FlexNet License Server For Thermo Scientific Software Applications Installation, Configuration, And Administration Guide

1. Overview

 

Thermo Scientific software products (hereinafter referred to as “Thermo Scientific Software”) use the FlexNet licensing tool for supporting floating licenses. This document contains some limited information that can be used as a quick server installation and configuration guide. Be warned that a complete Licence Administration Guide provided with your server installation is available here.  In the scenario of this guide, you have purchased a specific number, N, of product licenses.
The FlexNet license server tracks the licenses being used and allows simultaneous use of up to N instances of the software.
The advantage of this approach is that, unlike node-locked licensing, the product is not locked to a specific computer, but can be run on any computer that can communicate with the license server.


FlexNet license server architecture example

Warning: Installation and management of floating licenses is not a trivial undertaking. It can require configuration of firewalls, proxy server and anyway an in-depth knowledge of the network configuration at your site.
Ideally you will have access to a knowledgeable, resourceful, and experienced IT group to provide the necessary support.

2. Configure Thermo Scientific Software Client Applications to Use a FlexNet License Server

On the machine(s) where your Thermo Scientific Software is installed, configure your licensing mode:

    1. Run Thermo Scientific License Manager.
    2. Click on Activate.
    3. Click on License server.
    4. Specify the name of the server (here “my-lic-server1”). The name can be specified using the host name or the IP address followed by a port if there is a specific one.

Please refer to the Thermo Scientific License Manager Software documentation for more details.

3. Install a FlexNet License Server

The first thing to do is decide on which computer you wish to run the FlexNet license server. This system should be “reachable” by mean of a network connection from any system that might want to request a license. It should also be highly reliable.

The server can be installed on a computer on which the Thermo Scientific Software is installed, but it does not have to.
It is possible to do FlexNet licensing in a heterogeneous environment. That is, the server and the Thermo Scientific Software can be running on different operating systems. For instance, the FlexNet server could be on a Windows platform, with the users running the Thermo Scientific Software on a Linux platform.
If your site already has a FlexNet license server running that is used for licensing other vendors’ products, this may affect where and how you decide to configure the Thermo Scientific Software license server.
For more information, please refer to 
FlexNet Publisher – License Administration Guide  Managing Licenses from Multiple Software Publishers.

There are two versions of the license server manager:

  • lmadmin—The web-based license server manager (elsewhere in this guide we will use lmadmin or “FlexNet Publisher® web user interface” interchangeably). lmadmin provides improved methods of managing the license server and vendor daemons. This will be the only application documented in this starting guide. For complete technical details, please refer to FlexNet Publisher – License Administration Guide, section License Server Manager “lmadmin“.
  • lmgrd—The original license server manager with a command-line interface. You can use lmgrd to manage your FlexNet license server but it uses older technology, and may become deprecated. For more information about lmgrd/lmadmin tools, please refer to FlexNet Publisher – License Administration Guide Migrating from lmgrd to lmadmin. Here is the link to the FAQ section where you can find the documentation on How to use lmgrd as an alternative of lmadmin. 

To make the license server installation and administration easier, Thermo Fisher provides the Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server tool, which will guide you through the installation and the configuration of lmadmin. Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server is supported on Windows platforms only for now. lmadmin can also be installed on Linux, a manual installation procedure is available.

WarningTo install a FlexNet license server, administrator rights are required.

3.1 Windows – lmadmin installation using Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server

3.1.1 System Requirements

The supported Windows platforms for installing a FlexNet license server and using the Thermo Scientific FlexNet tools for license administration are the following (see FlexNet Release notes section “System Requirements for lmadmin”) :

  • Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2022. It is a best practice to run license servers on a server-based OS.
  • Thermo Fisher tested on Windows 10 and Windows 11(64-bit)

3.1.2 Supported Browsers for lmadmin

lmadmin is tested on the following Web browsers:

• Red Hat Linux—Mozilla Firefox 46.x, Google Chrome 106.x
• Microsoft Edge

3.1.3 Download Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server

To use Thermo Scientific Software, you must have installed version 11.16.6 or higher of the FlexNet tools on your system. You can download the last installer of those tools via the following link.

3.1.4 Install lmadmin as License server manager

Install Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server, then run the tool. Just follow the dialogs instructions, and Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server will automatically install and configure the license server with the following steps:

    1. Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server automatically checks if your machine meets lmadmin system requirements, and installs the missing components if necessary.
    2. lmadmin is installed, or upgraded if a version prior to 11.16.6 is already installed. Note that during the upgrade, previously installed licenses and admin settings can be restored, and Thermo Fisher Software vendor daemons are automatically upgraded. If the server is hosting other vendors’ products though, you need to copy the other products vendor daemons manually to the new installation.
    3. You can set the license server admin password
    4. You can import license file(s).
    5. FlexNet lmadmin service is started
    6. Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server displays the status of the installed components and the system information.

