Charon Licensing for Charon Emulators in the AWS Cloud

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Last updated: Dec 05, 2023Version comment
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Contents

General Information

This chapter describes the basic licensing options available for Charon-SSP instances in cloud environments. Please note that even though other solutions may be possible the ones listed here represent the recommended solutions for Charon-SSP cloud-based solutions.

Charon-SSP requires a license to run emulated SPARC systems. For a typical cloud-based installation, there are different Charon-SSP product variants with different licensing models. As availability may differ depending on cloud environment, please contact your Stromasys representative for any questions about product availability and licensing options.

1. Old AWS marketplace image: the cloud-specific, prepackaged Charon-SSP AL (Automatic Licensing) marketplace image offers pay-as-you-go billing for Charon-SSP. Please contact Stromasys Sales should you be interested in this option. It utilizes either

  • a public, Stromasys-operated cloud-specific license server, or
  • a private customer-operated VE license server operating in AutoVE mode.

2. New AWS marketplace image: the cloud-specific, prepackaged Charon-SSP Amazon Linux marketplace image offers pay-as-you-go billing for Charon-SSP. It utilizes a public, Stromasys-operated cloud-specific AutoVE license server. Please contact your Stromasys representative should you require your own private AutoVE license server.

3. Charon-SSP VE (Virtual Environment) utilizing a customer-operated, private VE license server in a supported cloud environment. The license server, in this case, operates in general VE mode. Charon-SSP VE is available as a

  • prepackaged marketplace image on some cloud platforms, and
  • in RPM package format for a conventional installation.

These licensing options are briefly described below.

Please note: the user is responsible for any Solaris licensing obligations and has to provide the appropriate licenses.


New Marketplace Image: Charon-SSP Amazon Linux - Overview

When a cloud instance is launched from an AWS Charon-SSP Amazon Linux marketplace image, this instance requires a license to run emulated SPARC systems. This license is created automatically upon first launch of the Charon-SSP Automatic AutoVE instance.

Please note the following points:

  • You will be billed by AWS for your use of the Charon-SSP instance. Stromasys will not bill you directly. The billing is metered and depends on the sizing of the Charon host system.
  • By default, this option requires that Charon instances have Internet access (via their own public IP address or NAT) for the license mechanism to work. If NAT is used, the gateway must be an instance in the same cloud (i.e., the source IP address must be from the address range of the same cloud provider in which the Charon host instance runs). The public, Stromasys-operated AutoVE license servers must be reachable on port 8083. Also, a DNS service must be reachable to resolve the host names of the license servers, or corresponding entries in /etc/hosts must exist. The license server details are provided below.
  • Should you require a private AutoVE server (making the need of access to the public Internet obsolete), please contact your Stromasys representative.
  • If you change the instance type after first launching the instance and thereby change the number of CPU cores (or if the number of CPU cores is changed by any other method), the license will be invalidated.
  • Some licensing problems or other requirements (e.g., additional CPU cores needed) may make it necessary to move the emulator to a new instance. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to store all relevant emulator data on a separate disk volume that can easily be detached from the old instance and attached to a new instance.
  • If you need to set up a new Charon host instance with using the public AutoVE servers, you must create it via launching a new instance from the appropriate marketplace image and (as necessary) copying/moving the emulator data and configuration to the new instance. Cloning the instance with will result in a system with an invalid license.
  • Should access to the license be lost, there is a grace period of 24 hours. If license access is not restored within this period, the emulator will stop (if a guest system is running at the time, this is the equivalent of disconnecting the power without clean shutdown, i.e., it may lead to loss of data).

At the time of writing, the public Stromasys-operated AutoVE license servers in AWS were

  • aws-autove-pri.stromays.com and
  • aws-autove-snd.stromays.com
  • TCP port 8083

They have to be entered in the user data of the instance before first launch (image specifications at the time of writing).

Old Marketplace Image: Charon-SSP Automatic Licensing - Overview

When a cloud instance is launched from a Charon-SSP AL marketplace image, this instance requires a license to run emulated SPARC systems. This license is created automatically upon first launch of the Charon-SSP AL instance.

