GTWorks Floating License Manager Guide

An option to the standard GTWorks licensing of using an Ethernet Address-password combination to restrict the use of the software to a single computer is the Floating License Manager (FLM). FLM is similar to a node-locked license of GTWorks in that the FLM runs on a computer secured by an Ethernet Address-password combination. The FLM then controls the number of copies of GTWorks Professional that can be run concurrently in a network. When GTWorks starts under this configuration, the FLM is queried whether a license is available and GTWorks either starts or stops accordingly.

A company can have more than one Floating License Manager running in a network. If the company is concerned that too many users are tied to a single FLM, then the company should request from GrayTech passwords for two, or possibly even three FLMs, to decrease the risk of any downtime of the computer running a FLM.

INSTALLATION OF GTWORKS

When the user installs a production copy of GTWorks using setup from the GTWorks directory on the GTWorks CD, or file gtwprod.exe downloaded from the GrayTech Web site, there is an additional choice in the GTWorks License Type dialog box for ‘Network’. Make this choice and enter the name of the computer in the network that is running the Floating License
Manager that you will be relying on. The computer name is stored in the lm.mf modal file (e.g. c:\gtworks\data\lm.mf) and can be changed later as needed. There is also a required selection for the network protocol to be used to communicate between GTWorks and the FLM. The default is  ncacn_nb_nb, or NetBIOS over NetBEUI, and requires NetBEUI to be loaded on your network. All the network protocols are available for selection. The most common alternative is TCP/IP and is labeled ncacn_ip_tcp.

LICENSE MANAGER – gtwnet.exe

The name of the Floating License Manager is gtwnet.exe. This file is found in the self-expanding zip file named GTWorksLM.exe found in the GTWorks-LM directory of the GTWorks CD, or on the GrayTech Web site. Extract the program by double clicking on the self-expanding zip file. At the present time you next must start a Command Prompt and move to the directory where the main GTWorks program is stored (e.g. c:\gtworks). The four basic commands for the FLM are as follows (the first two are required for an installation):

gtwnet -install

Enter this command and option to register the Floating License Manager as a service and make the required entries in the Windows registry. The next step is to configure the FLM and enter any required passwords.

gtwnet -configure

Enter this command to enter the required password, and choose the type of event logging desired.

Events are stored and accessed via the Event Viewer (Control Panel/AdministratorTools/EventViewer). The events should be under Windows Logs / Application

You can either leave the Communication Protocol the FLM uses (defaults to all) or choose one that matches the choice make when you installed the GTWorks software.

The Floating License Manager will not start until you either reboot the computer or Start the service from the control panel->Administrative Tools->services icon.

gtwnet -stop

Use the service’s applet in the Control Panel to stop the FLM.

gtwnet -uninstall

Enter this command to uninstall the Floating License Manager. This will delete the FLM as a service. Registry entries will remain to make is simpler to reinstall the software. If you desire to delete the registry entries, they may be found in the registry under local machine->software->graytech (GTWNLMan)

LICENSE USE – gtwnetinfo.exe

To obtain the current status of activity by a Floating License Manager, enter the command ‘gwtnetinfo’ and press ENTER (or select ‘Net License Info’ from the GTWorks program group). A dialog box will appear for gtwnetinfo in which you can obtain the status of any GTWorks FLM in the network. The default computer is your own, and if it is not running a FLM, then the entries for License will be blank. Browse for the Server Name running a FLM and change the Update Interval as desired. The number of Standard licenses in use and free will equal the total number of licenses authorized on that server. The bottom panel in the dialog box will display the computer name of a user, their Ethernet Address, the type of license currently in use, and the total use time of the Standard license.