Glossary

This glossary defines the terms, acronyms, and product names you meet when you manage software licenses with OpenLM. It spans license models, core licensing concepts, OpenLM products and features, the third-party license managers OpenLM connects to, the vendors whose software it monitors, and the wider IT asset management, compliance, and AI concepts around the practice.

Each entry stands on its own, so you can read any single definition without the rest of the page. A category label under each term marks its area. Examples are OpenLM feature, license manager, and software vendor.

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A

Active Directory (AD)

IT, SAM, and integration

A Microsoft directory service that stores user, group, and computer accounts for a Windows network. OpenLM synchronizes users and groups from Active Directory through its Directory Synchronization Agent, so license usage and access rules map to real organizational identities.

Active server

OpenLM feature

The license server a failover pair is serving from: its primary or its backup. OpenLM Router reports it for each pair as Primary or Backup in GET /api/v1/status.

Related terms: failover pair, primary license server, backup license server

Actual Usage

OpenLM feature

An OpenLM tool that reports the time software is in use, not only the time a license is checked out. By comparing checkout time with active interaction, Actual Usage exposes idle sessions that you can harvest and reallocate.

Admin port

License manager

The FlexLM port a client contacts first, usually 27000. lmgrd answers there and sends the client on to the vendor daemon's own port. OpenLM Router forwards only the admin port, so clients still need a direct network path to the vendor daemon on both servers of a failover pair.

Related terms: lmgrd, vendor daemon, listen port

Adobe

Software vendor

A vendor of creative and document software licensed mainly through Creative Cloud subscriptions. OpenLM Subscription Optimizer targets unused Adobe seats so you pay only for what teams use.

AEC (architecture, engineering, and construction)

Industry and domain

The industry sector that designs and builds the physical environment using tools such as Revit, MicroStation, and Civil 3D. AEC firms run large estates of license-managed software that OpenLM monitors.

Agent (OpenLM Agent)

OpenLM component

The previous name of the Workstation Agent, the OpenLM client installed on end-user workstations to collect license usage data. Use "Workstation Agent" in documentation. See Workstation Agent.

Agent Activity Manager

OpenLM component

An OpenLM service that tracks which workstations run an active Workstation Agent. License Access Control queries it during deployment to confirm that a user's machine is running one before it allocates individual-user rules. In OpenLM Platform, its agent list appears as the Agent Activity page of Agents Hub. See Agent Activity.

Agents Hub

OpenLM component

The central OpenLM interface for deploying, configuring, and monitoring Workstation Agents across an organization. Workstation Agents report their usage data to OpenLM Platform through Agents Hub.

Related terms: Workstation Agent, Broker Hub

AI FinOps

AI and integration

An OpenLM tool that applies financial operations practices to artificial intelligence tooling. It attributes large language model (LLM) token consumption to projects, teams, and users with real-time token attribution, so engineering organizations keep AI budgets predictable alongside traditional software spend. AI Proxy collects the usage.

Alerts (OpenLM Alerts)

OpenLM feature

An OpenLM automation where you define conditions, such as low license availability or an approaching expiration date, and receive notifications when those conditions are met. Alerts help teams act before a shortage causes a denial.

Related terms: denied usage, license utilization

Allocation

Licensing concept

The assignment of specific licenses to specific users, groups, devices, or projects. In OpenLM, allocation through License Access Control reserves capacity for the people who need it and prevents lower-priority users from exhausting a shared pool.

Allowlist

Licensing concept

A list of users or groups explicitly permitted to access a feature, the opposite of a blocklist. OpenLM Compliance and License Access Control use allowlists so that only authorized users reach expensive engineering tools.

Altair

Software vendor

A vendor of simulation and data analytics software that uses a units-based licensing model called HyperWorks Units. OpenLM monitors Altair licensing, including hosted HyperWorks units.

Annapurna

Platform and architecture

The release name for the microservices generation of OpenLM Platform. Built on a microservices architecture and enhanced with AI for performance and scalability, Annapurna is the central system for license management and monitoring across the OpenLM suite. OpenLM names major releases after mountains.

Ansys

Software vendor

A vendor of engineering simulation software for structural, fluid, electronics, and multiphysics analysis. Ansys licenses are high in value and are commonly monitored with OpenLM.

API (application programming interface)

IT, SAM, and integration

A defined set of endpoints that lets external systems read from or write to a platform programmatically. OpenLM exposes APIs so customers can integrate license data with IT service management, business intelligence, and procurement systems.

Asset (License Access Control)

OpenLM component

In License Access Control, a single license server that the service tracks, identified by its host, port, license manager type, and option file. Rules and schedules attach to an asset, and only one schedule is active per asset at a time.

Audit (software license audit)

IT, SAM, and compliance

A formal review, often initiated by a software vendor, that verifies an organization uses licenses within the terms of its agreements. OpenLM supports audit readiness by keeping a complete usage history and exporting evidence of compliant use.

Authorization file

Platform and architecture

A JSON file that the Identity service in OpenLM Platform generates for an OpenLM component, so the component can sign in to OpenLM Platform. For OpenLM Router, it holds the base URL of OpenLM Platform and the ID and secret of a Router client, and you import it on the Platform Connection page of the Router UI.

Related terms: Router client, Platform Connection, OAuth 2.0

Autodesk

Software vendor

A vendor of design and engineering software, including AutoCAD, Revit, and the Token-Flex program. Autodesk has shifted toward named-user and token-based models, which OpenLM monitors to reduce subscription waste.

Autodesk Cloud

License manager

Autodesk's cloud-based licensing service for named-user subscriptions. OpenLM interfaces with Autodesk Cloud to report assignment and usage and to deploy access rules to supported cloud license sources.

Autodesk Token-Flex

License manager

An Autodesk consumption program that charges for usage based on tokens drawn per product per hour. OpenLM reports Token-Flex consumption so teams can forecast spend and avoid budget overruns.

B

Backup license server

Licensing concept

The license server that takes over when the primary license server fails. Some license managers support a single backup in place of a three-server triad. With OpenLM Router, the backup is one of the two servers in a failover pair, and clients reach it through the Router without any change on their side.

Related terms: primary license server, failover, redundancy

Bentley Systems

Software vendor

A vendor of infrastructure engineering software, including MicroStation and the OpenRoads product line. Bentley licensing measures usage against entitlements and can generate overage charges, which OpenLM helps prevent through monitoring and alerts.

BetaLM

License manager

A license manager used by some engineering applications. OpenLM monitors BetaLM for usage, denials, and expiration dates.

BI Services (OpenLM BI Services)

OpenLM service

An OpenLM service that builds custom business intelligence reports and dashboards from license data, so leaders see the metrics that matter to their organization.

BIM (building information modeling)

Industry and domain

A process for creating and managing digital representations of buildings and infrastructure. BIM tools such as Revit and MicroStation are costly, license-managed applications that OpenLM customers monitor.

Blocklist

Licensing concept

A list of users or groups explicitly denied access to a feature, the opposite of an allowlist. License Access Control can generate blocklist rules to keep specified users off premium licenses.

