OpenLM Broker

Overview

The OpenLM Broker is a lightweight Java service installed on (or next to) each of your license servers. It is the component that talks to your license managers: it runs their status and usage queries, reads their log files, watches license and option files, and streams everything to OpenLM — either the OpenLM Platform or an on-premises OpenLM Server.

The Broker UI — the Broker's own browser interface, served from the license server on port 5090

The Broker:

• Collects usage data — it queries the license manager about once a minute (for example, lmutil lmstat for FLEXlm) and combines the output with newly read log lines into a single usage snapshot.
• Reads log files — debug and audit logs are parsed continuously, including activity that happened while the Broker was down.
• Watches license and option files — changed files are detected and sent to OpenLM automatically.
• Executes commands from OpenLM — start, stop, or reread a license manager, deploy an option file, upload logs, restart or update itself. This is what powers remote management from the Broker Hub.
• Buffers data during outages — if OpenLM is unreachable, usage data is queued on disk and delivered when the connection returns, so statistics have no gaps.

Deploy a Broker on every license server. A single Broker can monitor several license managers (ports) on its machine, and can report to more than one OpenLM destination at the same time.

note

Don't confuse the three Broker-named components. The Broker (this page) is the service on your license server. The Broker Hub is the Platform console where you approve and manage all your Brokers. The Cloud Broker is a Platform service that collects data from SaaS platforms where no Broker can be installed.

Install the Broker

Download the Broker for your operating system from the OpenLM Downloads page, and see Install and configure OpenLM components for the step-by-step procedure. In short:

• Windows — run the installer. The Broker is registered as the OpenLM Broker Windows service and ships with its own bundled Java runtime, so no Java installation is required. The default installation folder is typically C:\Program Files\OpenLM\OpenLM Broker.
• Linux — install the .rpm or .deb package (installs to /opt/broker), or extract the .tar.gz archive, set JAVA_HOME in settings.sh, and run ./broker.sh install. The Broker is registered as a systemd unit (named openlm_broker_root by default) and requires a system Java runtime (Java 8 or 11). The broker.sh script also provides start, stop, restart, status, and uninstall commands.

To connect a Broker to the OpenLM Platform you also need a Broker authorization file — a JSON file with the credentials that identify your tenant. Generate it in the Platform before or right after installing.

Upgrades — whether run locally or pushed from the Broker Hub — never touch your configuration: broker.xml, the Broker's identity file, logs, and buffered data all survive updates.

Network requirements

Direction	Port	Purpose
Outbound	443 (HTTPS)	Reporting to the OpenLM Platform
Outbound	5015 (default)	Reporting to an on-premises OpenLM Server (older installations might use 7016)
Local	License manager ports (for example, 27000 for FLEXlm)	Querying the license managers on the same machine
Inbound (optional)	5090	The Broker UI, if you want to open it from another computer

The Broker only ever opens connections to OpenLM — the Platform never connects into your network. If the Broker must reach OpenLM through an HTTP proxy, see Proxy Configuration.

Open the Broker UI

The Broker ships with its own browser interface, the Broker UI, served by the Broker service itself on port 5090:

http://<license-server>:5090/

• On the license server itself, open http://localhost:5090/ — no login is required for local access.
• From another computer, the Broker UI asks for a remote access token:

Remote access to the Broker UI requires a token generated on the license server itself

A token can only be generated on the license server, which is what makes remote access safe: open http://localhost:5090/api/new-token in a browser on that machine (or run the ssh/winrs command shown on the token screen), paste the returned token into the Enter Token field, and select Continue. Tokens expire after 30 minutes or when the Broker service restarts — enter a fresh one when the screen reappears.

tip

You rarely need to type the address by hand. In the Broker Hub, selecting a Broker's Broker UI icon opens that Broker's interface for you, with the token handled automatically.

Other things worth knowing about the Broker UI:

• The port can differ. If port 5090 is taken (for example, by another Broker instance), the Broker binds the next free port and records it in broker.xml. The Current Broker selector at the bottom of the sidebar lists every Broker instance on the machine as version #port, and lets you switch between them when browsing locally.
• Changes apply immediately. Every Save in the Broker UI reconfigures the running service on the spot — no service restart is needed.
• Unsaved changes are guarded. If you navigate away from an edited form, the Broker UI asks whether to save or discard your changes.
• It can be served over HTTPS — see Security.

