Configure License Server 5.x

Applies to ReadyAPI 3.56, last modified on November 21, 2024
Important Notice for ReadyAPI Customers

ReadyAPI has moved to SmartBear License Management and from October 2023, file-based licensing will be retired. As of September 2023, all licenses issued for your subscription term will be ID-based licenses by default. If you are not currently on ID-based licensing, it's time to migrate immediately. File-based licensing will no longer be supported as of October 2023. This means that technical support requests related to file-based licensing will not be accommodated. If you encounter technical issues that you're unable to resolve, it could lead to service interruption. For customers still in the process of migration, we recommend reaching out to your Account Manager to discuss your migration plan. Alternatively, you can log a support request with our Customer Care Team for assistance.

For more details regarding licensing support, please refer to this link.

This topic describes how to configure Protection! Licensing Server 5 that is compatible with ReadyAPI 3.3.1 and later. If you use earlier version, see Configure License Server 4.x (Legacy).

About

To control floating licenses, ReadyAPI uses Protection! Licensing Server.

This server can be installed on any network machine. It does not require specific hardware to function, unless you have a very large number of licenses to control.

The machine where ReadyAPI is installed should be able to connect to the license server machine by using the IP address for which the license is issued. In most cases, it means that there should not be NATs, load balancers, and other intermediates that remap the IP address of the license server machine.

When you run the license server on a headless machine, use the Licensing Server Management Console to configure it.

Install and configure license server

To configure the license server, perform the following steps:

  1. Get a license file.

  2. Install the license server.

  3. Connect to the license server.

  4. Install the license and assign it to users.

Note: If you have a working license server and you need to adjust it, skip the beginning of the guide and start with connecting to the server.

1. Get a license file

You need to have a license file at hand when installing and configuring the license server. To get this file, please contact the SmartBear Sales Team. The license key includes encoded information on the IP address of the license server computer and the port number it will use to handle license requests. Please be ready to provide this information to the Sales Team when requesting a license. By default, the server will use port 443. If you cannot use this port on the server computer for some reason, choose another available port.

We will then send you a license file, which you will need to install in the Licensing Server Management Console. See below.

Important notes:

  • Licenses are tied to a specific IP address and port of the license server. You cannot activate your license on a different server. To have several license servers, you will need an individual license file for each server.

  • The proxies and firewalls running in your network should allow access to the license server at the specified IP address and port (by default, 443).

  • We recommend that you have one license per tool (ReadyAPI Test, ReadyAPI Performance, ReadyAPI Virtualization, VirtServer, and TestEngine) on your license server. If you want to increase the number of seats, use a supplemental license rather than installing one more license. This will help you manage license usage easily. To get a supplemental license, contact your sales representative or write to [email protected].

2. Install Protection! Licensing Server

2.1. Install Java

The Protection! Licensing Server software requires the Java runtime environment:

  1. Download the latest Java 12 version. You can do this on the following web site:

    https://jdk.java.net/

  2. Install it on the computer where you will install Protection! Licensing Server.

Installation process requires the user to have root permissions.

To check if Java 12 is installed, run the following command:

java -version

If you don't have Java 12, install it by using the following steps:

  1. Download the Java binaries from the OpenJDK archive by using the wget application or its analogue:

    wget "https://download.java.net/java/GA/jdk12.0.2/e482c34c86bd4bf8b56c0b35558996b9/10/GPL/openjdk-12.0.2_linux-x64_bin.tar.gz"

  2. Unpack the downloaded tar archive:

    tar xvf ./openjdk-12.0.2_linux-x64_bin.tar.gz

  3. Add the path to Java 12 to the list of installed java versions:

    sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/java java <path to unpack java>

    For example:

    sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/java java /jdk-12/bin/java

  4. Set Java 12 to the default java version:

    sudo update-alternatives --config java

    The application shows you the list of alternative java versions. Set Java 12 as the default java version by specifying its selection number. For example:

    update-alternatives --config java

    There are 2 programs which provide 'java'.

      Selection    Command
    -----------------------------------------------
    *+ 1           java-1.8.0-openjdk.x86_64 (/usr/lib/jvm/java-1.8.0-openjdk-1.8.0.x86_64/jre/bin/java)
       2           /jdk-12/bin/java

    Enter to keep the current selection[+], or type selection number: 2

2.2. Install Protection! Licensing Server

After you install Java on the server computer, you can install Protection! Licensing Server. Follow the steps below.

Note: The license server installation includes the Licensing Management Console that is needed for managing licenses.

  1. Make sure your computer meets the Licensing Server requirements.

  2. Download Protection! Licensing Server:

      Windows Linux macOS
    32-bit Win Linux macOS
    64-bit Win
    By downloading our software, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

  3. Run the downloaded installer and follow the installation wizard instructions.

You need to configure the license server settings before using it. See below.

Installation process requires the user to have root permissions.

  1. Download the license server installation package by using the wget application or its analogue:

    wget "https://dl.eviware.com/Protection/ProtectionLS_5_5_3_linux.sh"

  2. Make the downloaded file executable:

    chmod +x ./ProtectionLS_5_5_3_linux.sh

  3. Run the installation with the root permissions:

    sudo ./ProtectionLS_5_5_3_linux.sh

  4. Follow the prompts in the terminal to finish the installation.

    How to install in unattended mode

2.3 Additional configurations

You need to modify the default license server settings in the following cases:

  • You use the HTTPS port different from 443.