Please note the following points:

  • You will be billed by the cloud provider for your use of the Charon-SSP AL instance. Stromasys will not bill you directly. Please contact Stromasys Sales should you be interested in this option.
  • Charon-SSP AL instances require Internet access (via their own public IP address or NAT) for the license mechanism to work. If NAT is used, the gateway must be an instance in the same cloud (i.e., the source IP address must be from the address range of the same cloud provider in which the Charon host instance runs). The public, Stromasys-operated license servers must be reachable on port 8080 (SSP before version 5.5.5) or port 8081 (SSP version 5.5.5 or higher). Also, a DNS service must be reachable to resolve the host names of the license servers, or corresponding entries in /etc/hosts must exist. The license server details are provided below.
  • If you change the instance type after first launching the instance and thereby change the number of CPU cores (or if the number of CPU cores is changed by any other method), the license will be invalidated.
  • Some licensing problems or other requirements (e.g., additional CPU cores needed) may make it necessary to move the emulator to a new instance. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to store all relevant emulator data on a separate disk volume that can easily be detached from the old instance and attached to a new instance.
  • If you need to set up a new Charon host instance with AL licensing, you must create it via launching a new instance from the appropriate marketplace image and (as necessary) copying/moving the emulator data and configuration to the new instance. Cloning an instance with AL licensing will result in a system with an invalid license.
  • Should access to the license be lost, there is a grace period of 24 hours. If license access is not restored within this period, the emulator will stop (if a guest system is running at the time, this is the equivalent of disconnecting the power without clean shutdown, i.e., it may lead to loss of data).

At the time of writing, the public Stromasys-operated license servers in AWS were

  • cloud-lms1.stromasys.com and
  • cloud-lms2.stromasys.com
  • TCP port 8080 for SSP version before 5.5.5 (old certificates)
  • TCP port 8081 for SSP version 5.5.5 or higher (new certificates)


Charon-SSP VE Licensing Overview

Charon VE License Characteristics

The main characteristics of VE licenses are the following:

  • Software licenses only.
  • Installed on the Charon host or on a separate license server.
  • Require the Charon VE license server software (the RPM package is included in the prepackaged, cloud-specific marketplace Charon-SSP VE image).
  • Require matching Charon emulator software (preinstalled on the prepackaged, cloud-specific marketplace Charon-SSP VE image).
  • Different modes of operation:
    • For general VE mode, the customer is billed by Stromasys depending on the number and type of the emulated systems allowed by the installed license(s). The license server software itself is free of charge.
    • AutoVE mode is an extension of automatic licensing and introduces metered billing (by the cloud-provider) for VE licenses in cloud environment. It defines how many Charon host instances can be run based on the respective license. The number of emulated systems on each host instance is limited by the host resources, not the license. The emulator host instance must be based on a suitable Charon automatic licensing marketplace image, and license server and emulator host must be in the same cloud. The new AWS marketplace image is based on this mode using public, Stromasys-operated license servers. If you intend to use private AutoVE license servers (no Internet access required), please contact your Stromasys representative.
    • The license server for both modes is managed by the customer.

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:

  • Changing the number of CPU cores of the license server system.
  • Copying the license server data to a different instance.
  • Seriously damaging the root filesystem of the license server system.
  • Re-installing the license server system.
  • Copying the virtual machine on which the license server runs, cloning a virtual machine, or recovering a backup into a new virtual machine.

Please note: Charon-SSP 5.5.5 and VE license server 2.1.3 introduce new certificates and the option to use user-defined certificates. Please review the Virtual Environment (VE) License Server Documentation for details and to avoid possible compatibility problems between old and new versions.


Charon VE License Server Communication Requirements

For proper operation, the system on which the license server runs has the following communication requirements:

Communication with the cloud infrastructure:

For proper functionality, the AWS cloud instance on which the license server runs must be able to communicate with the cloud infrastructure:

  • The metadata server of the cloud environment (169.254.169.254)
  • The host iam.amazonaws.com (the system must be able to resolve the name to an IP address)

It must also be able to communicate with the client systems using the license. The following ports are used for this communication by default:

  • TCP/8083: must be permitted from the client to the license server to enable the use of the license by the client.
  • TCP/8084: must be permitted by the license server for any system that should access the web interface to display license information.

In current VE license server versions, the default ports can be changed in the file /opt/license-server/config.ini. Please refer to the VE license server guide for details.

Basic License Installation Steps Before an Emulator Can be Started

If there is no VE license server running already, decide on which cloud instance it should run and install the VE License Server package on the selected system. The VE License Server RPM package is included in the prepackaged Charon-SSP VE marketplace images. Alternatively, Stromasys will provide a download location. See Installing the VE License Server Software.

  • If you don't already have a license, contact your Stromasys representative to procure an appropriate license.
  • Log in on your Charon VE License Server instance.
  • Create a C2V file and send it to the email address Stromasys will provide to you.
  • Install the V2C file you will receive from Stromasys.
  • Configure the emulator instance(s) to use the license server.

Please refer to the Licensing Documentation for more information.


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