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The information on this page refers to License Statistics v6.11, which redesigned license server administration and resulted in removing functionality related to "realtime" license servers and "gathering type." If you are running an older version of License Statistics, see documentation for versions prior to v6.11.

This glossary lists terms that are specific to License Statistics and license feature usage monitoring.
 

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ENTITIES

 

  1. Software - an application.

  2. Log file - ASCII text file written by a license server. 

  3. License - license for particular Software.

  4. Feature - definition of license for particular Software. It’s important to remember that is definition, which means there can be more than one License.

    1. <Feature> Name - name of Software e.g. Windows

    2. <Feature> Version - version of Software e.g. XP

    3. <Feature> Type - type of License. Supported are Floating, Nodelocked and Token.

    4. <<Feature> Type> Floating - license which can be used by any user.

    5. <<Feature> Type> Nodelocked - license which is dedicated to specific node.

    6. <<Feature> Type> Token - license which is calculated using tokens instead of actual amount of licenses.

  5. License Manager - solution which provides possibility to manage Licenses.

  6. User - application or person which asking for License.

  7. Host - computer on which User is working.

  8. License Server - application hosting Licenses for one Vendor.

    1. Import License Server - License Server which data were Imported.

    2. Realtime License Server - License Server which data were gathered through Monitoring.

    3. Monitored License Server - Realtime License Server which is actually monitored.

    4. License Server Group - it’s a group of License Servers which are treated as one.

  9. Vendor - manufacturer of software using particular License Manager.

  10. Gathering Type - value which determines License Server type (Realtime or Import).

Query Interval - value used to determine how often Monitored License Server should be asked for data about Features usage.

License request def
License request def
License request

A request made by a user to obtain a particular software license.

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Usage def
Usage def
Usage

Refers to the use of a license, which means that the license is taken from a pool of available licenses.

A user can use two licenses of the same feature, as shown below.

Users Using License

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Borrow
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Borrow def
Borrow def
Borrow 
A type of license usage that allows a user to use a
network Client applicationA software program that requests or receives a license from a license server.Configuration file

The License Statistics configuration file, xflicstat.cfg, which specifies settings such as License Statistics output file paths, update intervals, and the host server information of the applications for which License Statistics will gather statistics.

  Denial  
floating license without being connected to the license server.
Borrowing is commonly used in cases such as taking a laptop computer home for the weekend or for traveling off-site, giving a user access to the software when a connection to the network is not possible.

Denial
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Denial def
Denial def
 
The denial of a request for a license.
Host 

The computer on which a user is accessing a license.

Feature

The definition of any functionality of an application that is licensed. A feature has a name and one or more versions and license types. The definition of a feature depends on how the software vendor distributes an application, but might include (for example):

  • A single program (irrespective of program version)
  • A specific version of a program
  • An application system consisting of multiple programs
  • A module of a program

The parts of a feature are as follows:

 

  1. Name (for example, Windows).
  2. Version (one feature can have multiple versions, such as Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 and so on).
  3. Type, which can be:
    1. Floating
    2. Node-locked
    3. Token
Feature nameThe name of a software feature; for example, Windows.Floating license

A license that runs an application for users on a network. A license server is required to manage a floating license. With this type of license, the number of concurrent users is counted, with the licensed application usable by only a specified number of users at any time.

Also referred to as network license or shared license.

Feature versionThe version of a feature; for example, for Windows, versions include XP, Vista, 7, 8 and so on.Gathering Type The type of data collection for a license server in License Statistics, which determines the license server type (Realtime or Imported)Imported license serverA license server that is being monitored using existing data in one or more license server logs.
License Reservation
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License Reservation def

License is assigned to a specific user and cannot be utilized by another user without an administrator reassigning the license to another user. 

For reservations, a "user" is defined by a set of rules with various parameters, which may include the following, depending on the license server:

  • Dynamic
  • User
  • User Group
  • Host
  • Host Group
  • IP
  • Project
  • Display

Realtime Denial

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Realtime Denial def
Realtime Denial def

The denial of a license request.
Denied Requests Log
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Denied Requests Log def
Denied Requests Log def
One or more log files that contain data about denials.
Feature Versioning
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Feature versioning def

When Feature Versioning is set, features shown in lists include a separate entry for each version of that feature, and are named feature_version throughout License Statistics.

