__Include: HASP License Management Overview for Charon-AXP and Charon-VAX for Windows
Please refer to the other sections of the Charon Licensing Handbook and your product documentation for any topics not covered in this overview guide and for more detailed information on the topics discussed here.
This page provides an overview of the basic steps to set up the licensing environment on a system running Charon-AXP or Charon-VAX for Windows:
- 1 General Description
- 2 License Type Overview
- 3 Overview of Initial License Installation Steps
- 4 Overview of License Management Tools
- 5 Define a Password for the Sentinel Admin Control Center (ACC)
- 6 View Existing Licenses
- 7 Installing the License
- 8 Handling Multiple Keys
- 9 Update an Existing License
- 10 Removing a License
- 11 Manual Sentinel HASP License Driver Installation
General Description
A Charon emulator product will not run without a valid license. For Sentinel HASP licenses (the topic of this chapter) this license can be provided on a USB hardware dongle (a Sentinel HASP key) or as a software license bound to the hardware of the host system or the network license server. A loss or defect of a license will cause the emulator to stop.
For extra protection, Stromasys recommends the use of a backup license key (purchased separately) that can replace the main license key for a limited period of time. It is possible to specify the backup license in the Charon configuration file to prevent the emulator from stopping in case its main license is no longer accessible.
To check the validity of a license, Charon performs the following steps:
The Charon emulator checks the text block of the license to determine if it is allowed to run (if there is a product section which corresponds to the emulator).
Then Charon checks the feature associated with the product to see if the feature is valid - that is, it is not expired, the available runtime hours are not exhausted, and if there are still some instance-slots available to run the emulator.
If there is no matching product section or if the feature is not valid, Charon reports the problem in the log and shuts down.
Charon License Checks
Charon products check the availability of a valid license at different points in time:
1. At startup:
If no valid license is found, an error message will be written to the emulator log file and the emulator will not start.
Charon-AXP/VAX has a configuration parameter to define the number of retries (license_key_lookup_retry). Please refer to the product configuration documentation for more details.
2. At regular intervals during the runtime of the emulator (the default license check period of 1 hour can be changed by Stromasys using the appropriate license parameters):
If the previously used valid license has been removed, has disappeared, is defect, or has become invalid, the emulator will report the loss of the license in the log file and continue operation for a limited amount of time as described below.
If there is another valid license, for example a backup license defined in the configuration file, it will be used.
Starting with Charon-AXP/VAX 4.9, Charon allows for a grace period of 12 hours during which the software checks for the presence of a valid license every 10 minutes until a valid license is found. If no valid license is found after the grace period has expired, the emulator will stop. Starting with version 4.12-21014, a longer grace period can be provided by Stromasys depending on contractual agreements.
Earlier versions of the above products and other emulator products: should there still be no valid license at the next regular license check (this default interval may be changed by individual Charon products), the emulator will stop.
If a time-restricted license is used and it expires, the Charon instance tries to find its replacement automatically and, if found, proceeds using the replacement license.
Important note for Windows installations: any running emulators will be stopped if the license service is forced to stop despite existing service dependencies (i.e., running emulators). So any running guest systems must be cleanly shutdown before restarting the license service in order to avoid data loss. This is the behavior at the time of writing. It may change in future versions.
Charon License Updates
Under certain circumstances existing licenses must be updated.
License updates are required, for example, in the following cases:
Charon product version upgrade
Product change
License validity (time) extension
License updates, for example a new expiration date or a new execution counter, can be performed without interrupting operation, that is, without shutting down active Charon instances, provided that the resulting license is valid for the running Charon instance. If any parameters of the updated license are not valid for the running Charon instance (for example, the wrong model or version), the Charon instance will stop running.
Licenses are backwards compatible to some extent. A license update to a more recent version will allow some previous Charon versions to run as well. The details depend on the Charon product.
