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a3dtim
Level 3

Dummy license file to test hostid binding in new FlexNet Publisher installation

We use a licensed software product that uses FlexNet Publisher as a floating license server. I currently have a working setup with the license file provided by our software supplier imported and everything is good.

I wish to move the the license server to another location so need to install FlexNet Publisher on another server. Because the current license file is still in use on the original server, and the license is bound to that hardware, I do not have the ability to fully test and verify that the new environment is working before I request a new license, with the new hostid, from our software supplier.

Is it possible to obtain, or generate, a dummy/test license file that I can use to verify the host id binding is working in FlexNet Publisher?

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(6) Replies
jyadav
Flexera Alumni

Hi @a3dtim  , 

You can generate a license file with only 1 count for a feature and test this. 

For Example :

SERVER host hostid [port] [PRIMARY_IS_MASTER] [HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL=seconds]

FEATURE f1 demo 1.0 1-jan-2020 1 SIGN=123456789012

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a3dtim
Level 3

Hi, thanks for the reply.

When you say "generate" do you mean to generate with some tool? Or hand craft the license file? I've tried hand crafting using your example above and the import succeeds but don't see any available licenses on the dashboard. The import also succeeds if the host id is wrong, which is unexpected.

Is the host id check specific to a vendor daemon? My software supplier is using the asglmd vendor daemon.

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jberthold
Revenera Moderator Revenera Moderator
Revenera Moderator

Hi @a3dtim ,

You do not have the ability to generate a license file for your new license server, you will need to request one from your software supplier.

Thanks,

Jim

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Hi Jim,

I was hoping to find a solution that I could manage myself since I'm planning on hosting in a virtual environment and the host id is likely to change often while I experiment with different configurations. Needing to go back to my software supplier every time the host id changes would be quite tedious. Besides, the initial response from my software supplier was to sell me another full license for thousands of pounds, which was a less than ideal suggestion.

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jberthold
Revenera Moderator Revenera Moderator
Revenera Moderator

Understood, however it would leave the licensed application open to overuse if end users had the ability to generate licenses without the software supplier's knowledge.  A limitation of certificate or file-based licensing is there is no technical proof that you are no longer using the license on Server A when you wish to transfer the license to Server B.  As a side note we do provide the technology to implement what are called Trusted Storage  licenses where you can securely return licenses from Server A before activating the license on Server B, however it appears it is not being used by your software supplier.  Perhaps your supplier could generate a time-limited license for your tests.  Some suppliers provide a legal document that you would sign to indicate you are no longer using the license on your original server before cutting you a new production license for the new server.

Thx,

Jim

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Ok understood. It's a shame there's no mechanism to have a licence that simply proves the correct configuration of license file and host without actually providing any licenses for any products.

Anyway, I have another idea that might serve sufficiently for my purposes. Perhaps you could say if you think it's reasonable?

The host id in the license file binds the license to the host platform. In the FlexNetLicenseServerTools directory there's an "lmhostid" utility that returns the host id(s) as recognised by the FlexNet Publisher.

$ ./FlexNetLicenseServerTools/lmhostid 
lmhostid - Copyright (c) 1989-2019 Flexera. All Rights Reserved.
The FlexNet host ID of this machine is ""8cae4cde9540 58961d9494d1""
Only use ONE from the list of hostids.

To validate a setup in any cloud environment would it suffice to ensure that these host id's remain consistent on the machine running the FlexNet Publisher?

I think I can achieve this in AWS by creating the Network Interface as a separate entity to the host machine so that any failure of the host machine does not destroy the Network Interface, then I can create a new host and bind it to the existing Network Interface.

I can let you know how it goes if you're interested?