---
title: Helios
description: "Configure OpenLM Broker in OpenLM Version 26 to monitor Helios license usage from the vendor's usage log, and approve the license manager in EasyAdmin."
product: OpenLM Version 26 (legacy)
---

> **OpenLM Version 26 (legacy).** This page documents the legacy product, not OpenLM Platform.

Follow these steps to configure OpenLM to monitor license usage from the Helios license manager, which the vendor calls Mission Control Center. Helios does not expose an API, a web dashboard, or a command-line query tool, so OpenLM Broker monitors it exclusively by parsing the usage log that Helios writes.

## Requirements

Before starting, make sure you have:

- OpenLM SLM installed on a machine in your organization.
- OpenLM Broker v26.7.8.1247 or higher installed on a machine that can read the Helios usage log, and reporting to OpenLM SLM. Earlier Broker versions do not list Helios as a license manager type.
- Helios usage logging turned on by the Helios vendor. The log is a tab-separated text file, typically 1 file per day (for example, `helios_20260520.log`).

## Monitoring capabilities

The current monitoring capabilities for Helios through OpenLM Broker are:

| Feature | Resolution | License totals | License usage | Denials reporting | Borrowed license reporting | Expiration date reporting | Multiple server redundancy |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Support | Log file parsing | ❌ | ✔ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |

Broker reports Helios usage per feature. Because the log does not contain license totals, Broker reports every Helios feature with an unlimited total. Broker reports the username as the full name from the log, falling back to the user ID when no full name is present, and the workstation as the machine name.

## How OpenLM interfaces with Helios

- **Commands:** None. Helios has no HTTP/REST API, web dashboard, or CLI option for querying usage at runtime.
- **Log file:** Yes. Broker reads the Helios usage log configured on the **Log Files** tab and derives sessions from the `login`, `feature usage`, and `logout` events.
- **License file:** None. Broker does not use a license file for data inquiry.

### Helios log file format

Helios writes 1 log file per day. Lines that start with `#` are a header that documents the format. Every other line is 1 tab-separated event with these columns: event keyword, event date (`DD-MM-YYYY`), event time (`HH:MM:SS:mmm`), session ID (the same UUID on every event of 1 login session), user ID, full name, machine name, IP address, and event-specific extra fields. The `feature usage` event carries the feature name as its extra field.

Broker builds usage from the `feature usage` and `logout Helios` events and correlates them through the session ID. Other events in the log, such as `open Helios`, `login Helios`, `license server synchronize`, `start processing 3D`, and `total number of available sq km`, do not create usage.

```text
open Helios	01-06-2026	08:26:07:446	45689dfa-4456-45d8-aab4-70c2b61fc73a	ril	Sam.Smith	WORKSTATION-PC01	10.0.4.184	Helios v3.2.0
login Helios	01-06-2026	08:26:45:128	45689dfa-4456-45d8-aab4-70c2b61fc73a	ril	Sam.Smith	WORKSTATION-PC01	10.0.4.184
feature usage	01-06-2026	08:57:35:923	45689dfa-4456-45d8-aab4-70c2b61fc73a	ril	Sam.Smith	WORKSTATION-PC01	10.0.4.184	Modelling
logout Helios	01-06-2026	09:01:27:235	45689dfa-4456-45d8-aab4-70c2b61fc73a	ril	Sam.Smith	WORKSTATION-PC01	10.0.4.184
```

- A `feature usage` event starts usage of the named feature (for example, `Modelling`) for the user and workstation on that line. Its timestamp is the usage start time.
- A `logout Helios` event closes every feature that the session had open.
- Feature names in the log become the feature names shown in EasyAdmin. The username shown is the full name (`Sam.Smith` in the example), falling back to the user ID when the full name is empty.

