Remote Licence Daemon
The Remote Licence Daemon manages licences for products such as Kprint and Kmail. This enables several machines running these products to use one central licence file instead of each machine having to be individually licenced.
The Remote Licence Daemon is usually installed on the main Application Server. The Remote Licence Daemon will look for [KPrint] and [KMail] sections in the licence file and then listen, on UDP port 1791, for licence requests. The entries in these sections are a pool of user counts. KPrint and KMail can then send a licence request to the Remote Licence Daemon over the network. If there are enough spare licences left in the product's licence pool, then the Remote Licence Daemon will book out the requested number of licences against the IP address of the machine that is running KPrint or KMail. The Remote Licence Daemon will then send a reply back to KPrint or KMail to acknowledge the request. If the Remote Licence Daemon was not able to grant the request, then the reply will contain a description of the error.
The Remote Licence Daemon is installed as part of KCML version 6 or is available separately for systems running earlier versions of KCML.
For Windows based systems, the installer program will automatically create a service for the Remote Licence Daemon. For Example:
| Name | Status | Port | Server Name | Server Path | Command Line |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| kplic | Running | Remote Licence Daemon | C:\Kerridge\KCML\kplicserver.exe |
This service can be controlled by the KCML Service Administrator, KServAdm, and the Web-based Remote Administration Tool. Both of these applications will also display the KPrint Licence Table.
The Remote Licence Daemon is installed using the kpinst install script. Download this script and the kplicserver executable to a temporary directory, eg /tmp, on the Unix server. Make sure both files have execute permission by using the command
chmod +x kpinst kplicserver
To execute the script use the command
./kpinst
You must be the root super-user to do this. As the Remote Licence Daemon must be started during system boot-up, the install script will create a startup script. If this script already exists it will be left unchanged. The install script will display the name of the startup script and the directory in which it is created. It will then prompt for the directory into which the Remote Licence Daemon is to be installed.
# ./kpinst Info - Startup script will be S68Kerridge in /etc/rc2.d Please enter installation dir, or press return for '/usr/local/kcml' Installation directory :
This directory is usually the same one that KCML has been installed into. Either press return, to accept the default value of /usr/local/kcml, or enter an alternative directory. The kpinst script will now install the Remote Licence Daemon
Installing KPrint Licence Server into /usr/local/kcml
If you are running the script to upgrade an existing copy of the Remote Licence Daemon, the install script will stop any kplicserver process before upgrading. After the Remote Licence Daemon has been installed, the script will execute it. It will then display the KPrint Licence table using bkstat -r
IP address Queues Editor Fax Template
Totals: Queues Editor Fax Template
0 0 0 0
Remain: Queues Editor Fax Template
23 5 7 4
Licence: Queues Editor Fax Template
23 5 7 4
The install script configures the host system so that the Remote Licence daemon is automatically started when the machine boots up. When the Remote Licence Daemon starts it loads the licence file that is located in the same directory as the kplicserver executable. If the Remote Licence Daemon is unable to load the licence file it reports the error to the system log and then terminates. For example, if the licence file's machine ID is incorrect:
Invalid machine ID in licence file '/usr/local/kcml/lic.txt'
If kconf.xml exists in the same directory, then the Remote Licence Daemon will load the general environment variables and the top-level valid clients access control list.
If the SERVICE environment variable has been set the Remote Licence daemon will load that service's environment and valid clients access control list too. E.g.:
/usr/local/kcml/kplicserver -e SERVICE=myApp &
On Windows systems, the Remote Licence Daemon runs as a Kservadm service which will be automatically started by the operating system.
