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Documentation & User Guides | Fotoware

Setting up a Fotoware License Server

Applies to:FotoWare versions 7.0 and 8.0

How to install and set up a Fotoware License Server and install a license certificate. This can be used in scenarios where activation over the Internet is not an option.

When to use a license server?

You need a license server if:

  • you have a redundancy license for a server application
  • you have licensed a client application for use in a Terminal Server or Citrix environment

Installing and setting up the license server 

The process of installing and setting up the license server consists of the following steps:

  1. Obtaining one or more license certificates
  2. Merging the license certificates (if more than one)
  3. Configuring the associated .opt file to manage which named users can check out licenses
  4. Installing the Fotoware License Server
  5. Installing the license certificate
  6. Testing the license server
  7. Configuring the clients to access the license server

Getting a license certificate

If you do not hae a valid license certificate from Fotoware, contact us to get one.

Fotoware requires the Ethernet ID (aka MAC address) of the network card on the machine that will work as the license server in your network. The license server can be installed on Windows Servers. The server's Ethernet ID/MAC address can be found by running ipconfig / all from the command line.

Merging license certificates

A typical license file (LicenseFile.lic) looks like this:

Note: The license file is tied to the server's Ethernet (MAC) address.

SERVER localhost 0A1B3C4D5E
VENDOR fotoware
FEATURE ColorFactoryBase fotoware 1.0 permanent 1 SIGN="11E0 CD95 4F5E \
8553 8664 265E 6B05 4FE3 C140 097D 6D00 96C3 4B17 E30E C32A \
038C CE7D 8C3A 1501 A513 33C1 912A 8CA7 E43C 669E 5A12 CEED \
250A 3AE2 4CC9"

 

A merged license file consists of a single header, followed by all the FEATURE lines combined:

SERVER localhost 0A1B3C4D5E
VENDOR fotoware
FEATURE ColorFactoryBase fotoware 1.0 permanent 1 SIGN="11E0 CD95 4F5E \
8553 8664 265E 6B05 4FE3 C140 097D 6DE0 96C3 4B17 E30E C32A \
038C CF7D 8C3A 1501 A593 33C1 912A 8CA7 E43C 669E 5A12 CEED \
250A 3AC2 4CC9"
FEATURE IndexManagerBase fotoware 1.0 permanent 1 SIGN="11E0 CD95 4F5E \
8553 8664 265E 6B05 4FE3 C140 097F 6DE0 96C3 4B17 E30E C32A \
038C CF7D 8C3E 15A1 A514 33C1 912A 8CA7 E43C 669E 5A12 CEED \
250A 3AC2 4CC9"

Note: Although merging license files is unproblematic, changing anything else in the license file will render it unusable.

If you need to replace the license server, you must perform a Rehost operation from the activation server. Contact Fotoware for assistance.

 

  • After any merging, rename the license file to licensefile.lic

 

Define users in the license .opt file

Now you need to define which users can check out licenses from the license server. The licenses are named, which means they have to be tied to actual logged-in usernames.

  1. Download the .opt file here.
  2. Edit the fotoware.opt file to include the username(s) entitled to start the software (instructions are included in the .opt file you downloaded above).
  3. Make sure the firewall on the server allows incoming TCP traffic on port 27000
Important - case sensitivity with usernames

The usernames specified in the .opt file are case-sensitive so users need to log on to Windows using the exact user name casing used in the opt file. Using lower-case usernames throughout the system avoids problems with case.

Tip: If you're managing users in an Active Directory you may find it useful to schedule the .opt file to be updated daily to reflect user changes in the AD group.

Installing the Fotoware License Server

You can download the Fotoware License Server from the Fotoware Download Center.

Note: If your system is running a previous version of the Fotoware License server, remove it as follows:

As an administrator, execute the following two commands from a command prompt:

net stop fwlicsrv
sc delete fwlicsrv

Install Fotoware License Server 11.19 and configure it as described below. It is installed in C:\Program Files\Fotoware\Fotoware License Server 11.19.

Configuring the License Server

  1. Place the license file (.lic) file and the .opt file in the program files folder where the license server is installed (C:\Program Files\Fotoware\Fotoware License Server 11.19.)
  2. Start lmtools.exe in the same folder to configure the license server.
  3. Go to the Config Services tab:

License Server - set up.png

  1. Enter the following information - see numbers in the screenshot above.
    • Service Name (1): Enter a logical name for the service. 
    • Path to the lmgrd file (2): Use Browse to locate the license server executable (lmgrd.exe). It should be located in C:\Program Files\Fotoware\Fotoware License Server 11.19
    • Path to license file (2): Use Browse to locate the license file.
      We recommend storing both the license file and the opt file in the same folder as the program executables (point above)
    • Path to the debug log file (2): Use Browse to locate the log file. It is located in C:\ProgramData\Fotoware\FWLicenseServer64 and is called fwlicsrv.log.
  2. Select Start Server at Power Up and Use Services (3), and select Save Service (4)
  3. Go to the Start/Stop/Reread tab and select Start Server to start the service (see screenshot below).

License Server - start service.png

Changing the port number

To run on a port other than the default (27000), the LicenseFile.lic file must be updated. The file can be opened in Notepad.

Change the first line of the file as indicated below:

SERVER localhost 0A1B3C4D5E

​to:

SERVER localhost 0A1B3C4D5E 8000

 

The service must be restarted for this change to take effect, and will then run on port 8000. Make sure you select a port number that is not already in use.

Configuring the vendor daemon port number

In addition to setting the server port number, the port for the fotoware vendor daemon should be fixed in environments where the license server and clients are separated by a firewall.

To do so, you must modify the VENDOR property in LicenceFile.lic as follows:

VENDOR fotoware PORT=8001

The vendor daemon port needs to be different from the service port. Having made the change in the license file you need to restart the license server. Also, make sure to open the port in the firewall as required to allow client-server communications.

Configuring clients to access the license server

You need to configure the client computers to access the license server by setting up an environment variable.
For detailed instructions on configuring your Windows and Mac clients to use the license server, see Activating a Fotoware license with a license server.