Chapter 18  The Reactis License Manager

The Reactis License Manager facilitates the sharing of network licenses. If your organization has purchased such licenses, then the Reactis License Manager should be installed on a server accessible by all users who will run programs in the Reactis product line. This chapter describes the License Manager.

18.1  Installing the Reactis License Manager

The Reactis License Manager is installed using the same installer as that used for the main Reactis application (the client). Note that a machine may host both the License Manager and the Reactis application software. The steps for installing the V2011.2 License Manager are as follows:

1. Execute the self-installing executable
   reactis-setup-V2011.2.exe
   and follow the instructions. The 64-bit Reactis installer is named
   reactis-setup-win64-V2011.2.exe
   but otherwise installing 64-bit Reactis proceeds exactly as the 32-bit install. If you obtained your release on a CD, inserting the CD into your CD drive should initiate the execution of this executable automatically. If it does not, manually run the program reactis-setup-V2011.2.exe that is included on the CD. Alternatively, you may download the latest version of reactis-setup-V2011.2.exe from the Reactive Systems web site:
   http://www.reactive-systems.com/login.msp
   Note that when running the installer you will be able to specify that no components other than the License Manager should be installed, as shown in Figure 18.1.
2. To obtain a Reactis License File, select
   Start -> Programs -> Reactis V2011.2 -> License
   from the Windows Start menu. This will open a text editor showing the (incomplete) license file rsilicense.dat. Copy the information you find there into an e-mail message and send this message to Reactive Systems at help@reactive-systems.com. You will receive a response containing the completed license as an attachment. When you receive this e-mail, detach the license file and save it to a file named rsilicense.dat in the folder where Reactis is installed. If you installed in the default location the license should be saved to:
   
   C:\Program Files\Reactis V2011.2\rsilicense.dat

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   Figure 18.1: When installing only the Reactis License Manager (and not the Reactis application), the main Reactis components may be deselected during installation. Installing the License Monitor along with the License Manager is recommended but not necessary.

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3. The License Manager may be started as either a normal application or as a Windows service. Starting, stopping, or installing a Windows service requires Administrator privileges. Under Windows Vista and Windows 7 you may need to take special actions even if you are installing as a user with Administrator privileges. The operations described below may be performed by right-clicking on the stated menu item and selecting "Run as administrator".

   Running as an application

   To start the License Manager as an application, select

   Start -> Programs -> Reactis V2011.2 -> License Manager -> Start Application.

   You must be logged in when running the License Manager as an application and it will not be restarted automatically when rebooting. For these reasons, running the License Manager as a service as described below is preferred.

   Running as a service

   Alternatively, the License Manager may be installed as a service. Note that you need to have Administrator privileges on your computer to install services. To install the License Manager as a service, select

   Start -> Programs -> Reactis V2011.2 -> License Manager -> Install Service

   Then, to start the service, you may either use the Services entry in the Administrative Tools folder of the Windows Control Panel or select

   Start -> Programs -> Reactis V2011.2 -> License Manager -> Start Service

   from the Windows Start menu. After starting the License Manager service, the License Manager will run continuously on your computer and will be automatically started when rebooting. You do not need to be logged in for the License Manager service to run.

18.2  Monitoring License Usage in Real-Time

Two options are available for communicating with the License Manager to observe license usage in real-time. First, the License tab of the Settings dialog in the main Reactis application displays the number of licenses served by the License Manager, the number currently in use, and information describing which users currently occupy licenses. This information may alternatively be obtained from the Reactis License Monitor utility invoked by selecting:

18.3  License Manager Logging

The Reactis License Manager may be configured to log license usage to two different locations: the Windows Application Event Log and a log file.

18.3.1  Logging to the Windows Application Event Log

When run as a service, the Reactis License Manager currently logs the following messages to the Windows Application Event Log.

The ’xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx’ placeholders represent IP addresses of clients requesting or releasing licenses. After a client was granted a license, the client will send a message back to the License Manager indicating the user currently running Reactis. This is indicated by the “User is” message in the log.

The “Lost connection” message indicates that the License Manager did not receive a heartbeat from a client for over 4 minutes. When this happens, the License Manager considers the connection to be broken and releases the license (indicated in a subsequent message).

The “Cannot listen on port N” message indicates that the License Manager was unable to accept incoming connections on port N (default is 3999). The most likely reason for this is that another application (possibly another instance of a Reactis License Manager) is already using that port. You must either terminate other applications using the port or contact Reactive Systems to obtain a new license file instructing the License Manager to use a different port.

The logging of the messages with ID 109 can be disabled by setting the following Windows registry key to 0:

You need to stop and restart the License Manager Service in order to make changes to this registry key become effective.

18.3.2  Logging to a Log File

The License Manager may be configured to record license usage information to a comma separated value (CSV) file. The log file is named reactisl_log.csv and is located in the Reactis root folder. If you installed in the default location this is:

The CSV file will log all messages listed above except those with ID 100 and 101. Logging to the CSV file is disabled by default, but can be enabled by setting the following Windows registry key to 1:

The location of the CSV file is stored in the following Windows registry key and can be modified if you prefer a different location:

You need to stop and restart the License Manager Service in order to make changes to these registry keys become effective.

Each line in the CSV log file consists of six columns as can be seen in the following example:

"01/25/06 11:27:34", "", "License Manager Started", 0, "", "n/a"
"01/25/06 11:27:59", "192.168.1.107", "License granted", 1, "Reactis", "5555"
"01/25/06 11:27:59", "192.168.1.107", "User: John Doe on XYZ", 1, "Reactis", "5555"
"01/25/06 11:28:03", "192.168.1.107", "License released", 0, "Reactis", "5555"

The following lists the meaning for each of those columns:

• The date and time of the entry
• The IP address of the client (where applicable)
• The log message
• The total number of currently occupied licenses. By importing the CSV file into a spreadsheet application (such as Microsoft Excel) and then plotting the value in this column over the date and time given in the first column you can easily produce graphs displaying the usage of your licenses.
• The product that the license was granted/released for. Current products are either “Reactis” or “Reactis for C Plugin”.
• The license number of the license that was granted or released.