LM-X License Manager - Frequently Asked Questions
LM-X License Manager is our license management product for software vendors. Some frequently asked questions about LM-X are listed below.
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LM-X v4.2.1 is a patch release to fix an issue (LMX-1290) that caused web-based UI changes to be visible only on the Windows platform. With this patch release, all platforms will now have the upda ...
LM-X License Manager version 4.2 includes many enhancements and fixes. The improvements made in this release, listed below, were made in response to customer feedback. For more information about h ...
X-Formation releases new versions of software several times a year, as part of our commitment to providing you with the best possible solutions to your license management needs. Our ability to pro ...
LM-X License Manager version 4.1 includes many enhancements and fixes. The improvements made in this release, listed below, were made in response to customer feedback. For more information about h ...
What products does X-Formation provide?
X-Formation provides an end-to-end solution for all your license management needs: LM-X License Manager protects software worth millions of dollars, providing a full-featured, yet easy-to-use s ...
LM-X License Manager version 4.0 includes some important enhancements and several fixes. The improvements made in this release, listed below, were made in response to customer feedback. For mo ...
Blacklisting and re-hosting a license
LM-X has built-in functionality you can use to prohibit usage of (blacklist) a particular license and re-host a blacklisted license. To blacklist and re-host a license:To revoke an existing l ...
How can I lock my software to a host when using a cloud service provider?
When using cloud service providers such as Amazon EC2 and Microsoft Azure, the virtual machines do not have HostIDs that you can lock your software to. In such cases, you should use network licens ...
How do I manage multiple programs running against multiple versions of LM-X License Manager?
For local licenses, you need only ensure that the license path for each application is correct for its respective license.For network licenses, we recommend that you use the tools provided by your ...
Yes, when software vendors upgrade to a new LM-X release, their end users must also upgrade their LM-X license server. To upgrade the server, simply stop the server, replace the executable and st ...
What is considered to be an individual platform for LM-X License Manager installations?
In general, a platform is an operating system (OS) on which binaries can run; for example, Windows x86 and Linux x86 are two different platforms. Furthermore, platforms are defined as individua ...
Why am I getting a "bad key" failure in LM-X License Manager?
An LM-X security configuration file (vendor.lmx) is created in the config directory upon the first LM-X compilation. You must reuse this security file for the lifetime of your application; otherwi ...
How do I report a bug I've found in LM-X License Manager?
To report a bug in LM-X, please follow the procedure below so that we can best understand and resolve the problem: Create a reproduction of the bug that includes a small example demonstrating ...
What Linux compilers does LM-X License Manager support?
For Linux (x86 and x64), LM-X supports the use of GCC (GNU Compiler Collection). Other compilers that use output compatible with GCC, including custom compilers, will also work but are not offici ...
What are the dependency considerations for LM-X License Manager?
If you have an application using LM-X that is a Windows Service, you must ensure the dependencies for loading the services are set correctly. Failure to do so will result in runtime errors when st ...
Can I use dongles with LM-X License Manager?
Yes, dongles may used with LM-X, and can be a particularly good option for licensing virtual machines. You may use 3rd-party dongles, which require some custom programming, or purchase dongles fr ...
Which gcc version is used when building LM-X License Manager with MinGW?
Version 4.5 of gcc is used when building LM-X with MinGW. The output for GCC -v is as follows:COLLECT_GCC=gccCOLLECT_LTO_WRAPPER=c:/mingw/bin/../libexec/gcc/mingw32/4.5.0/lto-wrapper.exeTarget: mi ...
Can LM-X License Manager detect virtual enviroment?
With LM-X you can allow or forbid to use your application in a virtual enviroment. LM-X detects most of virtualization technologies including VMWare, Microsoft Virtual Server, VirtualBox. Virtua ...
How does software protected by LM-X License Manager find a license file?
Every LM-X protected application has a search path for licenses. The application will search for licenses in the following order:1. Preset path and/or automatic server discovery (this informatio ...
Upgrading LM-X License Manager
To upgrade LM-X in order to get a newer version of the software, or after subscription renewal to avoid software expiration, follow the steps below. Download LM-X by logging into the X-Formation S ...
