Intel® License Manager Configuration


    As I said earlier , Intel products have a large number of different types of licenses. For large companies, universities, and other organizations in which a relatively large number of engineers can develop, an option is offered using a client-server configuration and floating license. These are the most “fat” licenses, both in terms of functionality and price. From my personal experience I know that “raising” the server and making everything work as it should is not so simple. Therefore, I decided to collect in this post all the subtleties that I had to deal with myself.

    Let's start with why you might need a server and buying a floating license, because there is another type available - single-user, or, as they are called now (by analogy with Microsoft and others) - named-user, much cheaper. The whole difference is that with the last one person can legally use the product. Yes, it can install on many systems, but use only one. It is worth noting that technically such a check is not performed and, in essence, this is only a matter of legality of use. With such a license, no server is needed - have entered the serial and use it for health.

    But if you have a lot of developers, then the server configuration may enter the scene. A simple example - you have 10 engineers working on code, and all of them, from time to time, need a compiler. You can purchase 10 named-user licenses, distribute to everyone and not delve into. Incidentally, such a working scheme is quite. But it is important to understand that all 10 people will not start the compilation process at the same time, and therefore it is not very efficient to spend so much money and act in this way. Moreover, each new employee will have to issue a license, and then update all these licenses on time every year. In this case, a floating license for 3 users (3 seats), which will be used as follows, may well suffice. As soon as the compilation process is started on the machine with the compiler installed, the client will contact the server and ask, Are there any licenses available? Since there is a valid license, compilation will be performed, and for the time the compiler will work, one seat will be used from the license, while there will still be the opportunity to start two more simultaneous compilation processes. Once everything is assembled, the license is returned to the server. Roughly speaking, the server has a counter, and if one of the clients starts the compilation, it decreases by one, and when it is completed, it increases. Actually, I already described it in the previous blog. there is a counter on the server, and if one of the clients starts the compilation, it decreases by one; when it is completed, it increases. Actually, I already described it in the previous blog. there is a counter on the server, and if one of the clients starts the compilation, it decreases by one; when it is completed, it increases. Actually, I already described it in the previous blog.

    Thus, only 3 engineers will be able to use the compiler at the same time, but in most cases, this will be enough, because everyone never needs to immediately collect the source code. Most of the time spent is far from it.

    So, we figured out that we need a server configuration and have already acquired a floating license. In fact, in our hands we have a serial and nothing more. Register this serial at the Registration Center. Be prepared to enter the host and MAC address of the server, or even 3 servers, if the so-called “three redundant license server” configuration is created for uninterrupted operation. Yes, this information is “hard-coded” in the license and you cannot use it on another server - you will need to go to the Registration Center again and make changes. After the registration process is complete, you will receive a license file, which will be necessary to start the server. By the way, there you can find and download the Intel Software License Manager, which we will install. And you can put it everywhere - on Windows, Linux or Mac - no bindings to which OS your license is for. We go to the Registration Center, select 'Search for older versions', find the 'Intel Software License Manager' and download it.

    Before installing, check once again that the address (MAC and hostname) of the server specified in the license and the address of the machine on which you are going to install it match. This is a fairly common problem. One of the most recent problems - the latest compilers (Composer XE 2013 SP1 Update 3) require the installation of the latest version of Intel License Manager - 2.3 and higher.

    In addition, for the server, be sure to check that there are no other licenses in the flexlm directories that have already "speculated." You need to check these folders:

    Linux *: / opt / intel / flexlm /
    Mac OS * X: / opt / intel / flexlm /
    Windows *: [Program Files] \ Common Files \ Intel \ FLEXlm


    If you are going to create a configuration of 3 servers, then 2 of them must work all the time. These are the limitations now for stability. Yes, and there is one more interesting feature. For floating licenses, it is possible to take licenses off-line. This means that you type a special magic command, and the license from the server is taken not only for the same compilation process, but for a certain time. And you can safely leave the grid, where the server is available, at least home. And upon returning to the grid - return the license. This feature is called BORROWing. So in a configuration with three servers it is not supported - a limitation of the current design.

    Next, we just set up the server. On Windows, everything is simple and you need to run the installer by specifying the path to the license file. The license manager will be launched as a service automatically. For Linux, the process is not more complicated, however, if difficulties arise, you can find all the necessary tips in the User Guide , paragraph 3.5.4. By the way, for servers on Windows Vista, 7 and Server 2008 there are a couple of nuances .

    Check if everything works after the installation, you can use lmstat command:

    the Linux: lmstat -a -c <-license file->
    the Windows: lmutil lmstat -a -c <-license file->
    ,
    where <-license file-> is full path to the license file with its name.

    If the server has risen and everything is working, we need to complete the configuration on the client side. First, you need to install the desired product, after downloading it again from the registration center. During installation, you can set the server address. If the software is already installed, or the server is not functioning yet, you can do this at any time later.

    On the client side, all licenses are in these folders:

    Linux *: / opt / intel / licenses /
    Mac OS * X: / Users / Shared / Library / Application Support / Intel / Licenses
    Windows *: [Program Files] \ Common files \ Intel \ Licenses \


    At any time, just upload the license file there. And remember that other licenses for the same product (for example, trial ones) can interfere with normal operation, so it’s better to get rid of them and simply delete them, especially if they are already expired. By the way, the option with the original license file is not the best, because it reveals its contents to users. There is another way - to set the variable INTEL_LICENSE_FILE to port_number @ host (the port is also specified in the license file, by default - 28518), or create a file in the folder with licenses of the following type:

    SERVER <-server-name1-> <-hostid1- > <-port1->
    USE_SERVER


    If we have 3 servers, then we register them all here, each on a new line starting with SERVER.

    That's all. And most importantly - if something didn’t work, most often from the client’s side, you can turn on the debug logs and see what’s wrong and send them in support. This can be done using the environment variable INTEL_LMD_DEBUG. Let's say we can install it this way:

    SET INTEL_LMD_DEBUG = "C: \ temp \ LicenseCheckout.log"

    Then run the product, the same compiler that will try to take the license from the server and collect the necessary logs. Of course, problems are often encountered, but the main thing is that now you know how to understand their cause. And finally, a set of links to very useful articles, though in “aglitsky”:

    Checklist for Installation and Troubleshooting Intel FLEXlm * License Manager
    Licensing: Setting up the client for a floating license
    License questions

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