CHARON Log Monitor and Dispatcher

General Description

The Log Monitor & Dispatcher is a special program which monitors a guest LOG file produced by CHARON and executes a customizable script when it detects removal of a license.

It runs in the background (as a program or as a service) and periodically scans a specified LOG file. When it detects a message with the code 0000002A or 00000351 ("Detected removal of a license") it submits the NOLICENSE.BAT procedure (this BAT file must be created manually).

The Log Monitor & Dispatcher service is installed as EmulatorLogMonitor. By default it is installed in such a way that requires explicit actions to be started (either through a command line interface or using the standard ways of service management). For unattended execution, change the service’s configuration so that Windows starts the service automatically.

The tool requires a specific file "NOLICENSE.BAT" containing some specific instructions to be taken in situation of license absence. It is recommended you create this file in the folder (presumably) containing the LOG file.

When it is invoked by the “Log Monitor & Dispatcher”, the current directory of the batch process is set to the same folder from which the “Log Monitor & Dispatcher” was previously installed as a service or from which it was started as a background process. This means that the user action file may, in principle, operate with relative paths and relocate (as part of the whole configuration, i.e. together with accompanying LOG file).

The user action file will not invoke interactive applications as it may run in an environment where interactive services do not work, for example: when “Log Monitor & Dispatcher” is installed as a service.

Starting in background mode

In order to start the Log Monitor & Dispatcher as a background application:

Open "cmd.exe" from the "Start" menu.
Change current directory to the folder (presumably) containing the LOG file.
Start the Log Monitor & Dispatcher using the following command line as an example (for Windows x64; for Windows x86 use the following path: "C:\Program Files\CHARON\Utilities_X.X.XXXXX\x86"):

...> “C:\Program Files (x86)\CHARON\Utilities_X.X.XXXXX\x64\logmond” my_charon.log

To stop the Log Monitor & Dispatcher application, open the Task Manager, find the “logmond.exe” process and terminate it.

It is possible to monitor as many CHARON instances as needed. To do that "cd" to the directory containing the log file and the corresponding "NOLICENSE.BAT" file (copied from the provided template) of a certain CHARON instance and run "logmond", as described above. In this case, pay attention that the log file of each CHARON instance must be stored in a separate directory (along with the specific "NOLICENSE.BAT" containing actions relevant to each particular CHARON instance).

For convenience, it is possible to create a specific *.bat file, containing a procedure, to run all the Log Monitor & Dispatcher instances for all the CHARON instances running on the host.

Stopping multiple Log Monitor & Dispatcher instances is completed following the same steps as when stopping one instance. Terminate all the “logmond.exe” processes in Task Manager.

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Running as a service

In order to install the Log Monitor & Dispatcher as a background application:

Open "cmd.exe" from the "Start" menu in "Run as Administrator" mode.
Change directory to the folder (presumably) containing the LOG file.
Use the commands described below (Note: that the path in the examples is given for Windows x64; for Windows x86 use the path "C:\Program Files\CHARON\Utilities_X.X.XXXXX\x86" instead).

To install the Log Monitor & Dispatcher as a service:

...> “C:\Program Files (x86)\CHARON\Utilities_X.X.XXXXX\x64\logmond” --install my_charon.log

To start the service:

...> “C:\Program Files (x86)\CHARON\Utilities_X.X.XXXXX\x64\logmond” --start

To stop the service:

...> “C:\Program Files (x86)\CHARON\Utilities_X.X.XXXXX\x64\logmond” --stop

To uninstall the service:

...> “C:\Program Files (x86)\CHARON\Utilities_X.X.XXXXX\x64\logmond” --remove

Change the startup mode of the Log Monitor & Dispatcher service using the standard Windows "Services and Applications" applet.

Log Monitor & Dispatcher running as a service can control only one CHARON instance. To control multiple CHARON instances, run the Log Monitor & Dispatcher service in the background as described above.

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