Sentinel RMS License Manager

The Sentinel RMS License Manager is a program that coordinates the use of a licensed application by multiple users and computers. The RMS License Manager usually runs on a computer that is located on the same subnet as any computer that needs to run the licensed application. It runs as a system service on Windows and as a background process on UNIX. The License Manager reads the licenses from the license file or can have them added into its memory. Each license identifies the valid uses of a single application or feature.

The computers that run the application are called clients. When a licensed application is started on the client, it sends a request for a license across the network to the License Manager. The License Manager grants the request if possible and returns an authorization message back to the client. The licensed application is installed separately on each client computer.

Compatibility

Golden Software will periodically distribute newer versions of the Sentinel RMS License Manager to address bug fixes and to add functionality to our concurrent-use license server. Generally, newer versions of the Sentinel RMS License Manager will maintain compatibility with older client software. However, the license client in newer versions of the software products (Surfer, Grapher, Strater) cannot communicate with older Sentinel RMS License Manager versions. You must use the latest Sentinel RMS License Manager distributed by Golden Software to ensure end user client PCs can use the latest versions of Surfer, Grapher, and Strater.

The following table summarizes the compatibility of various Golden Software products and Sentinel RMS License Manager versions.

License Manager Version

9.7 9.6 9.4 8.6
Surfer 24+
Surfer 14-23
Grapher 20+
Grapher 13-19
Strater 5
License Administrator 3+
License Administrator 1-2

Tips

The following items include information about the RMS License Manager or its recommended configuration:

  • The RMS License Manager does not support servers with numeric host names. The RMS License Manager may fail to start on a server with a numeric host name.
  • The RMS License Manager communicates with clients over port 5093 via UDP (User Datagram Protocol). Port 5093 is opened on the server during installation of the RMS License Manager by default. For successful communication between network clients and the License Manager:
    • By default, the Sentinel RMS License Manager is added to the firewall exceptions. If you change this default during installation, you must manually add the exception.
    • The MTU size should be set to 1474 or higher.
    • For packets larger than the MTU size, packet fragmentation should be allowed.
    • If you experience communication problems, you may diagnose the network using the ping -1 7554 <hostname> command.
  • The server on which the RMS License Manager is installed should use a static IP address.
  •  Restart the RMS License Manager in the case of a time zone change.
  • See How to Check the License Manager Version to check a server for the Sentinel RMS License Manager service and its version.
  • Contact us if you would like a copy of the Sentinel RMS System Administrator help file. This help file includes information for advanced server administration. Note, not all of the features and settings in the Sentinel RMS System Administrator help file are supported by Golden Software.

See Also

Introduction to License Administrator