This section describes some information that could become relevant during the operation of a VE license server and the corresponding Charon emulator products.
Contents
Sentinel/Gemalto License Tools not Applicable to the VE License Server
Any Sentinel/Gemalto-specific license tools provided with the emulator installation are not applicable to the VE license server configuration.
Sentinel/Gemalto-specific tools and configuration options on Charon-SSP:
In Charon-SSP, the Sentinel/Gemalto-specific license tools and configuration options are available when installing the management packages for the VE-capable Charon-SSP emulator packages. These tools and options are in particular the following:
- HASP Viewer, HASP Updater, and HASP Manager in the Tools > HASP Tools menu of the Charon Manager
- The Regular and Backup License parameter in the emulator license configuration section
- The command-line tools in /opt/charon-agent/ssp-agent/utils/license
The above tools cannot be used for managing Charon-SSP VE licenses. Please ignore them if you have a VE license.
Actions that can Invalidate a VE License
For cloud deployments: if supported by the cloud provider, the VE license server instance can be moved to a different subnet, as long as the original instance can be moved. It is also possible to backup and restore (to the same instance) the license server data. However, the following actions will invalidate the license:
Starting and Stopping the License Server
Please note: In versions before 1.0.17, the license server can only be started if a valid license is installed.
The license server is a systemd service that is controlled via systemctl:
- Starting the license server:
# systemctl start licensed
- Stopping the license server:
# systemctl stop licensed
- Restarting the license server:
# systemctl restart licensed
The licensed service logs information to its log file in /opt/license-server/license_log/license.log and to journalctl.
Primary and Backup License Server
General Information
Charon emulators for VE licenses support a backup license server to ensure service continuity should the primary license server become temporarily unavailable. Backup licenses are typically limited to a certain number of emulator runtime hours.
The example below shows the output of such a license:
# /opt/license-server/license_viewer <<License Viewer>> Current license: KEYSEC K_FINGER=123db1ec91a1526c40da028b9e68e5abaadc70c62719af0f6ef1f2cfd2c85bba K_LICENSE_ID=01.00000001.002.045 K_TYPE=COUNTDOWN K_EXPIRED=100 K_CUSTOMER=Stromasys/Testing K_PLATFORM=amazon.aws K_R_DATE=1593308906 K_INTERVAL=60 KEYEND PRODSEC P_NAME=Charon-SSP/4U,Charon-SSP/4U+,Charon-SSP/4V,Charon-SSP/4V+ P_CODE=test P_MAJV=4 P_MINV=2 P_CPU_NUM=4 P_MAX_MEM=4096MB P_INSTANCE=4 PRODEND PRODSEC P_NAME=Charon-SSP/4M P_CODE=test P_MAJV=4 P_MINV=2 P_CPU_NUM=4 P_MAX_MEM=512MB P_INSTANCE=4 PRODEND
Note the parameters K_TYPE=COUNTDOWN and K_EXPIRED=100. They indicate that this is a backup license with 100 hours of emulator runtime. The remaining hours can be checked via the web interface.
Backup License Server Operation
Should the primary license server become unavailable, the emulator tries to connect to the backup license server. If this succeeds, the emulator continues to run without interruption. If no connection to a valid license can be established within 2 hours, the emulator will stop.
Please note: If you do not have a valid backup license and the primary license server is unavailable for more than 2 hours, make sure to shut down the guest operating system cleanly before the end of the grace period. Failure to do so may cause data loss or corruption.
If the primary license server becomes available again after the emulator has switched to the backup server, the emulator will automatically switch back to the primary server to avoid unnecessary depletion of the backup license runtime hours.
Log Files
Log files provide important information about the operation of the license server and the Charon emulator software. In case of problems, this is the first place to check.
License Server Log File
Log File Location
License server log file /opt/license-server/license_log/license.log
At every license server start, a new version of the log file is created and the previous file is rotated to license.log.1. Other existing versions are rotated accordingly.
Log File Samples
Normal startup:
2020-01-16 09:00:43 INFO MAIN Build time: Jan 16 2020 10:54:15 2020-01-16 09:00:44 INFO MAIN License server is ready to serve.
No valid license installed:
2020-01-10 12:17:19 INFO MAIN Build time: Jan 10 2020 17:22:12 2020-01-10 12:17:19 ERROR License license is not available. 2020-01-10 12:17:19 INFO MAIN The program is terminated.