Once the installation is complete, you can access lmadmin web interface by clicking on the FlexNet server link displayed in the Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server Dashboard. When lmadmin opens, you will be prompted to enter a name and a password: enter “admin” and “admin” (default password) if you have not set the admin password during Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server installation.

Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server Dashboard

3.2 Linux – lmadmin manual installation

To install lmadmin on a Linux platform, please consult Linux – Lmadmin Manual Installation documentation.

4. Licenses Administration

In the following section we will describe the administration of certificate licenses for “Thermo Scientific Software” products.

Amira, Avizo, PerGeos licenses issued before 2020.3 used a different technology for activation, please refer to this document for license administration for those versions.

4.1 Add (New) Licenses

4.1.1 Get the License Server Host ID

To activate your license(s), your license certificate needs to be bound to your license server machine identifier. The server machine identifier is called a Host ID. The license server Host ID can be found using one of the methods below.

IMPORTANT: If more than one value is displayed, please select just one. You can disable all temporary network connections (WLAN card, docking station, etc.) to ensure that the selected host ID is based on a permanent network adapter. You can re-enable the temporary network connections afterwards.

  • In the Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server Dashboard (Windows only):

    Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server Dashboard – Host ID

    ,

  • Or in the Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server Import license files dialog (Windows only):,

    Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server Import dialog – Host ID

  • Or in lmadmin web interface:
    • open http://localhost:8090/systeminfo in a web browser on the server machine.
    • If you have just installed lmadmin, you will be prompted to enter a name and a password: enter “admin” and “admin” (default password) if you have not already set the admin password.
    • Retrieve and copy the Ethernet Address.

      lmadmin System Information – Host ID

  • Or in your server license file if you have already installed licenses on your server. The license server Host ID is the string following the SERVER this_host keywords.

4.1.2 Get a License Certificate

In order to get your license certificate you will need:

  • Your activation codes : you should have received them in your delivery email. An activation code is a long string delimited by a pair of — BEGIN TLM CODE — and — END TLM CODE— tags.
  • Your FlexNet license server Host ID.
  • A machine connected to the Internet to access TLM portal:
    1. Open TLM portal Activate menu: https://tlm-portal.com/operations/activate
    2. Paste all the activation code(s) you have received, including the — BEGIN TLM CODE — and — END TLM CODE — tags, and click on Continue:
    3. Enter your server Host ID, select the licenses you want to activate and enter the number of token to activate for each license. The number of token must be less than or equal to the number of token you have purchased. Click on Activate.
    4. The result of the activation is displayed. Click on Download License File. A license certificate license.dat file is generated. Save it at any location on the file system of the server machine.

    4.1.3 Import a License Certificate

    You can import a license certificate on the license server:

    • Either using the Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server Import license files dialog (Windows only):
      1. In Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server Dashboard click on Import license files

        Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server – Import license files from Dashboard

      2. Click on Add

        Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server – Add license files

      3. Browse to select the license.dat certificate file you’ve generated with TLM portal
      4. Import
    • Or in lmadmin web interface:
      Open http://localhost:8090/vendor in a web browser on the server machine, to set up your license server as follows:

      1. Click on Import License.
      2. Check Overwrite License File on License Server.
      3. Browse to select the license.dat certificate file you’ve generated with TLM portal 
      4. Click on Import License.        
      5. Click on the vendor daemon (asglmd/mcslmd) line.
      6. Click on Start if the vendor daemon is Down, or on Reread License Files if the vendor daemon is already Up.

    4.2 Administer the vendor daemon

    1. The installed vendor daemons can be administered by mean of the web application located at http://localhost:8090/vendor
    2. You can check the status of the vendor daemon to determine if it is running or it is stopped.

    Enter “Administer” mode for a vendor daemon

    1. You can Start, Stop, or Reread license files by clicking on the Administer link see Enter “Administer” mode for a vendor daemon.
    2. When in Administer page you can:
      • Start the daemon if it is not running

    Press “Start” button to run vendor daemon

    • Stop the daemon or Reread the license file if the daemon is already running

    Buttons to control a running vendor daemon

    1. To restart the daemon, you have to Stop it and then Start it.

    4.3 Check the Status of installed Licenses

    At any time, you can check the status of your licenses. To view all available licenses, open http://localhost:8090/dashboard in a web browser and select Concurrent.