On Unix systems the install script creates a boot script that is executed when the host machine starts up. This script is executed before the machine enters multi-user mode. The filename of the boot script is platform dependent:
| Platform | Filename / method |
|---|---|
| AIX | As the root user, execute lsitab kcc |
| Linux | Typically /etc/init.d/Kerridge |
| HP-UX | /sbin/init.d/Kerridge, with parameters stored in /etc/rc.config.d/Kerridge |
| System 5.4, Unixware etc | /etc/rc2.d/S*Kerridge |
The filename of for System 5.4 hosts is chosen so that is is executed before the boot script for the inetd daemon. For example, if the system starts inetd with the script /etc/rc2.d/S69inet, then the filename of the Remote Licence daemon's script will be /etc/rc2.d/S68Kerridge
On AIX systems, the script is registered in /etc/inittab with the name of kcc. The boot script is copied into the installation directory, typically /usr/local/kcml or /usr/lib/kcml. The /etc/inittab file should not be edited directly, but can be maintained with the lsitab, mkitab, chitab and rmitab command. For example:
# lsitab kcc kcc:234:once:/usr/local/kcml/S98Kerridge
Linux systems have a master copy of the script in the /etc/init.d directory. Each run-level has its own subdirectory, eg /etc/rc.d/rc2.d or /etc/rc2.d. The script is symbolically linked into each run-level directory, the filename of the symbolic link is chosen so that script is executed before the boot-script for the inetd or xinetd daemon.
# cd /etc/rc.d/rc3.d # ls -l S*Kerridge lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 20 Jun 14 11:51 S49Kerridge -> /etc/init.d/Kerridge
The Remote Licence Daemon's boot script can also be used to launch other KCML products. A prime example of this would be to create a larger $PSTAT area with the bkstat -x/-y. The size of the $PSTAT are must be set before users are allowed to logon, hence the need for the boot-script to be executed before the machine enters multi-user mode. The Connection Broker should also be started by this script. Other uses include the automatic starting of global libraries.
General form:
kplicserver [-r] [-s] [-p port] [-t size] [-R attempts] [-e var=value]
The Remote Licence Daemon has the following command line switches
| Switch | Purpose |
|---|---|
| -r | Sends a Refresh packet on the local area network (LAN). |
| -s | Sends a STOP packet to the daemon running on localhost. |
| -e var=value | Set an environment variable var to the value of value |
| -t size | Specify the size of the KPrint licence table |
| -R attempts | Specify the number of attempts when trying to establish a network connection |
| -p port | Use an alternative UDP port |
The -r flag is used to force any remote licence daemons on the local area network to re-read their lic.txt licence files and kconf.xml configuration files. This is needed after a licence file has been upgraded with extra KPrint or KMail licences only for Unix versions of the Remote Licence Daemon. An alternative is to use the Refresh link on the Web-based Remote Administration tool. The Windows version of the Remote Licence Daemon can detect when the licence file has changed.
The -s flag can be used to stop a licence daemon running on localhost. This is done by sending a special Stop packet to the daemon. This is especially useful when running on an ASP server; the packet will be sent on to correct port, providing SYSTEMID has been set.
By default the Remote Licence Table will create a KPrint Licence table large enough for 256 KPrint servers. If there expected to be more than 256 machines running KPrint then the remote licence daemon should the -t size flag. For Unix systems, this will need to be done in the startup script For example:
# Start the KPrint licence server /usr/local/kcml/kplicserver -t 1024 &
For Windows based systems this should be done by using KServAdm or the Web-based Remote Administration Tool to amend the kplic service. For example:
| Name | Status | Port | Server Name | Server Path | Command Line |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| kplic | Running | Remote Licence Daemon | C:\Kerridge\KCML\kplicserver.exe | -t 512 |
Under some versions of Unix, the underlying network sub-system may not be ready when the Remote Licence Daemon is started during system boot-up. Normally, the Remote Licence Daemon will do 20 attempts to create the network connection, with a 10 second pause between each attempt. For each attempt, the Remote Licence Daemon will also add an entry into the system log of the form:
KCML: WARNING /usr/local/kcml/kplicserver[root,245]: Socket: Network not yet up, retry 0 of 20
If, after these 20 attempts, the network connection has still not been made then the Remote Licence Daemon will exit. The number of attempts can be increased by adding the -R retry switch in the startup script. For example
# Start the KPrint licence server /usr/local/kcml/kplicserver -R 50 &
Will cause the Remote Licence Daemon to try to create the network connection 50 times.
