Contents
Introduction
This guide is intended for anyone who needs to install, configure, or manage the Stromasys Charon Virtual Environment (VE) license server. A general working knowledge of Linux and its conventions is expected.
VE stands for "Virtual Environment" denoting Charon emulators and the environment in which they run. At the time of writing, the VE license server is supported in selected cloud and VMware environments, and on physical servers.
A VE license server can run in one of two basic modes of operation:
- General VE license server mode: license server for one or more emulator instances. Customers must purchase their license from Stromasys, and use a VE-enabled emulator product. The license is based on number of emulator instances and the emulator model configuration required, and typically valid for a certain period of time (it has an expiration date), or for a defined number of runtime hours.
- AutoVE mode (selected cloud environments only): AutoVE is an extension of the cloud-specific Charon Automatic Licensing (AL) where licensing is configured automatically when the cloud instance is launched. The Charon host instance must be launched from a supported, cloud-specific marketplace image. The customer is billed by the cloud provider per instance launched, but the AutoVE license server is managed by the customer and part of the customer cloud environment.
This guide covers the Charon VE License Server software. This package contains a license server application that can be installed in customer-specific AWS, OCI, GCP, Azure, IBM, Nutanix and VMware environments, and on physical servers. This licensing option is adapted to the special requirements of virtualized environments and simplifies the process of running Charon emulator products in supported cloud and VMware environments. The license server is managed by the customer.
Please note:
- VE licenses provided by a VE license server require VE-enabled Charon emulator software. This support is available in the following products:
- Charon-SSP (starting with Charon-SSP version 4.2.x)
- Charon-PAR (starting with Charon-PAR version 3.0.6 and VE license server version 1.1.19)
- Charon-AXP/VAX (planned to start with Charon-AXP/VAX 4.12)
- At the time of writing, AutoVE mode was available for the following products:
- VE license server starting with 1.1.21
- Charon-SSP AL marketplace images version 5.3.8 and above in the following cloud environments: AWS, OCI, GCP, and Azure
- Starting with VE license server version 2.1.3, a new certificate and user configurable certificates for the communication between license server and license client (emulator host) were introduced. Using this new feature requires a matching version of the Charon emulator product. At the time of writing, this feature was supported by Charon-SSP version 5.5.5 and higher. Please refer to the release notes of your product and to Certificates Used by the VE License Server for more information.
- For a full description of the Charon emulator product configuration and management aspects that are not related to the specifics of the VE license application, please refer to the Charon user's guides of you product and version:
- Charon-SSP: see the Charon-SSP user's guides.
- Charon-PAR: see the Charon-PAR user's guides.
- Charon-AXP/VAX: see the Charon-AXP and the Charon-VAX guides.
For additional information about this product, please contact Stromasys at the regional addresses below or contact your Stromasys VAR.
Structure of this Document
The document contains the following sections:
- Charon VE License Server Topology: brief overview of license server topologies.
- Installing VE License Server and Charon Emulator: installation of the license server software, and installation of the VE-enabled Charon emulator software.
- Installing a License on the VE License Server: steps for requesting and installing a Charon product license on the license server.
- Configuring a Charon Emulator for a VE License Server: steps for configuring the Charon emulator to use the VE license server.
- Transferring a License to Another Server: move a license from one license server to another.
- Removing a License from a VE License Server: removing a license from a license server.
- Additional Configuration Options - the config.ini File: additional configuration options to customize communication ports.
- Certificates Used by the VE License Server: description of the different scenarios of using and configuring the certificates used between license server and license clients.
- VE License Server Web-based Management GUI: description of the interface and the actions provided by the web-based GUI of the VE license server.
- Operational Information and Logging: information that may be helpful when operating a VE license server. For example, log file locations and samples.
- Updating a VE License: steps for updating a license, for example, when the expiration date approaches.
- VE License Server Software Upgrade, VE License Server Software Deinstallation: steps to upgrade or uninstall the VE license server software.
- VE License Server Command-Line Utilities: summary of the available command-line utilities with their options.
- Additional Information: supplemental information about installing a Linux cloud instance, about installing and starting the Charon-SSP Manager on a Linux or Windows management system, and about cloud-specific firewall considerations.
Please note:
- Cloud providers may change their management GUI without prior warning. Hence, the screenshots in this document may not always reflect the latest GUI appearance of the cloud provider. However, they will still provide an illustration of the described configuration steps.
In general, the sample outputs in this document may show different versions than the one documented in this manual, but they are still representative of what a user will see.
Obtaining Documentation
The latest released version of this manual and other related documentation are available on the Stromasys support website at Product Documentation and Knowledge Base.
Obtaining Technical Assistance or General Product Information
Obtaining Technical Assistance
Several support channels are available to cover the Charon virtualization products.
If you have a support contract with Stromasys, please visit http://www.stromasys.com/support/ for up-to-date support telephone numbers and business hours. Alternatively, the support center is available via email at support@stromasys.com.
If you purchased a Charon product through a Value-Added Reseller (VAR), please contact them directly.
Obtaining General Product Information
If you require information in addition to what is available on the Stromasys Product Documentation and Knowledge Base and on the Stromasys web site you can contact the Stromasys team using https://www.stromasys.com/contact/, or by sending an email to info@stromasys.com.
For further information on purchases and the product best suited to your requirements, you can also contact your regional sales team by phone:
| Region | Phone | Address |
|---|---|---|
| Americas | +1 919 239 8450 | Stromasys LLC |
| Europe, Middle-East and Africa | +41 22 794 1070 | Avenue Louis-Casai 84 |
Conventions
Notation | Description |
$ | The dollar sign in interactive examples indicates an operating system prompt for VMS. The dollar sign can also indicate non superuser prompt for UNIX / Linux. |
# | The number sign represents the superuser prompt for UNIX / Linux. |
| > | The right angle bracket in interactive examples indicates an operating system prompt for Windows command (cmd.exe). |
| Bold monospace type in interactive examples indicates typed user input. |
| Bold monospace type enclosed by angle brackets indicates command parameters and parameter values. |
| Monospace type in interactive examples, indicates command response output. |
[ ] | In syntax definitions, brackets indicate items that are optional. |
... | In syntax definitions, a horizontal ellipsis indicates that the preceding item can be repeated one or more times. |
| Italic monospace type, in interactive examples, indicates typed context dependent user input. |
Definitions
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Host | The system on which the emulator runs, also called the Charon server |
| Guest | The operating system running on a Charon instance, for example, Tru64 UNIX, OpenVMS, Solaris, MPE or HP-UX |
Related Documents
- Charon-SSP User's Guides and Release Notes
- Charon-PAR User's Guides and Release Notes
- Charon-AXP and Charon-VAX User's Guide and Release Notes
- VE license server release notes in Virtual Environment (VE) License Server Documentation