PRA FLEXlm Windows Network Installation

This page will guide you through setting up the PRA license manager on a central Windows server. Once you have successfully set up the license manager, you will be able to run PRA products either from the server or from clients or workstations that have access to the server on the local LAN.

Installation License Generation Uninstalling License Manager Service Info
InfoFLEXlm Server Details FLEXlm Client Details

Installing the Windows FLEXlm Files

The Windows network license management files are included with the Petroleum Systems Suite.To install them, run the Petroleum Systems Suite setup on the server.
note: If you are installing the PRA products on the server as well, in the same location, you can install the products and the licensing simultaneously.
You will be asked to specify the directory where you wish to install the Petroleum Systems Suite.
The default is:
C:\Program Files\PRA.

This will install the license management files in a praflex subdirectory, e.g.,
C:\Program Files\PRA\praflex.
You will be presented with a list of components to install.
Select "Windows Network License Manager" to install the license management files.
If you are also installing PRA products at this time, select the products you wish to install.
You will also be asked to select a program folder under Start | Programs in which to store shortcuts for the Petroleum Systems Suite. The default folder name is "Platte River Associates, Inc."
note: We will refer to the "Platte River Assciates, Inc." folder throughout this document. If you change this default folder name, please note what you have changed it to.

Note: You may not need a new license file for this release

If you have an existing PRA license file issued after January 1, 2002, you may not need a new license file for this release. Before continuing with the Windows Network License Generation, read License File Eligibility Dates to see if your existing license file is sufficient.

Windows Network License Generation

Once you have completed the Petroleum Systems Suite setup, you should have a shortcut called "Windows Ntwk License Generation Utility" in the Start | Programs | Platte River Associates, Inc. menu. Run this utility to begin the license generation process.
The license generation utility, will provide you with the following information:
- The lmhostid (the Ethernet address of the server)
- The hostname of the server
Report these two values to Platte River Associates, Inc. to receive your password report file.
- E-mail: keys@platte.com
- Phone: USA (303) 448-0480
- Fax: USA (303) 448-0434
You may exit from the Windows Ntwk License Generation Utility until you have received the password report file.

Press "Finish" to finish the setup.
Once you have received your password report file from PRA, re-start the Windows Ntwk License Generation Utility in the Start | Programs | Platte River Associates, Inc. menu.
- The Windows Ntwk License Generation Utility will again display your lmhostid and server hostname.
  Press "Continue" to start generating a valid license file.
- PRA products path
  The license manager must know where the PRA products are installed.
  If you have chosen the default directory in installation step 2, it will be reported as:
  C:\PROGRA~1\PRA
  This is the same as C:\Program Files\PRA. Press "Continue".
- License file generation method
  In the License file generation method dialog, make sure "Use password report file" is selected, and press "Continue".
- Password report file selection
  In the Password report file selection dialog, specify the location of the password report file provided to you by PRA, and press "Continue".
- License File Template
  This dialog will display the information in your password report file.
  You should not have to modify any information in this dialog.
  If the information looks correct, press "Continue".
- License file created
  This dialog will verify that your license file has been created successfully.
  Press "Exit" to finish the license generation process.
  The license manager service should be installed and started at this point.
Be sure that the license manager is correctly started on the server.

note: The license manager must be running on the server for PRA products to successfully start on any client, including the server.

The PRA FLEXlm License Manager should be running correctly if you were able to complete the license generation successfully.

If for some reason the license manager did not start successfully, you will need to run the Start Windows Ntwk License Manager located in the Start | Programs | Platte River Associates, Inc. menu.
If the license manager is not correctly started on the server, you will get an error message similar to the following when you try to run PRA software:
If you are unable to get the license manager started, and know that you have correctly built the license file per license generation step 2, please send a request for support to keys@platte.com and include the exact text of the error message.

Uninstalling PRA Windows FLEXlm

If you wish to remove all Platte River products including the license manager, you can do this using the standard uninstall utility (you can access this via the Uninstall shortcut in the Start | Programs | Platte River Associates, Inc. menu, or by using the Windows Add/Remove Programs utility). In addition to removing the PRA products, the uninstall utility will stop the license manager if it is running, and uninstall the service.

Please note, however, that if your license manager is installed on the same machine as your PRA products, but in a different directory, the same uninstall utility will not uninstall them both. In this case, the easiest thing to do is to run each uninstall utility directly. In each PRA directory, you should have an executable named unwise.exe. Run this executable to uninstall everything in that directory.

If your license manager is installed in the same directory as your PRA products, but you wish to uninstall ONLY the license manager, you may do this using the Stop Windows Ntwk License Manager and Remove Windows Ntwk License Manager Service shortcuts in the Start | Programs | Platte River Associates, Inc. menu. Please refer to the PRA FLEXlm License Manager Service section for more information.

