A license can be installed locally on the system or—in case of a network license—it can be served to clients on the network by a license server. To use the products, you must have one of the following:

• Valid physical license key (HASP dongle)

• Valid Sentinel HASP software license

• Valid VE license

The complete licensing documentation can be found in the Licensing Handbookthe Licensing Documentation section of the Stromasys Product Documentation page. Please refer to this documentation for any topics not covered in this overview guide and for more detailed information on the topics discussed here.

This page provides an overview of the basic steps to set up the licensing environment on for a system running Charon-PAR for Linux :

...

using either Sentinel HASP licensing, or Virtual Environment (VE) licensing

General

...

Please note:

...

Licensing Aspects

Ccreating and updating a license prior and during the operation of Charon emulators involves the following basic steps:

1. Generate a C2V (customer-to-vendor) file. It contains the data required to generate a license.

2. Submit the C2V information to Stromasys Orders Administration.

3. Receive one or more V2C (vendor-to-customer) license file. It contains the new or updated license data.

4. Apply the V2C files to the local system or the license server.

The following sections describe how to perform these tasks using the different tools available.

Sentinel HASP Licensing

General Description

Please note:

• Upgrading to this Charon-PAR from an older version requires a license update. Please contact your VAR or Stromasys representative to plan the update.
• Charon-PAR version 3.0.0 and higher is incompatible with licenses of earlier versions. Earlier product versions are incompatible with licenses for Charon-PAR 3.0.0 and higher. Charon-PAR licenses of version 2.1.0 are not compatible with emulators running Charon-PAR version 2.0.0.

...

In some emulator products it is possible to configure the number of retries and the waiting time between them by adding parameters to the emulator configuration file. Please refer to the product documentation for the details regarding the relevant parameters: license_retry_period and license_retry_count parameters (obsolete starting with version 1.10)

2. At regular intervals during the runtime of the emulator (the default license check period of 1 hour can be changed by Stromasys using the appropriate license parameters):

...

The license check for Charon-PAR will pass if the version on the license is higher than the one of the running Charon instance, as long as the major version (e.g., the 2 in 2.00) is the same. Please note that license are not compatible between product versions 1.x, 2.x, and 3.x.

License Type Overview

Depending on customer requirements, Stromasys can provide several different license types.

Local Hardware License

Local hardware licenses are USB dongles and work on the system they are physically connected to. For Windows systems supporting AnywereUSB®, hardware licenses can also be connected over the network. They can easily be moved to a different system, if required. The content of the dongle can be updated if a change to the license or an extension of a time-based license is required. The necessary steps will be described later in this document.

...

• Hardware dongles require the Sentinel HASP run-time (driver) installation before the dongle can be connected to and used by the system.
• Hardware dongles (with the exception of HL-MAX dongles) are equipped with a battery and a clock, which makes them independent of the host clock. To keep the battery charged, the dongle should occasionally be connected to a system even if it is not currently needed. If the battery becomes completely depleted, the dongle will be permanently unusable. See also: How long does the license USB dongle battery last upon a full charge.

Software License

A software license is a "virtual" key with functionality very similar to a HASP network-enabled hardware dongle.

A software license does not require any special hardware but it still requires installation of the Sentinel runtime environment. 

Please note:

• To avoid unexpected problems, do not use any Sentinel runtime software that was not provided by Stromasys without being advised to do so by your Stromasys representative.
• Software licenses are best suited for stable environments, because their correct function depends on certain characteristics of the host system. Changing any of these characteristics will invalidate the license.
  • If the Charon host runs on real hardware, software licenses are by default tightly bound to the hardware for which they were issued. If major hardware characteristics of the system are changed, the license will be disabled.
  • If the Charon host runs in a virtual environment (e.g., VMware), software licenses are normally bound to the virtual machine ID and a set of additional characteristics of the virtual machine. If any of these parameters are changed, the license will be disabled.
• Software licenses are very sensitive to even small changes on the host system. Therefore, it is especially important to provide for a backup license that will ensure continued operation should there be a problem with the software license. See Handling Multiple License Keys and Product Licenses for details.

For a more detailed description of the restrictions, please refer to Software Licensing restrictions or contact your Stromasys representative.

Network License

The network Sentinel HASP key (red USB dongle) can be shared between several hosts running a Charon emulator product (including the host on which the network license is installed).