Using dongles under Linux x64 with LM-X License Manager v3.3 and v3.31
For LM-X v3.3 and 3.31, we updated our dongle library from Hasp HL to Sentinel HASP v5.0.Our supplier, Aladdin, does not compile the dongle library under Linux x64 using the -fPIC flag. Unfortunat ...
How many concurrent clients can LM-X License Manager support on Linux?
Under Linux for LM-X v3.3 and newer, the LM-X license server can support more than 10,000 concurrent clients.In order to allow the LM-X license server to use more sockets than the default 1024 for ...
How can I obtain LM-X License Manager dongle drivers?
If an LM-X dongle is plugged into a machine that does not have the dongle drivers installed, the Windows "Found New Hardware" dialog will appear. You can follow the prompts in this dialog to insta ...
How do I configure LM-X License Manager for high network connection rates?
By default, Windows can handle a maximum of 5000 open TCP connections. If your loads are higher, you may experience problems such as failed requests for new connections and poor performance. Y ...
Why doesn't LM-X License Manager return the harddisk hostid?
The ability to retrieve a harddisk hostid using the LM-X End User Configuration tool or LM-X API is an OS limitation. Windows XP and Windows Vista are able to provide the harddisk hostid to LM-X, ...
How do I uninstall LM-X License Manager on Windows?
To uninstall LM-X on Windows:Uninstall the license server using the command line or LM-X End-user Configuration Tool.Remove environment variables (you may use the Client Application License Path t ...
LM-X License Manager version 3.7 includes many fixes and enhancements. The fixes made in this release, listed below, were made in response to customer feedback. For more information about how we i ...
What are the delivery terms for X-Formaton products?
The payment terms for X-Formation product purchases are 30 days. The delivery is electronic only, and is typically done on the same day as the order is received.
Cannot compile LM-X on Ubuntu 9.04
LM-X cannot be compiled on Ubuntu 9.04 using GCC/G++ 4.3.x. When attempting to compile on Ubuntu 9.04, errors similar to the following will be recorded in the error log:user@linux-desktop:~/lmx_li ...
LM-X License Manager version 3.6.3 is a fix release. The fixes made in this release, listed below, were made in response to customer feedback. For more information about how we incorporate custo ...
LM-X License Manager version 3.6.2 includes several fixes and two enhancements, most made in response to customer feedback. For more information about how we incorporate customer feedback into ...
How can I troubleshoot and fix a "System clock has been set back" error?
If a user experiences a "System clock has been set back" error (see the article, "Why do I get a "System clock has been set back" error?"), the solution is normally to reset the system clock to th ...
Why am I getting communication errors between the client and LM-X license server?
The following LM-X errors occur when there is a communication error between the client and LM-X license server. These errors indicate that data is being transferred, but there is a problem com ...
Why does building the LM-X SDK under Java fail?
If building the LM-X SDK under Java is failing, check your JAVA_HOME environment variable setting. This environment variable must be set to the path of version 1.5 or newer of the JDK. A problem ...
Which IP address should I lock my license to?
To find your IP address hostid, run lmxendutil -hostid to see a list of your hostids. The following is an example list of hostids: IP Address: 192.168.10.50 Hostid: 8931C9DDAD84CA46 IP A ...
LM-X License Manager version 3.6.1 includes many fixes and several enhancements, most made in response to customer feedback. For more information about how we incorporate customer feedback int ...
How do I provide license queing to end users?
If you allow license queuing for your end users (it is enabled by default), you can test that it will work properly by performing the following steps:Enable queuing for Client A. (For information ...
Adding licenses for software features that a customer buys later than the initial purchase of a license can be easily accomplished by using multiple additive licenses, which don’t require th ...
How to implement licensing for critical-use applications
A floating license model gives you an easy way to validate the end-user’s rights to use the software. However, floating licenses depend on a stable network connection between the client mach ...
Using the license start date to improve protection against over-usage and clock tampering
You can set the starting date that your application is available for checkout by using the START setting in your XML license template file. By combining the START and END date settings (for exampl ...