The license check on Charon-AXP/VAX/PDP starting with version 4.4 will be successful for a newer license if the major version (for example, the 4 in 4.7) is the same. In version 4.3, the emulator will start, but there are inconsistencies and incompatibilities especially in the associated tools (e.g., hasp_view). Product versions 4.2 and earlier are incompatible with the current license schema.
License Content
License Type Overview
Depending on customer requirements, Stromasys can provide several different license types.
Local Hardware License
Local hardware licenses are USB dongles and work on the system they are physically connected to. For Windows systems supporting AnywereUSB®, hardware licenses can also be connected over the network (similar products are available for Linux). They can easily be moved to a different system, if required. The content of the dongle can be updated if a change to the license or an extension of a time-based license is required. The necessary steps are described later in this document.
Please note:
Hardware dongles require the Sentinel HASP run-time (driver) installation before the dongle can be connected to and used by the system.
Hardware dongles, apart from HL-MAX dongles, are equipped with a battery and a clock, which makes them independent of the host clock. The battery is not rechargeable. However, the dongle can use the power provided by the host system while it is plugged in. By doing this, the depletion of the battery can be slowed down. Check the dongle at regular intervals if it is not permanently connected to a system. If the battery becomes completely depleted, the dongle will be permanently unusable and must be replaced. See also: How long does the license USB dongle battery last upon a full charge.
Hardware dongles are not suited for running Charon emulator products in cloud environments. Stromasys provides other licensing solutions adapted to virtual environments (Charon VE licenses) for selected products. See Virtual Environment (VE) License Server Documentation.
Software License
A software license is a "virtual" key with functionality very similar to a HASP network-enabled hardware dongle.
A software license does not require any special hardware but it still requires installation of the Sentinel runtime environment.
Important information:
To avoid unexpected problems, do not use any Sentinel runtime software that was not provided by Stromasys without being advised to do so by your Stromasys representative.
Software licenses are best suited for stable environments, because their correct function depends on certain characteristics of the host system. Changing these characteristics will invalidate the license.
If the Charon host runs on real hardware, 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), 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 Software Licensing restrictions or contact your Stromasys representative.
Software licenses are very sensitive to even small changes on the host system. Therefore, it is especially important to provide for a backup license that will ensure continued operation should there be a problem with the software license. See Handling Multiple License Keys for details.
Standard software licenses are not suited for running Charon emulator products in cloud environments. Stromasys provides other licensing solutions adapted to virtual environments (Charon VE licenses) for selected products. See Virtual Environment (VE) License Server Documentation.
Network License
The network Sentinel HASP key (red USB dongle) can be shared between several hosts running a Charon emulator product (including the host on which the network license is installed).
Please note: all software licenses are also network licenses.
If the Charon emulator product is installed on the host where the network license is connected, no additional steps are required. The Sentinel driver is installed as part of the Charon product installation. If the host does not have a Charon emulator product installed, the host can still distribute the connected network license to emulator instances running on other hosts.
The Sentinel HASP runtime software must be installed on such a license server and on the client system. For details regarding the installation, please refer to the software installation section in this document. Once both the Sentinel runtime software and the network license are installed, the Charon emulator product can be started on any appropriate client host on the LAN, provided access to the license is enabled.
The network license will be visible to all hosts that can access the license server over IP. Access to the license server must be possible on port 1947 via UDP (discovery process) and TCP (actual access to license). Further information (e.g., use of additional UDP ports) can be found in the section Firewall Considerations.
The license server and the client must both allow access to the network license using the appropriate management tools.
The maximum number of concurrently active Charon instances is determined by the parameters of the license.
Please note: Charon-AXP/VAX version 4.7 build 171-01 introduced a change with respect to network licenses. In previous versions of Charon-AXP/VAX a network license controlled the maximum number of client host systems and Charon instances per host system (station/instance mode). 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.
Overview of Initial License Installation Steps
Each Charon emulator product requires a valid license to run. To access a Sentinel HASP license, the emulator needs the Sentinel runtime software. This software is part of the Charon-AXP/Charon-VAX for Windows installation kits. Refer to the software installation section of the Charon product user's guide for software installation instructions.