...

If you need to install a standalone license server, please refer to the installation section of the Licensing Handbook.

Overview of Initial License Installation Steps

Each Charon emulator product requires a valid license to run. To access the license, the emulator needs the Sentinel runtime software. This software is part of the Charon-PAR for Linux installation kits. Refer to the software installation section of the Charon product user's guide for software installation instructions.

...

1. Add a password for the Sentinel Admin Control Center (ACC).
2. If you purchased a hardware license, you can simply plug the dongle into a free USB port on the system.
3. If you purchased a software license, you need to create a fingerprint file in C2V (customer-to-vendor) format containing the system characteristics. Use this file to request a license for your Charon product from Stromasys.
4. If your license is a network license served by a license server, make sure that the access of the client system to the license server is not blocked by the configuration or a firewall.
5. Optionally, define how multiple licenses will be used (selecting primary/backup license, defining license priorities).
6. If you have an existing license that needs to be updated, you need to create a customer-to-vendor (C2V) file and use this file to request a license update from Stromasys.

Overview of License Management Tools

The following list shows the main tools used to manage licenses on Linux:

• Sentinel Admin Control Center (ACC): A web-based interface providing important configuration options with respect to licenses.
• The hasp_srm_view program: A command-line tool to display the detailed license contents and generate C2V and fingerprint files. Cannot be used over a remote connection when using local hardware licenses.
• The hasp_update program: A command-line tool to install new and update existing licenses.

Accessing the License Management Tools

The command-line tools are installed under /opt/charon/bin/. If this directory is not part of your PATH variable, you have to specify the full path to access the command.

...

The Sentinel ACC on the local system is accessed by starting a web-browser and pointing it to the URL: http://localhost:1947.

Sentinel Admin Control Center (ACC) Security Settings

Stromasys strongly recommends performing the steps described below to reduce the risk of unauthorized access to the Sentinel ACC.

Define a Password for the Sentinel ACC

By default, anyone on the local system with access to port 1947 can access the GUI. If remote access is enabled, users on the network with access to port 1947 can also access the GUI. To protect access to the GUI with a password, perform the following steps:

...

Please note: With these settings, when you connect to the HASP GUI from a remote system, you may be prompted for a username and password. It is enough to just enter the configured password and leave the username field empty.

Setting Linux File Protections

To prevent unprivileged access and modifications to the Sentinel HASP configuration file on Linux, enter the following commands:

Viewing Existing Licenses

It is important to know which licenses are visible on a system. For example, the user can

...

• Sentinel ACC: shows important information, but not the product specific license parameters.
• Command-line tool hasp_srm_view: shows all product details contained on the license. Can only be run from a local connection for local hardware licenses.

Viewing a License with Sentinel ACC

To view available licenses using Sentinel ACC, start the web interface as described above.

...

The menu options Products, Features and Sessions on the left-hand side provide the same information as the buttons. However, they show the information for all licenses.

Viewing a License with hasp_srm_view

On Linux, the license content is displayed using the hasp_srm_view command. For displaying the license, the following parameters are relevant:

...

Installing the License

This section provides a short overview of the initial license installation. For more in-depth information, please refer to the licensing handbook.

Please note: If a conflicting or obsolete license is visible to the system, it can be (temporarily) removed or disabled. If you need to remove a hardware license, simply unplug it. If you need to remove a software license or disable access to a network license, please refer to the relevant chapter in the licensing handbook. Before removing a license or disabling access to it ensure that it is not required by another currently active product.

Installing a Local Hardware License

A local hardware license (USB dongle) is installed by inserting the USB license key into a free USB port of the host system. 

After this step, verify that the license is visible to the system by following the steps for viewing a license as described above. Please bear in mind that a local hardware license cannot be read when connected to the system via a remote connection (for example, ssh).

Installing a Software License

To install a new software license, perform the following steps:

...

• When updating a hardware license you will in most cases receive two V2C files, a *_fmt.v2c file and a *.v2c file. The *_fmt.v2c file formats the dongle and the *.v2c file contains the updated license data. In such cases the *_fmt.v2c file must be applied first.

Installing a Network License

For a network license to be provided to a client host on the network, a license server must have been set up either with a network-enabled hardware license (red dongle) or a software license (software licenses are always network enabled).