How to use hostid matching ratio
The HOSTID_MATCH_RATE directive specifies the percentage of hostids that must match for successful hostid verification. When locking your software to multiple hostid values, you can allow the soft ...
How to manage expiration for licenses running 24/7
Normally, the license expiration date is controlled while performing the checkout operation. However, in cases where a feature remains checked out continuously for a long period of time, this meth ...
Which hostid should I lock my license to?
The following table lists the hostid types that LM-X supports and indicates each type's level of security and flexibility, so you can decide which hostid type(s) work best for your needs. ...
How does LM-X provide compatibility between different versions?
LM-X is designed to be platform independent and work on a number of platforms. Therefore, you can easily create licenses on one platform and use them on another. Similarly, you can run license ser ...
If you’ve ever used .NET LicenseProvider for your licensing model, you probably know that the default implementations of this abstract class offer only basic features that are unlikely to sa ...
Can I specify username and hostname for web application checkouts?
By default, if the application is located on a web server and the client is a web browser, every license will be consumed by the same user (the web server), instead of a license being consumed for ...
How do I use a HASP dongle with an Ubuntu operating system?
With the Ubuntu operating system, you should ensure that the usbfs is mounted before installing a HASP dongle. To do this, add the following line in /etc/fstab: none /proc/bus/usb usbfs defaults 0 ...
LM-X License Manager version 3.6 includes over 75 enhancements and fixes. Most of these changes were made in response to customer feedback. For more information about how we incorporate custom ...
LM-X License Manager version 3.4 includes the following enhancements and fixes. Most of these changes were made in response to customer feedback. For more information about how we incorporate cust ...
LM-X License Manager version 3.2 includes the following enhancements and fixes. Most of these changes were made in response to customer feedback. For more information about how we incorporate cust ...
LM-X License Manager version 3.5 includes the following enhancements and fixes. Most of these changes were made in response to customer feedback. For more information about how we incorporate cust ...
Licensing your software to run on virtual machines
LM-X detects most virtualization technologies, including VMWare, Microsoft Virtual Server, and VirtualBox. Virtual machine environments are typically undesirable for licensed software due to the i ...
Should I lock my license to only one hostid or use multiple hostids?
In most cases, locking to an Ethernet card, BIOS or harddisk hostid is enough. If you need more security, you may lock to multiple hostids using one of the following methods: Multiple hostids ...
A good choice for locking a floating license to a particular server machine is to use the Ethernet hostid (the MAC address of the Ethernet card). Almost all machines have an Ethernet card, and inf ...
Which hostid should I use to lock my node-locked license application to a particular machine?
A good choice for locking a node-locked license to a particular machine is to use the Ethernet hostid (the MAC address of the Ethernet card). Almost all machines have an Ethernet card, and informa ...
How do I purchase my X-Formation product?
When you are ready to purchase your X-Formation product, you can buy the software by contacting us or by contacting one of our resellers. You may also fill out an order form.To expedite your recei ...
Can I pay for my X-Formation product using a credit card?
Yes, payments can be made by a credit card on request. Other payment methods are checks or bank transfers.See "How do I purchase my X-Formation product?" for more information.
How can I solve problems with Automatic Server Discovery when using VMware?
If you are using a VMware product and have problems using LM-X Automatic Server Discovery, do the following: 1. Verify that automatic discovery works by disabling the VMnet (e.g., VMnet1 ...
Providing demo versions of your software
Often, you may wish to provide potential customers with demo versions of your software. LM-X gives you a number of ways to supply such users with restricted versions of your software. This se ...
Typically, the first time you use the LM-X SDK, you need to compile it using nmake or gnu make, depending on your platform. This one-time compilation of the SDK creates the security configuration ...
LM-X License Manager version 3.3 includes the following enhancements and fixes. Most of these changes were made in response to customer feedback. For more information about how we incorporate cust ...
LM-X v3.3 now uses non-obfuscated hostids
With LM-X v3.3, hostids are no longer obfuscated, thereby making it easier to determine to what hardware item the license is locked and how the licensing is performed. For example, versions of LM- ...
Using CPU cores for node-locked licenses
Specifying CPU cores for node-locked licenses can be useful in cases such as high-tech computing and application virtualization. This license model enables you to base licensing on the customer's ...
