Recommended RLM Installation Steps

Reprise Software’s Recommended RLM Installation Steps

[Note: This information is in the RLM Reference manual, in the “End-User Installation” chapter, but we felt it was important enough to repeat here.]

Installing your product with RLM should be very straightforward, and should require no configuration of environment variables, etc.

Overview:

On the client side, ie, on the machines where your application is going to run, place the license file in your product hierarchy. For nodelocked licenses, this should be the actual, signed license file, and nothing needs to be done to this license file. For floating, this license file will be used only to locate the license server host.

If you ship floating licenses, install the server binaries and license file on the server node. The server license file doesn’t need to be modified.

Nothing in this set of recommendations requires the use of environment variables, and the install-time editing of license files is kept to a minimum (No editing of license files for nodelocked licenses, and only the server hostname needs to be set on the client side for floating licenses).

Details:

During development:

  • establish a directory in your installed product tree for license file(s). This could be the same directory where your product is installed.
  • Pass the directory from the step above as the first argument to rlm_init().

When you ship a nodelocked license:

  • If you are shipping uncounted or single node-locked licenses, put the actual licenses into the license file. Install in the default directory. You’re done.

When you ship a floating license:

  • If you are shipping floating licenses, use a single HOST line in the license file for the client side. Use the default RLM port (5053) – which means you do not need a port number in this license file, and fill in the hostname with the name of the server computer at installation time. This license file should look like this:

HOST server-hostname

  • On the server node, place the rlm binary, your ISVsettings file (or ISV server binary), and the license file in a directory. This license file should have the real, signed licenses. The server hostname in this file can be “localhost”, meaning that it doesn’t have to be edited by the end-user. The server license file’s first two lines should look like this:
    • HOST localhost hostid
      ISV your-isvname

By configuring the license file this way, it does not need to be edited by your customer. These lines tell RLM to:

  • use the default port (5053)
  • use the ISV server settings or binary from the same directory as the rlm binary

Of course, you would include all your signed LICENSE lines in this file as well.

  • Start the rlm server from the directory in the step above

If your customer already has another RLM server running:

  • Install your ISV settings or server binary and the license file in the same directory as the other product’s copy of the server binaries and license files, and do a “reread” operation on the running rlm. That’s it, however:
  • If your version of RLM is newer than the installed version, update the installed version to your version, then shut down the running rlm and start the new one.

If you ship new, additional licenses to your customer:

  • Put the new license file in the same directory as the old one. If they are nodelocked licenses, put them on the client system. If they are floating licenses, put them into the directory with your other licenses and do an rlmreread on the license server.