The Current Broker selector lists every Broker instance installed on the machine

The sidebar screens mirror the Broker's job: OpenLM Servers (where the data goes), License Managers (where the data comes from), and Settings (the Broker itself).

First run: Broker Initial Setup

When a freshly installed Broker has no server connection and no license managers configured, the Broker UI opens the Broker Initial Setup dialog:

1. Choose the connection type — Local OpenLM Installation (an on-premises OpenLM Server) or OpenLM Cloud Account (the OpenLM Platform).
2. Enter the connection details — the URL, Client ID, and Client Secret, or select Import Broker Authorization File and pick the .json file you generated in the Platform. Continue tests the connection.
3. Detect license managers — the Broker scans the machine and pre-configures every license manager it finds.
4. Approve the Broker — finish by approving the new Broker in OpenLM: in the Platform this is the Broker Hub's Pending Brokers view.

You can skip the guided setup and configure everything manually from the OpenLM Servers and License Managers screens — the sections that follow cover each screen in full.

Connect the Broker to OpenLM: the OpenLM Servers screen

The OpenLM Servers screen lists the destinations this Broker reports to. Each connection is a card showing the host name, its Status (Active, Disabled, or Standby), whether SSL is used, the Port, and the offline Buffer state and size.

To add a connection, select Add Server, then choose the connection type:

A Broker can report to an on-premises OpenLM Server, to the OpenLM Platform, or to both at once

• On-premise OpenLM Server — the URL defaults to http://localhost:5015; change the host name to your OpenLM Server. Use https:// in the URL to connect over SSL.
• OpenLM Cloud — the connection to the OpenLM Platform. Instead of typing the URL, Client ID, and Client Secret by hand, select Import Broker Authorization File and pick your tenant's authorization file — it fills in the URL and credentials for you.

The connection form. Check Connectivity verifies the URL and credentials before you save

Select Check Connectivity to test the connection before saving — it verifies both that the server is reachable and that the credentials are accepted.

The Advanced section holds the delivery settings:

Setting	Default	Meaning
Sending timeout (sec)	45	How long the Broker waits for the server to accept a message
Buffering	On	Buffer usage data on disk while the server is unreachable
Buffer file size (mb)	3	Size of each buffer segment file on disk
Clear Buffer	—	Permanently deletes all buffered, not-yet-sent data for this connection

warning

Clear Buffer discards data that has not reached OpenLM yet, which can leave gaps in usage statistics. Use it only if a corrupted buffer is reported or you knowingly want to drop the backlog.

The Inactive/Active toggle at the top pauses or resumes reporting to this destination without deleting it, and Delete removes the connection entirely. A card marked Standby means OpenLM itself has told this Broker to pause sending (for example, while a Platform tenant is suspended) — the Broker keeps buffering locally and checks back every 3 minutes, so no action is needed on the Broker side.

Configure license managers

The License Managers screen lists every license manager (port) the Broker monitors, with its Type, Port, Vendor, Status, and whether a Log file and License file are configured. The Host field next to the title is the host name the Broker reports for this license server — it defaults to the machine's own host name and rarely needs changing.

The License Managers screen. Select the pencil icon to open a license manager's full configuration

Detect license managers automatically

Select Detect to have the Broker scan the machine for running license managers. It identifies known license manager processes, extracts their ports, tool paths, and log file locations, verifies each candidate by running its status command, and adds what it finds to the list. On Linux, the detection dialog offers an optional sudo password to widen what the scan can see. Leaving it empty runs a basic scan.

Detection covers the most common license managers — FLEXlm (lmgrd/lmadmin, including ESRI ArcGIS License Manager), DSLS, LM-X, RMS, HASP, Sentinel, TASKING, Houdini, GEOVIA, Moldex3D, Zoo, and more. License managers that detection cannot see can always be added manually.