    Note: The information about the used port is included in the license file. If you use a non-default port, you need a license file issued for your specific port. Contact SmartBear Support to get a new license file.

  • You are going to connect to the license server by using the Protection! Licensing Server Management Console installed on another machine.

Show steps

3. Connect to the license server

To configure the license server, connect to it by using the Protection! Licensing Server Management Console. If you configure a license server for the first time, follow these steps:

  1. Open ports on the license server, if needed.

  2. Create a connection.

  3. Connect to the license server.

3.1. Open port

Port Description
443

The license server uses this port to handle license requests. You specified this port when requesting the license.

The license is bound to this port number. If you want to change this port, you will have to request another license file.
9998 and 9999

The Protection! Licensing Management Console uses these ports to communicate with the license server. If needed, you can select some other ports in the license server settings.

Make sure that your firewalls and proxies allow connecting to the license server through 443 port.

If you are not sure whether this ports is open, or if you need assistance with configuring your proxies, please ask your system administrators for help. You will need to restart the license server to apply the changes you have made. For information on how to specify other ports, please see Protection! Licensing Server Administrator Guide (pdf).

3.2. Create a connection

  1. Start the Protection! Licensing Management Console.

    You are asked to create a connection:

    New Connection dialog

    Click the image to enlarge it.

  2. Specify the collection parameters:

    • Enter the server Name and (optionally) Description.

    • Enter the Server Address.

      The Management Console can configure license servers working on most other computers, including those headless.

      Note: If the Management Console and the license server are on the same machine, leave localhost in this field.

    • Enter a Port number (the default is 9999).

    • Enter a Login and a Password.

      Note: Default credentials are –
      Login: admin
      Password: {empty}

    • Click OK.

You can change the credentials in the Management Console later.

3.3. Connect to the license server

  1. In the server Management Console, switch to the Summary view:

    Console: Summary view

    Click the image to enlarge it.

  2. Click Connect to connect to the server.

    You will see summary statistics for the server:

    Console: Summary view after connecting

    Click the image to enlarge it.

4. Install the license

  1. Install the license file.

  2. Assign the license to users.

    Important: You must assign a license to at least one user or a user group. Otherwise, nobody will be able to use the license.

4.1. Install the license file

  1. If you received the license file in a .zip archive, extract it from the archive to a directory on your computer.

  2. In the server Management Console, switch to the Summary view:

    Console: Summary view

    Click the image to enlarge it.

  3. Click Connect to connect to the server.

    You will see summary statistics for the server:

    Console: Summary view after connecting

    Click the image to enlarge it.

  4. In the menu on the left, select License Storage. Then select File > Import Licenses from the main menu:

    Console: Selecting Import Licenses from the menu

    Click the image to enlarge it.

  5. In the subsequent Open File dialog, select the license file you received from SmartBear and click Open:

    Note: If you received a .zip file from SmartBear, then, in the dialog, you need to specify the extracted license file.
    Selecting the license file

    Click the image to enlarge it.

    This will install the license on the server computer.

4.2. Assign the license to users

To provide users with access to the license, you need to assign the installed license to users. The easiest way to do that is to assign the license to the all user group that is available by default. This will make the license available to all the users who connect to your license server.

If you need more control, you can assign the license to an individual user or user group that you create on the license server. You can also assign the license to users from an LDAP server (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) that is available in your network. See Managing Users and Groups for complete information.

To assign the license to users:

  1. Select the license file from the License Entries list, then click Add User on the Allocation tab toolbar on the right:

    Console: Adding a user

    Click the image to enlarge it.

  2. The following dialog will appear:

    Console: Add Users/Groups dialog

    Click the image to enlarge it.

  3. Select the desired group and click OK.

Note: You can examine the configuration of the assigned user or group by double-clicking it. For example, the all group has the following configuration:
Granting permissions to all users

Click the image to enlarge it.

Now, the selected license will be available to the specified users in the network.

The license server is now installed and configured to control the licenses.

Next steps

Once you activate a floating license on your server, you need to check out (that is, consume) the license on the computers where you will use it. See Check Out Floating Licenses.

Restart the license server

If you need to restart the license server, do the following:

  1. Open Control Panel.

  2. Select System and Security > Administrative Tools.

  3. Open the Services utility.

  4. Right-click the ProtectionLS service and select Restart.

  1. Open a terminal and set the working directory to the bin directory of the license server installation.

  2. Run the following command:

    ./ProtectionLS restart

Uninstall the license server

In case you need to uninstall the license server, for example to move it to the new machine, do the following:

  1. Open Control Panel.

  2. Select System and Security > Administrative Tools.

  3. Open the Services utility.

  4. Right-click the ProtectionLS service and select Stop.

  5. Run the uninstall.exe uninstallation script from the license server installation folder.

  1. Open a terminal and set the working directory to the bin directory of the license server installation.

  2. Run the following command:

    ./ProtectionLS stop

  3. Run the uninstall.sh uninstallation script from the license server installation folder.

More information

For more information on managing your licenses and license user groups, see the Protection! License Server Administrator Guide (pdf).

See Also

Floating License Activation
License Server - System Requirements
Managing Users and Groups
Possible Issues With Floating Licenses

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