After the installation of this software, the license can be installed on the system. The following steps are described in more detail below:
Add a password for the Sentinel Admin Control Center (ACC).
If you purchased a hardware license, you can simply plug the dongle into a free USB port on the system.
If you purchased a software license, you need to create a fingerprint file in C2V (customer-to-vendor) format containing the system characteristics. Use this file to request a license for your Charon product from Stromasys.
If your license is a network license served by a license server, make sure that the access of the client system to the license server is not blocked by the configuration or a firewall.
Optionally, define how multiple licenses will be used (selecting primary/backup license, defining license priorities).
If you have an existing license that needs to be updated, you need to create a customer-to-vendor (C2V) file and use this file to request a license update from Stromasys.
Overview of License Management Tools
The following list shows the main tools used to manage licenses on Windows:
Sentinel Admin Control Center (ACC): A web-based interface providing important configuration options with respect to licenses.
The license viewing utility: A GUI-based tool to display the detailed license contents. Cannot be used over a remote connection when using local hardware licenses.
The license update utility: A GUI-based tool to extract the information required for creating and updating licenses, and to install the resulting license data.
Accessing the License Management Tools on Charon Version 4.7 and older
The Sentinel ACC on the local system is accessed by starting a web-browser and pointing it to the URL: http://localhost:1947.
The license viewing utility and the license update utility are accessed via
Start > All programs > Charon > Charon product folder > Utilities as shown in the image below.
Accessing the License Management Tools on Charon Version 4.8 and Higher
All license management tools are accessed via the Charon Virtual Machines Manager (VMM) as shown in the image below.
The CHARON VMM is started via Start > Charon > CHARON Virtual Machines Manager or by clicking on the associated desktop icon.
Define a Password for the Sentinel Admin Control Center (ACC)
Please note: Stromasys strongly recommends performing the steps described below to reduce the risk of unauthorized access to the Sentinel ACC.
By default, anyone on the local system with access to port 1947 can access the GUI. If remote access is enabled, users on the network with access to port 1947 can also access the GUI. To protect access to the GUI with a password, perform the following steps:
Step | Description |
|---|---|
1 | Open a web browser and navigate to http://localhost:1947/. |
2 | Click on the left-hand menu item labeled Configuration. |
3 | Click on the Basic Settings tab. |
4 | Under the entry labeled Password Protection, click the Change Password button. |
5 | At the Change Password window:
|
6 | Back at the Basic Settings tab:
|
7 | Optional: to allow remote access to the Sentinel HASP GUI:
Additional information for remote access to the Sentinel HASP GUI:
If required, remote access can also be enabled on Linux by editing the file /etc/hasplm/hasplm.ini and setting the parameter ACCremote to 1. Should the file not yet exist, refer to How-to enable remote connection to Sentinel Admin Control Center without GUI. The parameter to enable network visibility is bind_local_only. It must be set to 0 to enable all adapters. Changed settings are recognized automatically by aksusbd. |
View Existing Licenses
It is important to know which licenses are visible on a system. For example, the user can
determine if the correct license is installed,
identify the expiration date on time-based licenses,
identify the remaining hours of run-time on backup licenses,
identify the license ID of primary and backup license which are needed for the emulator configuration file.
Licenses can be viewed using two tools:
Sentinel ACC: shows important information, but not the product specific license parameters.
License viewing utility: shows all product details contained on the license. Can only be run from a local connection for local hardware licenses.
Viewing a License with Sentinel ACC
To view available licenses using Sentinel ACC, start the web interface as described above.
Please note: starting with Charon-AXP/VAX 4.9 a new Sentinel ACC version (>= 7.60) has been included in the product. The functionality is very similar but the appearance is somewhat different.
o get to the Sentinel Keys screen, click on the corresponding menu item or access the URL http://localhost:1947/_int_/devices.html directly. A screen similar to the following opens and displays the available license keys:
For Sentinel drivers version 7.60 and above, this screen looks similar to the following:
This page displays important information about the available licenses, including
Location: Shows whether the license is local or remote. If the license is a network license, the hostname of the remote system is specified. You can access the remote license manager by clicking on the hostname, provided that access is permitted.