PRA FLEXlm License Manager Service

Installing and Removing the PRA FLEXlm License Manager Service

The license manager is installed as an automatic service to start when the system is started.
- Installing the Service:
  A shortcut is created in the Start | Programs | Platte River Associates, Inc. folder to install (or re-install) the PRA License Manager. The shortcut is named:
  Install Windows Ntwk License Manager Service.
  
  You can also install the service manually from the praflex\bin directory, using the servinst command. If you have installed the PRA license management files in the default directory, the install command will look like this:
  
  servinst -i -e "C:\Program Files\PRA\praflex"
  
  Removing the Service:
  A shortcut to remove the PRA License Manager is created in the Start | Programs | Platte River Associates, Inc. folder. This shortcut is:
  Remove Windows Ntwk License Manager Service
  As with the install command, you can run this command manually:
  servinst -r
Starting and Stopping the PRA FLEXlm License Manager Service
Shortcuts to start and stop the license manager are created in the Start | Programs | Platte River Associates, Inc. folder. You can also run these commands manually, or through the "Services" utility in the NT/2000 operating system.
- Starting the service:
  The shortcut name is Start Windows Ntwk License Manager
  
  The manual command, from the praflex\bin directory is:
  servinst -s -e "C:\Program Files\PRA\praflex"
  Stopping the service:
  The shortcut name is Stop Windows Ntwk License Manager
  The manual command, from the praflex\bin directory is:
  lmutil.exe lmdown -c ..\licenses\license.dat
  
  lmutil.exe is the executable to run various FLEXlm utilities, including stopping the license daemon.
  lmdown indicates to lmutil.exe which utility should be run.
  -c ..\licenses\license.dat indicates a specific path to the correct license file.

PRA FLEXlm Details for the Server:

Whenever possible, PRA recommends that the PRA license management files be installed in the same base directory as other PRA products.

If the PRA products are installed on the server in
C:\Program Files\PRA,
the license management files should be installed in
C:\Program Files\PRA\praflex.

Assuming this setup, the following subdirectories and files will be associated with the license management files:

C:\Program Files\PRA\bin
The directory where PRA product executables are installed.

C:\Program Files\PRA\praflex
The base directory for PRA license management files.

C:\Program Files\PRA\praflex\bin
The directory for license management utilities and the vendor daemon.
This directory includes some or all of the following files:

licutil.exe -- The license file generation utility for Windows networks
lmgrnnna.dll -- The current standard version of the FLEXlm license manager DLL
lmgrd.exe -- FLEXlm executable to start and monitor vendor daemons
lmgrd95.exe -- FLEXlm executable to start the license manager without consuming a console window
lmutil.exe -- FLEXlm executable to provide necessary user utilities with respect to the vendor daemon and license management process (stopping the license daemon, limited troubleshooting, etc.)
praflexdate.exe -- PRA utility to detect the eligibility and expiration date(s) in a license file, to determine whether it is valid for a new release
praflmd.exe -- Platte River Associates, Inc. Windows network vendor daemon. Must be run with lmgrd.exe.
servinst.exe -- Executable to install and uninstall the license manager as an operating system service on Windows servers

C:\Program Files\PRA\praflex\licenses
The standard location for license files.
PRA products and the licensing daemon will refer to this location.

license.dat -- The licensing daemon will look for this file by default.
client.lic -- An alternative to license.dat that PRA products may use to connect to the licensing daemon. The name has been changed to allow us to differentiate between a license file that is on the server, and one that exists on a client installation. In reality, PRA products look for either of these files when they are run: client.lic first, followed by license.dat.

There will be several additions to your system based on the location of this installation.

All Windows networks

A registry entry is created:
HKLM\Software\FLEXlm License Manager\PRA FLEXlm License Manager
Values are created in that registry entry for
- License
- Lmgrd
- LMGRD_LOG_FILE
- Service

Windows NT/2000 only

PRA FLEXlm License Manager automatic service is installed

Windows 95/98 only

lmgrd95.exe command (with arguments) is added to the registry variable
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices

PRA FLEXlm Details for the Client

If PRA product files are installed on the server, client machines should not need any additional licensing files in order to run the PRA products.

If PRA products are installed and run on client machines, each client with a PRA product installation will need a license file, named client.lic, in the licenses subdirectory
C:\Program Files\PRA\praflex\licenses.
This file will indicate to the product what server and port to connect to for licensing.

The first time a PRA product is launched from the client machine, the user will be prompted with a dialog which will automatically create this license file.

This requires the user to enter the hostname of the server that is running the license daemon, and the TCP port address that will be used. In most cases the port address will be 7507, the PRA default.
This feature requires TCP/IP communication on the network. The file generated will have a line similar to the following which enables the client to use the license file located on the server:
USE_SERVER 7507@tower
- USE_SERVER is the keyword for the license file
- 7507 is the TCP/IP port address to be used
- tower is the hostname for the server