Using CPU cores for floating licenses
Specifying CPU cores for floating licenses can be useful in cases such as high-tech computing and application virtualization. This license model enables you to base licensing on the customer's com ...
Using dates for version numbers
To create a license that will work only up to a specific date, you can use dates for major and minor version numbers as an alternative to specifying software release numbers.Since LM-X requires by ...
Choosing between a floating and node-locked license
A floating license allows an application to be used on a network. A license server is required on the client side to manage a floating license. The number of concurrent users is counted, with ...
How to compile multiple SDK's for different platforms
This tutorial describes how to compile multiple LM-X SDK's for different platforms in a way that enables shared code. By merging SDK's, you avoid duplicating files and will have a cleaner setup. ...
Why does LMX_Free hang when used within a dll file?
When you have a dll, you typically have initialization code like the following:BOOL APIENTRY DllMain( HANDLE hModule,DWORD ul_reason_for_call,LPVOID lpReserved){switch (ul_reason_for_call){case DL ...
You may see messages similar to the following when debugging an application in which LM-X is integrated: 0x000006BA: The RPC server is unavailable 0xC000001D: Illegal Instruction 0xC0000096: ...
Why is my new X-Formation product license set to expire?
Most software purchases have 30-day payment terms. If X-Formation delivers your software to you before your payment is received, the software is normally set up to expire in 30 days, in order to a ...
Why do I get a "software not allowed to run on terminal server client" error?
An LM-X end user may see the following error when attempting to use an LM-X- protected license on a terminal server:FATAL ERROR - Exploration License: LM-X Error:[LOCAL] C:\MSRDS2.0_Cons\bin\karto ...
Why do I get a "system time differs more than 24 hours" error in my lmx-server log?
If your lmx-server.log file reports an error similar to the following, there is a significant discrepancy between the LM-X license server and license client.[2008-09-24 11:44:07] CHECKOUT by pcura ...
Why does the ethernet hostid disappear when the network cable is unplugged?
In some cases, the ethernet hostid will be unavailable when the network cable is unplugged. This typically occurs only on Windows and has been seen on recent versions including XP and Vista. This ...
Do I need to ship a new license server after updating a blacklist?
Yes, if you create or update a blacklist, you must ship the newly generated license server binary to your customers in order to use the blacklist.
Why does the LM-X license server crash at start-up on Mac OS X 10.4?
When starting up the LM-X license server at boot time on Mac OS X 10.4, LM-X may crash if the HOME environment variable is unset. This is not a bug in LM-X, but rather in Mac OS X 10.4. Note tha ...
Do we need to configure our licenses to run on virtual machines if we use SSH?
No, using SSH does not require that you configure your licenses to allow your application to run in a virtual machine environment. (That is, by setting SHARE = VIRTUAL in your feature description. ...
Do I need multiple connections to the license server (LMX_HANDLE)?
You need only one connection to the license server (LMX_HANDLE), which is done when you call LMX_Init. You should call LMX_Init only once, and continue to use the single handle throughout the life ...
How can I download a demo of LM-X?
To request a free LM-X evaluation, contact us or fill out the request form on our website.
Does LM-X License Manager support network/floating licenses?
Yes, LM-X License Manager supports a variety of license models, including local/node-locked, network/floating and anonymous trial licensing, all of which can be configured for practically any ne ...
What is the X-Formation EULA (End-user License Agreement)?
The X-Formation EULA is attached.
Does LM-X License Manager support vendor defined strings or custom data fields?
LM-X supports vendor-defined strings and custom data fields, and lets you extend LM-X with additional information in your licenses.
Does LM-X support incremental feature count?
Yes, LM-X supports incremental feature checkout and checkin.
Why does nmake fail to build LM-X SDK under Windows Vista?
Due to the nature of UAC in Windows Vista, you must build LM-X as an administrator. Otherwise, nmake will fail due to insufficient security, and you'll see ambiguous error messages such as: ...
Yes. You can lock LM-X to your hardware device by specifying a custom hostid and using the LMX_HOSTID_CUSTOM hostid type together with LMX_Hostid or LMX_HostidSimple to retrieve the LM-X hostid. F ...
