BBC Licensing Mechanism (EDT+, Vbackup, Vmail)

You may install license keys either on the system on which you will use the software or on any other system in the same local network. When installing BBC software on multiple machines in the same network, it is often more convenient to install all license keys on one or two systems.

In the rest of this section, the termlicense serverrefers to any system on which you have installed one or more license keys.

See the following topics:

 

Installing License Keys

You can install license keys by logging in as root on the appropriate license server and running `bbc license'. The `bbc/install' program automatically invokes `bbc license'.

When `bbc license' runs, the following events occur:

  1. You are presented with your BBCREF and the license server's server code.
  2. You are prompted to enter your license keys. After each prompt, you should type a license key and then press ENTER. After you have entered all your keys, you can proceed to the next step by pressing just ENTER without typing a license key.
  3. You are asked whether you wish the license server to make its licenses available to other systems on the local network. If you answer `yes', the licensing program will modify /etc/services and /etc/inetd.conf to allow other systems to access the license server's license keys. You can add or remove this capability at a later date by logging in as root and running `bbc vlm' or `bbc rmvlm', respectively.

 

Transferring License Keys

You can transfer license keys to a new system by performing the following steps:

  1. For each license key you wish to transfer, submit a copy of theBBC License Transfer Request Formto Sector7. The form requires the server codes of the old and new systems, which you can determine by running `bbc info' on the old and new systems.
  2. Contact Sector7 for instructions on deleting the license key from the old system, and follow those instructions.
  3. FAX or mail the completed form to Sector7, who in turn will provide you with a license key for the new system. Non-maintenance customers incur a fee for each license transfer; please contact Sector7 for current pricing.
  4. Install the new license key on the new system by logging in as root and running `bbc license'.

 

Troubleshooting Using the Log File

An additional troubleshooting resource is the log file that each license server keeps of its network transactions and corresponding errors. The following list defines causes and solutions for entries you may find in the log file. The log file, named vlm.log, is located in the BBC auxiliary file directory (you can check the locations of BBC software components by running "bbc info").

The product exits with "%LICENSE-F-NOLICENSE, all licenses for 'product-name' are currently in use"
The product exits with "%LICENSE-F-NOFEATURE, no licenses for 'product-name' are installed on host 'host-name'."
The product exits with "%LICENSE-F-NOSERVER, no response from license manager".
The product exits with "%LICENSE-F-AUTHFAIL, license authorization failure on host 'host-name'."
The product exits with "%LICENSE-F-NOBINLIC, 'product-name' is not licensed to run on this system type."
The product periodically displays "%LICENSE-F-LOST, license for 'product-name' has been lost".
The product exits with "%LICENSE-F-NOHOST, host 'host-name' is unknown".
The product exits with "%LICENSE-F-NOHOST, host ' ' is unknown".
The product exits with "%LICENSE-F-SEMGET, unable to retrieve license key semaphore".
The product exits with "%LICENSE-F-SEMLOCK, unable to lock license key semaphore" followed by "-RMS-F-FUL, device full (insufficient space for allocation)".
The product exits with "%LICENSE-F-NOSOCKET, connection failed, system error 'number'".
The product exits with "%LICENSE-F-NOTSENT, unable to send message to license manager, system error 'number'".
The product exits with "%LICENSE-F-SYSERR, miscellaneous system error"

Symptom The product exits with "%LICENSE-F-NOLICENSE, all licenses for 'product-name' are currently in use"
Cause The demand for licenses to runproduct-namecurrently exceeds the number of licenses installed.
Solution Wait until another user finishes using the product and then try again, or else arrange to purchase more simultaneous user licenses.

 

Symptom The product exits with "%LICENSE-F-NOFEATURE, no licenses for 'product-name' are installed on host 'host-name'."
Cause No license keys for productproduct-nameare installed on the local system or on the system namedhost-name, which has been set up to make its license keys available to other systems on the network.
Solution Contact Sector7 to obtain and install license keys for productproduct-name on either the local system or on systemhost-name.