The -p port flag should only be used if UDP port number 1791 is already being used by another application. If it is used the any machines that are running KPrint or KMail will have configured to used the new port number.
This is a table of all the machines that have obtained a KPrint licence from the Remote Licence Daemon. Each KPrint server can request a number of queues, a single editor licence and a single fax licence. If the KPrint licence pool does not have enough licence left for any these features the request will be refused. Once a KPrint server has obtained a licence it is kept permanently. The status of the KPrint licence table can be displayed using -r switch on the bkstat utility. For example:
IP address Queues Editor Fax Template
172.31.251.22 4 1 1 0
172.31.251.16 7 0 0 1
172.31.251.11 2 0 1 1
172.31.251.2 5 1 0 0
Totals: Queues Editor Fax Template
18 2 2 2
Remain: Queues Editor Fax Template
5 3 5 2
Licence: Queues Editor Fax Template
23 5 7 4
KPrint licence table has 256 slots, 4 used
The Web-based Remote Administration Tool can also display the KPrint Licence Table.
| IP address | Queues | Editor | Fax | Template |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 172.31.251.22 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 172.31.251.16 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 172.31.251.11 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 172.31.251.2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | Queues | Editor | Fax | Template |
| 18 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| Remainder | Queues | Editor | Fax | Template |
| 5 | 3 | 5 | 2 | |
| Licence Details | Queues | Editor | Fax | Template |
| 23 | 5 | 7 | 4 |
Other KPrint features, for example SMS, are licensed using a generic licence table. These tables cannot be inspected using bkstat, use the Display a generic licence Table link of the Connection Manager's KPrint & KMail Remote Licensing page.
The latest versions of KMail, 3.0 & 4.0, are licensed using a similar mechanism to KPrint. Unlike the KPrint Licence table the KMail Licence table has a dynamic size. The number of machines that can be licensed is determed by the user count in the [KMail] section of the licence file. Each machine that runs KMail obtains a single user licence using a licence request on the same UDP port as KPrint. KMail sends a licence request before it connects to the POP3 mail server. A KMail licence also has a finite, one hour, lifetime. If KMail has not done a request within this one hour lifetime, the licence can be issued to another machine. This will only occur when the KMail licence table is full. If the KMail licence table is full and all licences are less than one hour old then any extra licence requests will be refused. The KMail licence table can be displayed by the Web-based Remote Administration Tool. For example:
Maximum KMail users is 3.
| IP address | Last Access | Age | Expired |
|---|---|---|---|
| 172.31.251.22 | Fri Mar 9 16:55:33 2001 | 36s | No |
| 172.31.251.16 | Fri Mar 9 16:55:41 2001 | 28s | No |
| 172.31.251.2 | Fri Mar 9 16:56:01 2001 | 8s | No |
When the Remote Licence Daemon is installed with KCML Version 6 it can be configured by settings in the kconf.xml configuration file via the Web-based Remote Administration Tool. There are two important settings which the Remote Licence Daemon will use from the kconf.xml file
The valid clients list can restrict access to the Remote Licence Daemon. Machines that send licence requests but are not in the valid clients will be sent an error packet by the Remote Licence Daemon. Also the Web-based Remote Administration tool uses an extension to the remote licence request protocol that is used by KPrint and KMail to communicate with the Remote Licence Daemon. Since both the Remote Licence Daemon and the Web-based Remote Administration tool are running on the same machine this is done via the localhost network address. If the localhost entry is removed from the valid clients list then this protocol with be broken and many of the Webserver's Remote Licensing pages will no longer be accessible.
The SYSTEMID environment variable is used to determine the UDP port on multiple environment ASP systems. KPrint and Kmail can be independently licenced by running multiple Remote Licence Daemons. Each Remote Licence Deamon will listen on a different UDP port. If the SYSTEMID has been set both the Remote Licence Daemon and the Web-based Remote Administration tool modify the default UDP port. This is simply done by adding the value of SYSTEMID to the normal UDP port of 1791.