Bootstrap mode

OpenLM feature

The installation setting ROUTER_CONFIG_BOOTSTRAP_MODE, which declares the product a Router deployment serves: basic for OpenLM Router failover pairs, loadBalancer for OpenLM LicOps. When the Router first connects, OpenLM Platform creates an empty starting configuration in that mode. Without the setting, OpenLM Platform creates nothing and the Router stays idle.

A Router keeps its mode permanently. To change it, you delete the stored configuration of the Router and deploy it again.

Related terms: OpenLM Router, OpenLM LicOps, LicOps Configuration

Borrowed license

Licensing concept

A license temporarily checked out from a shared pool for offline use, then returned after a set period. It is also called a commuter license. OpenLM reports borrowed licenses so administrators can see capacity that is unavailable to other users.

Related terms: floating license, linger time

Broad Peak

Platform and architecture

A named release of OpenLM Platform. As with Annapurna, OpenLM names major releases after mountains.

Broker (OpenLM Broker)

OpenLM component

An intermediary OpenLM component, installed per license server, that communicates with license managers and converts their usage data into a standardized format. The Broker also deploys option files for License Access Control and watches option files for changes.

Don't confuse the Broker with the Cloud Broker, which connects to SaaS and cloud platforms through the API, or with the SaaS Agent, a Windows application that collects data from your SaaS accounts.

Related terms: Broker Hub, Cloud Broker, SaaS Agent, license server

Broker Hub

OpenLM component

The OpenLM service and interface for registering, approving, and managing Broker hosts, including deploying and updating Brokers and viewing their health. A host must be approved in Broker Hub before License Access Control can discover and manage its assets.

Related terms: Broker, Agents Hub

C

CAD (computer-aided design)

Industry and domain

Software used to create precise 2D and 3D designs, such as AutoCAD, SOLIDWORKS, and Creo. CAD tools are among the specialty applications OpenLM is built to manage.

CAE (computer-aided engineering)

Industry and domain

Software used to simulate and validate engineering designs, including finite element analysis and computational fluid dynamics tools. CAE licenses are expensive and benefit from close usage monitoring.

CAM (computer-aided manufacturing)

Industry and domain

Software that turns designs into machine instructions for manufacturing. CAM applications are frequently license-served and tracked by OpenLM.

CCL (Currently Consumed Licenses)

Reporting and metrics

A real-time view of all active license sessions across monitored license servers. CCL shows which licenses are checked out, by whom, and from which workstation.

Related terms: concurrent usage, session, real-time reports

CFD (computational fluid dynamics)

Industry and domain

A simulation method that models the flow of liquids and gases. CFD tools such as Ansys Fluent are high-value, license-managed applications.

Chargeback

Reporting and metrics

An accounting practice that allocates software cost to the teams, departments, or projects that consume it. OpenLM Projects supports chargeback by attributing license usage to organizational units.

Related terms: project, license utilization

Check-in (license check-in)

Licensing concept

The return of a license to the shared pool when an application closes or a session ends. Prompt check-in keeps capacity available, and OpenLM can force check-in of idle sessions through harvesting.

Checkout (license checkout)

Licensing concept

The moment an application requests and receives a license from a license server. The license manager enforces access rules at checkout time, which is where License Access Control applies its rules.

Cloud Broker

OpenLM component

A Platform service that connects to SaaS and cloud-based platforms with the API credentials you give it, to collect usage data. Nothing is installed on your side. See Cloud Broker.

Don't confuse the Cloud Broker with the Broker, which monitors on-premises license managers, or with the SaaS Agent, a Windows application that collects data from your SaaS accounts.

Related terms: Broker, SaaS Agent, Subscription Optimizer

Cloud bursting

Industry and domain

Extending an on-premises HPC cluster into public cloud capacity when demand peaks. Compute scales in minutes, but the license pool does not, so bursting raises the number of jobs competing for the same licenses.

Related terms: HPC, compute node

Cloud deployment

Platform and architecture

Hosting OpenLM Platform in the cloud for scalable operation without managing local infrastructure. OpenLM supports cloud, on-premises, and hybrid deployment.

CodeMeter

License manager

A licensing and protection system from Wibu-Systems that uses hardware (CmDongle) and software (CmActLicense) containers. OpenLM monitors CodeMeter usage, including borrowed licenses and expiration dates.

Commuter license

Licensing concept

Another name for a borrowed license, a license checked out for offline use and returned later. See Borrowed license.

Compliance (license compliance)

IT, SAM, and compliance

The state of using software within the terms of its license agreements. OpenLM supports compliance by enforcing access rules, reporting true denials and overuse, and producing an audit trail. What it makes possible depends on each customer's agreement, region, and configuration.

Also known as software license compliance or license audit readiness.

Related terms: license entitlement, Compliance Service, SAM

Compliance Service

OpenLM component

An OpenLM microservice that monitors geographical license usage to verify compliance with regional licensing agreements and restrictions.

Related terms: license compliance, license entitlement, SAM

Component (OpenLM)

Platform and architecture

A software module deployed separately from the core OpenLM Platform to extend its reach. Examples include the OpenLM Broker, the Workstation Agent, and the Directory Synchronization Agent.

Related terms: Broker, Workstation Agent, DSA

Compute node

Industry and domain

One machine in an HPC cluster that runs batch jobs. The job scheduler allocates nodes to a job for its walltime, so a node held by a job that is waiting for a license is paid for but does no work.

Related terms: HPC, job scheduler, walltime

Concurrent license

License model

A license drawn from a shared pool and available to any authorized user on a first-come, first-served basis. A concurrent license and a floating license do not differ functionally. See Floating (concurrent) license.

Concurrent usage

Reporting and metrics

The number of licenses in use at a given moment. Peak concurrent usage is the key input for right-sizing a floating license pool.

Also known as simultaneous usage.

Related terms: floating license, license utilization, CCL

Configuration sync (OpenLM Router)

OpenLM feature

How OpenLM Router receives its failover pairs. About every 10 seconds the Router requests configuration changes from LicOps Configuration in OpenLM Platform, applies it without a restart, and reports the configuration version it applied. Only the Router opens connections, so the OpenLM Platform connection needs no inbound firewall rule.

Related terms: LicOps Configuration, Router ID, Platform Connection

Consultancy Services (OpenLM Consultancy Services)

OpenLM service

An OpenLM advisory service that helps organizations design license management strategy, optimize spend, and prepare for audits.

Cost-per-active-user

Reporting and metrics

A metric that divides license cost by the number of users who use the software, rather than by seats purchased. It reveals the true cost of a tool and supports accurate department chargebacks.

Custom Commands

OpenLM feature

An OpenLM tool that runs predefined scripts or actions in response to license events, such as notifying a user or releasing an idle session.

D

Dassault Systèmes

Software vendor

A vendor of design, simulation, and product lifecycle management software, including CATIA, SOLIDWORKS, SIMULIA, and DELMIA. Dassault products are served by the DS License Server (DSLS), which OpenLM monitors and manages.

