so, an OpenLM Agent module must be installed on each client workstation.

OpenLM Extension

Some functionality of the “Currently Consumed Licenses” window is “Extension dedicated”, i.e.: only available for applications and installations that incorporate the OpenLM extension. At the time of writing this revision (Rev 1.0) these applications include Autodesk, ArcGIS and Matlab. For more information on this – please refer to the Automatic license retrieval document:

Application Note 2005: Configuring OpenLM to close idle Licenses, OpenLM v1.8

Workstation Idle Time:

The end user’s workstation’s idle time is recorded and presented in the “Workstation Idle time” column. This report requires an active agent to be installed on the workstation.

Recent APP. Idle Period:

Records the recent idle time of a specific application. This activity requires an Agent installation on the end user’s workstation, and is “Extension Dedicated”.

View Idle Times:

Click the crescent moon icon   for a graphic view of idle and active time as well as a list of idle periods. This report requires an active agent and is “Extension Dedicated” .

 

Removing licenses

Administrators have the option to manually remove a license from a specified workstation. This is done by highlighting the user row on the Active Products window and clicking the “Remove License” icon    . There are several constraints that are specific to this feature:

  • The end user must have been inactive for a minimum period of time in order for this license to be retrieved. This value is set by default to 5 minutes in compliance with FLEXlm license manager’s limitations.

  • If the license is not really associated with any real product activity on the specified workstation (as happens when a license gets artificially “frozen” on a computer), then the license will be freed and will be returned to the pool of available licenses.

  • If the worker is actually using the product, then re-obtaining a license would be automatically attempted. If this happens the license for that product and workstation will reappear on the active products screen, with a new handle number.

Closing applications

In order to manually close an application on the workstation,  an administrator should highlight the relevant row, and click the Close Application icon .

This operation will retrieve the license back to the license pool, save the open project,  and the application itself will be shut down.

There are some constraints that are specific to this feature:

  • It requires a proper installation of the OpenLM Agent module.

  • It works only on extension enabled applications. At the time of writing this revision (Rev 1.0), these include Matlab, ArcGIS and AutoCAD.

Common Constraints

There are several constraints that are common to both the License Removal and Application Closure features.These are as follows:

  • At the time of writing this revision (Rev 1.0), These features are only applicable to the FLEXlm license manager.

  • An OpenLM Agent module must be properly installed on each Client workstation.

  • Borrowed licenses (AKA “Linger licenses”) can not be retrieved via the EasyAdmin application.

Trouble Shoot Form: FlexLM item 001 (lmutil emits jibberish)

Symptoms

OpenLM license usage tables FlexLM license servers are empty.

Troubleshoot process

1. Open the “OpenLM Configuration tool”. Select the FlexLM license manager, and click the Check button.

 2. The output file displays the FlexLM’s lmutil lmstat command’s output. If user names on this output file are spelt in “Jibberish” – test the ‘locale’ definitions on your computer. Below is a screenshot sent by one of our customers, showing “Jibberish” FlexLM output when user names were spelt in the Cyrillic alphabet.

OpenLM Maintenance Release Version 1.8.1.9

OpenLM Server version 1.8.1.9

OpenLM Server version 1.8.1.9 is a maintenance release to version 1.8. It contains some bug fixes to problems found in previous versions and enhancements. We  recommend that users of previous 1.8 versions to whom these problems may be relevant upgrade their system to this version.

Upgrading the OpenLM Server

From version 1.8 beta:

In order to upgrade to version 1.8.1.9:

1. Uninstall the OpenLM 1.8 beta version

2. Delete the OpenLM Server folder, Typically located in:

C:\Program Files\OpenLM\OpenLM Server\

3. Install the OpenLM server 1.8.1.9 version.

4. If prompted to do so, contact OpenLM to obtain an up-to-date license file. Please provide your MAC address and Hostname (case sensitive) for that. Copy this file to the

C:\Program Files\OpenLM\OpenLM Server\License   folder, and restart the OpenLM Server service.

From versions 1.7 and 1.8:

In order to upgrade to version 1.8.1.9:

1. Stop the OpenLM Server service

2. Backup your DB file (Typically located in: C:\Program Files\OpenLM\OpenLM Server\db)

3. Make sure ALL windows are closed; especially the services window.

4. Install the new version on top of the existing one.

5. If prompted to do so, contact OpenLM to obtain an up-to-date license file. Please provide your MAC address and Hostname (case sensitive) for that. Copy this file to the

C:\Program Files\OpenLM\OpenLM Server\License   folder, and restart the OpenLM Server service.

What was fixed in OpenLM Server version 1.8.1.9 (and its close predecessors)?

Version 1.8.1.9 (Published  May 23, 2013)

  1. Bug #804 – Add CDATA to PWD element in login.

  2. Bug #798 – Allow reuse of existing groups/host groups originated in option file but not currently attached to option file.

  3. Bug #839 – remove licensing notification form DB configuration form.

  4. Bug #782 – first read of license file takes a long time – ask broker to send the license file on server startup when license file does not exists. Requires broker version 1.8.1.4)

OpenLM Broker version 1.8.1.3 and 1.8.1.4

version 1.8.1.3 (Published 25.04.2013)

  1. Bug #729 – 3 messages when clicked “check connectivity”.

  2. Bug #752 –  remove rms default path.

  3. Failure to update option file

  4. Installation support upgrade for 1.8 Side By Side.

VERSION 1.8.1.4 (PUBLISHED 23.05.2013)

  1. bug #827 – fix Hint.

  2. bug #782 – first license file reading takes a long long time. Broker sends the license file immediately when it gets the request and not in the next loop.(Requires server version 1.8.1.9)

  3. bug #794 – save logging level.

How to clear the Browser Cache in Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome

General

OpenLM is a tool that facilitates software license monitoring, and improves  organization’s application usage management. It gives System Administrators and IT managers a clear view their licensed applications’ portfolio and the ability to automatically reclaim idle licenses.

OpenLM has recently published version 1.8. This version is a major road-mark for OpenLM, containing a large number of fixes and enhancements.

When upgrading from version 1.7 to 1.8, the user may experience some difficulties in operating the OpenLM EasyAdmin web application. In such cases, clearing the Browser’s cache memory should resolve the problem.

Internet Explorer:

1. Click the gear icon on the top right corner to open the ‘Settings’ menu.

2. Select “Internet Options”

3. Click the Delete button

 4. Check the following boxes: Temporary Internet Files,cookies,history.

5. Clear the “Preserve Favorites website data” box.

6. Press delete.

Chorme:

1. Click the menu icon in the upper right corner of the browser.

2. Click ‘Tools’ → “Clear browsing data” on the bottom of the menu.


3. Check the following boxes: “Clear browsing history”, “Clear download history”, ”Delete cookies and other site and plug-in data” and “Empty the cache”.

4. On the “Obliterate the following items from” drop down menu, select “Beginning of time”

5. Click the clear browsing data button.


Firefox:

1. Click the ‘Firefox’ button.

2. Select ‘History’ → “Clear Recent History”


3. Check the following boxes:

“Browsing & Download History” “Form & Search History”, “Cookies” ,”Cache” ,”Active logins”.

4. Click the “Clear Now” button.