Add a license manager manually

Select Add License Manager, pick the LM Type from the dropdown (see the full list of supported license managers), and set the port the license manager listens on:

The LM Type dropdown is populated with all license manager types the Broker supports

The Broker pre-fills everything it can for the chosen type — default commands, log file types, the Windows service name — from its built-in per-LM templates. After adding, the license manager opens in the editor described next.

The license manager editor

Selecting a license manager (or the pencil icon) opens the editor. The header shows the read-only LM Type and Hostname/IP, the editable Port, and an Inactive/Active toggle that pauses monitoring without deleting the configuration. Below it, the configuration is organized into tabs: Settings, Commands, Vendors, and Log Files (certain license manager types add an Advanced tab, and types without license file support omit Settings).

Select Save at the bottom right to apply your changes — they take effect immediately.

Settings tab

License file handling and type-specific options:

License file paths can be detected automatically or set manually

• Detect license file path automatically / Set license file path manually — in manual mode you add one or more explicit license file paths (a built-in file explorer lets you browse the license server's disks from the Broker UI).
• Watch License file — when on, the Broker resends the license file whenever it changes, checking at the Watch interval (default 300 seconds). License files are also resent every 12 hours regardless of changes.
• Allow license file sorting — lets OpenLM maintain a sorted copy of a FLEXlm license file (used with license ordering features).
• Cluster / Failover Instance / Cluster name — for license managers running in a redundant (cluster) configuration; available only for types that support cluster commands.
• Date format / Date language — for license managers whose output contains ambiguous date formats (for example DSLS or Zoo); Check date format on file validates your choice against the actual file.

Commands tab

The commands the Broker runs against this license manager, grouped into Periodic commands (run on a schedule — Status and Data Inquiry) and On-demand commands (run when you or OpenLM triggers them — Start, Stop, Reread, Remove License, and others depending on the type):

Each command has an editable command line. Execute runs it once so you can verify the output

• Executable path — the folder holding the license manager's utilities (for example lmutil). For FLEXlm and LM-X the Broker ships its own bundled tools, so this can stay empty.
• Each command has an on/off toggle, a Timeout (default 60 seconds), and — for periodic commands — a Watch interval (default 55 seconds, which in practice means once a minute).
• Use the operating system start/stop commands — on Windows, runs start/stop/reread through the license manager's Windows service (NET START/NET STOP with the given Service name) instead of the vendor utilities.
• Parallel execution — allows multipart command lines to run their parts concurrently.
• Filter Reservations (FLEXlm Data Inquiry only) — excludes license reservations from usage data.
• The command line itself is editable. Select Execute to run it once and inspect the output, or Restore Default to return to the built-in template for this license manager type.

tip

Execute is the fastest way to troubleshoot a license manager that shows no data: if the command output is empty or errors, the problem is between the Broker and the license manager, not in OpenLM.

Vendors tab

The vendor daemons of this license manager, one row per vendor (for example adskflex for Autodesk on FLEXlm). Vendor names must match the license manager's actual daemon names exactly. For license manager types that support option files, each vendor can also carry its option file definition — its path, an optional backup folder, and a Watch toggle (default interval 600 seconds) that makes the Broker resend the file when it changes. A few types name the file differently — for example, DSLS calls it the Authorization Rules File and RLM the ISV Options File.

Log Files tab

The license manager log files the Broker reads, each with its Log type, name, path, associated Vendor, and a Monitoring toggle:

Log files feed denials, sessions, and historical activity into OpenLM

The available log types depend on the license manager — for FLEXlm they are FlexLM Debug Log File, ESRI Audit Log File, and Other. When adding or editing a log file, the Advanced section offers the file Encoding, a sent-data size limit, and Watch files by pattern — useful for license managers that rotate their logs, so the Broker automatically follows the newest matching file.

The Broker remembers its position in each log between restarts and reads FLEXlm debug logs historically — activity from a period when the Broker was down is still recovered from the log, as long as the downtime is under 24 hours.

Advanced tab

Certain license manager types (for example Altium, GitLab, or Salesforce) need extra type-specific options such as API credentials or feature totals. For those types an Advanced tab lists the options as editable key/value pairs. Secret values are stored encrypted.

