LM-X License Manager handles the most simple to the most complex licensing needs. If you require a simple licensing solution, you can use LM-X default settings with few or no modifications.
If your licensing needs are more sophisticated, LM-X includes many advanced features to handle your needs, as described in Feature descriptions. LM-X offers outstanding flexibility to adjust the license model to your business strategy in two main ways: a universal and wide selection of license file settings (tags), and a license file structure with independent sets of tags that define features. (See Protecting your application for details on license files.)
You should consider the following as part of your licensing strategy, depending on the type of license you want to use:
- For node-locked licenses, you should consider whether the license will work on terminal servers or virtual machines (not enabled by default) and whether to enable a trial license if a normal license is not in place.
- For floating licenses, you should consider policies for dealing with heartbeats and network disconnects (for example, how you will handle saving files and quitting the application in case the network is down).
- For trial licenses, you do not need to change your procedures. To enable trial licenses, you simply set a predefined trial length as described in Trial licenses. A trial license begins when the application is run for the first time. Trial licenses have anti-reuse and anti-clock tampering mechanisms that prevent usage after the trial length has expired. You may also consider whether to allow the trial to work on terminal servers or virtual machines.
Example source code for each of these basic license types are included in the examples directory and are described in Getting Started with LM-X License Manager.
The following tables show the most common feature settings for node locked and floating licenses, whether they are required or optional, and whether they are set by default.
Settings for floating licenses only
Setting | Required | Usage | Set by Default |
See "KEYTYPE" on page (see See "KEYTYPE" on page ) | Yes | Specifies whether a network license is exclusive, additive or token-based. | Yes (Defaults to exclusive) |
See "COUNT" on page (see See "COUNT" on page ) | Yes | Specifies the number of licenses that can be issued simultaneously for the particular feature floating on the network. | No |
SERVER_HOSTID (see See "Locking" on page ) | No (highly recommended) | Locks the license to a license server machine. | No |
See "BORROW" on page (see See "BORROW" on page ) | No | Enables leasing of licenses to computers that can be disconnected from the network. | Yes |
See "GRACE" on page (see See "GRACE" on page ) | No | Enables leasing of licenses to computers that are disconnected from the network unexpectedly. | Yes |
The following table describes licensing options that are commonly used, and whether they apply to node-locked or floating licenses.
License option | Node-locked | Floating | Usage | Default behavior |
See "Trial licenses" on page (see See "Trial licenses" on page ) | Yes | Yes | Lets end users use an application for a predetermined length of time without requiring a license. | Disabled by default. When enabled, trial licenses are not allowed on virtual machines or terminal servers by default. |
See "Licensing for virtual machines and cloud computing" on page (see See "Licensing for virtual machines and cloud computing" on page ) | Yes | Yes | Lets you explicitly allow trusted and enterprise customers to use your application in a virtual environment. | By default, LM-X denies all checkouts for local licenses in virtual environments, such as VMware or Virtual Server, and refuses to load licenses on license servers to prevent potential license overuse. |
See "Automatic server discovery" on page (see See "Automatic server discovery" on page ) | No | Yes | Allows a client application to find license servers on the network automatically. | By default, automatic server discovery is disabled on the client side. |