Key ID: The unique identification of the license.
Key Type: Hardware keys are marked by the abbreviation HL (hardware license) and a picture of the license dongle. Software licenses are marked by the abbreviation SL (software license).
Sessions: Shows the number of active sessions opened for the specific key.
The buttons on the right-hand side can be used to retrieve more information about the license or to extract the C2V file for a license update. The Browse button shown for network licenses will connect to the remote license manager to show the license features.
A C2V file can only be extracted if the license in question is local to the current license manager, i.e., the license manager to which the web browser is connected. You can connect to a remote license manager by clicking on the hostname in the Location column (if connections are allowed).
Please note:
The option to create a C2V file is not available in older versions of the license software.
Starting with ACC version 7.60, the option to create C2V files for USB dongles is only available if it has been enabled in the basic configuration section (under the Configuration menu item).
Newer versions of ACC also offer the option to create a fingerprint for a new SW license.
Some newer versions of ACC show the option on this screen to create a DEMOMA fingerprint. This is a demo key for development purposes and not relevant for Charon products.
Some newer versions of ACC offer to create a fingerprint for a software license if such a license does not exist yet. Do not use this option. The resulting file has a format that is incompatible with the Stromasys license creation tools. Instead use the tools described in Installing the License.
The menu options Products, Features and Sessions on the left-hand side provide the same information as the buttons. However, they show the information for all licenses.
Viewing a License with the License Viewing Utility
To view available licenses using the license viewing utility, start the program as described above.
Please note: a local hardware key cannot be read via a remote connection (e.g., via RDP). One possible workaround is described in detail in the document How to read a HASP key over RDP on Windows. It shows, how to setup a scheduled task for this purpose.
HASP View Utility Window
The following image shows sample output:
The buttons at the bottom of the window provide additional functions:
Charon License Details (re-)queries the selected license key (the highlighted tab) and displays the contents.
Refresh the key list. This is useful if a key has just been added or removed.
Copy license details to clipboard, for example to paste into a support e-mail.
Exit from the utility.
If there is more than one license, the data for each license is shown on a separate tab.
Please note: starting with Charon-AXP/VAX version 4.9, the button Charon License Details has been renamed to Refresh current license. The names of some parameters have changed, new parameters were added, and other parameters removed. See the following sample output:
Installing the License
This section provides a short overview of the initial license installation. For more in-depth information about licensing, please refer to the licensing handbook.
Preparation
Before a license can be installed, some preparatory steps are required.
Ensure that the correct Sentinel Runtime software is installed. Please refer to the installation section of your Charon emulator user's guide for details.
If a conflicting or obsolete license is available on the system it may be necessary to (temporarily) remove or disable it. If you need to remove a hardware license, simply unplug it. If you need to remove a software license or disable access to a network license, please refer to the relevant chapter in the licensing handbook. Before removing a license or disabling access to it ensure that it is not required by another currently active product.
Installing a Local Hardware License
A local hardware license (USB dongle) is installed by inserting the USB license key into a free USB port of the host system after the Sentinel runtime software has been installed.
After this step, verify that the license is visible to the system by following the steps for viewing a license as described above. Please bear in mind that a local hardware license cannot be read when connected to the system via a remote connection (e.g., via RDP).
Installing a Software License
To install a new software license, perform the following steps:
Step 1: Start the license update utility as described above and create a fingerprint file:
The license update utility (HASPRUS) looks the same, independent of the product variant used. The following image shows the necessary options for creating a fingerprint file: select the tab Collect Status Information and the option Installation of new protection key.
After pressing the Collect Information button, you will be prompted to enter a location and filename for storing the fingerprint file.