    If you have installed the mcslmd vendor daemon along with the asglmd one, you must select which vendor daemon to use before being able to see the related active licenses. This can be done by pressing the “Select” button after having chosen the desired vendor daemon in the FlexNet Publisher® Dashboard, see following figures.

    FlexNet Publisher® Dashboard view for mcslmd vendor daemon (some < Avizo 2020.3 licenses are installed)

    FlexNet Publisher® Dashboard view for asglmd vendor daemon (no >= 2020.3 license is installed)

    Note:If you encounter any issue with your configuration, please check that lmadmin and the vendor daemon (mcslmd/asglmd) are allowed to communicate through the firewall.

    4.4 Transfer Licenses

    Should you want to transfer some or all of your Thermo Scientific Software licenses onto a different license server, please sign in the customer support portal and open a “License Transfer” case.

    Thermo Scientific Licensing will send you back an updated license file for your new license server. You can then install this license file on your server following the instructions of section Import an updated License Certificate on the License Server.

    4.5 Upgrade Licenses

    When a new version of a Thermo Scientific Software application is released, you will need to upgrade the activated licenses on your FlexNet license server in order to allow client application users to run this new version.

    Important: For Avizo, Amira, PerGeos applications upgrades are only available for licenses in version 2021.1 or later. If you are upgrading from a version before 2021.1, first activate the license codes you have received by email when the version 2021.1 was released, then upgrade.

    4.5.1 Update a License Certificate

    In order to update your license certificate you will need:

    • Your FlexNet license server Host ID and one of your licenses Order Line number. This information can be found in your server license file, and you can find the path to this file in the vendor daemon configuration:

      • Navigate to this path and open your license file.
      • Your license server Host ID is the string following the SERVER this_host keywords and your Order Line number is the string following the SN= keywords. If there are several licenses installed on your server, any Order Line number will do.
    • A machine connected to the Internet to access TLM portal:
      1. Open TLM portal Upgrade menu: https://tlm-portal.com/operations/upgrade.
      2. Enter your license server Host ID and one of your licenses Order Line Number. Click on Continue.
      3. Enter the version you want to upgrade to, select the licenses you want to upgrade and enter the number of token you want to upgrade for each license. The number of token to upgrade must be less or equal to the number of activated token. Click on Upgrade.
      4. The result of the upgrade is displayed. Click on Download License File to download your updated license file:

    4.5.2 Import a License Certificate

    Once you have updated your license certificate, you can import it on the license server:

    • Either using the Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server Import license files dialog (Windows only):
      1. In Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server Dashboard click on Import license files

        Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server – Import license files from Dashboard

      2. Click on Add

        Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server – Add license files

      3. Browse to select the license.dat certificate file you’ve generated with TLM portal
      4. Import
    • Or in lmadmin web interface:
      Open http://localhost:8090/vendor in a web browser on the server machine, to set up your license server as follows:

      1. Click on Import License.
      2. Check Overwrite License File on License Server.
      3. Browse to select the license.dat certificate file you’ve generated with TLM portal 
      4. Click on Import License.        
      5. Click on the vendor daemon (asglmd/mcslmd) line.
      6. Click on Start if the vendor daemon is Down, or on Reread License Files if the vendor daemon is already Up.

    4.6 Reactivate Renewable Licenses

    Thermo Scientific Software can be sold as yearly renewable subscriptions. In this case, delivered licenses are time-limited and will expire, usually after one year.
    Upon license expiration, each client application will not be able to run anymore.
    Assuming that the subscription has been renewed, you will need to reactivate these licenses to take the updated expiration date into account.

    Important: the reactivation steps detailed below cannot be performed earlier than 14 days before your licenses expiration.

    4.6.1 Update a License Certificate

    In order to update your license certificate you will need:

    • Your FlexNet license server Host ID and one of your licenses Order Line number. This information can be found in your server license file, and you can find the path to this file in the vendor daemon configuration:

      • Navigate to this path and open your license file.
      • Your license server Host ID is the string following the SERVER this_host keywords and your Order Line number is the string following the SN= keywords. If there are several licenses installed on your server, any Order Line number will do.
    • A machine connected to the Internet to access TLM portal:
      1. Open TLM portal Reactivate menu: https://tlm-portal.com/operations/reactivate.
      2. Enter your license server Host ID and one of your licenses Order Line Number. Click on Continue.
      3. Select the licenses you want to reactivate and enter the number of token you want to reactivate for each license. The number of token to reactivate must be less or equal to the number of activated token. Click on Reactivate.
      4. The result of the reactivation is displayed. Click on Download License File to download your updated license file:

    4.6.2 Import a License Certificate

    Once you have updated your license certificate, you can import it on the license server:

    • Either using the Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server Import license files dialog (Windows only):
      1. In Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server Dashboard click on Import license files

        Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server – Import license files from Dashboard

      2. Click on Add

        Thermo Scientific License Manager for Server – Add license files

      3. Browse to select the license.dat certificate file you’ve generated with TLM portal
      4. Import
    • Or in lmadmin web interface:
      Open http://localhost:8090/vendor in a web browser on the server machine, to set up your license server as follows:

      1. Click on Import License.
      2. Check Overwrite License File on License Server.
      3. Browse to select the license.dat certificate file you’ve generated with TLM portal 
      4. Click on Import License.        
      5. Click on the vendor daemon (asglmd/mcslmd) line.
      6. Click on Start if the vendor daemon is Down, or on Reread License Files if the vendor daemon is already Up.

    5. Additional License Control / Borrowing

    5.1 Nomad Licensing / Borrowing

    To use our products on a system that is not always connected to the license server, you will need to borrow a license while you are connected to the server, then disconnect from the server. This kind of licensing is what we call nomad licensing. However, borrowing a license decreases the number of available licenses on the network.

    Detailed instructions are given below. We will assume that standard FlexNet licensing, i.e., not borrowing, is already working correctly.

    1. On the client machine, in a command prompt/terminal, use the cd command to go to the directory where the FlexNet utilities are installed.
      By default, these utilities are found on the client machine in:
      <application_install_dir>/share/license/FLEXnet
    2. To initiate borrowing, execute the lmutil program on the client as follows:

      lmutil lmborrow asglmd* <enddate> <time>


    where:
      <enddate> Enddate is the date the license is to be returned in dd-mmm-yyyy format.
      <time> Time is optional and is specified in 24-hour format (hh:mm) in the FlexEnabled application’s local time.
    If time is unspecified, the checkout lasts until the end of the given end date.
    For example:

                 lmutil lmborrow asglmd* 16-jan-2007 13:00

    1. Start the product, then use all of the extensions that you want to borrow.
    2. Disconnect from the network.
    3. Exit the product and confirm that you can restart it and use all of the borrowed extensions.

    To print information about borrowed features, issue the following command on the machine that borrowed the features:

                 lmutil lmborrow -status

    Note: For more information, please refer to FlexNet Publisher – License Administration Guide chapter 7 License Models, section License Borrowing with BORROW.

    *Please note that for Avizo, Amira and Pergeos releases older than 2020.3 and for Open Inventor you should use the mcslmd vendor daemon instead of the asglmd in above commands.

    5.2 Additional License Controls

    Additional controls on floating licenses can be specified in an options file.
    This can be done, for instance, by creating an 
    asglmd.opt* options file in the same directory as your license file (i.e., <lmadmin install directory>/licenses/asglmd*)

    The most important operating parameters are:

    • Limit the number of tokens that can be borrowed:
      Example: The customer wants to reserve 60 tokens out of 100 total tokens. That leaves 40 tokens available to be borrowed.
      Add a 
      BORROW_LOWWATER line:
      BORROW_LOWWATER <Product Name> 60
    • Limit the number of days a token can be borrowed:
      Example: One week (7 days x 24 hours = 168 hours).
      Add a 
      MAX_BORROW_HOURS line:
      MAX_BORROW_HOURS <Product Name> 168
    • Specify who is allowed to borrow:
      • a user
        INCLUDE_BORROW <Product Name> USER Jim
      • a group of users
        INCLUDE_BORROW <Product Name> GROUP project_dev
      • a computer
        INCLUDE_BORROW <Product Name> HOST host_name
      • a group of computers
        INCLUDE_BORROW <Product Name> HOST_GROUP computer_group
    • Specify who is not allowed to borrow:
      • a user
        EXCLUDE_BORROW <Product Name> USER Jim
      • a group of users
        EXCLUDE_BORROW <Product Name> GROUP project_dev
      • a computer
        EXCLUDE_BORROW <Product Name> HOST host_name
      • a group of computers
        EXCLUDE_BORROW <Product Name> HOST_GROUP computer_group
    • Defining groups:
      • Group of users:
        GROUP project_dev Jim Mike Bob
      • Group of computers:
        HOST_GROUP computer_group host1 host2 host3
    • Reserving tokens:
      Tokens can be reserved for specific users groups or computers.
    • Reserve 10 tokens for a user:
      RESERVE 10 <Product Name> USER Jim
    • Reserve 10 tokens for a group of users:
      RESERVE 10 <Product Name> GROUP project_dev
    • Reserve 10 tokens for a computer:
      RESERVE 10 <Product Name> HOST host1
    • Reserve 10 tokens for a group of computers:
      RESERVE 10 <Product Name> HOST_GROUP computer_group
    • Setting access permissions:
      You can control who is allowed to use a product using the INCLUDE / EXCLUDE commands.
    • Who is allowed to use a product:
      INCLUDE <Product Name> USER Jim
      Can be used for 
      GROUPHOST and HOST_GROUP as described above.
    • Who is not allowed to use a product:
      EXCLUDE <Product Name> USER Mike