Denial (license denial)

Licensing concept

An event in which a user requests software but no license is available. Tracking denials shows whether you need more capacity or better allocation. Compare with true denial.

Denied usage

Reporting and metrics

The recorded instances where license access was blocked because all available licenses were in use. OpenLM reports denied usage so teams can quantify shortages.

Also known as license denial.

Related terms: concurrent usage, license utilization

Deployment (License Access Control)

OpenLM component

In License Access Control, the act of pushing an asset's rules to its license server, compiled into a complete option file for on-premises license managers or sent as per-rule API changes to SaaS platforms. Deployments run on demand, on a schedule, or automatically on group changes, and each one is recorded in the deployment history.

Destination Systems

OpenLM feature

A page of the Directory Sync service in OpenLM Platform where you configure the Amazon S3 buckets and Amazon SQS FIFO queues that receive the user and group changes Directory Sync detects. Directory Sync replaces the LDAP Connector app. See Destination Systems.

Related terms: DSS, LDAP Connector

Directory Synchronization Agent (DSA)

OpenLM component

An OpenLM component that imports users, groups, and organizational structure from Active Directory or LDAP. See Install DSA. The DSA keeps OpenLM identities aligned with the directory so usage records and access rules reflect the real organization.

Related terms: DSS, Identity Alignment

Docker

Platform and architecture

A platform for packaging software into containers. OpenLM Platform ships as containerized microservices, which support consistent cloud, on-premises, and hybrid deployment.

Dongle

Licensing concept

A physical hardware key, usually a USB device, that must be present for protected software to run. Dongles can be lost or kept unused in a drawer, so OpenLM monitors USB ports across the network to locate them and confirm whether the software is in use.

Dongle Monitoring

OpenLM product

An OpenLM product that tracks hardware dongles across a network, showing which user holds a given dongle and whether the associated software is in use. It brings physical license keys into the same visibility as networked licenses.

Related terms: license manager, usage monitoring

DSLS (Dassault Systèmes License Server)

License manager

The license manager for Dassault Systèmes products such as CATIA and SOLIDWORKS. OpenLM provides DSLS monitoring with denial reporting, borrowed-license reporting, token support, allocation, and server-redundancy support.

DSS (Directory Sync Service)

OpenLM component

A platform service that synchronizes user directories with OpenLM, turning on automatic user provisioning and group-based license access policies. The on-premises Directory Synchronization Agent feeds the Directory Sync Service.

Related terms: Directory Synchronization Agent, Destination Systems, External Services

E

EDA (electronic design automation)

Industry and domain

Software used to design integrated circuits and electronic systems, from vendors such as Cadence, Synopsys, and Siemens EDA. EDA licenses are among the most expensive software an enterprise buys, which makes monitoring valuable.

Encryption key (OpenLM Router)

OpenLM feature

The 32-byte key OpenLM Router uses to encrypt the OpenLM Platform client secret before it stores it. Generate it once per deployment with openssl rand -base64 32 and keep the 44-character string exactly as printed. A different key can't decrypt the stored secret, so after a change you have to enter the OpenLM Platform connection again.

Related terms: Platform Connection, Router client

Engineering license management

Licensing concept

The discipline of monitoring and controlling licenses for specialized engineering and scientific software. It is the core focus of OpenLM and differs from general IT software management because of floating, token, and dongle models.

Engineering License Management Service

OpenLM service

An OpenLM service in which OpenLM specialists run engineering license management for the customer, combining OpenLM Platform with expert operation.

Enrichment Service

OpenLM component

An OpenLM microservice that processes raw usage data and enriches it with contextual information such as user identity, project allocation, and denial classification.

Related terms: microservice, usage monitoring

Entitlement

Licensing concept

The set of rights an organization has purchased: how many seats, which features, and for how long. When you manage licenses by entitlement, you grant access based on roles rather than one-off assignments.

Related terms: license compliance, license file, SAM

Esri

Software vendor

The vendor of the ArcGIS geographic information system. OpenLM monitors ArcGIS named-user and concurrent licensing, including ArcGIS Online.

EULA (end-user license agreement)

IT, SAM, and compliance

The legal contract that sets the terms and conditions for using a software product, including allowed users, features, and deployment. Compliance is measured against the EULA.

EXCLUDE

OpenLM component

An option file directive that denies a feature to a specified user, group, or host. License Access Control's Deny Access rules compile to EXCLUDE directives to keep lower-priority users from consuming reserved capacity.

Expiration monitoring

Licensing concept

Tracking license and maintenance renewal dates to prevent an unplanned loss of access. OpenLM reports expiration dates and can alert administrators before licenses lapse.

External DB Support

OpenLM feature

An OpenLM tool that stores license data in an external database, such as PostgreSQL or Microsoft SQL Server, for scale, retention, and integration with business intelligence tools.

External Services

OpenLM feature

A page of the Directory Sync service in OpenLM Platform where you choose what happens to a user's accounts in SaaS services when the user is deleted from your directory: remove them through Cloud Broker, remove them and notify you, or only notify you. Directory Sync replaces the Identity Alignment app. Don't confuse it with the External Services page of Cloud Broker, where you connect a SaaS platform. See External Services.

Related terms: Cloud Broker, DSS, Identity Alignment

F

Failback

Licensing concept

Returning license traffic to the primary license server after it recovers from a failure. In OpenLM Router, each failover pair sets a failback mode: Auto moves clients back on the next health check after the primary is healthy again, and Manual keeps them on the backup until an administrator forces the failback.

Related terms: failover, failover pair, OpenLM Router

Failover

Licensing concept

Moving license clients from a license server that has failed to a backup server, so checkouts can continue. Done by hand, this means changing DNS or the license path on every client. OpenLM Router automates it for TCP-based network license managers: clients point at the Router, and the Router switches to the backup when OpenLM Platform reports the primary unhealthy. Sessions that are open when the switch happens drop, and the clients reconnect.

Related terms: failback, redundancy, OpenLM Router

Failover history

OpenLM feature

The record OpenLM Router keeps of every move between a pair's primary and backup servers, with the reason for each move: the failure threshold was reached (HealthCheckFailed), someone forced the move (Manual), or the pair returned to its primary on its own in Auto failback mode (FailbackRequested). The history survives a restart of the Router.

Related terms: failover, failback, failover pair

Failover pair (port mapping)

OpenLM feature

The unit that OpenLM Router protects: one listen port, a primary license server, an optional backup server, a failure threshold, and a failback mode. You define failover pairs in OpenLM Platform, which lists them as port mappings, and each pair fails over independently of the others.

Related terms: listen port, failover, failback

Failure threshold

OpenLM feature

The number of consecutive unhealthy health checks that make OpenLM Router move a failover pair to its backup server. It accepts 1 to 10, and a new pair starts at 3. The Router checks each pair every 30 seconds, so with a threshold of 3, failover happens 60 to 90 seconds after the OpenLM Platform first reports the primary unhealthy. A missing health reading does not count as a failure.