Broker settings

The Settings screen configures the Broker service itself, in a row of tabs:

Broker Settings: log level, self-update, web UI control, TCP monitoring, and proxy configuration

• Broker Log Level — the verbosity of the Broker's own logs (ERROR by default — raise it to DEBUG while investigating an issue, then lower it back). Download Logs saves all Broker logs as a single broker-logs.zip — the file OpenLM support usually asks for. Dump Threads downloads a diagnostic thread dump.
• Update Broker Version — Update makes the Broker download the latest version from the OpenLM download site and update itself in place. Configuration and buffered data are preserved. You can also push updates centrally from the Broker Hub.
• Reset Configuration — resets the Broker to an empty configuration. The current broker.xml is backed up first as broker_<DateTimeOfReset>.xml; to roll back, rename that file to broker.xml. As the tab itself warns: don't use Reset to remove individual license managers (delete them on the License Managers screen) or to rerun detection (use Detect).
• Turn off Web UI — disables the Broker UI entirely, for hardened environments. After turning it off, no configuration can be applied remotely. To turn the UI back on, edit broker.xml on the license server, set webUIPort="5090", and restart the Broker service.
• TCP Connections Monitoring — when on, the Broker samples the TCP connections of the monitored license manager ports every few minutes and reports them to the Platform. Off by default.
• Proxy Configuration — the HTTP proxy (host, port, and optional credentials) the Broker uses to reach OpenLM. Restart the Broker service after changing proxy settings to make sure they take effect.

When OpenLM is unreachable: buffering

Delivery problems don't lose data. If sending fails repeatedly, the connection switches to offline mode: usage snapshots, log data, and license/option files are appended to compressed buffer files on disk (the bufferfiles/ folder in the Broker installation directory), while the Broker keeps retrying with an increasing backoff of up to 10 minutes. Once the server responds again, the backlog is delivered oldest-first and the Broker returns to live sending — statistics on the OpenLM side simply fill in.

Buffering is on by default and controlled per connection (Advanced settings). Two limits apply: each buffer segment file is capped (3 MB by default), and buffered data older than 10 days is discarded. There is no cap on the total buffer size — a Broker that is offline for a long time keeps accumulating segments, so keep an eye on disk space during extended outages.

Every Broker also has a permanent identity — a unique ID stored in the broker.id file next to broker.xml. This is how OpenLM recognizes a specific Broker across restarts, upgrades, and IP changes.

warning

If you clone a virtual machine with an installed Broker, delete the clone's broker.id file before starting it (a new one is generated automatically). Two Brokers sharing the same identity show up as Duplicate in the Broker Hub.

Security

• Local-trust access model. The Broker UI requires no credentials from localhost but demands a remote access token from anywhere else — and tokens can only be minted on the license server itself. Administrators without OS access to the license server cannot reconfigure the Broker.
• HTTPS for the Broker UI. The Broker creates an application.properties file in its installation directory on first start. Set server.ssl.enabled=true there and point it at a certificate — either a keystore file (.pfx/.jks) or, on Windows, the Windows-MY OS certificate store — then restart the service. Local HTTP access on the license server keeps working.
• TLS to OpenLM. Connections to the Platform use HTTPS with standard certificate validation. On Windows the Broker trusts the Windows certificate store, so corporate CA certificates are picked up automatically; on Linux, import private CA certificates into the Java runtime's trust store.
• Secrets are encrypted. The Client Secret and other stored passwords are kept encrypted in the Broker's configuration files, and the Broker UI never displays them.
• Arbitrary remote commands are off by default. OpenLM can only send the Broker its predefined management commands. Free-form custom commands are refused unless explicitly enabled by setting customCommands=true in config.properties on the license server.
• The web UI can be turned off entirely on hardened hosts — see Broker settings.

Manage Brokers from the Platform

Day-to-day Broker fleet management happens in the Broker Hub, not on each license server. After a new Broker first reports in, approve it under Pending Brokers; from then on the Platform can remotely:

• monitor Broker health and version,
• restart a Broker,
• update Brokers to a new version (individually or in bulk; requires Broker 22.6.13.105 or later),
• start, stop, or reread a license manager, and download or deploy its license file,
• collect the Broker's log bundle,
• open any Broker's Broker UI directly.

