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- The VE license server itself
- VE license server package
- A suitable Linux instance to be used as the VE license server. This instance must run
- in a supported cloud environment,
- in a supported VMware environment, or
- on a supported physical server.
- Correct firewall settings
- The VE-capable Charon emulator software
- For general VE mode: must run on a Charon host with appropriate network access to the VE license server (see restrictions for VMware environments in the section Charon VE-Capable Emulator and Management Software below).
- For AutoVE mode: a Charon instance launched from a compatible Automatic Licensing marketplace image. AutoVE server and clients must be in the same cloud environment. Please note that the AutoVE definitions must be added before the first launch of such an instance.
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The license server package must be installed on a supported Linux instance. This instance can run in a supported cloud, in a supported VMware environment, or on a physical host.
Currently Supported Cloud Providers
At the time of writing, the following cloud providers are supported by the VE license server:
- Amazon AWS
- Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)
- Microsoft Azure
- Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
- IBM cloud
- Nutanix AHV
Please refer to your cloud It is recommended to run the VE license server on a dedicated system to avoid license invalidation caused by changes to the system which are more likely to occur on a system used for other purposes as well, for example, to run a Charon emulator. It is also recommended to install a backup license server to ensure continued operation in case of a failure or invalidation of the primary license.
Currently Supported Cloud Providers
At the time of writing, the following cloud providers are supported by the VE license server:
- Amazon AWS
- Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)
- Microsoft Azure
- Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
- IBM cloud
- Nutanix AHV
Please refer to your cloud provider's documentation for configuring and launching an appropriate instance. A description of the basic steps of launching a cloud instance can be found in Additional Information and the cloud-specific Getting Started guides on the Charon-SSP documentation pages.
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- Red Hat, CentOS, or Oracle Linux (64-bit) versions 7.x or 8.x
- Rocky Linux 8.x
- Red Hat, Oracle Linux, and Rocky Linux 9.x
- Support for Amazon Linux 2023 starting with VE license server version 2.4.1.
Only 64-bit operating systems are supported. The root filesystem type must not be BTRFS.
Other Software Requirements for the VE License Server
Please note the following additional requirements:
- The Btrfs file system is not supported as a root file system for a VE
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- license server.
- To unpack the shell archive containing the installation kit, the following utilities are required: gzip, md5sum, cksum, gpg, tar, and openssl
Hardware Requirements for the VE license server
Basic hardware requirements (cloud instance capabilities or VMware host configuration) for running a dedicated license server:
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Dedicated System for the License Server (recommended)
If the system is dedicated to running the license server, its hardware configuration must satisfy the requirements of the selected Linux operating system.
Additional hardware requirements (cloud instance capabilities or VMware host configuration) for running the emulator software on the same system:
License Server Combined with Charon Emulator Software (not recommended)
If the license server is combined with the Charon emulator software on the same instance, the instance used must satisfy the requirements of the Charon emulator host and all instances that will run on it. Please refer to your product-specific documentation for more information:
- For Charon-SSP, refer to the Charon-SSP user's guide of your emulator version for details (see Charon-SSP for Linux).
- For Charon-PAR, refer to the Charon-PAR user's guide of your emulator version for details (see Charon-PAR documentation).
- For Charon-AXP/VAX, refer to the user's guides for Charon-AXP or Charon-VAX.
Additional Linux Host Requirements for AWS cloud (for VE license server versions < 1.1.23)
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- guides for Charon-AXP or Charon-VAX.
Please note, that a dedicated license server system is the recommended configuration.
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Additional Linux Host Requirements for AWS cloud
VE License Server Installation on Amazon Linux 2023
Only for VE license server 2.4.1 and higher (older versions are not supported to be run on Amazon Linux).
By default, Amazon Linux only installs a minimal gnupg package. This is not sufficient to unpack the VE license server kits archive. An attempt to unpack the archive will result in the error gpg: uncompressing failed: Unknown compression algorithm. To swap the minimal for the full package, use the following command:
# dnf swap gnupg2-minimal gnupg2-full
VE license server versions earlier than 1.1.23
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only - IAM role requirement
In the AWS cloud, an IAM role allowing the ListUsers action (IAMReadOnlyAccess in the example below) must be attached to the VE license server instance. This can be done during the launch of the instance as shown in the sample below.