Related terms: failover pair, server health

FEA (finite element analysis)

Industry and domain

A simulation method that divides a structure into small elements to predict stress, heat, and deformation. FEA tools such as Ansys Mechanical and Abaqus are license-managed and frequently monitored.

Feature (license feature)

Licensing concept

A specific function, module, or add-in of a licensed application that the license manager controls separately. OpenLM tracks usage at the feature level, so you can see which functions, not only which products, are used.

Don't confuse a feature with a product, which is an OpenLM offering.

Related terms: product, license file

Features Service

OpenLM component

An OpenLM service that maintains the authoritative catalog of license features. License Access Control validates feature names against the Features Service before it deploys rules.

FinOps

IT, SAM, and compliance

A discipline that brings financial accountability to variable technology spend by aligning engineering, finance, and procurement. OpenLM applies FinOps thinking to software licenses and, through AI FinOps, to LLM token consumption.

Flexera

Software vendor

The company behind FlexNet Publisher, the most common engineering license manager, and FlexNet Embedded. OpenLM monitors Flexera-licensed software and integrates with Flexera environments.

FlexNet (FLEXlm)

License manager

The most widely used license manager for engineering software, originally FLEXlm and now Flexera FlexNet Publisher. It uses a vendor daemon, the lmgrd license server process, and an option file for access control. OpenLM provides full FlexNet monitoring with denial reporting, borrowing, token support, and option file management.

FlexNet Embedded (FNE)

License manager

A Flexera licensing technology embedded directly in applications and devices. OpenLM interfaces with FNE for usage, borrowing, and token reporting.

Floating (concurrent) license

License model

A license shared among a pool of users. When you open an application it requests a license from a central server, and when you close it the license returns to the pool for someone else. Floating licenses suit globally distributed teams and are the model OpenLM optimizes most often.

Also known as a concurrent license or network license.

Related terms: named user license, node-locked license, concurrent usage

Force failover / force failback

OpenLM feature

Moving a failover pair to its backup, or back to its primary, by hand instead of waiting for a health check. Use it to rehearse a failover or before planned maintenance. OpenLM Router offers it through its REST API, and open sessions drop exactly as in a real failover. A pair in Auto failback mode returns to a healthy primary on its own, so set it to Manual first to keep it on the backup.

Related terms: failover, failback, failover history

G

Gateway

Platform and architecture

The DNS or fully qualified domain name (FQDN) entry point through which users and components reach OpenLM Platform.

Related terms: OpenLM Platform, on-premises

GIS (geographic information system)

Industry and domain

Software for capturing, analyzing, and visualizing spatial and geographic data, led by Esri ArcGIS. GIS licenses are widely used across government and utilities and are commonly monitored with OpenLM.

GraphQL

AI and integration

A query language and data layer that lets clients request exactly the data they need. The OpenLM MCP Reporting Connector uses a GraphQL data layer to retrieve precise analytics for AI assistants.

Group Usage

Reporting and metrics

An OpenLM report that aggregates license usage by organizational group, so you can compare consumption across teams and departments.

GSA (General Services Administration)

IT, SAM, and compliance

The US federal agency whose schedules let government buyers purchase approved products. OpenLM is a GSA contract holder, which simplifies procurement for public-sector customers.

H

Hardlock

License manager

A hardware-based, dongle-style license manager. OpenLM monitors Hardlock usage and expiration.

Harvesting (license harvesting)

Licensing concept

The automatic reclaiming of licenses from idle sessions and their return to the shared pool. OpenLM detects inactivity, can save a user's work, and releases the license so an active colleague can use it, turning waste into capacity without buying more seats.

Related terms: idle time, floating license

Heat map

Reporting and metrics

A visualization (also written heatmap) that uses color intensity to show when and where license demand peaks. OpenLM includes heat maps among its usage visualizations.

Hexagon

Software vendor

A vendor of design, manufacturing, and geospatial software, including the MSC simulation and Intergraph product lines. OpenLM monitors several Hexagon license managers.

Historical reports

Reporting and metrics

Reports that analyze license usage over a past period to reveal trends and forecast demand. They are the basis for right-sizing renewals with evidence rather than guesswork.

Related terms: real-time reports, license utilization

HPC (high-performance computing)

Industry and domain

Running engineering and scientific workloads, such as simulation, EDA verification, and CFD, as batch jobs on clusters of compute nodes, on premises or in the cloud. HPC draws on licenses at machine speed and around the clock, so a job can start its nodes and then stall because the license it needs is taken. OpenLM LicOps is built for this setting.

Related terms: job scheduler, walltime, OpenLM LicOps

Hybrid deployment

Platform and architecture

A deployment that combines on-premises and cloud components. OpenLM supports hybrid environments so organizations can monitor on-premises license servers and cloud workloads in one place.

I

IBM

Software vendor

A technology vendor whose engineering and development tools have historically used the IBM License Use Management (LUM) system. OpenLM monitors IBM-licensed software.

IBM LUM (License Use Management)

License manager

A license manager historically used by IBM and several engineering applications. OpenLM monitors IBM LUM for usage, denials, borrowing, expiration, and server redundancy.

Identity Alignment

OpenLM product

An OpenLM product that removes people from external SaaS services when they leave your directory. When Directory Sync detects that a user has been deleted from your directory, Identity Alignment removes the user through Cloud Broker, removes the user and notifies you, or only notifies you, depending on the scenario you choose for each service. It removes users only and never creates or updates them. In OpenLM Platform it appears as the External Services page of Directory Sync. See External Services. Formerly OneDirectorySync. Don't use that name in documentation.

Related terms: DSA, DSS, External Services

Idle time

Licensing concept

The period a license is checked out but the application is not actively used. Idle time is the main signal OpenLM uses to identify licenses worth harvesting.

Related terms: License Harvesting, session, license utilization

INCLUDE

OpenLM component

An option file directive that grants a feature to a specified user, group, or host. License Access Control's Grant Access rules compile to INCLUDE directives to limit a feature to the people who need it.

ISO/IEC 19770

IT, SAM, and compliance

The international standard family for IT asset management, including software identification tags. It provides a framework for the software asset management practices that OpenLM data supports.

ITAM (IT asset management)

IT, SAM, and compliance

The practice of tracking and managing an organization's hardware and software assets across their lifecycle. Software asset management is the software-focused subset, and OpenLM supplies the engineering-software usage data that general ITAM tools often lack.

ITIL

IT, SAM, and compliance

A framework of best practices for IT service management. OpenLM integrates with IT service management platforms such as ServiceNow that implement ITIL processes.

J

Job scheduler (workload manager)

IT, SAM, and integration

The HPC software that queues batch jobs and decides where and when they run, such as Slurm, PBS Professional, and IBM Spectrum LSF. A scheduler works from the licenses a user declared when submitting a job, not from what the license server reports, so a job can start and then wait for a license.