 

Symptom The product exits with "%LICENSE-F-NOSERVER, no response from license manager".
Cause 1 No license keys for the product are installed on the local system, and no remote system on the network has been configured to make its licenses available to other systems.
Solution 1 If a remote system on the network already has licenses for the product, follow the instructions above to configure the remote system to make its licenses available to other systems. Otherwise, contact Sector7 to obtain and install license keys for the product.
Cause 2 For one of a variety of reasons, the local system cannot communicate with the license manager daemon on the remote system that makes its license keys for the product available to other systems.
Solution 2 Ensure the local system can contact the remote system by running `ping remote-host', `/sbin/pingremote-host', `/usr/etc/pingremote-host', or `/etc/pingremote-host', whereremote-hostis the name of the remote system; if that fails, your system administrator should take steps to correct the problem. Otherwise, confirm that the remote system is configured to share its license keys by running `bbc info' on the remote system. If it is, you may need to login as root and run `bbc cfg VLMHOSTremote-host' on the local system, whereremote-host is the name of the remote system; this tells the local system to request licenses directly fromremote-hostrather than broadcasting a request to the local network.

 

Symptom The product exits with "%LICENSE-F-AUTHFAIL, license authorization failure on host 'host-name'."
Cause 1 The system namedhost-namehas invalid license keys installed, probably as a result of transferring them from another system.
Solution 1 Contact Sector7 to obtain and install new license keys.
Cause 2 An obsolete license manager on systemhost-namehas responded to the product's license request.
Solution 2 Upgrade the license manager on systemhost-name.
Cause 3 A non-Boston Business Computing license manager on systemhost-namehas responded to the product's license request.
Solution 3 Please contact Sector7 technical support.

 

Symptom The product exits with "%LICENSE-F-NOBINLIC, 'product-name' is not licensed to run on this system type."
Cause No installed license key allows systems of the same type as the local system to runproduct-name. System types roughly equate to system manufacturers; for example, all Hewlett-Packard workstations have the same system type.
Solution Contact Sector7 to upgrade your license keys to support systems of the same type as the local system.

 

Symptom The product periodically displays "%LICENSE-F-LOST, license for 'product-name' has been lost".
Cause The product has lost contact with the license manager, possibly due to a network or system crash.
Solution Exit and restart the product.

 

Symptom The product exits with "%LICENSE-F-NOHOST, host 'host-name' is unknown".
Cause The local system cannot translatehost-name, the name of the system on which the license manager runs, to a numeric address.
Solution Add host-nameand its numeric address to /etc/hosts.

 

Symptom The product exits with "%LICENSE-F-NOHOST, host ' ' is unknown".
Cause The local system has no name.
Solution Set the local system's name using the hostname command.

 

Symptom The product exits with "%LICENSE-F-SEMGET, unable to retrieve license key semaphore".
Cause The system is not configured to support semaphores. If this is the case, the output from running `ipcs -s' should display a message to that effect.
Solution Reconfigure the system to support semaphores.

To reconfigure a SunOS 4.x system, add the lines `options IPCSEMAPHORE' and `options IPCSHMEM' to the kernel config file, build and install a new kernel, and then reboot. Chapter 9 of theSystem & Network Administrationmanual describes in more detail how to generate new kernels.

 

Symptom The product exits with "%LICENSE-F-SEMLOCK, unable to lock license key semaphore" followed by "-RMS-F-FUL, device full (insufficient space for allocation)".
Cause Other applications have consumed all of a particular type of semaphore resource.
Solution Reconfigure the system to make more semaphore resources available.

To reconfigure a Solaris system, add the line `set semsys:seminfo_semmnu=500' to /etc/system and then reboot. If the system runs many database applications, it may also be beneficial to increase the values of `semsys:seminfo_semmni', `semsys:seminfo_semmsl', and `semsys:seminfo_semmns'. The AnswerBook documentSecurity, Performance, and Accounting Administration, Appendix A describes those parameters.

To reconfigure a SunOS 4.x system, add the lines `options SEMMNU=300' and `options SEMMNS=300' to the kernel config file, build and install a new kernel, and then reboot. Chapter 9 of theSystem & Network Administrationmanual describes in more detail how to generate new kernels.

 

Symptom The product exits with "%LICENSE-F-NOSOCKET, connection failed, system error 'number'".
Cause Internal kernel resources have been exhausted. This usually indicates that too many network connections are in use on the current host.
Solution Try again later. Chronic problems may be solved by reconfiguring the kernel.

 

Symptom The product exits with "%LICENSE-F-NOTSENT, unable to send message to license manager, system error 'number'".
Cause Internal kernel resources have been exhausted. This usually indicates that too many network connections are in use on the current host.
Solution Try again later. Chronic problems may be solved by reconfiguring the kernel.

 

Symptom The product exits with "%LICENSE-F-SYSERR, miscellaneous system error"
Cause The current system's date is wildly incorrect.
Solution Login as root and run the date command to correct the system's date.