For example, if SYSTEMID has been set to 3, then the default UDP port will be 1791 + 3 = 1794. The SYSTEMID can be set in the following ways.
The first two methods are only really intended for use with KCML 5.02 systems. The Unix startup script can be modified to start all the Remote Licence Daemons
# Start the KPrint licence servers SYSTEMID=1 export SYSTEMID /user1/app1/kcml/kplicserver & SYSTEMID=2 export SYSTEMID /user1/app2/kcml/kplicserver & SYSTEMID=3 export SYSTEMID /user1/app3/kcml/kplicserver &or using the -e swtich
# Start the KPrint licence servers /user1/app1/kcml/kplicserver -e SYSTEMID=1 & /user1/app2/kcml/kplicserver -e SYSTEMID=2 & /user1/app3/kcml/kplicserver -e SYSTEMID=3 &
For KCML 6 systems it is preferable to set the SYSTEMID environment variable in the kconf.xml configuration file. This has the advantage that both the Remote Licence Daemon and the Web-based Remote Administration Tool use the same setting.
For some ASP systems it may be preferable for each application to have its own, private, copy of KCML 6. In this case the SYSTEMID can be set in the general environment of the kconf.xml configuration file. This configuration is only applicable on Unix servers. For example:
# Start the KPrint licence servers /user1/app1/kcml/kplicserver & /user1/app2/kcml/kplicserver & /user1/app3/kcml/kplicserver &
Each application has its own copy of the Remote Licence Daemon with its own kconf.xml configuration file. The SYSTEMID variable can be set in the general section of each kconf.xml configuration file.
Other ASP systems may use a common copy of KCML. Each application will therefore store the value of SYSTEMID in a service's environment block within the kconf.xml file. In this case the Remote Licence Daemon needs to know which service to inspect. This is done by setting the SERVICE environment variable.
This should be done in the Unix startup script, for example:
# Start the KPrint licence servers SERVICE=Marketing export SERVICE /usr/local/kcml/kplicserver & SERVICE=Accounts export SERVICE /usr/local/kcml/kplicserver &Or, by using the -e command line switch
# Start the KPrint licence servers /usr/local/kcml/kplicserver -e SERVICE=Marketing & /usr/local/kcml/kplicserver -e SERVICE=Accounts &
For Windows based systems is can be done by modifying the service using KServAdm or the Web-based Remote Administration tool. For example:
| Name | Status | Port | Server Name | Server Path | Command Line |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| kplic mktg | Running | Remote Licence Daemon | C:\Kerridge\KCML\kplicserver.exe | -e SERVICE=Marketing | |
| kplic acc | Running | Remote Licence Daemon | C:\Kerridge\KCML\kplicserver.exe | -e SERVICE=Accounts |
In the first example, when the Remote Licence Daemon reads the kconf.xml configuration file it will load the environment block for the Marketing service. If this environment block contains a SYSTEMID variable of value 5 then the Remote Licence Daemon, and the Web-based Remote Administration Tool , will use a UDP port of 1791 + 5 = 1796. The Accounts service may have a SYSTEMID of 6. This service would then use a UDP port of 1791 + 6 = 1797. As each application is idependently licensed, they must have their own licence file. KCML, the Web-based Remote Administration Tool, and the Remote Licence Daemon will attempt to load a licence file with a name of the form lic.x.txt, where x is the value of SYSTEMID. If a lic.x.txt licence file could not be found then the normal lic.txt filename will be used. Using the two examples from above the Marketing system will use a licence file called lic.5.txt while the Accounts service will use a lic.6.txt licence file.
A service may also restrict access by setting its own valid clients list.
When the SERVICE environment variable is set the kconf.xml configuration file must exist. If kconf.xml does not exist then the Remote Licence daemon will add an entry to the system log of the form
KCML: ERROR kplicserver[root,17841]: Failed to load kconf.xml for service 'Sales'. Try setting $KCML_SOURCES or invoke the Remote Licence daemon with an absolute pathname.
and then terminate.