Related terms: HPC, Slurm, PBS, LSF, walltime

K

Kubernetes

Platform and architecture

An orchestration system that automates deployment and scaling of containerized applications. OpenLM Platform runs its microservices on Kubernetes for scalable cloud and on-premises operation.

L

LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol)

IT, SAM, and integration

A protocol for accessing directory services that store users and groups. OpenLM reads users and groups over LDAP to align identities and drive access rules.

LDAP Connector

OpenLM product

An OpenLM product that forwards the user and group changes found by Directory Sync to Amazon S3 buckets or Amazon SQS FIFO queues that you own, so your own tools can use the directory data. It does not import users or groups into OpenLM. In OpenLM Platform it appears as the Destination Systems page of Directory Sync. See Destination Systems.

Related terms: DSS, Destination Systems

License Access Control (LAC)

OpenLM feature

An OpenLM automation that turns license management from passive monitoring into active, rule-based enforcement. You define readable rules (actions such as Grant Access, Deny Access, and Reserve Seats) for who can use which features, optionally on a schedule, and LAC deploys them to each license server: as an option file that the license manager enforces at checkout, or as per-rule API changes for SaaS platforms. Every deployment is validated against your directory and recorded in the deployment history.

Related terms: options file, LFM

License-aware scheduling

Licensing concept

Starting an HPC job only when the licenses it needs are available, instead of starting it and letting it wait. It needs the job scheduler to see the live license state, which schedulers do not do on their own, and it lets the cluster queue a job and notify its owner instead of failing it.

Related terms: pre-job license check, job scheduler, HPC

License file

Licensing concept

A digital document issued by a vendor that records licensing details such as license count, activated features, expiration date, and usage restrictions. License File Management compares and tracks these files.

Related terms: LFM, license entitlement, license server

License File Management (LFM)

OpenLM feature

An OpenLM feature for viewing, comparing, editing, and deploying vendor license files across managed license servers from a central interface. Use it to confirm that a new file contains the expected features and versions before it goes live.

License manager

Licensing concept

Software that controls how licenses are distributed and used, ensuring purchased limits are not exceeded. Examples include FlexNet, DSLS, IBM LUM, and Sentinel RMS. A license manager is distinct from the license server that hosts it.

Related terms: license server, Broker

License Parser

OpenLM product

An OpenLM tool that reads and interprets vendor license files, extracting features, counts, and expiration dates for analysis and comparison.

License pool

Licensing concept

The set of floating licenses shared among users. An application draws from the pool at checkout and returns to it at check-in, and pool size sets the ceiling on concurrent use.

Related terms: floating license, concurrent usage

License server

Licensing concept

A server that hosts license manager software and handles license distribution and authentication across a network. The OpenLM Broker is installed per license server to collect its data.

Don't confuse the license server with the Broker, the OpenLM component installed alongside it.

Related terms: license manager, Broker

License Server Monitoring

OpenLM feature

An OpenLM tool that watches the health and availability of license servers and alerts administrators to outages that would block checkouts.

License utilization

Reporting and metrics

A metric showing how many of the available licenses are in use over time, used to assess efficiency and find waste. Low utilization on a costly product is a strong candidate for reclamation or a smaller renewal.

Related terms: concurrent usage, idle time, historical reports

linger time

Licensing concept

A grace period during which a license stays checked out after the application closes. Configure linger time in the license manager to prevent rapid checkout and check-in cycles.

Related terms: floating license, borrowed license, idle time

LicOps (OpenLM LicOps)

OpenLM product

An OpenLM product that optimizes license use for HPC clusters and computational jobs. It checks each job against your rules before the job takes compute nodes, decides whether the job starts, waits, or is denied and which license server it uses, and logs what happened to each job and why. LicOps runs on the same Router component as OpenLM Router, which you install in your own network and configure from OpenLM Platform. LicOps and OpenLM Router are separate products, sold separately.

Related terms: OpenLM Router, HPC, job scheduler

LicOps Configuration

OpenLM feature

OpenLM Platform app, under Licenses and Features, where you define the failover pairs, listed as port mappings, that OpenLM Router applies. The Router collects changes from it within about 10 seconds and applies them without a restart. See Configure OpenLM Router.

Related terms: failover pair, OpenLM Router, OpenLM LicOps

Listen port

OpenLM feature

The fixed port that OpenLM Router opens for one failover pair. License clients use port@router-host instead of a license server's address, so they keep working when the Router switches between the primary and backup servers. Each failover pair needs its own listen port.

Related terms: failover pair, OpenLM Router

LM-X

License manager

A commercial license manager from X-Formation used by many engineering applications. OpenLM monitors LM-X for usage, denials, expiration, and token support.

LM_LICENSE_FILE

Licensing concept

The environment variable that tells FlexNet clients where to find a license, usually in the form port@host, with several servers separated by a colon on Linux or a semicolon on Windows. Many vendors use their own variable of the same form, such as ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE. With OpenLM Router, clients point the variable at the listen port of the Router instead of at a license server. Check for a vendor variable too: it takes priority over LM_LICENSE_FILE, so if one still names the old server, the application bypasses the Router.

Related terms: license server, listen port, OpenLM Router

lmgrd

License manager

The FlexNet license server process that starts vendor daemons and brokers checkout requests. OpenLM connects through its Broker rather than to lmgrd directly.

LSF (IBM Spectrum LSF)

IT, SAM, and integration

IBM's workload manager for HPC clusters, originally Platform LSF (Load Sharing Facility). See job scheduler.

M

Maintenance

Licensing concept

An annual fee, common with perpetual licenses, that provides updates and support. Tracking maintenance renewals prevents loss of support on critical tools.

Managed Services (OpenLM Managed Services)

OpenLM service

An OpenLM service in which OpenLM experts operate license management on the customer's behalf, including a hosted license manager option.

Management port (OpenLM Router)

OpenLM feature

Port 8100, where OpenLM Router serves its REST API: status, the OpenLM Platform connection, and forced failover and failback. The API has no authentication, so keep the port inside a trusted network. The Router UI on port 8101 uses the same API.

Related terms: Router API, Router UI, force failover / force failback

MathWorks

Software vendor

The vendor of MATLAB and Simulink, technical computing tools licensed through the MathLM license manager. OpenLM monitors MathWorks usage to optimize concurrent and network licenses.

MCP (Model Context Protocol)

AI and integration

An open standard that lets AI assistants connect to external data sources and tools. OpenLM uses MCP so assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT can query license data directly.

MCP Connector (OpenLM MCP Reporting Connector)

OpenLM feature

An OpenLM tool that acts as a secure, read-only gateway between your reporting database and AI assistants. Through it you can ask questions in plain language, for example listing AutoCAD users with no activity in 90 days, and receive answers and visual reports drawn from your own telemetry. It uses a GraphQL data layer and OAuth 2.0 authentication.

Microservice

Platform and architecture

An independent software service that runs one task and combines with others to form a larger system. OpenLM Platform is built as discrete microservices that customers subscribe to as needed.

