Network License Manager Configuration

 

The ENERCALC Network License Manager ( NLM ) is used to provide general permission for the Structural Engineering Library ( SEL ) to run in your office when you have a Network license.

 

Also, for detailed assistance for the Network License Manager review this document located on our web site :

 

 

 

After installation and activation of the NLM (seen installation instructions) you can install the SEL on any computer that you want to use it on. The network connection to the two computers will allow the SEL to request permission from the NLM to run. If the current number of other SEL’s running is less than your license limit the NLM will approve the ability to start.

 

The NLM must stay running. If running as an EXE the user must not log off. You can also install the NLM as a “Service”.

 

The NLM cannot be installed on a “Virtual Server” (VMWare or VirtualPC) because the activation system must be able to write to a physical hard drive.

 

Here are some important bits of information about the Network License Manager and what might prevent it from granting run approval to your SEL program:

 

Local Area Networks

 By default the NLM and SEL work on a LOCAL area network. We define this as a TCP/IP network where each computer is assigned an IP address consisting of four numbers separated by periods, for example:  10.1.1.12.  When all computers on the network have the same first three numbers (i.e. 10.1.1.???) this is called a ”Local” network.

 

 The SEL and NLM can automatically find each other because they “broadcast” their presence on the network (with very minimal byte usage). When the SEL finds the NLM it requests permission to run.

 

 They  communicate using ”ports”. You must allow our two programs to use these ports so they can communicate. Windows Firewall can block this activity in which case you must specify the NLM program ENERCALC_NetworkLicenseManager.EXE and the SEL program EC6.EXE as exceptions on the machines they will run on.

 

 Using “Broadcast” mode the NLM uses these ports used to communicate :

 UDP Datagram Port        2326 to 2330,                        TCP Streamed Port        2376 to 2380

 

Non-Local Subnets & Wide Area Networks

 When the NLM is not on the same ”local” network as your SEL installation, this indicates that you have multiple ”subnets” in your organization. For instance, the NLM is installed on a server in the datacenter at IP 10.1.1.25 and your engineers computers are on the 5th floor at IP address range 10.2.2.???.

 

 Because the first three numbers of the IP address are not identical it is not a single local network..... you must make a configuration change in each SEL program to tell it where the NLM is located.

 

 First go to the “Configuration” tab in the NLM and specify the port to be used the “Direct TCP Usage Settings”. Write down this port and the “IP” address the NLM detects that it can monitor. See circled items at right.

 

 

 

The next step you will perform on the SEL. You will specify the IP address and Port for the NLM. Using the SEL menu item“Settings -> Remote NLM IP”

 

 

NOTE! Because network installations can be designed in many ways YOU as the user need to determine if the two IP addresses (the SEL installation computer and NLM installation computer) can communicate with each other using the IP addresses you have specified and the port numbers previously mentioned.

 

Installing as a service

 

The Network License Manager can be installed as a service so that it can automatically startup when the computer starts and also run behind the scenes when the user is logged off. It’s easy to install it as a service.....just use the [Install and Start as Service] button on the main screen :

 

 

This will install the NLM as a service, set it to start automatically at computer startup and then start the service.

 

To confirm this has happened you can open the Windows ”Service Manager” by going to the Control Panel, double-click on the ”Administrative Tools” icon and then double-click ”Services”. You will see the following window (where we have circled the NLM service).

 

 

You can double-click on the ENERCALC NLM item you can see the properties and verify that the service has started :

 

 

Creating a user account for the service

 

The Network License Manager must be able to use all network capabilities when running as a service. Under Windows this requires the service to be able to “log on” with administrator privileges. This invokes the following steps. We will not go into great detail because this will usually be performed by a user familiar with user accounts and changing service properties.

 

1) Open the “Control Panel” and select “User Accounts”.

2) Create a new account called “SERVICE ADMIN LOGON” and assign it a password.

3) Close the “User Accounts” window

4) On the Control Panel open “Administrative Tools” and then open “Services”

5) Locate the “ENERCALC NLM” service. Right-click on it and select “Properties”

6) On the “ENERCALC_NLM Properties” window select the “Log On” tab

7) Select the radio button next to “This Account” and enter “SERVICE ADMIN LOGON” as the account name and enter the password you used when you created the account.

8) Select [Apply]. The service will need to be stopped and started to be run under that account.