Do you support redundant servers in LM-X License Manager?
Yes, we do. LM-X License Manager's high availability licensing (HAL) feature lets end users specify backup (redundant) license servers that will continue to enable license hosting in the event t ...
You should add TIMEOUTALL to your options file. See your FLEXlm end-user documentation for further information. This problem is very common and has been around for a long time. It occurs because F ...
Does LM-X License Manager support Solaris?
LM-X License Manager supports Windows, Linux, HP-UX, Mac OS X, Solaris and AIX. For more detailed information, see the list of supported platforms.
Does LM-X License Manager support Unix?
LM-X License Manager supports Windows, Linux, HP-UX, Mac OS X, Solaris and AIX. For more detailed information, see the list of supported platforms.
Can the LM-X license server be shared over the internet?
The LM-X license server works similarly to a web server communicating over TCP protocol, so it can easily be used over the internet. The server listens on a fixed port (6200 by default) and takes ...
What are the system requirements for the LM-X license server?
You can easily run the license server under any network using TCP/IP, such as over a LAN, WAN, the Internet, etc.For Windows, the license server will run on Windows 2000, Windows XP SP2, Windows V ...
How do I download the latest software?
To download the latest version of your X-Formation product:Log into http://support.x-formation.com using the username and password you originally received from X-Formation at the email address ass ...
Do you support internet activation in LM-X License Manager?
Yes, we do. By using our License Distribution Service you can enable activations directly from within your application. This means you can allow purchasing users to process their orders and let ...
Does LM-X License Manager allow our users to travel with their licenses?
Yes it does. LM-X License Manager supports a wide range of license policies, including license "borrowing." Click here for an overview of some of the license policies that LM-X can handle.
Can end users administer and monitor their licenses?
Yes. With LM-X License Manager, software vendors can provide end users with a license file they can use as a standalone license or with a license server. Our license monitoring software, License ...
How long does it take to get started with LM-X License Manager?
In most cases, you can implement simple licensing within just a few hours. Our products are designed to let you get up-and-running quickly without the need to read a manual of several hundred pa ...
What Operating Systems does LM-X License Manager support?
LM-X License Manager supports Windows, Linux, HP-UX, Mac OS X, Solaris and AIX. For more detailed information, see the list of supported platforms.
Can I combine multiple license files into one?
Although it is usually possible to combine licenses, we recommend that in most cases individual licenses are kept separate. LM-X protected applications will search specified license paths for stan ...
Can I run more than one license server on a single machine?
Yes. Each license server will host licenses for a specific vendor. Ask your application vendor to give you a correct version of the license server for the vendor's licenses. If you have two licens ...
We have a firewall in place. How can we make the license server available to the outside world?
The license server uses a single port, and the connection is initiated from the client side. You can edit the port in the license server configuration file. Select an appropriate port, and open th ...
Does LM-X License Manager support Fortran?
Although LM-X License Manager does not directly support Fortran, the LM-X dll interface is flexible and easily adapted to use with Fortran. Currently, several X-Formation customers successfully us ...
Does LM-X License Manager support Delphi?
Although LM-X License Manager does not directly support Delphi, the LM-X dll interface is flexible and easily adapted to use with Delphi and other languages.
Why do I get a "System clock has been set back" error?
If your system clock is set back, the LM-X License Manager will report a "system clock has been set back" error. To resolve this, reset your system clock to the correct (present) time. If you beli ...
How does LM-X License Manager differ from other license managers?
We offer more than just software: we offer solutions to your unique problems. For what we feel are the most important ways we differ from our competition, please see 10 Good Reasons to Choose LM ...
LM-X License Manager is designed to enable license management for software vendors. It offers you the means to package your software into modules and then license the software to your customers ...
What languages do you support?
We support C/C++, .NET 2.0 and newer, and Java 1.4 and newer. Additional language support can be done on specific requests.
How is LM-X License Manager priced?
Pricing for LM-X License Manager is based on the size of your corporation and/or the number of platforms you want to license. LM-X is priced below the competition, and we make it easy for smalle ...