Once a software license has been installed, current versions of the license update utility do not allow you to create another fingerprint without (temporarily) removing the installed software license. Therefore, save the created fingerprint file in case you need to create an additional software license for the same system (this will be the exception because in most cases the existing license can be updated with the required information). If you don't have the fingerprint file anymore and cannot create a second fingerprint because there is already a valid software license installed, please contact your Stromasys representative or VAR. If you have an obsolete/invalid software license on your system, you can remove it as described in Removing a License.
Step 2: Send the resulting fingerprint file to Stromasys orders administration using the email address that Stromasys will provide to you.
Step 3: After receiving the V2C file from Stromasys, copy the file to the system where the license needs to be installed, start the license update utility as described above, and install the new license:
1. To install the V2C file(s) for hardware and software licenses, select the tab Apply License File.
2. Press the "..." button next to the Update File field. This will open a file browser.
3. Select the V2C file to be applied.
4. Click on Apply Update to complete the operation.
Please note: This section describes the installation of a new software license. However, the installation procedure for a V2C file is identical when updating a hardware license.
Important caveat: When updating a hardware license, you will in most cases receive two V2C files, a *_fmt.v2c file and a *.v2c file. The *_fmt.v2c file formats the dongle and the *.v2c file contains the updated license data. In such cases the *_fmt.v2c file must be applied first.
Installing a Network License
For a network license to be provided to a client host on the network, a license server must have been set up either with a network-enabled hardware license (red dongle) or a software license (software licenses are always network enabled).
If the license server also runs a Charon emulator product, follow the software installation steps in the user's guide. Additionally, the licensing handbook contains additional information about setting up a dedicated license server without installing the full product kit using the license-specific packages of a product kit.
For the client to access a license on a license server the following steps are required:
Any firewall between license server and client must permit the necessary communication.
The license server must be configured to allow access from the client.
The client must be configured to allow access to the license server.
Firewall Considerations
The following ports are used for the communication between license server and client hosts:
On the server side (where network license has been installed), port 1947 must be open for incoming TCP and UDP traffic to allow client access to the license.
On the client side, traffic is initiated using ports 30000 through 65535 as the source ports and port 1947 as the target port. If broadcast search for remote licenses is to be used, the client must also permit UDP traffic initiated from port 1947 of the license server to ports 30000 through 65535 of the client.
If a host on the network cannot find the license server even though the server is operational, you can temporarily disable the firewall to determine whether it blocks the traffic.
For details on how to configure the firewall in your network, please consult your operating system documentation and make sure to adhere to your company's security policies.
Allowing Client Access on the License Server
The Sentinel license manager on the license server can be configured to allow or disallow access from remote clients to the network licenses installed on the license server. To access this configuration option, perform the following steps on the license server:
1. Open a web-browser and go to the URL http://localhost:1947/_int_/config_from.html (option: Configuration / Access from Remote Clients).
2. This opens a page similar to the following. Please note: newer Charon emulator products (e.g., Charon-AXP/VAX version 4.9) have newer versions of Sentinel ACC. The pages of these versions look different, but the functionality remains mostly the same.
Old ACC version:
New ACC version:
Or for versions starting with 8.x:
3. Possible actions:
Sentinel ACC versions 8.x and higher have additional configuration options on this screen (mostly cloud related). These options are not relevant to Charon emulator products.
Allowing Access to a License Server on the Client
The Sentinel ACC can be configured to enable or prevent that the client host discovers network licenses and to change the options used to discover and access network licenses provided by a license server.
1. Open a web-browser on the client host and go to the URL http://localhost:1947/_int_/config_to.html
(option: Configuration / Access to Remote License Managers).
2. This will open a configuration page similar to the following. Please note: newer Charon emulator products (e.g., Charon-AXP/VAX version 4.9) have newer versions of the Sentinel license drivers. The Sentinel ACC pages of these versions look different, but the functionality remains mostly the same
Old ACC version:
New ACC version:
3. Possible actions:
Please note:
If the option Broadcast Search for Remote Licenses is not enabled or cannot be used in the customer specific setting, you can enter specific IP addresses or host names that should be queried for network licenses in the Remote License Search Parameters field. Please refer to the Sentinel ACC help function for more information.
