Configuring an RLM Server

The Reprise License Manager (RLM) makes it easier to manage and track multiple Analytica and ADE licenses within an organization than having each user manage their own license. If you use Floating licenses (a license shared among multiple users), you require RLM.

This page explains how to install and configure RLM for an IT manager who manages software licenses. Analytica end-users that wish to install the software should see How to Install Analytica -- Individual License and How to Install Analytica -- Centrally Managed License.

What you need

Selecting a computer to run the License Server: You'll need to select a server computer that will host the Reprise License Manager (RLM) server. This server must be on your internal company network, accessible by all the computers in your organization that may need to check out licenses.; Note: RLM must be hosted on a physical (non-virtual) server, and the server must be running a Windows operating system. Licenses will not activate if RLM is hosted on a virtual machine, and Lumina licenses are not honored on Linux (or other non-Windows) installations of RLM.; It should also be a server with high availability -- i.e., never turned off.; RLM can serve licenses for software from other vendors that use RLM.; Running RLM for Analytica imposes a minimal load on the server, so it certainly need not be dedicated . You can easily use a computer whose primary purpose is for something else.; The Server can be nearly any platform supported by Reprise, including Windows or Unix.; RLM does support redundant failover servers, but this is seldom required and isn't covered here.

A non-administrator user account that RLM will run under (unless you have RLM v14 or earlier installed already): Step 1 below takes you through the typical steps for creating such an account.; You can re-use an existing account if it is a non-admin account. Your own account is not an option, since if you are installing RLM as a service, your account is necessarily an administrator account.; If your organization disallows creating a new non-admin user account, you will need to use RLM v14 or earlier.

Generic RLM Server Software: If you already run RLM for other applications using RLM 7 or later, you already have what you need. Otherwise, download the end-user bundle from reprisesoftware.com. For a windows platform, this is downloaded as a file x86_w1.enduser.zip.; You'll also need the Lumina-specific settings file (right click, select Save Target As...) lumina.set, and save it in your RLM directory.

Analytica or ADE license(s).: These are provided to you by Lumina when you purchase ADE or Analytica.; They should contain 16 numeric digits, such as: 1234-5678-9012-3456; If you have a multi-seat license, then each activation key also has a count (i.e.number of seats) associated with it. Most commonly, licenses are 1-seat licenses, so if you were not given a count with your activation key, you can assume it is a 1-seat license.

Install RLM

Warning: RLM v15 is extremely finicky. Even slight variations from these instructions will likely not work, with poor diagnostic reporting for figuring out what went wrong. Be careful to follow the instructions precisely.

Video: Installing RLM (9 minutes)

1. Create a local non-admin user account that RLM will run under. (Or select an existing non-admin account).

(Starting with RLM v15, the RLM service will not run in a local service account [sic] or other admin account.).

This step might vary slightly for your organization, especially if your organization disallows the creation of local non-service accounts. The most typical steps are shown here.

Click the Windows Start button and type "Computer Management". Click on Computer Management.
Expand Local Users and Groups
Right-click on Users. Select New User...
Enter UserName=RlmUser. Enter a password and remember it. Uncheck User must change password at next login and check Password never expires.
Press the Create button.

2. Create a folder named C:\Reprise and a subfolder named C:\Reprise\Licenses. These don't have to be at the C:\ root, but they will need to be writable by the RlmUser account, as well as to other logged-in users, so locations such as Program Files, ProgramData or within C:\Users are not good options.

Launch File Explorer
In the left pane, navigate to This PC / Windows (C:)
Select File / New / Folder. Name it Reprise
Right-click on the new folder, select Properties / Security.
In the top pane, press Edit..., select Users, and check Full control in the bottom pane. Press OK / OK

Enter the Reprise folder. Make a new subfolder named Licenses.

3. Download the RLM License Administration bundle for Windows.

4. Double click the file and extract it to a subdirectory of C:\Reprise, such as

C:\Reprise\RlmServer

5. Copy the lumina.set file to the same directory.

6. Start a command-line window.

On Windows Vista and Windows 7, start the command-line window as Administrator:

Click on the Start menu on the bottom left.
Type in cmd in the Search box.
Press Ctrl + Shift + Enter

7. Navigate to the chosen directory by typing cd and then the path to the install directory.

For example: cd C:\Reprise\RlmServer

8. Create a password file. We'll have one user named admin.

Type: echo admin::all > rlm.pw

9. Now install rml as a service

Note that as of rlm 15.1, the -z flag has been removed. You must set a password (change from the default which is blank) within 10 minutes of rlm starting.