Files and directories

Everything the Broker owns lives in its installation directory:

Path	Purpose
broker.xml	The entire Broker configuration. Every save also writes broker.xml.backup
broker.id	The Broker's permanent unique identity — preserve it when moving a Broker, delete it when cloning one
config.properties	Service name, version, update URL, and the customCommands switch
application.properties	HTTPS settings for the Broker UI
proxy.properties	HTTP proxy settings for reaching OpenLM
lmsettings/	Built-in templates for every supported license manager type
bufferfiles/	Buffered usage data queued while OpenLM is unreachable
markerfiles/	Saved read positions in license manager log files
logs/	The Broker's own logs — broker-service.log (rolling, 10 files × 10 MB) plus a log per license manager port and per server connection

Back up broker.xml and broker.id together — restoring both onto a fresh installation fully restores a Broker, including its identity in OpenLM.

Supported license managers

The Broker supports 100 license manager types with built-in defaults. The LM Type dropdown lists them all; each type comes with ready-made commands, log parsers, and defaults. For vendor-specific setup guides, see Connect license managers.

Full list of supported license manager types

AbsInt, AEScripts, AIMMS, Altair, Altair Managed, Altium License Manager, Altium Primary Server, Altiva, Ash Ware, Autodesk Cloud, BetaLM, Cadenas, CADMATIC, Canvas, Chaos, CodeMeter, COMOS, COSCOM, CREO, Datamine, DSLS, DSLS Cloud, DUG Insight, EPLAN, Esprit, ETAP, FLEXlm, FlexNet Embedded, FlexNet Embedded JSON, FVA, GEOVIA, GitLab, GNS, GreenHills, Guardant, Hardlock, HASP, Helios, Hosted HyperWorks Units, Houdini, Infograph, Infor SLM, Innovyze, Intergraph, INTES, IPGLock, JAZZ, JetBrains, Juniper, L3Harris, LexFloat Server, Licman, LiMBR, LimeLM, LMX, LSDYNA, LUM, Materialise Magics, MathLM, MlicAdmin, Moldex3D, NIVLM, OGI, OLicense, OpenLM Applications Manager, OpenLM Generic, OpenText, Oracle Enterprise Manager, Parasoft, Peloton RigView, Phase2Phase Server, Presto, ProSim, Pure Variants, QPS, Razorcat, REVision Effects, RLM, RMS, Salesforce, SEH_UTN, Seisware, Sentinel SuperPro, Siemens Polarion, SIMATIC, SlickEdit, Sparx, Sparx Pro, SPLM, Squish, TASKING, Tebis, tNavigator, Transoft Solutions, Tweak, UniSim, Venturis, VSLM, Zetaware, Zoo.

The OpenLM Generic type is an empty template for license managers not on the list — you supply the query commands, and the Broker handles scheduling and delivery.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	What to check
The Broker UI doesn't open on port 5090	Another process (often a second Broker instance) took the port, and the Broker moved to the next free one — check the webUIPort attribute in broker.xml. If it says off, the web UI was disabled: set a port number and restart the service
The token screen keeps coming back	Tokens expire after 30 minutes and on every Broker restart — generate a fresh one from the license server. If it happens immediately, check that the browser can keep session storage for the site
A new Broker doesn't appear in Pending Brokers	Use Check Connectivity on the OpenLM Servers screen. If it fails, verify the URL, import the authorization file again, and check firewall/proxy rules for outbound HTTPS
A license manager shows no usage data	Open its Commands tab and Execute the Data Inquiry command — if the output is empty or an error, fix the executable path, port, or host name; if the output looks right, check the connection status on the OpenLM Servers screen
The Broker shows Time Sync Error in the Broker Hub	The license server's clock has drifted — sync it with Network Time Protocol (NTP). Correct time matters, because the Broker converts usage timestamps from the machine's local time
Disk usage grows in bufferfiles/	The Broker can't reach OpenLM and is buffering. Restore connectivity and the backlog drains automatically; buffered data expires after 10 days
Something else	Raise the Broker Log Level to DEBUG, reproduce the issue, then Download Logs and open the zip — or send it to OpenLM support