To allow access to remote license managers, network visibility on the "Network" tab must be set to All Network Adapters.
Starting with Charon-AXP/VAX 4.9 for Linux and Charon-AXP/VAX version 4.8 for Windows, these Charon emulator products do not follow the settings in the Sentinel ACC with respect to querying remote license servers and network visibility. They perform a broadcast search for network licenses even if this has been disabled in the local Sentinel ACC configuration. If this behavior has to be prevented for specific reasons, the access of the system to the license server has to be temporarily restricted or disabled, for example by blocking the relevant traffic in a firewall. Another possibility would be to block access to the network license at the license server side. Note that such methods can negatively impact other functions of the system or, in the case of blocking access to a network license on the server, even the functions on other license clients.
Verifying License Availability
After installing a license on the system, verify the availability of the license as described in the section View Existing Licenses.
Check if the license shows the correct product, expiration date etc.
Handling Multiple Keys
A Charon host system can have access to several local and remote license keys. Each license key can contain one or more product licenses.
The Charon emulator products can only use one active license at one time. Without additional configuration, they cannot make decisions about which product license or license key to use. If there is more than one available license key, the default license key will be used. The default license key is determined by the Sentinel software. As this can lead to undesirable effects, newer Charon emulator products have configuration parameters that allow the definition of a primary (or production) and a secondary (or backup) key, or the creation of a list of license keys or product licenses sorted by priority.
The following sections describe the options available to achieve a more deterministic license selection. If only one license is available, either locally installed or via the network, this section does not apply.
Please note: for Charon-AXP/VAX before version 4.9 and other older Charon products: the parameters described in this section can only be used to define a primary key and a backup key, or to specify the correct key if there is a conflicting license for a different Charon product on the same system. It is not possible with these versions of Charon to combine a local license (black dongle) with other licenses (local or network) to increase the number of concurrent instances of the same Charon product on one host system. Newer versions allow a more flexible use of multiple licenses. Both variants are described in the following sections.
Backup License Characteristics
It is strongly recommended to order a backup key to recover immediately from damage or loss of the main license key. A backup license key can also help in situations where the Charon host hardware fails and the software must be moved to a different system, thus invalidating the original software license.
Backup keys typically use a counter (integer) value programmed in the key. This integer value corresponds to a number of hours the Charon software is allowed to run. Each time the Charon software checks the license (at start and then every hour), the value is decreased (by 1 hour). Please note that backup keys have may have additional restrictions:
The runtime is typically limited to 720 hours (30 days). This is the time available to get a replacement license from Stromasys.
A backup license key may be valid only until a certain date.
Please note: if you start and stop the emulator frequently (e.g., frequent runs with a duration of under one hour), the runtime may be significantly less than 30 days, because the license check during the start of an emulator will reduce the counter by one.
Primary and Backup License for Charon-AXP/VAX prior to Version 4.9
If more than one key is visible to the system, you can define which is the primary and which the backup key. To do this, add the following parameters to the configuration file of the Charon instance:
|
The entry with index 0 denotes the primary key, the entry with index 1 the backup key.
To identify the relevant key IDs, display the available licenses as described in section View Existing Licenses.
.
To get information about modifying the Charon configuration files, refer to the appropriate sections in the user's guide.
Prioritized List of License Keys or License IDs for Charon-AXP/VAX 4.9 and Higher
Prioritized List of License Keys
If more than one key is visible to the system, you can define a prioritized list of license keys. To do this, add the following parameter to the configuration file of the Charon instance:
|
The first entry in the list has the highest priority. The emulator instance will try to use this key first. If it is not available, it will try the second key in the list and so on. If the parameter any is added to the end of the list, the emulator instance will search for any keys not part of the list should none of the listed keys be available. If the parameter is not defined, an unqualified search for a suitable license will be performed and the first one found (if any) will be used. If no usable license is found, the emulator will stop.
To identify the relevant key IDs, display the available licenses as described in section View Existing Licenses.