 

 

What you have done is allow the ENERCALC NLM service to be started with full administrator rights so that it can have access to all the network access. Had you not done this the ENERCALC NLM would have lots much of it’s capability when you logged of the computer. And that is typically ALWAYS the case when you have a service running on a server that is supporting a design office.

 

Note - What we have found is that simply specifying “Administrator” as the log on for the service does not work. The Windows Service Log-On system needs to have a unique user account with admin rights to make this work.

 

Displaying the NLM “User Interface” when it’s running as a service

 

When the NLM is running as a service there will be an icon in the ”tray” that looks like this :

 

Simply right-click on the icon and select ”Show License Manager Window”.

 

Note!  Windows Vista cannot display user interfaces for running services. In this case run the actual ENERCALC_NetworkLicenseManager.EXE program. Ignore the entry similar to what is circled below...that is actually the service reporting to the EXE.

 

Stopping or deleting the NLM Service

 

There are times when you will need to stop the NLM service and remove it. The simplest way to do this is two steps.

 

1) Use the ”Services Manager” described in the above section to first ”Stop” the service and then change            the ”Startup Type” to [Disabled].

 

2) Removing the service is easily done from a command line prompt. Select the Windows [Start] button,            then ”Run”, type ”cmd” in the ”Open” area and press [OK]. You will get a ”DOS” window in which you           will type ”sc delete EC_NLM”. See the following screen capture        which include the message saying the          operation was successful :

 

 

Frequent Questions - Network License Manager

 

I start the Structural Engineering Library (SEL) and it starts in “Evaluation” mode....but I’ve installed the NLM?

 

When the SEL starts in evaluation mode and you have installed and activated the NLM it means that the SEL cannot find the NLM. Our advise is simply to read the recommendations in the prior section regarding fire walls and port/IP address usage.

 

I started the NLM and used the [Install & Start Service] button. However when the service tries to start I get a message that the file cannot be found.

 

This indicates that the actual files that are used by the service are not on the same computer. Services typically are started before any connections to other computers are made. Just be sure the NLM is was installed using our setup program on the computer where you are trying to start the service.

 

We have a network license for SEL V 6. The NLM was installed on our local network server via one of the pc’s on the network. Now, the only way to run the NLM is from that pc. Anyone else who runs the NLM runs it as an evaluation version.

 

When you used the [Internet Activate] button on the non-server PC the activation information was stored on that PC. Simply use that PC to [Internet Deactivate] the NLM and then perform the [Internet Activate] command from the server.

 

I received a “Nettalk ObjectError” that says it is unable to listen to a TCP port. The error number is 10048 saying that the port is already in use.

 

If this occurs when running the Network License Manager it means that the port on the ”Configuration” tab for ”TCP” is already in use.

 

If you have the NLM running as a service and also start the NLM from the EXE file then this error will be displayed because you are trying to start the NLM and it’s already running and monitoring the port.

 

If another copy of the NLM is NOT already running then there is either another program running on that computer that uses the port -or- your firewall is blocking the port usage.

 

If this occurs when running the Structural Engineering Library it typically means that your firewall is preventing the usage of the port you specified on the Settings -> Remote NLM IP menu selection screen.

 

 

Troubleshooting Tip - NLM running as a service

 

If you are running the NLM as a service and your SEL programs cannot acquire permission to run here are a few more suggestions.

 

(1) Stop the NLM service and then run the NLM as a normal EXE program. This will eliminate any effect that the confines of running as a service might be imposing on the NLM.

 

(2) Try entering the IP address and Port of our generic Network License Manager into your SEL to see if it can acquire a license.   IP: 66.29.198.37,   Port: 1000    We keep this NLM running on a publically accessible

server to allow you to test your SEL. If the SEL does not start either your firewall is blocking the connection or there are other issues preventing the SEL from connecting to our NLM.

 

(3) Check Windows Firewall on both the NLM and SEL computers to make sure that the ports the NLM and SEL programs are allowed free access.

 

(4) Update to the latest versions of each program in case there have been changes that will effect you. The update links are here : www.enercalc.com/users.html.

 

Updating the Network License Manager

 

At times we will release newer versions of the NLM. Because most user will run the NLM as a service the NLM does not have the ability to check for updates.

 

Please check www.enercalc.com/users.html for the latest version of the NLM. Compare that version with your installed version, and if the current is more recent you can install the update using the "Latest NLM Update" link on the web page. Please see the images below :

 

Installed Version of the NLM :

 

Current Version of the NLM :