Summary

Synopsis

In order to support Three Server Redundancy, there are elements of a license file which are required to be configured for a successful triad license server set up. These elements are specific to the environment in which the servers are being deployed and are therefore left to be configured by the end user rather than through the Product and Licensing Center. This article discusses these elements and how to configure them in order to set up a successful triad license server set up which supports Three Server Redundancy.

Discussion

The license file generated by the Product and Licensing Center for a triad license server configuration will look similar to the following (The serial number and signature have been removed):

SERVER this_host 00137238bb88
SERVER this_host 002186948BF2
SERVER this_host 000d56289d8d
VENDOR mvsn
USE_SERVER
INCREMENT IAEE mvsn 12.00000 permanent 1 VENDOR_STRING=REAL \
      DUP_GROUP=NONE ISSUER="Flexera Software, Inc." \
      ISSUED=11-may-2011 SN=XXXXXXX-XXX-XXXXXXXXXX TS_OK SIGN="XXXX \
      XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX \
      XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX \
      XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXX

In this state, this license file will not support a triad license server configuration. The file must be modified prior to using it in a triad license server configuration.

First, the hostname of each individual server needs to replace the ?this_host? placeholder that is generated in the license. Each hostname needs to correspond to the HostID on the SERVER line. In the above example, assume the first HostID, 00137238bb88, corresponds to the hostname LS1.flexerasoftware.com, the second HostID, 002186948BF2, corresponds to the hostname LS2.flexerasoftware.com, and the third HostID, 00d56289d8d, corresponds to the hostname LS3.flexerasoftware.com. After replacing each ?this_host? placeholder with the correct hostname, the file would look like:

SERVER LS1.flexerasoftware.com 00137238bb88
SERVER LS2.flexerasoftware.com 002186948BF2
SERVER LS3.flexerasoftware.com 000d56289d8d
VENDOR mvsn
USE_SERVER
INCREMENT IAEE mvsn 12.00000 permanent 1 VENDOR_STRING=REAL \
      DUP_GROUP=NONE ISSUER="Flexera Software, Inc." \
      ISSUED=11-may-2011 SN=XXXXXXX-XXX-XXXXXXXXXX TS_OK SIGN="XXXX \
      XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX \
      XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX \
      XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX"

In addition to specifying the hostname for each license server, the port on which the license server should communicate needs to be defined as well. This port can be any port between 1024 and 64000 that is not in use by another process on the system. It is strongly advised that the same port be specified for all three servers, as this makes administration much simpler. In this example, port 12345 has been selected and the file would now look like:

SERVER LS1.flexerasoftware.com 00137238bb88 12345
SERVER LS2.flexerasoftware.com 002186948BF2 12345
SERVER LS3.flexerasoftware.com 000d56289d8d 12345
VENDOR mvsn
USE_SERVER
INCREMENT IAEE mvsn 12.00000 permanent 1 VENDOR_STRING=REAL \
      DUP_GROUP=NONE ISSUER="Flexera Software, Inc." \
      ISSUED=11-may-2011 SN=XXXXXXX-XXX-XXXXXXXXXX TS_OK SIGN="XXXX \
      XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX \
      XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX \
      XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX"

Optionally, the PRIMARY_IS_MASTER keyword can be used to specify that the first server in the list always be the primary server when it is up and running and communicating with at least one other server in the triad. After adding the PRIMARY_IS_MASTER keyword, the license file now looks like:

SERVER LS1.flexerasoftware.com 00137238bb88 12345 PRIMARY_IS_MASTER
SERVER LS2.flexerasoftware.com 002186948BF2 12345
SERVER LS3.flexerasoftware.com 000d56289d8d 12345
VENDOR mvsn
USE_SERVER
INCREMENT IAEE mvsn 12.00000 permanent 1 VENDOR_STRING=REAL \
      DUP_GROUP=NONE ISSUER="Flexera Software, Inc." \
      ISSUED=11-may-2011 SN=XXXXXXX-XXX-XXXXXXXXXX TS_OK SIGN="XXXX \
      XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX \
      XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX \
      XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX"

That is the extent of the required changes that must be made to the generated license file in order to support Three Server Redundancy through a triad license server configuration. At this point, the license can be copied to all three servers and the license manager started on each, starting with the Primary, to establish a quorum and begin serving licenses.

Oftentimes, the ports used by the license manager need to be opened in the corporate firewall in order to allow clients to check out licenses from the license manager. If this is a necessity, the license file should be modified to specify the port which the vendor daemon runs on as well. This is then specified on the VENDOR line using the PORT=<PORT> notation. In this example, the mvsn vendor daemon is going to be configured to run on port 1234. The license file now looks like:

SERVER LS1.flexerasoftware.com 00137238bb88 12345 PRIMARY_IS_MASTER
SERVER LS2.flexerasoftware.com 002186948BF2 12345
SERVER LS3.flexerasoftware.com 000d56289d8d 12345
VENDOR mvsn PORT=1234
USE_SERVER
INCREMENT IAEE mvsn 12.00000 permanent 1 VENDOR_STRING=REAL \
      DUP_GROUP=NONE ISSUER="Flexera Software, Inc." \
      ISSUED=11-may-2011 SN=XXXXXXX-XXX-XXXXXXXXXX TS_OK SIGN="XXXX \
      XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX \
      XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX \
      XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX"

After configuring the license as above, the ports 12345 and 1234 must be opened in the firewall to ensure that clients are able to check out licenses.

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