Monitoring
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Monitoring def
Monitoring def
 
Gathering information from a particular license server about feature usage details.
Importing
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Importing def
Importing def
Importing
 
Gathering information from a license server log file about
license
feature usage details.
Node-locked license

A license that runs on a single specific machine, as opposed to being on a network. Node-locked licenses do not require a license server because they are uncounted.

Log file
Last Update Time
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Last Update Time def
The last time at which License Statistics received an update from a license server.

Entities

Software
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Software def
Software def
An application.
Log file
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Log file def
Log file def
One or more ASCII text files written by a license server.
Log files contain information that can be imported into License Statistics and used to track license usage. (See Imported license server.)
 
License
fileA text file shipped to an end user, which provides one or more features.License manager A solution that provides the ability to manage licenses. (See also license server.)
License request

A request made by a user to obtain a license for particular application.

License server

A license server is defined as a software application hosting licenses for a single software vendor (e.g. vendor daemon), and not a physical machine.

A license server is required to manage a floating license.

License server group Two or more license servers that are treated as one by License Statistics.
License typeThe type of licensing used for a feature, which can be floating, node-locked, or token.
  Linux systemRefers to Linux, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, Mac OS X and FreeBSD platforms.Monitored License Server Realtime license server that is being monitored by License Statistics.
Monitoring  Gathering realtime information from a particular license manager about license usage details.Realtime license serverA license server that is being monitored at specified intervals to gather data about usage as it occurs.SoftwareAn application.Token licenseA license whose usage is calculated using tokens instead of an actual number of licenses.
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License def
License def

License for particular software.
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Feature def
Feature def
Feature

The definition of a license.

The parts of a feature are:

  1. Name (for example, Windows).
  2. Version (one feature can have multiple versions, such as Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 and so on).
  3. Type, which can be:
    1. Floating
    2. Node-locked
    3. Token

As shown in the diagram below, a feature is defined by its name, version and type. There can be multiple versions with the same name, but each version can have only three license types: nodelocked, floating, or token. Although the features may share the same name, each feature with a different version and/or type is an individual, unique feature.

Feature

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License manager def
License manager def
License manager

A solution that provides the ability to manage licenses.
User
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User def
Usage

Refers to the use of a license, which means that the license is taken from a pool of available licenses.

User
 

An application or person that requests a license.

VendorThe developer/distributor of a software application using a particular license manager.
Windows systemRefers to Win32 or Win64 platform.  

Diagrams

A feature and its parts

This diagram shows a software feature and its parts. A feature consists of a name and has one or more versions and types associated with it.

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Example of a feature and its parts

This diagram shows an example of a software feature and its parts. This feature has three different versions of the software (Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7), which each have one or more types of licensing (floating, node-locked, or token).

 

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Example of a feature on license servers

This diagram depicts a feature being hosted by a license server.  This feature has two versions (Windows Vista and Windows 7), each with one or more types that run on one or more license servers.

 

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User on Hosts report

This diagram shows how License Statistics gathers information for the User Using Feature report. A user can use a feature on more than one host, and a host can be used by more than one user.

 

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User Using Feature report

This diagram shows how License Statistics gathers information for the User Using Feature report. As shown in this diagram, a user can use a feature on more than one host, each getting their license from the same license server.

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Technically unique User in all contexts is a unique username.


Host
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Host def
 

The computer on which a user is accessing a license.

A user can use a feature on more than one host, and a host can be used by more than one user, as shown below.

User on Hosts

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Info

Technically uniqueness of the Host depends on the context:

  • for reporting purposes, tracking licenses usage and denials: unique pair of hostname and ip address 
  • for administration and licensing purposes: unique hostname


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License server def
License server def
License server

Software hosting licenses for a single software vendor. A license server can be an individual license server or a license server group (two or more license servers that are treated as one). 

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Vendor def
Vendor def
Vendor
The manufacturer of a software application using a particular license manager.

Data source 

The source of data being used for statistics gathering (Remote, Imported, or End User).
Linux systemRefers to Linux x64 platform.
Windows systemRefers to Win64 platform.

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