Hardlock is a legacy, hardware-based Digital Rights Management (DRM) system, historically used by numerous software vendors, particularly for expensive and vertical market software like CAD/CAM. The system uses a physical dongle (hardware key) to control access to the application. The proper functioning of software protected by this system relies entirely on the server hosting the dongle and its associated drivers.
OpenLM provides a solution for monitoring license usage and retrieving statistics from the Hardlock license manager. OpenLM Hardlock monitoring ensures stability and provides visibility into the usage of these traditionally difficult-to-track hardware-protected licenses.
Hardlock was a product of Aladdin Knowledge Systems (now Thales/Sentinel) and has been succeeded by the Sentinel HL product family.
Hardlock refers to a hardware protection key (a dongle, typically USB) and its associated driver software (hardlock.sys). The driver is required for the computer or server to communicate with the protected application and the physical key.
Hardlock devices support both single-user and network configurations:
Note: Hardlock has reached its End-of-life (EOL) and has been succeeded by Sentinel HL and Sentinel LDK. Organizations should plan migration, but OpenLM maintains support for legacy Hardlock systems.
OpenLM is configured to monitor the Hardlock license manager by using the OpenLM Broker to retrieve license statistics. The Broker reads the license server’s log file, compiles the data, and sends it to the OpenLM Server for processing and reporting.
| OpenLM capability | Value for Hardlock licenses | Supported by OpenLM |
| Real-time usage monitoring | Tracks usage activity with reporting resolution via Log file parsing. | Yes |
| License totals | Reports the total number of licenses owned. | Yes |
| License usage | Provides detailed reports on who is currently using the licenses. | Yes |
| Denials/Borrowing reporting | OpenLM’s current integration for Hardlock does not directly support tracking Denials, Borrowed licenses, or Expiration Date. | No |
| Multiple server redundancy | OpenLM does not currently support monitoring Hardlock’s multiple server redundancy schemes. | No |
OpenLM provides a necessary layer of visibility and management over legacy Hardlock deployments, which are often overlooked due to their hardware-based nature.
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