Alternatively, the role can be set/changed by selecting the instance, right-clicking on it, and selecting Security > Modify IAM Role (in the older AWS console, use the Action menu). If such a role has not yet been defined, please refer to Creating and Attaching an AWS IAM Role (versions < 1.1.23 only) and to the documentation provided by AWS for additional information23 only) and to the documentation provided by AWS for additional information.
AWS region support
If a new region in the AWS cloud is not yet supported by the VE license server, creating a C2V file will fail with the error message:
Failed to verify the instance document's signature!Sanity check failed on AWS cloud.
Should you receive this error, please contact your Stromasys representative.
Additional Linux Host Requirements for IBM cloud
For the VE license server to work properly in the IBM cloud, an API key must be created and installed. Please refer to Creating and Installing an IBM API Key.
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Firewall Considerations
Communication Between License Server and Client Systems
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Charon VE-Capable Emulator and Management Software
The VE license server software requires matching Charon emulator software. At the time of writing this support was available for Charon-SSP, and (starting from version 3.0.6) for Charon-PARVE license server software requires matching Charon emulator software.
Please note:
- The requirements are different for the two modes of a VE license server (general VE or AutoVE). They are described below.
- The protocol versions used by the emulator software and the license server must be compatible. The software checks for compatible protocol versions and reports an error should there be a mismatch.
- The Charon VE-capable emulator software can run on the same system as the license server or on a separate system with appropriate network access to the VE License Server. However, there are restrictions in a VMware environment.
- Restrictions for VMware environments:
- If the license server binds to the ESXi host on which the license server VM runs, any Charon emulator using the VE license server must run either on the same VM as the VE license server or on a VM running on the same ESXi host.
- If the license server binds to the vCenter Server that manages the ESXi host on which the license server VM runs, any Charon emulator using the VE license server must run either on the same VM as the VE license server or on a VM on an ESXi host managed by the same vCenter Server.
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- Charon-SSP 4.2.x and later
- Charon-PAR 3.0.6 and later
- Charon-AXP/VAX planned for version 4.12 and later (Linux versions only)
Stromasys or your Stromasys VAR will provide you with the software or a download link. In certain cloud environments, Stromasys may offer prepackaged Charon VE images on selected cloud marketplaces. If you use a Charon host in the cloud and the instance was launched from such a prepackaged image, the required VE-capable emulator software is already installed (refer to the respective cloud-specific Getting Started Guide for more information).
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If the VE license server is used in AutoVE mode, the license client must be an instance launched from a compatible marketplace Automatic Licensing image. At the time of writing AutoVE was only supported by Charon-SSP AL marketplace images. For up-to-date availability information, please contact your Stromasys representative.
- The AutoVE license server must be defined for the instance before first launch (see Configuring AutoVE Information on the Charon AL Host).
- This support was added in Charon-SSP version 5.3.8 and later images (at the time of writing on AWS, OCI, GPC, and Azure)in selected clouds.
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VE License Server - Installation
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- Copy the license server software package to the license server host (if needed):
- For example, use sftp to connect to the VE license server system.
# sftp -i ~/.ssh/<mykey><user>@<linux-ip> - Copy the software package to the license server system using the following SFTP command:
> put <local-path-to-license-server-package>
- For example, use sftp to connect to the VE license server system.
- Use ssh to log in on the license server host.
# ssh-i ~/.ssh/<mykey> <user>@<linux-ip> - As a privileged user (root) go to the directory where you stored the installation package and install the package:
- Become the root user:
# sudo -i - Go to the package location:
# cd <path-to-package-directory>If you used SFTP to copy the package to an instance installed from a prepackaged Charon marketplace image, the home directory of the charon user and the default location for file transfers is /charon/storage. - For VE license server 2.2.4 and above, unpack the archive and agree to the end-user license agreement:
# chmod a+x license-server-<version>.rpm. sh# ./license-server-<version>.rpm.sh
This will display the EULA. After agreeing to it, for version 2.2.4, the RPM installation package will be unpacked in the current directory. For version 2.2.5 and later, the EULA and the RPM package will be unpacked in a subdirectory (license-server-2.2.5<version>.rpm) of the current working directory.
- Install the package:
- Go to the directory in which the RPM package is located.
- Linux 7.x:
# yum install license-server*.rpm - Linux 8.x and 9.x:
# dnf install license-server*.rpm
- Become the root user:
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