Interfacing the OpenText License Manager with OpenLM Broker – KB813

This document describes the steps required to interface OpenLM with the OpenText license manager in order to monitor license usage and obtain license statistics. This guide is based on the OpenText implementation that is integrated with OpenLM Broker v4.8.8. If you’re using an older version of Broker that relies on the EventLog Monitor tool, please consult this document instead.

 

1. Requirements

To query the OpenText license manager, the following components must be installed:

  1. OpenLM Server v4.3 or higher installed on a machine in your organization
  2. OpenLM Broker v4.8.8 or higher installed on the same machine as the OpenText license manager

 

2. Monitoring capabilities and features

The monitoring capabilities available for the OpenText license manager through the OpenLM Broker are as follows:

Feature Resolution License totals License usage Denials Reporting Borrowed License Reporting Expiration Date Reporting Multiple Server Redundancy
Support By second

Additionally, using the Broker component allows for buffered communication and the ability to remotely start / stop the license manager service.

 

3. OpenLM Broker configuration

How OpenLM interfaces with OpenText

Diagram of how OpenLM interfaces with the OpenText license manager

The mechanism on how OpenLM Broker interfaces the OpenText license manager is as follows:

  1. The OpenText license manager writes usage data to a log file.
  2. Broker monitors this log file for changes, reads it and creates an XML file in the OpenLM Generic format.
  3. All gathered license usage information is then sent to OpenLM Server for processing. The license usage data is then accessible through the EasyAdmin interface.

Please note that OpenLM Broker must already be installed and configured to report to an OpenLM Server before proceeding any further.

 

3.1. Enabling OpenText license manager usage log functionality

The OpenText license manager needs to be configured to log all information to a specific file (e.g. ImgLM_##_##_##.log).

ImgLM.ini is the file that has to be configured for OpenText logging. Please note the following:

Event log message IDs

The “Event log message IDs” part marks the information to be logged. ID numbers are attributed a value:

  • 0 – Do not log this event
  • 1 – Enable logging for this event

For example, the line

257=0

Means that a successful license check-out event will not be logged, whereas

257=1

Will log a successful license check-out event.

 

Event Log File

  • Event Log File Max Size: Maximal size of the log file in MB. Set it to a large enough value to contain data for a significant amount of time.
  • Event Log File Max Duration: Number of days for running the log. Set it to 365 days.

 

3.2. OpenLM Broker configuration tool settings

To configure Broker to monitor the OpenText license server, in the OpenLM Broker configuration tool:

  1. Click Add Port.
  2. Enter any port number (since Broker interfaces OpenText using only the log file, any value will do. E.g. 12345).
  3. Select OpenText from the “License Manager Type” drop-down menu. Click Apply.
  4. Select “Vendor Name to Be Filled” under Vendors. In the “Vendor Name” field, enter a name that you would like to see in OpenLM’s Reports (e.g. OpenText) then click Apply.
  5. Select the Log Files node and click on Add Log File.
  6. Select the “log” node that has just been created. Click […] and browse to the path where the configured OpenText log file is located. (e.g. “C:OpenTextImgLM_##_##_##.txt” where the # hash symbols indicate the creation date for that particular log file). We recommend using the newest file created from the moment OpenText logging was turned on.
  7. Click Advanced then check the “Watch Files by Pattern” box.
  8. Click Apply.
  9. Open the opentext@PORT.properties file that has been created in the OpenLM Broker folder (typically “C:Program FilesOpenLMOpenLM Broker”) in a text editor.
  10. Adjust the values as described in the “OpenText.properties” section below. When done, save and close the file.
  11. Click Restart Broker.
  12. Follow the steps in the next section (“4. OpenLM Server configuration”).

OpenLM Broker Log Config for OpenText

 

3.3. OpenText.properties configuration

OpenText.properties values explained

The values should be configured as follows:

  • monitored.log.next – used to specify which log file Broker should read: newest (default) means that if you have multiple files, the latest one will be chosen; newer is good for testing purposes and if you want OpenLM Broker to read historical data from multiple files, one-by-one. However with newer, it is not guaranteed that all data will be loaded.
  • date.format – used for parsing the internal OpenText log file (default: MM/dd/yyy HH:mm:ss )
  • opentext.feature.name – the feature name to be monitored (default: OpenText Desktop Viewer)
  • total.<FeatureName> – the total amount of licenses to be reported to Server and displayed in EasyAdmin and the associated reports (e.g. total.OpenText Desktop Viewer=10)

 

4. OpenLM Server configuration

Automatic OpenLM Server configuration through EasyAdmin

If you have followed the steps in the section above, OpenLM Broker should now be transmitting data to OpenLM Server. The final step is to approve the configuration in EasyAdmin:

  1. Open the EasyAdmin interface either by accessing http://<OpenLM Server IP>:7019/EasyAdmin2/ in your browser or through Windows Start → OpenLM → OpenLM EasyAdmin User Interface.
  2. In the License Servers window, hover over the red row that contains the details of the newly added OpenText license manager entry and click Approve.

Approving OpenText license server in EasyAdmin

At this point, the OpenText license manager has been automatically added to OpenLM Server and configuration is complete.

 

Manual OpenLM Server configuration

If EasyAdmin does not display the “Approve/Clear” message for the configured OpenText license server, you must manually configure OpenLM Server to connect to the OpenLM Broker installation located on the OpenText license manager machine.

Adding an OpenText server

  1. Select the License Servers tab.
  2. Click Add.
  3. From the Type drop-down menu, select OpenLM Generic.
  4. Insert a description in the Description text box (e.g. “OpenText license manager”)
  5. Set the Time Zone to where the License Server physically resides.
  6. Enter the Hostname and Port number of the machine where the OpenText license manager is installed. They must be exactly as configured for OpenLM Broker.
  7. Is Triad Configuration box: unchecked.
  8. Use Broker box: checked.
  9. Click Apply and close the OpenLM Server configuration tool.

OpenLM Server configuration for the OpenText license manager

OpenLM Server is now configured to monitor incoming data from OpenLM Broker.

 

5. How to verify your OpenText license manager configuration

To check if the OpenText license manager is being monitored correctly:

  1. Open the EasyAdmin web application (access http://<OpenLM Server hostname>/EasyAdmin2/index.html in your browser)
  2. Click EasyAdmin Start → Widgets → License Servers. Verify that the configured license manager(s) appears in the server list. A green circle node indicates an active connection to the license server.

Verify your OpenText license manager configuration

Please note that sometimes it may take up to 3 minutes for the status indicator to change if this is a new connection.

 

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