Home → More on Networks → Servers (5.x) → Setting Maximum Borrowing Period for 5.x Concurrent Network
Applies to:
Palisade Concurrent Network releases 5.x
(If you have 6.x, or a mix of 5.x and 6.x, see the Guide for 6.x Network Administrators..)
Question:
With NLicense, users can borrow for as long as they choose. For better management of licenses, I'd like to set an upper limit. Can I do that?
Response:
If you have a certificate-based concurrent license (your license file is named in the form SNnnnnnnn-yyyymmdd.lic), it already has an upper limit, which you specified when we created the license certificate. This article doesn't apply to certificate-based concurrent licenses.
If you have a trusted-storage concurrent license (license file named Server.lic), we have a technique that will work in most installations. As always, you should test it before relying on it.
1. Open a command prompt, and use CD commands to get to the folder that contains Server.lic.
2. Use the command "palserveractutil -view" to find the "feature names" of your Palisade license(s). The feature name is the next "word" (possibly including underscore characters) after the word INCREMENT on one or more lines of the palserveractutil output. Check the expiration date that appears on an earlier line in the output, and ignore any INCREMENT lines for expired licenses.
3. In the same folder, create a text file called Palisade.opt, in Notepad or similar. Palisade.opt will need one line for each feature name. The form is
MAX_BORROW_HOURS feature_name number_of_hours
For example, if you have DecisionTools Industrial Edition 5.x, you will have three INCREMENT lines in the palserveractutil output, and therefore three MAX_BORROW_HOURS lines in your Palisade.opt file, like this:
MAX_BORROW_HOURS DecisionTools50_Industrial 160
MAX_BORROW_HOURS @RISK50_Industrial 160
MAX_BORROW_HOURS RISKOptimizer50 160
4. Edit the Server.lic file in Notepad or similar. Leave the first line unchanged. On the second line, which begins VENDOR, add a pointer to the options file, so that it looks like this:
VENDOR palisade options="Palisade.opt"
5. Run LMTools, and on the Start/Stop/Reread tab click ReRead License. You should get a success message on the status line at the bottom of the window.
Now test the limit on a client computer, using NLicense. NOTE: NLicense works in whole days, even though you specify a maximum borrowing period in hours. Therefore you should think of the limit as plus or minus one day. If you specified a limit of 160 hours (six days and a fraction), for example, you should be able to borrow for seven days but not for eight days. After you test borrowing the license, remember to use NLicense to return it.
Follow-up question:
Can users still borrow for less than the maximum time? Can they still return a license earlier than planned?
Response:
Yes to both. They specify borrowing period when they borrow the license, and they are free to set any time less than or equal to the maximum. The license is automatically returned at the end of the scheduled borrowing period, but if they finish earlier than planned, they can use NLicense to return the license immediately.
last edited: 2013-01-03