:::warning
Every line must carry the session ID and the user and workstation fields. Log files produced by older Helios builds identify events only by chronological order, which makes usage from 2 workstations writing to the same log indistinguishable. If your log lines do not contain a session ID, ask the Helios vendor for the updated log format before configuring Broker.
:::

## OpenLM Broker configuration

:::note
Install OpenLM Broker and confirm that it reports to OpenLM SLM before starting these steps.
:::

1. Open a browser and go to the Broker web UI at [http://localhost:5090/](http://localhost:5090/).
2. Go to **License Managers** and select **Add License Manager**.

   *The License Managers page of the Broker web UI*
3. From **LM Type**, select **Helios**. Because Broker reads only the log file, replace the default port with any unused port number (for example, `7788`), and select **Add**.

   *Adding the Helios license manager type on a free port*
   The **Add License Manager** page opens with the **Commands**, **Vendors**, and **Log Files** tabs. Leave the **Commands** tab empty: Helios has no executable to query.
4. On the **Vendors** tab, select **Add Vendor**, enter `Helios`, and select **Continue**.

   *Adding the Helios vendor*
5. On the **Log Files** tab, select **Add Log File**:
   - **Log Type**: **Helios log** (preselected).
   - **Log Name**: a descriptive name, for example `Helios usage log`.
   - **Log Path**: select the magnifier to browse the Broker machine for the current Helios log file, or type the full path (for example, `C:\Helios\Logs\new_log_helios_20260601.log`).
   - **Vendor**: **Helios**.
   Select **Continue**.

   *Configuring the Helios usage log*
   :::tip
   If Helios writes a new log file every day, select **Advanced** in this dialog and turn on **Watch files by pattern** so that Broker follows the daily files without reconfiguration.
   :::
6. Confirm that the log file appears on the **Log Files** tab with **Monitoring** turned on, then select **Save**.

   *The Helios log listed with monitoring turned on*
7. Back on the **License Managers** page, confirm that the Helios entry shows **Status** and **Log file** as **Active**. **License file** shows **Not Supported** because Helios has no license file.

   *The saved Helios entry with an active log file*

## OpenLM SLM configuration

### Automatic configuration through EasyAdmin

1. Open EasyAdmin (`http://<Server IP>:5015`) and go to **Start → Widgets → License Manager - Servers**.
2. Select the **There are N servers pending approval** link at the top of the widget.

    The **Administration - License Manager Servers** window opens, with the pending entries at the top of the list.

3. Find the pending Helios entry, with the host name of the Broker machine and the port that you configured in Broker, and select the edit icon at the end of its row.

    Broker reports Helios with the OpenLM Generic protocol, so its **Type** is **OpenLM Generic**.

4. Optionally rename the connection in **Display name**, confirm the **Host Name** and **Port**, and select **APPROVE**.

### Manual configuration through EasyAdmin

If automatic configuration fails:

1. Go to **Start → Administration → License Manager Servers**.
2. Select **Add LM**.
3. In **Display name**, enter a name for the connection, for example `Helios`.
4. From **Type**, select **OpenLM Generic**.

    **Use Broker** turns on.

5. In the row under **Host Name**, **Port**, and **Time Zone**, enter the host name of the Broker machine and the port configured in Broker, and select a time zone.
6. Select **SAVE**.

## Verify your configuration

1. Open EasyAdmin in your browser.
2. Go to **Start → Widgets → License Manager - Servers**.
3. Confirm that the Helios license server shows the **Status** **Up to date**.
4. Go to **Start → Widgets → Feature Usage Status**. After a user works in Helios, each feature named in the log appears with **Quantity** shown as unlimited and **Used** equal to the number of open sessions for that feature.
5. Go to **Start → Reports → License Activity**, select **Include Current Activity**, and select **Apply**. Confirm that each open session appears with its username and workstation.

:::note
Usage appears only after Helios writes a `feature usage` event to the log.
:::

## Known limitations

- License totals are not available in the Helios log, so EasyAdmin displays each feature with an unlimited total.
- License denials, borrowed licenses, and expiration dates are not reported.
- Broker reads only the events that Helios writes to the log. If you delete the log file or Helios rotates it to a path that Broker does not watch, open sessions are not closed until Broker next reads a matching `logout Helios` event.