Related terms: OpenLM Platform, Enrichment Service

Monday.com

IT, SAM, and integration

A work management platform that OpenLM integrates with, so license events and tasks flow into existing team workflows.

MongoDB

Platform and architecture

A document database. OpenLM Router stores its routing configuration, its Router ID, the encrypted Platform connection, and the failover history in MongoDB 7.x.

Related terms: Redis, OpenLM Router

MSC Licensing (Helium)

License manager

The license manager for MSC simulation software, part of Hexagon. OpenLM monitors MSC Helium for usage, borrowing, expiration, redundancy, and tokens.

N

Named user license

License model

A license assigned to a specific individual that cannot be shared. It simplifies vendor compliance but can cost more when users need the software only occasionally, a pattern OpenLM exposes so you can reassign idle assignments.

Related terms: floating license, node-locked license

Node-locked license

License model

A license tied to a specific machine rather than a user or a shared pool. The software runs only on the device the license is locked to.

Related terms: floating license, named user license

Notifications

OpenLM feature

Messages OpenLM sends, by email or integration, when an alert condition, deployment outcome, or threshold is reached, so the right people learn about license events promptly.

Nvidia License Manager

License manager

The licensing service for Nvidia virtual GPU and related software. OpenLM interfaces with it for usage and expiration reporting.

O

OAuth 2.0

AI and integration

An authorization standard that grants applications scoped access without sharing passwords. The OpenLM MCP Reporting Connector uses OAuth 2.0 to secure connections to AI assistants.

On-premises

Platform and architecture

Software hosted on an organization's own infrastructure, physical or private cloud. OpenLM offers on-premises deployment for customers that require full control of infrastructure and data.

Write "on-premises", not "on-premise" or "on premise".

Related terms: OpenLM Platform, Gateway

OpenLM

Platform and architecture

A Gartner-recognized provider of software license management for engineering and specialty software, established in 2007. OpenLM connects to more than 100 license managers and consolidates their data into one platform for visibility, optimization, and control.

OpenLM Analytics

OpenLM product

An OpenLM product that turns license usage data into reports, dashboards, and visualizations for analysis, forecasting, and procurement decisions.

OpenLM Audit

OpenLM feature

An OpenLM tool that records access and configuration changes into a complete audit trail, so you can show who used what and who changed which rule.

OpenLM Compliance

OpenLM feature

An OpenLM tool that helps enforce license terms through allowlists and access rules and surfaces overuse, supporting audit readiness. What it guarantees depends on the customer's agreement and configuration.

OpenLM Directory Sync

OpenLM feature

An OpenLM tool that synchronizes users and groups from Active Directory or LDAP so identities stay current across OpenLM Platform.

OpenLM Platform

OpenLM product

The core OpenLM system that brings real-time and historical usage data from FlexNet, DSLS, Sentinel RMS, Reprise, LM-X, and more than 100 other license managers into one interface. Built on microservices, it offers Software License Management, Software Asset Management, dongle and process monitoring, access control, and more as subscribable services.

Establish "OpenLM Platform" before you use "Platform" on its own in the same page or section.

Related terms: microservice, Gateway, on-premises

OpenLM Projects

OpenLM feature

An OpenLM tool that groups license usage by project for tracking, reporting, and chargeback across teams and departments.

OpenLM token

Platform and architecture

A form of license entitlement used within OpenLM as a flexible, reusable unit of measure for accessing specific OpenLM features or functions.

Related terms: license entitlement, token-based licensing

Optimization (license optimization)

Licensing concept

The practice of matching license supply to real demand by reclaiming idle licenses, right-sizing pools, and cutting shelfware. It is the outcome OpenLM is built to deliver.

Option file (options file)

Licensing concept

A FlexNet and compatible configuration file that controls license access policies, such as user or group restrictions, reservations, and borrowing settings. License Access Control compiles rules into an option file and deploys it through the Broker.

Also known as the FlexNet options file.

Related terms: LAC, license manager

Overuse (over-licensing)

IT, SAM, and compliance

Using more licenses than an agreement permits, which creates compliance and audit risk. OpenLM reports overuse so you can correct it before an audit does.

P

PBS (PBS Professional)

IT, SAM, and integration

Altair's workload manager for HPC clusters, descended from the Portable Batch System. OpenPBS is its open-source edition. See job scheduler.

Perpetual license

License model

A license bought once for indefinite use of a specific software version, usually with an upfront fee and annual maintenance. It is increasingly rare but still common in engineering estates, and OpenLM tracks it alongside subscription and token models. It is available for on-premises deployments only.

Related terms: subscription licensing, token-based licensing

Platform Connection

OpenLM feature

The Router UI page where you connect OpenLM Router to OpenLM Platform. You import the authorization file, or enter the base URL, client ID, and client secret, then check and save the connection. It is the only page the Router UI has. An error notice under the form appears only while the Router can't sync with OpenLM Platform, and names the reason.

Related terms: Router UI, authorization file, Router client

Platform snapshot

OpenLM feature

The copy of the license server list and server health that OpenLM Router keeps from OpenLM Platform, refreshed about every 10 seconds. The Router picks servers and decides failovers from it. Until the first snapshot arrives, GET /api/v1/platform/servers answers 503.

Related terms: server health, configuration sync

port@host

License manager

The form FlexNet clients use for a license server address: the port, @, then the host name, such as 27000@lic1.example.com. Clients accept several, separated by a colon on Linux or a semicolon on Windows, and try them in the order listed. With OpenLM Router, clients use the host of the Router and the listen port of a failover pair.

Related terms: LM_LICENSE_FILE, listen port

Pre-job license check

Licensing concept

Checking that the licenses a job needs are available before the job takes compute nodes, so it waits in the queue instead of stalling on a running node. OpenLM LicOps checks each job against your rules before the job takes a machine and decides whether it starts, waits, or is denied.

Related terms: license-aware scheduling, OpenLM LicOps

Primary license server

Licensing concept

The license server that serves clients in normal operation. In an OpenLM Router failover pair, the Router forwards clients to the primary until health checks show it has failed, then moves them to the backup.

Related terms: backup license server, failover pair

Process Manager

OpenLM feature

An OpenLM component that tracks application process-level usage on workstations, giving detailed visibility into which applications run and consume licenses.

Related terms: Process Monitoring, Workstation Agent, usage monitoring

Process Monitoring

OpenLM feature

An OpenLM tool that watches the application processes running on a workstation, including unmanaged software that has no license server. It identifies idle sessions to harvest and detects use of applications outside the license system.

Procurement

IT, SAM, and compliance

The process of sourcing and purchasing software and licenses. OpenLM supplies usage evidence, including true denials, utilization, and trends, that strengthens renewal and vendor negotiations.

Product (OpenLM)

Platform and architecture

A distinct OpenLM offering, core or optional, that might consume system resources when activated. Examples include Dongle Monitoring and Software License Management.

Don't confuse a product with a feature, which is a function of a third-party licensed application.