...

• Any firewall between license server and client must permit the necessary communication.
• The license server must be configured to allow access from the client.
• The client must be configured to allow access to the license server.

Firewall Considerations

The following ports are used for the communication between license server and client hosts:

...

For details on how to configure the firewall in your network, please consult your operating system documentation and make sure to adhere to your company's security policies.

Allowing Client Access on the License Server

The Sentinel license manager on the license server can be configured to allow or disallow access from remote clients to the network licenses installed on the license server. To access this configuration option, perform the following steps on the license server:

...

• • To allow access from remote clients, activate the check-box next to the field Allow Access from Remote Clients and press Submit at the bottom of the page.
    Please note: to allow access from remote clients, network visibility on the "Network" tab must be set to All Network Adapters.
  • To refuse access from remote clients, clear the check-box next to the field Allow Access from Remote Clients and press Submit at the bottom of the page.
  • Access Restrictions allow refining access rules, e.g., by specifying IP addresses. Please refer to Sentinel ACC help for details.

Allowing Access to a License Server on the Client

The Sentinel ACC can be configured to enable or prevent that the client host discovers network licenses and to change the options used to discover and access network licenses provided by a license server.

...

• If the option Broadcast Search for Remote Licenses is not enabled or cannot be used in the customer specific setting, you can enter specific IP addresses or host names that should be queried for network licenses in the Remote License Search Parameters field. Please refer to the Sentinel ACC help function for more information.
• To allow access to remote license managers, network visibility on the "Network" tab must be set to All Network Adapters.

• Starting with Charon-PAR 1.10, the Charon emulator products do not follow the settings in the Sentinel ACC with respect to querying remote license servers and network visibility. They perform a broadcast search for network licenses even if this has been disabled in the Sentinel ACC. If this behavior has to be prevented for specific reasons, the network access of the system has to be temporarily restricted or disabled, for example by blocking the relevant traffic in a firewall. Another possibility would be to block access to the network license at the license server side. Note that such methods can negatively impact other functions of the system or, in the case of blocking access to a network license on the server, even the functions on other license clients.

Verifying License Availability

After installing a license on the system, verify the availability of the license as described in the section View Existing Licenses.

Check if the license shows the correct product, expiration date etc.

Handling Multiple Keys

A Charon host system can have access to several local and remote license keys. Each license key can contain one or more product licenses.

...

Please note: For Charon-PAR before version 1.10: the parameters described in this section can only be used to define a primary key and a backup key, or to specify the correct key if there is a conflicting license for a different Charon product on the same system. It is not possible with these versions of Charon to combine a local license (black dongle) with other licenses (local or network) to increase the number of concurrent instances of the same Charon product on one host system. Newer versions allow a more flexible use of multiple licenses. Both variants are described in the following sections.

Backup License Characteristics

Backup license keys are provided by Stromasys in addition to standard license keys.

...

• The runtime is typically limited to 720 hours (30 days). This is the time available to get a replacement license from Stromasys.
• A backup license key may be valid only until a certain date.
• If you start and stop the emulator frequently (e.g., frequent runs with a duration of under one hour), the runtime may be significantly less than 30 days, because the license check during the start of an emulator will reduce the counter by one.

Primary and Backup License for Charon-PAR prior to Version 1.10

If more than one key is visible to the system, you can define which is the primary and which the backup key. To do this, add the following parameters to the configuration file of the Charon instance:

...

To get information about modifying the Charon configuration files, refer to the appropriate sections in the user's guide.

Prioritized List of License Keys / Product License IDs - Charon-PAR Version 1.10 and Higher

Prioritized List of License Keys

...

To get information about modifying the Charon configuration files, refer to the appropriate sections in the user's guide.

Prioritized List of Product License IDs

Every license key can contain one or more product sections. Newer licenses can contain a product license ID identifying each product section. A prioritized list of product license IDs can be added to the emulator instance configuration file to specify which product sections to use and which should have the highest priority. To do this, add the following parameter to the configuration file of the Charon instance:

...

To get information about modifying the Charon configuration files, refer to the appropriate sections in the user's guide.

Updating an Existing License

If you need to update an existing hardware or software license, for example because the time limit on the license has expired or to upgrade to a new product versions, perform the following tasks:

...

