CHARON-VAX for Linux licensing

General description

The CHARON-VAX product is protected by licenses, issued by STROMASYS for each customer individually. The CHARON-VAX license defines all the specifics of the particular CHARON-VAX distribution and its usage.

The license is implemented in the form of a hardware dongle (a Sentinel HASP key) or a software bound to the hardware. Please be careful with your license key. In case of loss or damage, CHARON-VAX will not run or start unless the license key is replaced. For extra protection, STROMASYS recommends the use of a backup license key (purchased separately) that can replace the main license key for a restricted period of time. It is possible to specify the backup license in the CHARON-VAX configuration file to prevent CHARON-VAX from stopping in case its main license is no longer accessible.

The CHARON-VAX license is read upon the start of each instance of CHARON-VAX and at a specified interval (defined by the license content) during the emulated system execution. If CHARON-VAX detects the absence (or malfunction) of the license key / software license, CHARON will try to use a backup license (if specified in the configuration file). If the license is not available / not specified, CHARON displays a warning message in the log file requesting license key reconnection or software license reactivation. If the license is not reconnected within a given period of time (the check interval), CHARON-VAX exits.

Note that if the time-restricted license is used and it expires, CHARON-VAX tries to find its replacement automatically and, if found, CHARON-VAX proceeds using the replacement license.

The CHARON-VAX software license is not distributed in case of Proof-of-Concept and evaluation installations. Only hardware dongles are used in this case.

It is important to connect the HASP license keys to the computer from time to time even if CHARON-VAX is not used. The keys contain a built-in accumulator that needs to be charged. If the accumulator is completely discharged, the license key can be fatally damaged.

Update of the CHARON-VAX license can be performed on the fly without stopping CHARON-VAX. At the next license check, CHARON-VAX will use the updated license normally.

The following sections list all the main parameters of the CHARON-VAX licensing mechanism.

Parameters defined by CHARON-VAX license

The following table represents all the parameters defined by CHARON-VAX license:

General	Products relevant	Optional

General	Products relevant	Optional
Physical key ID License Number End user name Master key ID License release date and time Update Number Purchasing Company name. In most cases the company to which the key was issued originally	Commercial product name Commercial product code Commercial product version and range of build numbers suitable for running Range of CHARON-VAX virtual models available for running Type of host CPU required Host operating system required Number of virtual CPUs enabled for virtual SMP systems Minimum number of host CPU cores required Minimum host memory required Maximum memory emulated. If not present the value defaults to the maximum memory possible for the particular virtual system. Note that the maximum memory may not be available to the virtual system if the host computer has insufficient physical memory. Maximum number of CHARON-VAX instances that can be run concurrently Whether or not CHAPI (CHARON-VAX API) can be used with this product Product and Field Test expiration dates (if any) Product and Field Test executions counter (if any) Maximum number of hosts that may run CHARON-VAX concurrently (in the case of a networking license) Level of support (if any), end date of any support contract, the "First Line" Service Provider Frequency of CHARON-VAX license checking during CHARON-VAX execution	Possibility to attach hardware QBUS/UNIBUS hardware via adapter Parameter that reduces the maximum speed of the program Parameter that enables the product to support additional serial lines through an option board from a company such as DIGI Parameter that prohibits use of Advanced CPU Emulation. If not present the Advanced CPU Emulation is enabled Parameter that enables emulation of IEQ11-A IEEE488 Controller (on top of DCI-3100 IEEE488 Controller Parameter that enables emulation of DRV11-WA I/O controller (on top of DCI-1100 I/O controller)

CHARON-VAX licensing models

CHARON-VAX licensing models are divided in 3 groups:

Regular Sentinel HASP keys

This is most common way of CHARON-VAX licensing, the CHARON-VAX license is embedded in a Sentinel HASP dongle. This license is available only on the host where the dongle is physically installed.

The CHARON-VAX installation procedure takes care of the Sentinel HASP run-time (driver) installation. Once the CHARON-VAX product has been installed, it is possible to plug-in the regular license key and proceed with CHARON-VAX usage without additional configuration steps.

The number of CHARON-VAX instances allowed to run on a particular host may be restricted by the license content (see above).

Network Sentinel HASP keys

The Network Sentinel HASP key (red dongle) can be shared between several hosts running CHARON-VAX including the host on which the network license is installed.

If CHARON-VAX is installed on the host where the network key is connected, no additional steps are required. The Sentinel driver is activated as part of the CHARON-VAX installation. If the host does not have CHARON-VAX installed, the host can still distribute the connected network license to CHARON-VAX instances running on other hosts. In this case the Sentinel driver must be installed on the host manually.

The Sentinel run-time driver is distributed as a separate RPM package in the CHARON-VAX kit. Please see the "Licenseinstallation" section of this chapter for details.

Once the Sentinel run-time driver is installed and the network license is connected, CHARON-VAX can be started on any appropriate host on the LAN network segment. In the current CHARON-AXP/VAX versions, a network license controls the maximum overall number of active instances, which can be distributed across client host systems according to the preference of the customer.

Software licenses

The CHARON-VAX Software License is a "virtual" key with exactly the same functionality as the hardware dongle.

The CHARON-VAX software license does not require any hardware but it requires the installation of the Sentinel run-time environment.

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, the 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), the 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.

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

Software licenses are always network-wide on Linux so they behave the same way as Network HASP keys.

Multiple licenses configuration

For any type of licensing, CHARON-VAX can use only one valid ("active") license (of given vendor code) at a time.

The "hasp_srm_view" utility displays the "active" license by default and is able to display all available licenses with the "-all" parameter. It is also possible to check some specific license by its number using the "-key" parameter.

The utility provides the license number and ID / IP address of the host where the active license is installed.

The general recommendation is to avoid usage of multiple keys in one network segment. Use only one locally installed license per host or one network license per local network segment containing several CHARON-VAX hosts.

When needed, it is possible to use a special parameter in the CHARON-VAX configuration file to specify exactly which license must be used by each particular instance of CHARON-VAX:

Parameter

license_key_id

Type

Text string

Value

A set of Sentinel Key IDs that specifies the license keys to be used by CHARON. It is also possibly to use a keyword "any" to force CHARON to look for a suitable license in all available keys if the license is not found in the specified keys.

Example:

set session license_key_id = "1877752571,354850588,any"

Based on the presence of this parameter in the configuration file, CHARON behaves as follows:

No keys are specified (the parameter is absent)
CHARON performs an unqualified search for any suitable key in unspecified order. If no key is found, CHARON exits.
One or many keys are specified
CHARON performs a qualified search for a regular license key in the specified order. If it is not found, CHARON exits (if the keyword "any" is not set).

If the keyword "any" is specified then if no valid license has been found in the keys with specified ID’s all other available keys are examined for valid license as well.

The order in which keys are specified is very important. If a valid license was found in the key which ID was not the first one specified in configuration file, then available keys are periodically re-scanned and if the key with the ID earlier in the list than the current one is found CHARON tries to find a valid license there and in case of success switches to that key.