Related terms: feature, OpenLM Platform

Professional Services (OpenLM Professional Services)

OpenLM service

OpenLM implementation, configuration, and integration services that help customers deploy OpenLM Platform and connect it to their systems.

Project

OpenLM feature

A categorization method in OpenLM that organizes license usage data by team, department, or project for tracking, reporting, and chargeback.

Related terms: license chargeback, historical reports

Project Usage

Reporting and metrics

An OpenLM report that attributes license consumption to defined projects, supporting cost allocation and chargeback.

PTC

Software vendor

A vendor of CAD and product lifecycle management software, including Creo and Windchill. OpenLM monitors PTC license usage.

Q

Quality of Service (QoS)

Reporting and metrics

The proportion of time a license pool can serve all concurrent demand. A QoS target of 95% (the default) sizes the pool for everything except the busiest 5% of the period. The License Utilization report uses your QoS target to calculate Required Licenses for QoS.

Related terms: license utilization, optimization (license optimization)

R

Real-time reports

Reporting and metrics

Reports that provide up-to-date views of current license usage, availability, and denials. OpenLM uses the phrase near real time where collection latency applies.

Related terms: historical reports, CCL

Reclamation (license reclamation)

Licensing concept

Recovering licenses that are checked out but unused so others can use them. Reclamation is the result of harvesting idle sessions.

Redis

Platform and architecture

An in-memory data store. OpenLM Router keeps two things in Redis 7.x: which server each failover pair is serving from, and its background job schedule. Redis must run with append-only persistence and no eviction. Otherwise a pair that failed over can quietly return to a primary that is down. Redis Cluster isn't supported.

Related terms: MongoDB, OpenLM Router

Redundancy (license server redundancy)

Licensing concept

A high-availability setup where multiple license servers back each other up so checkouts continue if one fails. FlexNet three-server redundancy, also called a triad, is a common example, and OpenLM reports redundant configurations. See Monitor a triad or other redundant license server.

Related terms: failover, OpenLM Router, triad

Reporting Hub (OpenLM Reporting Hub)

OpenLM feature

An OpenLM tool that centralizes reports across products and license managers, giving teams one place to build, schedule, and share license intelligence.

Reprise RLM (Reprise License Manager)

License manager

A widely used commercial license manager from Reprise Software. OpenLM monitors RLM for usage, denials, and expiration.

RESERVE

OpenLM component

An option file directive that sets aside licenses for a specific user, group, or host so capacity is guaranteed under contention. License Access Control's Reserve Seats rules compile to RESERVE directives, for example to keep premium seats for senior engineers.

Role

Platform and architecture

A definition of the permissions and access levels assigned to users within OpenLM. Roles control who can view data, change rules, and administer OpenLM Platform.

Related terms: user

Roles & Permissions

OpenLM feature

An OpenLM tool that governs what each user can see and do in OpenLM Platform, supporting least-privilege administration and separation of duties.

Router (OpenLM Router)

OpenLM product

An OpenLM product that keeps license traffic flowing when a license server fails. The Router is a TCP proxy that you run with Docker in your own network: clients point at its listen ports, and when OpenLM Platform reports a primary server unhealthy, the Router moves them to the backup without any change on the workstations. You connect it to OpenLM Platform and define failover pairs there. See OpenLM Router. OpenLM has tested it with FlexNet. Other TCP-based network license managers should work, but OpenLM has not verified them.

The name also refers to the Router component, the single deployment unit you install outside OpenLM Platform, like the Broker. The same component provides OpenLM LicOps.

Related terms: failover, failover pair, listen port, OpenLM LicOps

Router API

OpenLM component

The main OpenLM Router container, image olm-routerapi. It is the TCP proxy that carries license traffic, plus the REST API on the management port. The same image serves OpenLM LicOps.

Related terms: Router UI, management port, OpenLM Router

Router client

OpenLM feature

OpenLM Platform identity client that an OpenLM Router uses to connect to OpenLM Platform. You create it in the Identity service with Client Type set to Router, then give the Router its client ID and secret. A client of another type authenticates, but OpenLM Platform refuses its Router queries.

Related terms: OpenLM Router, OAuth 2.0

Router ID

OpenLM feature

The identifier a Router deployment creates on its first start and stores in MongoDB. OpenLM Platform identifies the Router by this ID, and GET /api/v1/status reports it as routerId. If you clear the database of the Router, the Router creates a new ID, and OpenLM Platform treats it as a new Router.

Related terms: configuration sync, LicOps Configuration

Router UI

OpenLM component

The browser page that ships with OpenLM Router, image olm-routerui, at http://<router-host>:8101/router-management/. It has one page, Platform Connection, where you connect the Router to OpenLM Platform. You define failover pairs in OpenLM Platform, not here.

Related terms: Platform Connection, Router API

S

SaaS (software as a service)

License model

Software delivered over the internet on a subscription, such as Adobe Creative Cloud or Microsoft 365. SaaS reduces upfront cost but often produces shelfware, which the OpenLM Subscription Optimizer targets.

SaaS Agent (OpenLM SaaS Agent)

OpenLM component

A Windows application, installed on a machine you provide, that uses the administrator sign-ins you give it to collect what your SaaS accounts hold and who uses them, and reports the result to OpenLM. It can also carry out License Access Control actions on the platforms it monitors. You manage it in Broker Hub, on its SaaS Agents page. See SaaS Agent.

Don't confuse the SaaS Agent with the Cloud Broker, which reaches SaaS vendors over their APIs with nothing installed on your side.

Related terms: Broker, Broker Hub, Cloud Broker, License Access Control

SaaS Management (OpenLM SaaS Management)

OpenLM product

An OpenLM product that extends visibility and optimization to SaaS subscriptions, so cloud seats are governed alongside on-premises and floating licenses.

SAM (software asset management)

IT, SAM, and compliance

The practice of managing and optimizing the purchase, deployment, use, and retirement of software. OpenLM provides the engineering-software usage data that underpins SAM for specialty applications.

Related terms: SLM, license compliance, license entitlement

SAM Catalog

OpenLM feature

A centralized, structured catalog of the software applications across your organization. It normalizes product names so entitlements, usage, and reports refer to one consistent set of applications, and automatically enriches products that OpenLM observes but cannot match. It keeps two scopes: a local catalog owned by your organization and a global catalog maintained by OpenLM and shared across organizations. Part of Software Asset Management.

Related terms: SAM, license entitlement

SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language)

AI and integration

A standard for exchanging authentication data that supports single sign-on. OpenLM integrates with SAML identity providers for secure access.

Schedule (License Access Control)

OpenLM component

In License Access Control, a named weekly plan that bundles a set of rules with the days and time when they deploy to the license server. Only one schedule is active per asset at a time, and deploying a schedule replaces the rule set on the server with the schedule's assigned rules.

Sentinel HASP

License manager

A hardware- and software-based protection and licensing system from Thales, where HASP stands for Hardware Against Software Piracy. OpenLM monitors Sentinel HASP usage.

