How-to Softlock License Server - Linux Setup
This guide covers how to activate and install a Softlock License Server using command line.
License Server
QPS-License-Server is the application that distributes floating license "leases" for QPS applications. The server runs on your local network.
Activating the Server
Before you can use the server it must be activated.
1) Download the server package QPS-License-Server-X.X.X-lin64.tar.gz (Where X.X.X is the version number)
2) Unzip Server Package
3) Open command prompt as administrator
4) cd into where you unzipped the package "QPS-License-Server-Linux"
cd ..\..\QPS-License-Server-Linux
5) cd into the folder for the product you want to activate.
cd Qimara\ Pro
6) For offline activation of this step, refer to the Offline Activation step below. Otherwise, follow this step if access to the Internet is possible. If at all possible, use this method to activate the server. To activate the server online simply pass the product key like this:
./qps-license-server -a="ABCD-EFGH-IJKL-MNOP-QRST-UVWX-YYZZ"
7) To start the Server as a daemon, use the -d flag. Options -silent and -pdfile will prevent output to the screen when started and will store a file with the PID in a file of your choosing, respectively.
cd into the folder for the product you want to activate.
./qps-license-server -d -silent -pidfile=/var/run/QimeraPro.pid
8) Repeat step 5) to 7) for every product you want to activate.
9) Check that the services are running with the ps command.
Offline Activation (Optional)
The offline activation can be used when a machine has no access to the Internet. A file must be retrieved from the machine and sent to QPS to initialize the license, and a response file from QPS must be loaded by the server. Transferring the file can be done by internal network to another machine or by USB key or the like. Activation is otherwise similar to online activation. At step 6, perform the following two steps to do an offline activation: When access to the Internet is available, these steps are not required and step 6 above should be followed.
6)
a) Activate and create the offline request file. It is suggested to use the name of the product in the filename, particularly if one is activating more than one product server. For example, to activate Fledermaus:
./qps-license-server -a="ABCD-EFGH-IJKL-MNOP-QRST-UVWX-YYZZ" -areq="/Location/To/Save/Fledermaus-ActivationRequest.xml"
At this point, the file Fledermaus-ActivationRequest.xml or equivalent must be sent to QPS. Once the contact at QPS has sent back a response file, e.g. Fledermaus-ActivationResponse.xml, the activation may be completed by the applying the response file.
b) Apply the response file from QPS as follows:
./qps-license-server -a -aresp="/Location/To/Load/Fledermaus-ActivationRequest.xml"
The activation should now be completed, and the remaining steps followed as usual.
Companion files "TurboActivate.dat" or "TurboFloatServer-config.xml"
When the QPS License Server is activating it needs to load both the "TurboActivate.dat" and "TurboFloatServer-config.xml" files. By default, the server package for each product will contain these files.
Re-activate
If you've already activated and you want to re-activate, then you don't need to pass a new product key. You can just call the server with the "-a" command line argument:
qps-license-server -a
Deactivating the Server
If you want to move the License Server from one computer to another computer you have to deactivate from the first computer before you can activate on the second computer. To deactivate the server instance you must use the "-deact" commandline switch:
qps-license-server -deact
Offline Deactivation
If the server does not have access to the Internet, offline deactivation steps must be followed as outlined below. Note that the file gnerated must be sent to QPS at your point of contact. Once QPS receives and processes the file, it will then be possible to activate the server on another machine, using either online or offline activation at your choice.
qps-license-server -deact="/Location/To/Fledermaus-deactivation.xml"
Installing the Server
Since Linux installations vary wildly in how they run "daemons" or "startup services" we don't offer the "-i" command line switch for Linux. However, you can build the init script yourself (for systemd, System V init, upstart, or any other init system) to launch the Server instance upon the computer's start.
1) When you're running the Server instance from your init script there are at least two command line options you'll want to use:
/path/to/qps-license-server -d -silent -pidfile=/var/run/<name>.pid
That will tell the Server instance to run and to run silently (not outputting to "stderr").
Many systems offer a file called rc.local, often in the location /etc/rc.local. You may copy or move the QPS-License-Server-Linux directory to a system directory such as /opt, add a call for each product to rc.local to start the server as a daemon. For example,
2) Repeat for every product you want to install.
3) Check that the services are running with the ps command.
Firewall
If you have any firewall software running on Linux then you'll have to set it to allow incoming connections to the License Server instance.