Alternatively, you can use the Sentinel ACC to apply V2C files (use the section Update/Attach). Refer to the license handbook for more details.

Virtual Environment (VE) Licensing

The Charon emulator kit itself does not include VE license management tools. The following actions must be performed on the VE license server. However, the VE license server can be on the same system as the Charon emulator.

Please note:

• If you have not installed the license server yet (and for any more in-depth information), please refer to the VE license server user's guide (see Licensing Documentation).

• The information below shows the command-line tools for license management. Starting with version 1.1.16 of the VE license server, these activities can also be performed using a web-based management GUI. Please refer to the appropriate VE license server user's guide (see Licensing Documentation).

Creating a C2V File

Running esxi_bind before First C2V Creation on VMware

The esxi_bind command sets up the necessary communication connection between the VE license server and the ESXi host / the vCenter server.

It must be run on the license server (and the backup license server, if applicable)

• once before the first license is requested,

• and again, should the user for the access to the ESXi host / the vCenter server change.

Perform the following steps:

1. Use ssh to log in on the license server instance.
   # ssh <user>@<license-server-ip>
   where

   1. <user> is the user for interactive login associated with your license server system

   2. <license-server-ip> the ip address of your license server system

2. Become the privileged user and run the esxi_bind program.

   1. Become the root user: # sudo -i

   2. Run the c2v program: # /opt/license-server/esxi_bind -a <address> -u <username> -p <password>
      where

      1. <address> is the IP address of the ESXi host or vCenter server

      2. <username> is a user with administrative rights on the ESXi host or vCenter server

      3. <password> is the password of the administrative user

3. If the command is successful, it will create the file /opt/license-server/config.ini containing the connection data (the password is encrypted).

Creating a VE C2V File

The fingerprint is collected on the license server using the c2v utility.

Perform the following steps to collect the fingerprint on the license server and (if applicable) the backup license server:

1. Use ssh to log in on the license server instance.
   # ssh -i ~/.ssh/<mykey> <user>@<license-server-ip>
   where

   1. <mykey> is the private key of the key-pair you associated with your cloud instance
      (for an on-premises VMware installation where login with username/password is allowed, it is not needed)

   2. <user> is the user for interactive login associated with your license server instance (e.g., opc on OCI, centos for a CentOS instance on AWS, or the custom user on your VMware virtual machine or physical server; for an instance installed from a prepackaged Charon VE marketplace image, use sshuser)

   3. <license-server-ip> is the ip address of your license server system

2. Become the privileged user and run the c2v program.

   1. Become the root user: # sudo -i

   2. Run the c2v program: # /opt/license-server/c2v --filename <my-file>.c2v --platform <my-platform>
      where

      1. <my-file>.c2v is the path and name under which you want to store the fingerprint. The file type is C2V (customer-to-vendor)

      2. <my-platform> indicates the platform on which the license server runs (possible values: physical, aws, oci, gcp, azure, ibm, nutanix, or esxi).

3. Copy the resulting C2V file to your local system (unless you can send email from the license server system).

Installing a VE V2C File

The license data is installed on the license server using the v2c utility.

Perform the following steps to install the license on the license server:

1. Copy the V2C file to the license server (e.g., with SFTP).

2. Use ssh to log in on the license server instance.
   # ssh -i ~/.ssh/<mykey> <user>@<license-server-ip>
   where

   1. <mykey> is the private key of the key-pair you associated with your license server instance
      (for an on-premises VMware installation where login with username/password is allowed, it is not needed)

   2. <user> is the user for interactive login associated with your license server instance (e.g., opc on OCI, centos for a CentOS instance on AWS, or the custom user on your VMware virtual machine or your physical server; for an instance installed from a prepackaged Charon VE marketplace image, use sshuser)

   3. <license-server-ip> is the ip address of your license server system

3. Become the privileged user and run the v2c program.

   1. Become the root user: # sudo -i

   2. Run the v2c program: # /opt/license-server/v2c -f <my-file>.v2c
      where <my-file>.v2c is the path and name under which you want to store the fingerprint. The file type is V2C (vendor-to-customer).

After the installation of the V2C file, the license server will be restarted.

Charon-PAR Emulator License Configuration

The license server must be added to the Charon-PAR emulator configuration.

...