Client connection log (new in 1.0.28):
2020-10-02 21:46:29 INFO MAIN License server is ready to serve. 2020-10-03 01:31:09 INFO Server CHARON-SSP/4U v4.1.32 has logged in from 127.0.0.1:40704. 2020-10-03 01:45:21 INFO Server CHARON-SSP/4U v4.1.32 from 127.0.0.1:40704 has been disconnected
Charon-SSP Emulator Log Files
Log File Location
The default emulator log file location is /opt/charon-agent/ssp-agent/ssp/<architecture/<vm-name>/.
- <architecture> can be sun-4m, sun-4u, or sun-4v.
- <vm-name> is the name of the emulated SPARC system.
The log file is called <vm-name>.log. At every emulator start, a new version of the log file is created and the previous file is rotated to <vm-name>.log.1. Other existing versions are rotated accordingly. The number of retained files is determined by the log configuration of the emulated SPARC system.
Please note: The log file path can be changed by the user to a non-default value.
Log File Samples
Working license found during emulator start:
2020-07-16 21:25:10 INFO VE Trying to login to license server: 127.0.0.1 2020-07-16 21:25:13 INFO VE Connected with license server: 127.0.0.1 2020-07-16 21:25:13 INFO VE Found available license ID: 01.00000001.002.044. 2020-07-16 21:25:13 INFO VE Customer name: Stromasys/Testing. 2020-07-16 21:25:13 INFO VE Virtual hardware model Charon-SSP/4M is licensed. 2020-07-16 21:25:13 INFO VE Maximum concurrent instances are limited to 4. 2020-07-16 21:25:13 INFO VE Maximum allowed virtual CPU(s) are 4. 2020-07-16 21:25:13 INFO VE Maximum allowed virtualized memory is 512 MB. 2020-07-16 21:25:13 INFO VE Major allowed version number is 4. 2020-07-16 21:25:13 INFO VE Minor allowed version number is 2. 2020-07-16 21:25:13 INFO VE Expiration UTC time: 2020-12-31 15:55:00.
Connection to license server lost temporarily and then restored:
(License loss detected) 2020-07-16 22:25:56 ERROR VE Failed to connect with the license server! 2020-07-16 22:25:56 WARN VE Charon will be terminated within 2 hours! (License server connection restored) 2020-07-16 23:26:01 INFO VE Connected with license server: 127.0.0.1 2020-07-16 23:26:01 INFO VE Found available license ID: 01.00000001.002.044. 2020-07-16 23:26:01 INFO VE Customer name: Stromasys/Testing. 2020-07-16 23:26:01 INFO VE Virtual hardware model Charon-SSP/4M is licensed. 2020-07-16 23:26:01 INFO VE Maximum concurrent instances are limited to 4. 2020-07-16 23:26:01 INFO VE Maximum allowed virtual CPU(s) are 4. 2020-07-16 23:26:01 INFO VE Maximum allowed virtualized memory is 512 MB. 2020-07-16 23:26:01 INFO VE Major allowed version number is 4. 2020-07-16 23:26:01 INFO VE Minor allowed version number is 2. 2020-07-16 23:26:01 INFO VE Expiration UTC time: 2020-12-31 15:55:00. 2020-07-16 23:26:01 INFO VE Local UTC time: 2020-07-16 15:26:01. 2020-07-16 23:26:01 INFO VE The license is verified, back to normal operation.
Please note: The output shows a 2 hour grace-period. This is applicable to Charon-SSP versions 4.1.21 and later. In earlier versions the grace-period was 24 hours. This is no longer needed because a backup license server can now be configured (since Charon-SSP version 4.1.19). If a valid license has not become available before the end of the grace period, the emulator will be stopped.
Switch to backup license server:
2020-06-29 18:08:25 ERROR VE Failed to connect with the license server! 2020-06-29 18:08:25 INFO VE Trying to login to license server: 127.0.0.1 2020-06-29 18:08:34 ERROR VE Failed to connect with the license server! 2020-06-29 18:08:43 WARN VE Charon will be terminated within 2 hours! 2020-06-29 19:08:57 INFO VE Connected with license server: 172.31.40.62 2020-06-29 19:08:57 INFO VE Found available license ID: 01.00000001.002.045.
License Server version mismatch:
The following message is logged in older versions. Newer versions may have a more descriptive error message.
2020-01-16 11:24:38 WARN VE Failed to get data from license server!
Please note: The software checks for for compatible protocol versions between license server and emulator software. It logs an error if the versions are not compatible. Compatible versions are required for the emulator to verify the license and to run.