    To validate these new options, you must perform the following actions:

    1. Open http://localhost:8090/vendor in a web browser.
    2. Click on the vendor daemon (asglmd / mcslmd)* line.
    3. Click on Reread License Files.
    4. Restart the vendor daemon (see 4.3 Administering the vendor daemon)

    Note: For more information, please refer to FlexNet Publisher – License Administration Guide chapter 13, section Managing the Options File.

    *Please note that for Avizo, Amira and Pergeos releases older than 2020.3 and for Open Inventor you must use the mcslmd.opt option file in the mcslmd folder and the mcslmd daemon

    6. Upgrade the FlexNet License Server

    When a new version of the Thermo Scientific FlexNet tools is released, you will need to update your FlexNet license server.

    • If the license server is installed on a Windows platform, install the latest version of Thermo Scientific License Manager For Server and the tool will automatically upgrade the license server to the minimum version required to use Thermo Scientific software products.
    • If the license server is installed on a Linux platform, you will find upgrade instructions here.

    7. Management of licenses for versions prior to 2020.3 for Amira, Avizo and PerGeos applications

    7.1 Host licenses for versions released before 2020.3

    Since 2020.3 release Thermo Fisher Amira, Avizo and PerGeos applications requires the installation of a new vendor daemon (asglmd). If you want to manage a  single FlexNet server hosting licenses for versions released before 2020.3 and licenses for 2020.3 or later versions, then you need to install both the old (mcslmd) and the new vendor daemon on the same server. You must have installed version 11.16.6 or higher of the FlexNet tools on your system to host both vendor daemons. You can update you license server to 11.8.3.1 following those instructions:

    If the new FlexNet server installation is done on the same hardware, the old entitlements will persist to server re-installation and you will see them appear in the FlexNet Publisher Dashboard application (see figure FlexNet Publisher® Dashboard view for mcslmd vendor daemon). If  you are going to install the FlexNet server on a different physical machine, then you must migrate your old entitlements to the new server by following the transfer procedure that is described in this document.

    Of course, you also have the option to keep the old FlexNet server along with the a new installed one. In this case the two servers must be hosted by different physical servers.

    7.2 Upgrade licenses of versions released before 2020.3

    To upgrade a license of a version released before 2020.3 to a 2020.3 or later version, you have to:

    1. Manually de-activate the old version license,  following the procedure described by this paragraph: 4.5 Transferring your Licenses
    2. Activate your new activation code following the indications of this paragraph: 4.1 Adding (New) Licenses

    8. Management of licenses for Open Inventor and ImageDev

    ImageDev requires the installation of a new vendor daemon (asglmd). If you want to manage a single FlexNet server hosting licenses for ImageDev and Open Inventor, then you need to install both the old (mcslmd) and the new vendor daemon on the same server. You must have stopped the lmgrd license server manager and installed version 11.16.6 or higher of the FlexNet tools on your system to host both vendor daemons. You can update you license server to 11.19.4.1 following those instructions:

    Import your Open Inventor license file from previous installation (usually stored in <server_install_dir>/passwordServer.dat) and the ImageDev license file generated on TLM portal on the updated server (see Importing a License Certificate on the License Server).

    Of course, you also have the option to keep the old FlexNet server along with the a new installed one. In this case the two servers must be hosted by different physical servers.

    9. Troubleshooting

    If you encounter technical problems with the installation and management of your FlexNet licensing server, please refer to the associated FAQ section.

    For additional information, please refer to the FlexNet documentation.
    The 
    FlexNet Publisher – License Administration Guide contains a troubleshooting appendix.
    If you need assistance getting your FlexNet licenses installed and operational, please contact our 
    customer support group.