- to install over http:

Type rlm -dlog "rlm.log" -c "C:\Reprise\Licenses" -install_service

- To install over https: Starting with rlm 15.1 you can also run rlm over https: Create a certificate file as a .pem file with a separate key file - without a password. (We have yet to test other certificate types. Using a certificate in the windows certificate store is not documented.) use the -sslcert parameter followed by your certificate file and -sslpriv followed by your private key file.

For this example win-acme created a letsencrypt certificate in the default IIS certificate store, then in the certificate creation process, when asked to store in an additional certificate location, entered the option to store as a .pem encoded file to the c:\win-acme directory. Substitute your certificate and key file path/file name.

Type

rlm -dlog "rlm.log" -install_service -sslcert c:\win-acme\rlm.analytica.com-crt.pem -sslpriv c:\win-acme\rlm.analytica.com-key.pem

There are additional configuration options, for a listing help type: rlm -?

10. Open the Services window. Configure the RLM service to run in the RlmUser account.

Click the Windows button, type: Services. Click on Services.
Double click the RLM service. Select the Log On tab.
Select: This Account: RlmUser. Enter the password from Step 1. Press Apply

11. Start the service

Click the General tab. Press the Start button.

The RLM service should now be running.

12. Enter the administration panel:

Point a browser to http://localhost:5054.
Do not use the (now obsolete) Internet Explorer browser. The RLM console is not compatible with IE.

13. In the Please log in section, remove the single • character from the Password field and press Login.

If you omitted -z in step 9, you will need to set a new password immediately.

14. Validate the install

Buttons on the left should include Status, Activate License, Diagnostics, System Info and others.
Click System Info. The Working Directory should not be C:\Windows\System32.

Activate license(s)

Video: Activating a Floating Analytica license (2:30 minutes)

12. Install any Analytica or ADE licenses.

Lumina should have provided you with Activation keys for your Analytica or ADE; the keys contain 16 numeric digits, such as 1234-5678-9012-3456

Click the Activate License button
Click BEGIN License Activation, then enter these fields:
- Check Other (URL) and enter Activation.Analytica.com into the text-box.
- ISV: lumina.
- License activation key: 1234-5678-9012-3456 { Your activation code here }
- License Server hostid: { Use the value filled in for you }
- License count: { The number of seats. Normally 1. }
- License File to create: { A *.lic file in the licenses directory from step 2}
- Press REQUEST LICENSE.
If an error occurs, see Solving problems during managed license activation.
- When prompted, restart RLM server to reread licenses.
If the license you activated is not listed immediately on the admin console, you may need to restart the RLM service from the services windows.

13. Click on Status

Verify that the Lumina ISV is listed.

14. If you have more than one activation key, repeat steps 9-10 for each.

Additional Configuration

You, as an IT manager, may want to configure RLM permissions to control who can use the Analytica licenses and who can manage the RLM server. On the bottom left of the RLM Administration Console, there is a link to the RLM Manual...

To control access to the RLM server, and administration of its capabilities, see the section on RLM Options File. Among the access control settings you can configure are these (copied from that manual):

Privilege	Name to use in RLM options file	Meaning
edit_options	edit_options	Allows editing options files for ISV servers
edit_rlm_options	edit_rlm_options	Allows editing options files for the rlm server
edit_transfer	edit_transfer	Allows editing server-server license transfer settings for ISV servers
reread	reread	Allows access to the functions which do reread commands on license servers
shutdown	shutdown	Allows access to the functions which shut down license servers
status	status	Allows display of status and debug log information from the license servers

You may also want to restrict which users can checkout licenses, for example, restricting usage to specific users in your department. For that, see the section The ISV Options File in the RLM Manual. Also consult that section for information on assigning named-user licenses to specific users.

Configuring an RLM Server

Contents

What you need

Install RLM

Activate license(s)

Additional Configuration

See Also