Sentinel RMS

License manager

A software license manager from Thales used by many engineering applications. OpenLM monitors Sentinel RMS for usage, denials, borrowing, and expiration.

Sentinel SuperPro

License manager

A legacy hardware-key license manager in the Sentinel family. OpenLM monitors Sentinel SuperPro usage and expiration.

Server health

OpenLM feature

Whether OpenLM Platform detects a license server as up and answering. OpenLM Platform collects it through the Broker. OpenLM Router reads server health from OpenLM Platform, so a Router that cannot reach OpenLM Platform cannot fail over. The one exception is a FlexLM triad in basic mode: the Router also opens a TCP connection to each of the three machines, and at least two must accept it. OpenLM Router shows each server as Healthy, Unhealthy, or Unknown. Unknown means OpenLM Platform has no recent reading, and it never counts toward a failover.

Related terms: failure threshold, OpenLM Router, Broker

Session

Licensing concept

A user's active instance of software use, recorded by OpenLM with details such as start and end time, application, and workstation. Sessions are the raw material for usage and idle-time analysis.

Related terms: concurrent usage, CCL, idle time

Shelfware

IT, SAM, and compliance

Software an organization has paid for but does not use. Identifying shelfware is a primary way OpenLM customers cut spend at renewal.

Siemens

Software vendor

A vendor of industrial, electronic design, and product lifecycle management software, including NX, Teamcenter, and Siemens EDA tools. OpenLM monitors several Siemens license managers.

Slurm

IT, SAM, and integration

An open-source workload manager widely used on HPC clusters and supercomputers. See job scheduler.

SOC 2

IT, SAM, and compliance

A security and controls auditing standard for service providers. OpenLM maintains SOC 2 to assure customers about how it handles their data.

Software estate

IT, SAM, and compliance

The full set of software an organization owns and runs. OpenLM gives engineering software estates the visibility that general ITAM tools usually miss.

Software License Management (SLM)

OpenLM feature

The OpenLM microservice and discipline focused on monitoring, controlling, and optimizing licenses across vendors. It is the foundation of OpenLM Platform.

Related terms: SAM, license manager, license utilization

Specialty software

Industry and domain

High-cost, domain-specific applications such as CAD, EDA, GIS, and simulation tools that use floating, token, and dongle licensing. Specialty software is the focus of OpenLM because general IT tools rarely monitor it.

SSO (single sign-on)

AI and integration

An authentication scheme that lets users sign in once for access to multiple systems. OpenLM supports single sign-on through SAML and directory integration.

Subscription license

License model

A license granting use for a recurring fee over a fixed term. Subscriptions are the industry standard and shift cost from capital to operating budgets, and OpenLM tracks them to prevent paying for unused seats.

Related terms: perpetual licensing, Subscription Optimizer

Subscription Optimizer

OpenLM feature

An OpenLM tool that analyzes usage patterns to flag underused subscription seats, so you can reallocate or cancel them at renewal.

Related terms: subscription licensing, Cloud Broker

T

Third-party integrations

OpenLM feature

OpenLM connections to enterprise systems such as ServiceNow, Salesforce, Monday.com, LDAP, and SAML, so license data and actions flow into the tools teams already use.

Token (token-based or consumption license)

License model

A model that charges for use based on tokens drawn per product, feature, or hour, used by programs such as Autodesk Token-Flex. It is flexible but can produce unpredictable cost without monitoring, which OpenLM provides in near real time.

Related terms: floating license, OpenLM token

Token attribution

AI and integration

The practice of assigning LLM token consumption to the project, team, or user that caused it. OpenLM AI FinOps uses token attribution to make AI spend transparent and chargeable.

Triad (FlexNet three-server redundancy)

Licensing concept

Three FlexNet license servers that share one license file, so licenses stay available when one server stops. OpenLM Platform monitors a triad as one license server with three hosts: approve the three hosts together in License Servers. License Access Control takes the triad's members from there. See Monitor a triad or other redundant license server.

Related terms: redundancy, failover

True denial

Licensing concept

A denial that reflects a shortage of licenses, after filtering out retries and transient errors that inflate raw denial counts. True denials are the trustworthy signal for whether to buy more capacity, and OpenLM reports them specifically.

True-up

IT, SAM, and compliance

A reconciliation, often at renewal or after an audit, where a customer pays for usage that exceeded the licensed amount. Continuous monitoring with OpenLM helps you avoid a surprise true-up.

U

UGS (User/Group Service)

OpenLM component

An OpenLM service that supplies users, groups, and hosts, backed by Active Directory or LDAP, to features such as License Access Control, which validates rule targets against it.

Unconfigured (OpenLM Router status)

OpenLM feature

The status GET /api/v1/status reports before OpenLM Router has collected a configuration from OpenLM Platform, or while OpenLM Platform has no failover pairs for it. An unconfigured Router opens no listen ports. This is normal right after you deploy it.

Related terms: configuration sync, listen port

Unmanaged process

OpenLM feature

An application that runs without a license server to report it. OpenLM Process Monitoring detects unmanaged processes so usage of unlicensed or locally licensed software becomes visible.

Usage monitoring

Reporting and metrics

The process of tracking and recording software usage to analyze and optimize license consumption. It is the foundation of every OpenLM report and optimization.

Related terms: license utilization, SLM, session

User

Platform and architecture

An individual who uses licensed applications tracked by OpenLM, with attributes such as name, team, and workstations recorded for reporting and access control.

Related terms: role, session, named user license

V

Vendor daemon

License manager

A FlexNet process, specific to each software publisher, that tracks which features are licensed and how many are in use. It runs under lmgrd on the license server.

Virtual License Manager (VLM)

OpenLM product

An OpenLM product that presents and manages licenses in virtualized and cloud-hosted environments, where traditional license servers are harder to reach.

Related terms: license manager, license pool

Visualization

Reporting and metrics

The presentation of license data as charts, heat maps, and dashboards. OpenLM includes visualizations such as pie charts and heat maps to make usage patterns clear at a glance.

W

Walltime

IT, SAM, and integration

The maximum runtime a batch job requests from the HPC scheduler. The job's nodes stay allocated, and in the cloud stay billed, until the job ends or reaches its walltime, so a job stalled waiting for a license wastes compute for that whole time.

Related terms: HPC, job scheduler

Watch option file

OpenLM component

A Broker setting that lets OpenLM observe and manage a license server's option file. You must turn it on before License Access Control can discover and control an asset.

Workstation

Platform and architecture

The computer or device from which a user accesses licensed software, tracked by OpenLM to map license usage across the organization.

Related terms: Workstation Agent, user

Workstation Agent

OpenLM component

The OpenLM client installed on end-user workstations to collect software license usage data and transmit it to OpenLM Platform. It reports application- and feature-level activity, detects idle sessions, and supports dongle and process monitoring. License Access Control can require an active Workstation Agent before it allocates individual-user licenses. Formerly called the Agent (OpenLM Agent). See Workstation Agent and Install Workstation Agent.

Related terms: Agents Hub, Process Manager, workstation